As we continue to look to improve ways in which we keep in touch with the friends we have worldwide, we have updated our blog as well as added in a new photo section (not complete yet though there are many photos there). Soon we will be decommissioning this site and we will be permanently at mannyandjamie.net
Thank you for following what God is doing in and through this ministry. Many blessings!
This morning I had a hard time getting up. I actually woke up before my alarm (a minute before) and though I was tired, that wasn’t the reason I didn’t want to get up. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go to work as I have already been in to the office. It also wasn’t because it’s Monday though I am thinking about starting a petition to make Monday officially the third day of the weekend, but that is a topic for another day. Nonetheless, as I lay there thinking about it I finally got to the point. I have a lot of work to do. I have a mountain of tasks that need to be accomplished and many of them in less than ten days. No doubt you feel as I do at different times. The other things about these tasks is that they are not the type of tasks that I can knock out in a morning or an afternoon rather it will take me a few days of work to complete them.
This summer was completely different than last summer.
In order to give a little context let me back up to 2007 which was six months into our first year of marriage when Jamie and I began trying to have a family. I remember that after a few months of trying, every month began to yield deeper and deeper disappointment. Doctors told us they would not even see us until 18 months had passed and so we waited. I remember May 2009 we were in church on Mother’s Day and as all the mothers stood to be recognized, Jamie and I simply wept. We had never understood the pain that women go through who cannot have children until then.
Jealousy tends to be a negative sentiment in our culture and others as well. Jealousy can also be sinful at times as well when it is motivated by self centeredness and so when Exodus 20:4-5 states that God is a jealous God many are left confused for the reason that we are observing the declaration through our own cultural spectacles.
Another grand day to say the least though we were on our own for most of the day. We slept in which was necessary and very nice as we were up till 1 the night before. Then Jonny took Jamie and I to the center of Belfast and after eating a nice lunch together in town we walked around together enjoying the town and shopping a bit.
Sunday in Ireland is quite a traditional day to say the least. I was very much looking forward to it because we were going to visit two of the upcoming churches in the Belfast area: CFC (still don’t know what that stands for but I doubt it is chloroflourocarbons) is a church in Belfast with a large group of I would say about 600 per service perhaps more and they are moving to four services soon. We went with the Robinsons (our new hosts for the remainder of the trip) and Phil and Zoe to the megachurch. It was interesting to see the order of service was similar to how it would be in the U.S. and then the speaker got up and also was very U.S. like in his delivery. Unfortunately, I do believe he missed the mark in preaching the message of the passage at hand (i.e. 1 Samuel 17 is not explaining to us how we can slay the giants in our life as David slay Goliath nonetheless he went off that way).
Saturday was quite an amazing day. It was the first day we got to rest a bit and also enjoy the culture at a slower pace. Aye (no one here says yes) we went with our friends Jonathan and Sarah Jane into Lisburn to have a brunch at one of the local eateries and enjoy the beautiful sunshine streaming down through the light clouds. It was incredible weather.
