Our US Trip

So we have returned back from our holiday in North and South Carolina, going to a Morning Star Conference, visiting old and new friends (for me, Sarah), going to a U2 concent in Atlanta, Georgia and generally being blessed by Father! Even when you are in another continent, in a different time zone and with different people Father shows up. He is so awesome! I love that we have come back rested, refreshed, inspired and encouraged to do all that He has for us. He is truely faithful.

So the Morning Star conference was great. The worship was amazing, there were two girls in particular, Amber Brookes and Kelanie Gloeker, both small in statue but were big in the spirit (if that makes any sense!). We bought Amber's CD which has really blessed us. It was a really good atmosphere to be in. Heidi Baker was ministering and its so amazing to hear the testimonies that she has and how she sees the Father pulling through for them and it's not always easy. Also Rick Joyner spoke particularly about the US and what he feels is happening at the moment. We also received some prophetic ministry and Raymond had some of his dreams interprated which we both found very encouraging.

From Morning Star we went on to stay with Scott and Stephaine Jones who have planted a church in Summerville, SC. Raymond really enjoyed meeting up with them again as he has known them since the Toronto School of Ministry back in 1999. It was good for me to meet such good friends of his and we both loved being around them and their four kids! There were also other friends from the school that had moved to Summerville to help with the church. It was a real priviledge to go to the church and meet some the congregation.

From there we drove up to Greenville, SC stopping off at an outlet mall on the way! I love outlet malls, we picked up a few clothes for ourselves at great prices. (I was able to get a few things out of money people had given me for my birthday). We stayed with Steve and Cindy. Steve had come over to Northern Ireland in May this year to do some clown ministry with local churches and schools etc. So it was a blessing to see where he lives. We went to the prayer meeting at his church the evening that we arrived and were blessed to have people minister to us in prayer and prophetic words.

We then went on to Altanta to see U2. I have to admit that when the support act came on I wasn't too impressed, it was a bit to loud and maybe because I didn't know the music. My opinion changed when U2 came on, they were amazing. This was my second concert and it was the best so far. The stage was stunning and they played alot of classics as well as some new stuff. We stayed in Atlanta that night and travelled back to Steve and Cindy's the next day.

We travelled on to Hendersonville the following day to stay with our friends Gerry, Cathie and their three children. We had such a blessed time with them, not only did they pay for our accomodation, whenever we went out for a meal they wouldn't let us pay for anything. In the evenings once the children were in bed we would spend the time chatting and they really ministered to us the Father's Heart. It was such a blessing. They have incredible testimonies of all that the Father has done for them and their family. It was great being around them as what they had I'm sure has rubbed off on us.

It was a significant time away for us. It's great to be around people who have the same heart. We look forward to all that the Father has for us! It really is an exciting time to be alive.

Hello! It's been a long time I know but we had trouble getting our internet sorted out but we are now connected to the outside world. Horrah.

So we have been in our new house for four months now, time is flying by. We are feeling settled and have gotten used to travelling into Belfast/Lisburn for work. We have done most of the decorating and alot of extras i.e. mirrors, towel rails etc. It's been hard work but fun and its been great to put our own stamp on the house.

We also enjoyed having friends over for meals and having people come and stay. We actually have some guys from the US over at the moment and its been nice to open our home. It's something that Raymond and I knew we would like to do from when we first got the house to share it with others and to use it as the Father would have us do. I am so thankful to Him for His provision of this home for us. I keep thinking how did we deserve this but realise that we don't but Father wanted to bless us with it.

So I'm feeling pretty blessed at the moment not just with the house but also with church, we've started to be involved in Healing Grounds which is like the Healing Rooms and we are also doing the welcome team too. And we are now in a new cell group which meets up in north Belfast which is where we live, so we have making some good connections.

Life is such an amazing journey when you are walking with God!

New House

So... the house on the right in the picture is no 123 Aylesbury Place, Glengormley, and it's our's (or so I'm told. I don't think it'll feel like it's our's until we're into it, but according to the solicitor acting on our behalf it's our's). Isn't that great!! So how did this all happen I hear you chant. Well let me expand. It has all happened rather quickly. Approx 28 days ago we went to view a bunch of houses on sale in a new build estate on the outskirts of Belfast to the north (15 mins from city centre by car) in an area named Mayfield Garden Village (fancy name eh). For anyone local it's just off the Mullusk Road on the other side of the Sandynose Roundabout from Glengormley.
So we went to view for two reasons;
1 Sarah spotted an advertisment for new-build 3 and 4 bedroom properties, cut in price because of current economic conditions, going for upwards of £140,000. (a great price by most estimates).
and 2 because our dinner guests could'nt make it that night.
So of we trapsed off on a Thursday night leaving the chicken in the oven to cook slowly, not realising this was the first night these properties were being realised at these prices. We got there just before opening time, and in approx 1 hour you would have been certain the credit crunch was over due to the amount of people all over the place. It was quite an intimidating atmosphere. We didn't know what we could afford or which house type to go for and left a bit discouraged thinking this probably wasn't for us, as there were loads of people queuing to sign up in their booking office on site. So latter that evening (after chicken) we got to thinking about how nice all those houses were, what a great deal they were, and wouldn't it be great etc etc. So I purposed to give a financial advisor guy a call the next morning and see what we could afford and check with the estate agent to see how many houses were sold/left. So the next day I called both. The financial guy told us to go for it, but the Estate agent told us that the 30 houses on sale had been snapped up in that first night, as well as a further unfinished 20. However they did say that they were considering letting another 30 go on release on that Saturday if they could work things out with the builder . So to cut a long story short, they did release the other 30 on that saturday. We went up at 9.30am and queued to 3pm (when they were due to start selling) and at approx 4.30pm we signed on the dotted line and got the last 4 bedroom semi in our price range (no mean feat as there were many others behind us in the queue who would have been disappointed. It was not the £140 price, but it was £60k - £80k less than what they were going for). So there was still a few hurdels to jump through. The developer was giving us 28 days to complete (not the most comfortable time in which to get a mortgage arranged) otherwise they would keep you're deposit and try and flog you're house to one of the 300 people on the waiting list who had missed out first time round. But thankfully the mortgage offer came through last monday and on Thursday past we signed the official doc's with the solicitor and that was it. Especially good as this Monday is the 28 day cut off time.

The best thing about this is that we weren't even looking for a house as such. We had decided not to stress over house buying until Sarah's job got made permenant (which it did a week before), and having committed the situation to God, it has just happened and we're going with it. Why do things the hard way when God's about.

It's amazing, people (and the bible) tell you to seek first the kingdom and he'll add all the other 'stuff' on to you. And he does. Before the current house price slump, so many people were drawn into the temptation to get on the housing market and it seemed like the the only wise thing to do. And in a short time the whole situation is turned on it's head and to us it feels like an affordable house that we like, is just released to us when before the prospect of house buying meant trawling round all the old small inner city properties that you don't really want, but have no choice but to go for. So there you go. God is good. I'm going to stop typing as this blog is getting a bit long. If you want to know anymore leave questings in the comments box and I'll blog again on the subject.
OK thanks for reading.
God bless you and we love you, and come visit us after Jan 09 and hopfully we will be able to host you in our new home if all goes according to plan.
Bye.
Raymond (and Sarah).

One year married

Hello Everyone!

Wow what an amazing year it has been for me personally (Sarah). So much has happened since Raymond and I got married in August 2007. So many things experienced, so many firsts and lots of amazingly happy memories. I just wanted to share something that has recently happened.

We had Chuck Pierce and Sharon Stone come over to Belfast in May 08 and Chuck spoke of 2008 being the year of the gate. I was really excited about that because my birthday this year fell on the 08/08/08. I really sensed that Father was saying that this year would be "a new beginning". So I'm expectant to see what Father has in store for me and Raymond this year!

Well this month (August) has been full of lost of exciting things, first it was my 30th birthday and we went away to Edinburgh we had such a great time. I then had an interview for a job at the hospital where I have been working as a temp since October 2007. We celebrated our 1st anniversary and went to see Joseph at the Opera House, the day of our anniversary I found out I had got the job at the hospital. It was such a victory for me as I had struggled with previous interviews I'd had before, God was so faithful thoughtout the process. He really knows what we each can walk through, it has sometimes felt like a bit of a whirlwind but it has been very good! He had also promised me through a dream I'd had in June that the next interview would be very different to the previous ones. And it really was! We also become an aunt and uncle to which is very exciting!

So this year has been one of learning, growing, depending and seeking God. Learning to be a wife, growing together with Raymond in all areas of our life together, growing and depending on our amazing Father in heaven. He is so good, I can never stop thanking Him for all He's done, all He's doing and all He's yet to do. What an exciting journey we are on.

What else could I say, probably quite alot more but it would take hours to write it all down. Hopefully, I'll blog again soon.

Edinburgh Aug 08

An NI Summer

Hi,

It's been a while since a written post. So it's about time. We're 11 months married now in case anyone is interested, or is counting. Being married I imagine is a bit like having a baby, counting the months years etc. With both there is probably an equal danger of thinking everyone cares as much about the little details as you do. Anyhow, we're happy about it.

So, I (Raymond) just wanted to give you people out there a little view into our NI world. As with babies and marriages, it's probably another thing people on the outside are not so interested in, but hey when you're in it it creates the backdrop for your life so it's somewhat unavoidable. We've stuck some parade photos on here because the 12th and 13th July are public holidays here when parts of the country come to a standstill with parades and marches which date back to days gone by.

As you can imagine people have all sorts of opinions and experiences and even beliefs about these things, and just for the record we were somewhat dubious about the benefical impact of one 'side' of the community having a few days to 'do their thing' (for those that don't know, these marches are the orange order and the royal black preceptory parading. Both organisations are protestant and british loyalist. They are somewhat secretive organisations and are quasi-masonic. Obviously some see these as only serving to exacerbate the divisions here, which they probably do. One other fact about them is that there are loads of people in them). So anyhow I'm writing this knowing some people I know think this is all bad and some think it's great and cultural etc, so forgive me if I don't give my direct opinions here.

Anyhow, as these are protestant expressions, the other half of the community here tend to migrate to Donegal for 2 days to get away from it all, while the protestants stomp around singing the national anthem and making jokes about catholics and politians.

As for us, in fairness, we did make 2 attempts to be out of the country at the time, but circumstances conspired against us and on the 12th we ended up being hemmed into our home as a 3 hour long parade made its way past the end of our street. So we checked it out and this is where some of the photo's come from. The others come from a more civilised parade in a village called Scarva that my parents enjoy going to on the 13th. One thing we learned was that members of the Royal Black Preceptory or Black men as they are commonly known here, call each other 'Sir Knight'. I know it's weird . I'm not advocating it, just giving you a glimpse.

I suppose in all truth I should say for me growing up around this, I really enjoyed the family element of it and the music. That does not justify it, but it does somewhat redeem it, if you know what I mean.

So, what ya think? Leave us a post in response!!