Happy music

Graeme is away taking the Sandy Bay and Blue Hill Bible studies tonight. Arthur is working a shift at The Consulate, and I am alone at home. Seeing that I have no-one around who could be offended at what I do, I put on my Neil Diamond CD (LOUD) and shuffled to the music and "sang" while I cooked and worked in the kitchen. Total unwind after a hectic few days.

Blessing

About 10 months ago, we started praying for a cousin of one of the ladies that meet at Deadwood. He was going through a difficult time in his personal life, and was struggling to cope. Well, guess what? The same Raymond has now attended our Deadwood Bible study for 2 weeks in a row! It has been a tremendous lift to my spirit to see the change that God has brought about in his life.
The Deadwood study is attended by Baptists, Anglicans, Salvation Army, and now a SDA person. We share a love for our God who has brought us out of lives of darkness. There is quite a bit of interaction as we study the Bible, and good times of praying for one another and people that are dear to us.

Arthur's exams

Arthur writes his 4th exam tomorrow - English Literature. The English paper (his first) caused a bit of frustration. Not only did he discover that his teacher had, for some unknown reason, entered him on the higher grade, but he also could not finish the last 2 questions that totalled 12 marks out of 50. Then.... before starting the 2nd English paper, the person invigilating admitted that she had made a mistake with the time allocation of the first paper, and had made them stop 45 minutes too soon!

Sunday with the Stevens's

I took the Sunday School lesson this morning. The children were visibly disappointed that Arthur was not going to be their teacher. Thankfully, he stayed on to help with the hand work after the lesson. The young ones obviously relate better to him than to this slow, limping old woman. It was brought home to me how we cannot sin in isolation - our actions as believers always affect others as well as our own relationship with God.

We invited Danni's parents, Brenda and Clarence Stevens, over to have coffee and cake with us in the afternoon. Both Graeme and I were a little apprehensive, but the visit went well. After tea and savoury muffins and chocolate brownies, we went down to the wharf to look at a huge old fashioned sailing ship that had anchored for a day or 2. Back to the manse for a while, and then they agreed to attend evening service with us.

Friday 13th

After 2 frustrating visits to the doctor, I finally managed to see a doctor who gave me all the results (expected and unexpected) from the little growths that were removed from my face, as well as the precautionary blood tests that were done. The growths on my face were benign, but my liver is only functioning at 87%, and my kidneys are also not functioning properly. Even though I don't feel particularly unwell, I have a high white cell count - indicating an infection. The doctors seemed unperturbed by the decreasing functioning of my body parts - they say it is a normal part of growing old. Other than increased tiredness, I don't feel very different from what I did a year ago.
I have passed my "best by" date, and can now happily look forward to my "expiry date", which God says He has already decided on.

Sad News

On Thursday, our Arthur informed us that his girlfriend, Danielle, was expecting his baby. Needless to say, we were stunned. Arthur voluntarily put himself under church discipline, and resigned from all leadership positions in the church. He and Danielle agreed to meet once a week with Vince and Vilma March for mentoring, for a period of one year. (They have already had their first session with them.) At the end of the year, they will decide whether to get married. Either way, though, Arthur intends to be a father to the baby.

Arthur made a public confession at all 3 church services on Sunday - rather an ordeal for him. His announcement was met with "loud silence." Although this situation is very sad for his Christian witness here, we also believe that (depending on all of our reactions) it can also be turned into a witness of how to deal with sin amongst our members. So far, everyone has only expressed love and support for both Arthur and Danni, and for that we are most grateful.

Arthur writes 5 'O' level papers over the next 3 weeks, and we pray that he will not be too distracted, and that he will pass them.