Thursday 30 June 2011

The magnificent seven.....

Gosh, the house is full !!...and so the "new normal" commences....

  • Dinner time is like a feeding frenzy at the zoo....

  • The shopping bill is somewhat larger than previously....

  • The sleeping arrangements are most interesting....including a double mattress on the floor in the lounge (Really need to sell some houses.....!)

  • E's two children are settling in very well to their new school which is just fab and a great answer to prayer....

  • There's washing and ironing, school bags and school books everywhere you look....

  • We now have an many types of pet as we have children in the house !

  • Slowly but surely we are establishing our identity as a single uniquely combined family unit....
Ellie's fast asleep on the sofa - I think she's tired out ! (Bless !!)
zzzZZZzzz

Wednesday 22 June 2011

Mr & Mrs




Please can you send us your photos of the day ?!!!


Lots of love


Mr and Mrs Mackay :-)


xx

Tuesday 21 June 2011

A couple of photos...

Not got any photos of our wedding day yet...but I do have these.....


Thursday 16 June 2011

Lists....

We have lists of things to do on pieces of paper everywhere.....and Ellie has officially become "List Queen" (I'm really no match!).... can't quite believe Saturday is ever going to happen but I guess time will inexorably march us to the day!

In my house we now have glasses and cups and decor and bunting and wine and soft drinks and napkins and tissues and soap and a wedding dress (I've still not seen it !) and bridesmaid's dresses and bridesmaids shoes (by the truckload), and necklaces, and half-packed bags and and and .....

Had a phone call from the Estate Agent today asking if they can do a viewing on Saturday....

Think we're gonna be ready for a holiday when this is all over..... the good news is that one of the items that has a big tick next to it is "Honeymoon" - 2 days away-together, alone.....hooray !!

We're both really looking forward to being married, can't quite believe it's true, but know that it's good.....we're also both panicking slightly (quite a lot sometimes!) but also deep down we are both totally at peace about the day and the future...

Phil4:7
"And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus"

Roll on Saturday.... !

Sunday 12 June 2011

Gosh, is that the time ?!



We arose early this morning to rush over to New Malden to see the Webster's prayed out of their home church.....this is their last official Sunday at Christchurch, New Malden. It was fabulous to be there !!


The rest of the day was unexpectedly relaxing....very nice as normally it's pretty manic when we're all together. It's the last weekend we will have as independent families...next weekend we are merged together as a new (fairly unique!) family unit....that's always assuming that time doesn't stop between now and next weekend. It really feels like it's going to!! - neither Ellie nor I can quite get our heads around it !!


If you're coming to the wedding, please remember, our preference is for no wedding presents, but any voluntary donations to our preferred charity would be very gratefully received! Click here if you'd like to take part in our alternative wedding gift list !


On the day there will be 200+ people and there are approximately 110 seats - only slightly over-subscribed ! So please enjoy from a standing position and let somebody older than you have your seat if you're fortunate enough to be youngish and healthy !!!

Can't wait for the day - see you there !

Friday 10 June 2011

Birthday girls....

We had two birthdays this week - I wonder if you can guess who and how old they are (there might be a slight clue in each photo !) Baking isn't my strongest skill but I had a go with the one cake recipe that I do know (good ol' Tanya Ramsey !)....





















Ellie and I keep playing the "This time next week..." game which is often followed by a sharp intake of breath !



Have a blessed weekend !! ....this time next week.....

Monday 6 June 2011

A day of change ?



I awoke this morning to the alarm clock and felt the usual, "Oh, it's Monday" feeling....eventually (with just too little time remaining to shower, prepare 3 packed lunches, sort children, feed dogs/cats/chickens and rush out the door) I decided to get up....the moment my feet hit the carpet though I had an intriguing thought which rang very clear in my mind - the thought was a simple one (I don't have any other types !)....."Today will be a day of change."

As Christians many of us are aware that God can speak to us in the "still small voice"....and (if you're anything like me) when you do have those impressions/words etc that spring into your mind, you wonder whether you heard it right, or whether you just made it all up......

You can decide.....here's a record of (some of) my/Ellie's text conversation today....

C to E - 8:42 At work. Another day. Today is going to be a day of change....

E to C - 8:55 A day of change? What kind of change?....

C to E - 8:58 A day of change - dunno - just think it is...might be totally wrong but it was my first though when I got out of bed!

E to C - 9:25 ....don't get excited, but I've had an offer on my house...but...
(the offer was for £61,000 less than the asking price - which is set realistically according to the EAs and has already been dropped twice).

E to C - 10:55 Had a really good Amy Carmichael passage ....today is about "not shrinking back" (Heb 10:38-39)....

.....later......

C to E - 16:30 Just heard from my EA. Mr Wotsit has given us an offer...don't get your hopes up...his "initial offer" is....
(£40,000 less than the asking price which has also been dropped twice and is also set realistically according to the EAs)

So we've got two offers for two houses on the same day - and we've rejected both - but these are the first offers we've had on our two houses since they went on the market months ago....truly bizarre that they happened on the same day....

The question is, Did I hear from God on a 'normal' Monday morning as my feet hit the carpet, and if so, what do we do next.....?

Tricky ! However I think Amy Carmichael has indeed pointed us in the right direction....

Heb 10:39
But we do not belong to those who shrink back.....but to those who have faith....

Appreciating your prayers - it would be really good to sell two houses and buy a bigger one that will fit everybody in ! 12 days to go until the big day....

Wednesday 1 June 2011

The most stressful thing....



Bet you've never heard of Holmes and Rahe !?


I hadn't heard of them until recently....they are two psychiatrists who developed a scale of 43 stressful life events which can contribute to illness. You can read all about it here. It's interesting reading!

Guess what's top of the list ?? Yes you've got it....

In 1st place is "Death of a Spouse" with 100 'life change units'
In 2nd place, is "Divorce" with 73 life change units
In 7th place is "Marriage" with 50 life change units.
In 43rd place is "Minor violation of the law" with 11 life change units (84mph in a 70mph limit....oooops!)

I miss Karena and of course never really stop thinking about her (how could I ?)...she's having a fabulous time with Jesus tho (of that I'm absolutely sure!!).... and at the same time I'm really looking forward to being married to the lovely Ellie......

2 weeks and 3 days to go until the big day ! Can't wait ! Am still wondering whether the day will ever actually arrive....but I'm trying not to get too stressed about it :-)