Anyone still out there?!?!?!

I know, I've been hopeless at keeping this blog up to date recently..........I think it's been partly busyness of life, sporadic internet connection and a lack of knowledge of what to write.......my muse seems to have disappeared!

Anyway I thought I would update from my last post in October (!) with pictures.......and then hopefully keep on top of this blog with some consistency! I know that Amy O-DeG at least still reads this! Anyway, here are some pics from the months between October and now!

The first picture is one of my now 6 year old nephew in his school Christmas Nativity play. He told me he was playing Joseph. The conversation went something like this -

Auntie Emma - What are you in this years Nativity play Osian?

Osian - I'm playing Joseph, Jessica is Mary and Spencers the donkey

Auntie Emma - Wow, Osh, am well proud of you landing the role of Joseph - well done.

Osian - Mary gets to ride the donkey; Joseph doesn't.......but if I have a headache on the day I may do

I had to try and keep a straight face (and an eye on the road) as he told me this in the car.......but you can also imagine my shock when we were in the church, and out walks Osian as a King, not Joseph......the little rascal was lying through his teeth!!! All said he was a very good King - full of expressions that I'm sure the original wise men didn't have; like thumbs up and a form of moon walking!!

The next picture is of the coldest winter we encountered for 30 years in the UK..........sadly people died, it took my cousins wife 7 hours to make it the last 5 miles home as the weather was so bad.......some friends made the 10 mile journey home in 7 hours, it was all a little insane. Picturesque but insane. We are now hoping for a better summer to compensate the frustration of a cold, long, dark winter. I have to say that I quite enjoyed winter being "winter".....though I was lucky. I wasn't stranded anywhere and the worst journey I did was along on the M56 motorway, driving 50mph tops while lorries were overtaking me........my hands gripped the wheel as Sharon prayed all the way home beside me, believing God would get us safely from the leadership conference in Leicester.....an interesting time!

The next three are of a vacation I took in California in February......my first complete solo vacation, and it was over my birthday too! I really enjoyed it and was proud of myself for doing it. I'd definitely do this type of holiday again - a city break with a conference as it meant that I was pretty busy in the city and then when I went to the conference I knew that I'd meet people there that I could chat with. I flew into San Francisco, spent 2 nights there and then travelled to Redding in Northern California to spend a couple of days chilling and then went to a Prophetic Conference that was being held at Bethel Church, Redding. What a great place to go on vacation....one of the best times was just lying on the floor in their prayer house. The presence of God was wonderful and it was great to just lie in His presence, chatting to Him while not having to worry that you were meant to be somewhere else. The conference blew my mind away and God did some amazing things........all I can recommend is get some books or the podcasts that are coming out of Bethel as they speak Gods truth and His life into every fibre of your being.

The first picture is of course the "7 painted ladies" in San Francsico......I completely fell in love with this city and all of California that I saw. For me it's amazing how whereever I seem to go in the USA, whether I've been there before or not, it feels like home. I get off the plane and feel completely at home.......maybe I need to begin to truly explore this further!

This picture below is of Bethel Church with the prayer house in the left of the picture. It was great to go there- you can sometimes put well known Christians on a pedestal and make them "celebraties" but it was great to see the leadership in their home church, serving their own people and loving their own community - what a privelage to have spent time there.

The weather north of Redding was colder and there was still snow on the ground as you can see. I was able to visit some beautiful parks in the area and the picture below is of Mount Shasta. It truly is a ruggedly beautiful part of the world and even now I crave to go back and spend some more time there........hopefully when its a little warmer next time. And with someone 0ne - I did take a couple of risks with the parks I visited and being the only car in the car park yet still hiking to the look out points after reading what to do if I came across a bear or a mountain lion.....hmm, not the best choice in hindsight!!! ha ha!!!