I’ve said this over and over in this blog, so I though
t I’d write it again. Things we’ve prayed about that we are thankful for:
New prayer pointers:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
Hey! Just to let you know we are back in Santiago and entertaining our first visitor of the year, the lovely Ms Mairi Brookes! Planning a hike tomorrow SE of Santiago.
We had a lovely trip for 8 days to the south of Chile (over 1500km in total!). It was a little cooler than Santiago and the mountains, lakes and volcanoes of the National Parks were very beautiful and, largely, tranquil. More on that soon.
Today we got the great news that Rachel’s PhD corrections have been accepted and no more is required! She is delighted and can at last relax a little.
We’re hoping to get a break from Santiago life soon and are planning some chill time- besides some more shopping (although it is currently on our list of most hated daytime activities) we are looking forward to writing more thank you letters to those who were at our wedding. And we are looking forward to having time together to think, talk and celebrate all that we have here, all that God has helped us through in the last few months and discuss what we’d like to do in the coming months.
So well done Rachel! And roll on the holidays and, if possible, lower temperatures! After 3 days of 35C last weekend, we had 2 days of relief during the week (fog, heat haze, onshore breezes and only 25C!). We’re hoping to follow the lead of the Chileans by escaping to the cooler temperatures found at the coast or in the south of Chile, as well as to see more of the country we are now living in!
Well we’ve had a surprisingly “British” weekend in Santiago after we found the 6 Nations was being shown, with spanish commentary, on one of the cable TV channels!
As anyone who follows the 6 Nations will know, the first three matches produced surprise, delight and despair! Wales were beaten by England, Ireland struggled against Italy and Scotland held out against France!
Without introducing too much bias, WELL DONE SCOTLAND! Fantastic game. Excellent wide field play, good kicking, textbook mauls and, despite rather less than perfect error statistics, opportunitistic and exciting play! In fact, I’m astounded and I can’t wait for next weekend!
As for the Superbowl… this was also shown here. Many of our friends at church were watching with interest.
Rachel discovered that the superbowl was a big game of american football and not baseball, which was a good start…. And I fondly remembered staying up till 3am in Leeds last year watching the game with my flatmates Mark and Karen (from New Mexico). Although it was shown at slightly more palatable hours this time- it finished at 12 midnight here- our favourite to win, the Seattle Seahawks (the underdog, of course), was beaten 21-10 by the Pittsburg Stealers. Shame.
But after the rugby and, given that american football is only vaguely descended from rugby, we don’t really care!
No, I don’t mean the shop that sells cards and cheesy teddy-bears…
We’ve missed the birthdays of four friends recently and are now wading in shame and general lateness…. So here is a special mention of those people (but not their ages- that would be harsh!):
Oh and one more thing…
A bedroom is available to rent in the house of my mates Tim and Chris, in Mayfield, near Dalkeith. Its a lovely house, with joint lounge-dining room, big kitchen, bike shed, garden and more cupboard space than you know what to do with. Oh, and of course, your housemates will offer a continuous stream of entertainment, biblical commentary and hope (that women will one day see the world in the way that men do). I should also mention the dog, Kez who will provide you with boundless affection and an excuse to leave the house regularly.
If anyone is interested in renting, you can contact them on 0131 454 0739. Or contact me and i’ll send you photos of the house/flatmates/dog as applicable.
Seriously, Tim is a great guy. And Chris needs someone to keep him in check (and is great too…!).