BLESSINGS FOR EASTER … pray this letta on
our blog finds you all well and praising God for his wonderful gift of JESUS
CHRIST!! What a mighty God we serve!!
FEBRUARY was a busy month with so much on
the go – It has been hard to juggle the 3 boys at school, our involvement in
ministry and still make special family time.
Time does tend to run away with you…
The boyz have all settled so nicely into their school routine and had
glowing reports from their teachers at the end of term 1. Still cannot believe that the twins are in
school already. Time surely has flown
by! J Troydie’s most favorite this
term is time spent learning about our world, history, biology, and geography
the more information you can give the better.
He loves his swimming and is a very outgoing, confident little boy. Treyson likes to keep up with the pack,
always having high expectations on himself.
He is keen to try anything new and loves to play on the playground. Tryston is our music art man he loves to
colour, paint, draw and be creative. He
so enjoys the sand pit too J.
So as you can see each one is special and individual in their own space
it is very special. Tryst and Trey have
just learned how to do puzzles and are moving along swiftly as they conquer 48
pieces – it is one of their favorites!
Troy has lost 5 teeth in the last few
months that we are now calling him Mr TOOFLESS as just now he will have to eat
yoghurt and custard because he wont have any teeth to chew with. The smiles are all too cute. It has been so funny as the brothers never
got all their baby teeth and they each have rather large gaps between their
front teeth they are now going around telling everyone that they lost a tooth
too JJJJJ
The boyz are so enjoying each other as they
grow older the age gap is getting smaller and they are play so nicely with each
other it has been a real blessing they have become such great friends that they
asked to share a room we now have them all together now and it is great fun for
all :)
We had our first broken window this month –
YEY for cricket, bats and balls. When
you hit the ball be sure to hold on tight to the bat. One of our bats seemed to lose touch and fly
through the air and then connect with the window! We told the boys that pocket
money would have to pay for the replacement window and Troy promptly told us that the tooth
fairy money would pay for the window (see he has lost so many teeth he felt
quite rich – only R5.00 per tooth (75c in dollars)
Tan has enjoyed her time at home this term
but has not had much time to be creative.
She has taken on a big ministry load that keeps her on her toes. With writing the Sunday School curriculum,
leading the Ladies Ministry, teaching the mom’s bible study and mom’s group
outings she has little time for much else.
She has even been able to help out in the church office on days when the
secretaries needed a day off. Please
pray much for us as we look for a job for Tan.
She would really like to work at a school as a secretary so that she can
work half day and get the school hols off too – we don’t want her away from the
boyz when they are home and we need a little extra finance to be able to pay
for school fees and help make our ends meet each month – please pray with us…
We have so enjoyed a little extra time to
spend with each other especially on a Monday morning – our “date” morning with
breakfast, walk on the beach, quite time together it has been a special time
for each of us. Thank you Lord for these
little blessings.
Mark has been able to set up his workshop
in the outbuildings behind the house and what a blessing to have this extra
space for him to do the odd wood turning project, Mr fix it project and even
the odd framing project. He was even
able to make me a Herb stand for all my potted herbs.
On the whole we are so very blessed and we
owe much Thanks to God our Father for all he has and is doing through and with
our family. PRAISE YOU JESUS J
Ministry
We kick started our Ladies ministry year
with a Breakfast where we looked at Jesus being the same “yesterday, today, and
forever!” It was a wonderful time of
reflection on the year past, voting our new team into ministry position and
then having a time of prayer and suggestions for the year ahead. What a
blessing to be part of such a vibrant, enthusiastic, creative and supportive
group of ladies. Tan is so encouraged to
start the year and lead together with them all.
The craft ladies got together to make some
cards and had a wonderful time of encouraging each other in fellowship for the
afternoon that was a huge success. The
cards made together are used to bless each lady of our congregation as they
celebrate their birthday. This ministry
has been a massive support and encouragement to so many of our ladies.
Mark is preaching several services a Sunday
and so enjoying the ministry in the pulpit.
He leads the young family’s ministry and so enjoys the time he has to
share with them in the study of God’s word each week. We together have had a huge load of
counseling this last two months and it has broken our hearts to see how much
people are hurting. Pray with us as we
try to offer support, encouragement and the right words from God to lift up so
many that are feeling beaten, hurt and fallen down.
He was able to help with some marriage
preparation and lead the marriage ceremony of one of our young adult couples –
what a privilege and blessing to be a part of such a special marriage
relationship it was really a beautiful service with all Glory focused on
God.
The Sunday school ministry has started well
this year with a constant small number of children each week. It has been exciting to see how changing the
curriculum has enthused the teachers.
Tan is writing a very simple bible lesson outline for the teachers each
week and formulating a simple worksheet / color page to fit the lesson for the
3 age groups. This term we have looked
at ‘Jesus is Lord’, the stories included all from the anointing of Jesus in
Bethany, through Palm Sunday, Crucifixion, burial, resurrection and ascension. We started a “homelink” (take home book with
“homework” that is optional, bible memory to learn for the week and a
“homelink” section to help the parents know what they have learned and how to
apply it through the week). This has
proven to be a huge blessing as the children do not want to miss out week after
week so our numbers have been more consistent.
Also the challenge of learning a bible memory verse each week has
spurred even some of the parents to learn alongside their children. Not to mention the application that has
helped many of the parents to learn, understand and apply the bible story – we
are Praising the Lord for such a positive response to a new approach. Thank you Jesus J
Please pray for Mark as he continues on in
his Masters study’s that prove to be a challenge to find the discipline to
complete. Time, enthusiasm and energy
after a long day of ministry prep is proving to be very difficult.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY T and TAN :):):)
To end our term we were able to celebrate
Tan’s birthday and head out to the Drakensberg
Mountains to Drankensville Camp site.
It was a wonderful weekend full of action, riding bikes, swimming in
their indoor and outdoor heated pools (and the supa tube slide :)), jungle gyms, pony ride, many a braai
(with smores as pudding), feeding the ducks and visiting the animal farm. We even tried our hand at a family game of putt-putt :) Tan’s folks
joined with us as well and Trent, Amber, Emie and Baby Peanut Eayrs coming in
July 2013. We had a special time
together making camping memories we will never forget. Here are a few pics for you to enjoy….
Our newsletter ends with our Easter
celebrations – a highlight to our full weekend was the sunrise service on the
beach where Mark lead the devotion and we all enjoyed a time of worship
together as we watched the sun rise over the sea. THANK YOU LORD – FOR THE CROSS !!
The kids enjoying the sunrise service :)
We so enjoyed special family time over the Easter weekend - the boyz had great fun with all the cousins collecting Easter eggs on the Garden egg hunt :) We even made some Easter bunny ears!!
Mark, Tan and Troyd, Treyson and Tryston
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