Once again, I (Marc (36)) have been too lazy and
preoccupied to send any Christmas cards, so having recovered a little from the
excess of Yuletide religion, I thought I might occupy myself during the lull
with a side of A4 or so of boasting and going on about myself.
Thomas (9 months)’s
main news is that he was born this year. After lengthy portents of his arrival,
it was just as well that we didn’t go for that walk around the lake before he
made his speedy appearance. Thomas Nehemiah Towy was born on
Sunday 23rd March at12:36pm weighing 8 lbs 12 ozs. He is now
crawling, pulling over coffee tables, eating all manner of foods, making lots
of sounds, clapping and waving, and has six teeth.
Matthew (3) is
doing a couple of mornings a week at Daisy Chain nursery. He is a jolly chap
and is perhaps the family’s best prospect as a prop forward.
Abigail (4) has
started at Dallington C of E Primary School. She is already reading better than
her father. She feels rather surrounded by boys at home and is making up for it
by wearing lots of pink.
Jonathan (7)
has declared himself the best in the Universe at mathematics. Completing
worksheets in thirty seconds seems to be the chief criteria. He now happily
occupies himself with his Lego train set.
Yvonne (The
BIG 30!)’s church toddler group continues to thrive and she occasionally does
some bits of playing a church stuff and elsewhere. There are now some mornings
where the older three kids are out and the youngest one sleeps so Yvonne has
had a couple of hours to herself for the first time in the last few years.
Marc has been
appointed Rural Dean so naturally it is now Champagne and caviar daily at the
Rectory, which we are thinking of renaming the Rural Deanery. Sadly the post
fails to come with a palace and a driver. The appointment process is a bit like
winning 3rd prize in a clerical beauty contest and being the only
one not to refuse the prize. Being Rural Dean means that everyone else’s’
problem is now Marc’s problem too but there is precious little he can do about
them.
Marc’s PhD, which he started just after 1066 at Oak Hill,
continues to languish. It seems likely Middlesex will appoint a Director of Studies
and Marc will apply for (another) extension. He would still be happy to bore you on the
subject of the Lord’s Supper and the Bible – compare and contrast kind of stuff
– but is some way off 100 000 original and significant words on the subject.
Life in the
churches seems to plod on happily enough. Sadly for us, The Revd The Lord
Wrenbury, the Assistant Curate at Dallington, was promoted to glory this year,
so now Marc really does have to try to be in three places at once, which proved
a problem, especially, for example, at Midnight Communion.
We had a good Oak Hill Mission as part of Passion for Life. We can’t say revival
has broken out but for the most part the congregation were charmed and it
seemed to be a positive experience of having lots of keen, able, nice young
people around.
Although it is an extraordinary amount of work at certain
points in the year, we had a very enjoyable and worthwhile camp at Danehill. We were delighted that for the first time some
youngsters from these parishes came along as paying members. As ever we are
seeking Bible believing leaders and any old 11-14s for next year so….
During the enthusiasm of camp we acquired a new kitten, Bella. She’s very lively, but as a
result Esther has more or less moved
into the wooden Wendy House in the garden and is rather shy about venturing
indoors.
We are also seeking another Ministry Trainee probably
from September 2015, so if you know anyone who might be suitable for rural
gospel ministry….
We have a had a complaint about Caleb the dog’s
excessive woofing so he now has a special collar to wear when he goes out to
play in the garden, which sprays him in the face if he barks. This does have
the disadvantage that we can now forget he’s out there, but he has yet to be
abandoned there for a whole day.
As ever we’d love to hear from you and you are always
welcome to come and visit or stay.
Blessings for 2015,
Marc, Yvonne, Jonathan, Abigail, Matthew & Thomas
Lloyd, Caleb the dog and Esther and Bella the cats.
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