Morgan Family Travels - final episode ...

Well, we are now back in blisteringly hot Mississauga (high of 37 celsius today with a humidex of over 42).

We are down to seven boxes in the basement.

We've had the chance to catch up with a few friends and will hopefully have the chance to continue to see others over the next few weeks.

I have no idea what the future holds, but I know that God has richly blessed us, and taught us lessons this year that I had no idea we would learn. So I know that He is in the future, and holding it close.

Kaitlyn (and Hannah, too, sometimes) is memorising Psalm 139 right now. It has many valuable things to say to us at this point:

1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, ^[a] you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to ^[b] me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?

22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Pictures

The girls - all taken in Helen and Robin's back garden. Note Kaitlyn's two missing front teeth!

The girls have become very sweet and loving with one another this year - they are growing into "sister-friends".

Kaitlyn doing her monkey impression!

Hannah, copying Kaitlyn "My do it, my do it!"

Morgan Family Travels - 29

Well, Happy Easter, all! We are down to two weeks left, and we've had a good week.

Last weekend was quite low-key, allowing all of us to try to recuperate from our bugs. On Monday, Kaitlyn, Trevor and I went off to see Mary Poppins (Trevor having begged his mother's ticket off her at the last minute ... now there's sacrificial love for your son!) We had dinner at Garfunkle's restaurant, a two-minute walk from the theatre. We then went into Foyle's (our favourite London bookstore, and right next door) for twenty minutes before the show started. We had excellent seats - stalls, row R - and the show was amazing! The stagecraft was pushing boundaries we'd certainly never seen pushed before and it was all quite an amazing first exposure to professional theatre for Kaitlyn!

Tuesday we went down to Havant to spend the day with them and take the children for a few hours while Kim went to sing. We took them back to Undercroft (an indoor, nursury-school like place where you can go and play with your children - it is amazingly well-equipped, and gives the children lots of room to play), which they thoroughly enjoyed (and was about the only non-wet place in Havant that day, I think!)

Wednesday Trevor and I took the girls into London to see the Modernism exhibit at the V&A, and then for a couple hours in the Science Museum (including sighting a club foot brace from 1880 - not a lot has changed since then ...)

Thursday Helen and Robin took the girls and I to Silchester, the site of an old Roman town. You can still see a lot of the walls, and the ampitheatre, and there's also a medieval church there that is quite beautiful. Its quite impressive when you put your imagination into it, but not necessarily a walk to be done with a push chair!

Friday being Good Friday, the girls and I went down to church in the morning with Helen for what was supposed to be a stages of the cross for children. It did have worship stations set up around the church, which were appreciated, but there weren't any other children there, so it lacked the community element, which was a shame. After lunch Trevor took us out for a hike with the girls up Leith Hill to the tower, and up the tower to the highest point in Surrey. Hannah actually walked the whole way, which is definitely working towards a push-chair-free life.

Speaking of push-chairs, we have now given away our chariot and kid-carrying back-pack, so we are definitely growing towards a baby-accessory-free life all the way around.

Friday evening Trevor went down to Andover to spend a jolly 24 hours killing things with his brother. I believe much fun and relaxation was had by both of them.

Saturday the girls and I joined Helen and Robin in various 'ready-for-easter' activities in the morning and lounged around for the rest of the day.

Sunday Trevor and the girls and I went to Christ Church in Woking again for a very enjoyable Easter Morning all ages service, complete with a communion that involved the option of gluten-free wafers, which we were very pleased about. From church we came home long enough to change and then headed out again to Frenscham Pond where we met up with all of the UK family for a picnic lunch and hike. Having run some of the energy out and acquired a large collection of sand, we all returned for a family dinner of Easter lamb and chocolate eggs! Just before everyone left, Auntie Kimmy did the honours of removing Kaitlyn's first front tooth!!! (And, having been informed in front of Kaitlyn that the going tooth-fairy rate was 1 pound, and having told Kaitlyn there was a bonus for the first tooth, the tooth-fairy then produced 1.20 for exchange!)

Yesterday we joined a group of 20-30's for an Easter Monday pub walk, which was good fun. Hannah got carried around for most of it (because of speed, primarily) but did walk at least a mile or so at the end, and Kaitlyn walked all but about 500 meters, when she had a piggy-back ride. The pub lunch was nothing spectacular, and the service was appalling even by British standards, but the company was very enjoyable.

Currently we're back at our homeschool books, and Trevor's gone off with his mother to buy fence posts and rent fence post diggers to tackle some work in his parents' back garden before we go. Kim and Davita and I are planning a girls' day out for Saturday and leaving our husbands with our children! Apart from that I think at some point Trevor and I will try to get back up to London one last time, and I've got the obvious job of trying to repack all of our stuff back into our suitcases (hopefully!) to get us back home again.

Looking forward to seeing all of you in Canada again, and feeling sad to be leaving all of you in England...

Morgan Family Travels - 28

I last wrote on the 28th of March. On the 31st we flew out to Ireland for four nights, bringing along with us a travelling companion for Kaitlyn - (another!) Elizabeth. We spent two nights with a friend of Trevor's family, Paul, who lives in Enniscouly. We stayed the night there on Friday night (giving me time to have either drastic food poisoning or some sort of thankfully-short-lived stomach bug).




Saturday we travelled down to Gory, passing on the way _____, the former seat of Irish government, complete with tumbled-down abbey and castle (which is now in somebody's back garden!) From Gory we carried on to Wexford, and had a nice meal out together, followed by fancy helium balloons for the girls, which they thought were wonderful all the while they weren't fighting over them!






Sunday morning we got up and packed ourselves back in the car for the ride back up to Dublin. We had seen numerous rainbows on Friday and Saturday (and more after), but it was during this drive that I discovered why the Irish stories talk about looking for gold at the end of the rainbow - its because the rainbows actually appear to be touching the ground!!! Its quite astonishing!


We checked into our hotel in Dublin, said good-bye to Paul, had lunch and then took the bus from the hotel into Dublin city-centre. (Having a 6:10 check-in on Tuesday morning we didn't fancy being any further from the airport than necessary). We took the girls to Dublinia, a kids museum about Dublin during the medieval period, as well as some information about the Vikings and their impact on Ireland. All very interesting, with lots of touchy-feely hands-on interaction. I bought a book of Irish Legends to read to the girls at the gift shop. As we came out we realised that the museum was in the old Chapter House of the Irish Catholic Church. We descended the stairs and tried to look into the Church, which was just about ready for 15:30 Sunday Evensong, but were blocked at the door by the 'voluntary' payment police. Not unusual in England, but don't get Trevor started on it unless you want a long rant!

After that it was a long walk back to find our bus, but on the way we did discover a Tim Horton's in a Spar (a corner-store popular in the UK and Ireland). The sign outside (which we completely failed to see) read "A taste so big it could only have come from Canada!" Well, we were very pleased to get our donuts and coffee (no hot chocolate) even if they were slightly stale and overpriced! Then it was back to the hotel, dinner at the on-site restaurant and to bed for the kids, while we kept guard in the hallway and did the Sudoku.





Monday we were up at typical young children times, and figured we might as well get going. We had breakfast at the restaurant, then got ready and got out, heading for Malahide - about twenty minutes away, but that didn't account for just missing a 50 minute bus service. Ah well, it was another experience! (I think by this point Kaitlyn's friend Elizabeth was definitely wishing that she hadn't come with us!)

The bus driver dropped us very close to the footpath entrance, but what we didn't realise was that the castle was still another twenty minute walk away! Along the way we found a children's playground, much to everyone's pleasure. We had been planning on taking the girls to the Children's Museum (complete with very elaborate dolls' house) next to Malahide castle, but it unfortunately didn't open until April 16th. Not wishing to lay in wait in the courtyard, we carried on to the castle.

Unlike almost all of the other castles we've visited, Malahide castle was inhabited from 1185 - 1975, and all by the same family, except for a couple of years during Cromwell's time. We went through the castle, which is obviously still in quite exceptional nick, and I think the girls found it relatively interesting. I know Trevor and I liked it.


After a cream tea for lunch we headed back to the bus stop and took the bus back into Dublin, where we spent a happy afternoon 'culture-snooping' in the bookstore and department store. We always find it interesting to go round and see how fashions differ, what books are in the 'popular reads' sections, etc. We met up with Paul and Liz in front of the Spike (a fallic symbol, I'm sure my OAC English teacher would say!) and headed back towards the airport for a late but extremely good Indian meal. We then headed back to the motel, tucked the girls in bed, set the alarms for 5:30 and went to bed.

Tuesday we were up at 5:30 and five people dressed, all bags packed and waiting for the cabby at 6:00. Checked in at the airport by an extremely nervous woman (I think it might have been her first day on her own, poor girl!) and managed to get a bit of breakfast into us before we got onto the plane. Trevor's father met us at the other end, despite being down with quite a nasty bug, and drove Trevor directly to work (stopping for Elizabeth to be sick on the side of the road, poor girl) and then took the rest of us home. All in all we were really pleased to get to go to Ireland. It is an absolutely gorgeous country, and we really enjoyed how relaxed and friendly the Irish were.

Having gotten us home, Robin went back to bed to nurse his bug and I sorted laundry, got the girls lunch, went and got groceries and library books, got dinner and got the girls to bed.

Wednesday I had a chiropractor's appointment at 9:10 which I just about got to on time, despite walking to it (a 45 minute walk). We then went to the library so Kaitlyn could get her school work done, and discovered they were going to have Rhyme-Time, which we stayed for. Kaitlyn thought it was baby-ish, but I think Hannah liked it - she actually sat still! We then ran several errands, and had lunch in Woking and a play at the park before returning home. Trevor came home to tell me that he had prematurely worked himself out of a job. Although unfortunate, the timing couldn't have been better, as he has spent the last three days in bed with his parents' bug. I am still trying to fight it off, but spent most of yesterday in bed myself with the effort. For now the girls haven't got it!

Please pray for health for us for these last few weeks. We have many people we'd like to see, a few places locally we'd still like to go to, tickets for Kaitlyn, Helen and I to see Mary Poppins in the West End on Monday, and of course Easter next weekend, and I'd really love to be able to enjoy all of that without the stress of people being sick any longer! We are counting down the days till we go home, and are looking forward to seeing so many of you soon!

I didn't take all of my camera-kit with me to Ireland - just my 50mm lens, so please excuse the photo composition.

Morgan Family Travels - 27 - Long Overdue!

Hello all, and sorry for the extreme delay in this next episode. We are in fact still alive, and have very little excuse for the delay in this email except that we have been concentrating on living and figuring out who we are and where we're going for the last month, and I think in the long run, it will be well worth the silence.

I last wrote on the 20th of February. At that point Trevor was working what we thought would be a long-term contract extending beyond our return to Canada. As it turned out, the contract ended within a couple of days of my last message. As of last Wednesday Trevor has again found work, and is enjoying the challenge of being a Senior Systems Architect and Designer, and managing a team of three people. Though the initial contract end seemed like a bad thing, it has turned into a wonderful learning opportunity for Trevor, and he's really enjoying the challenge.

While Trevor was out of work we did take the opportunity afforded to us by his brother's wife's parents to spend a weekend up in the Lake District, which was both relaxing and breathtakingly beautiful, despite the necessity to drive 7 hours up on Friday and 6 hours back on Sunday.















When we arrived back we had parent teacher interviews at Kaitlyn's school. We left feeling very discouraged about what was going on - particularly the attitude we felt her teacher had towards stimulating Kaitlyn (or anyone else in her class) who had advanced beyond the point of the basic curriculum. Kaitlyn's skills had regressed over the two and a half months she'd been at school, and we simply weren't pleased. We decided that with three weeks to go in the term, and Trevor without work at the time, we would take the opportunity to do some more museums and other day trips, and go back to homeschooling Kaitlyn. This has not been a decision we regret in the slightest.

As we worked through what our issues had been with the school in question, and what our desires were long-term for the girls' schooling, we realised that the right decision for us is to continue homeschooling. We have found a curriculum direction that we are both very comfortable with, called the Classical Curriculum, based on the medieval Trivium, or three-stage approach to education. You can read more about it at: http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/ This decision represents more than just a decision about what the children will be doing for school - it also represents a long-overdue peace for me at the thought of staying home as a mother long term. I have been wrestling with this issue, and its opposite - that of feeling compelled into the paid workforce - for years, and for the first time since I became a mother I am feeling completely at peace about it, and I am very thankful for this.

So, where are we at? We leave England five weeks (35 days) from today. In the coming five weeks Trevor has a contract to (hopefully) finish (there is a small chance he will have to come back for a couple of extra weeks to finish his obligations, but I'm of course hoping that won't be the case!) we are going to Ireland for five days (leaving Friday), and we are finishing our list of museums, points of historical/geographical interest and family to visit, celebrating Easter and packing up. I may or may not be able to post in the coming weeks, but I will try.

As always, thanks to all of you for your love and prayers. This has been a very difficult year for us in many ways - its often been impossible to see why we are here, and certainly to answer why we are here for so long, having put so much of our lives on hold - but I think we are beginning to see what an amazing opportunity it has been for spiritual and personal growth, and we look forward to seeing where it all leads as we look to come home.

Morgan Family Travels - 26

We've been busy again, and that's for sure. The first half of February seems to have been and gone in a blur - its already the 20th! Lets see if I can put together the pieces of what we've done.

Saturday, February 4th Kaitlyn got to go rock climbing at an indoor rock climbing centre. She had a great time and would love to go again.

Sunday, February 5th we led an evening service at a local church. We had about 50 people there, despite quite limited 'advertising' and an almost complete cross-section of ages - from about five months to mid-fifties or very early sixties. We started with a light tea (sandwiches, crisps, fruit, drinks), then progressed through a series of seven worship stations, then followed with a time of worship and sharing of communion. We loved having communion 'Journey' style (one person takes the bread, breaks it into two pieces, gives a piece to someone else, they prayer for each other, then go and break it again and pray with someone else, and so on) - I have desperately missed this element of church! We are still hoping to have some official feedback from the church, but several people there at the time seemed quite happy to have come - they enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere; they enjoyed the fact that their children were a part of it, and that both they and their children could get something out of the experience; and at least one other person appreciated the way we did communion.

The experience was marred slightly by the fact that we had to leave Hannah at home with Grandma when she was sick (threw up) just before we were set to leave. Wonderful timing. This unfortunately did not bode well for the rest of the week, and I got very little done during the week except basic mothering. Kaitlyn came down with the same bug on Thursday night, keeping her home from school on Friday, the last day before half-term.

Friday, February 10th Trevor had arranged for us to have a 'mystery date night' out. He had arranged babysitting, made reservations at a fancy french restaurant and booked us front row seats to the Siberian National Ballet's production of Romeo and Juliet. It was superb - and a secret until I arrived which made it that much more exciting!

Saturday, February 11th despite the fact that Kaitlyn was still poorly, Trevor and I packed up and said goodbye to the girls, leaving them with Grandma and Grandpa while we went away for three nights to Wales! We had reservations at a nice hotel just on the outskirts of Tenby, which is on the coast in Pembrokeshire. It was gorgeous! We had time to spend with one another, to catch up and build up our relationship, and we had time to spend alone and to think and begin to plan a bit into the future for the first time in I can't remember how long. It was extremely refreshing.

On the way to Tenby we stopped in Bassaleg, Wales, where Trevor's Great-grandfather was born. We found the church he was married in and buried at (we think), and the house that we think he was born in, though its now had quite extensive reconstruction done to it. We were even able to get inside! (Robin had done all of the research ahead of time, and if I've got this wrong, my apologies)

On the way home from Tenby we went the 'pretty way' through the Brecon Beacons National Park. It was absolutely gorgeous.

We arrived back on the evening of February 14th, to joyous girls and relieved grandparents. The next day Helen and I caught up with each other while mouching about at Wisley Gardens, which is a National Horticultural Society Garden nearby.

Thursday, February 16th Isaac and Brendan (our nephews) came to stay for three nights, during which we went to the Brooklands Aviation Museum and to a favourite family site - 'The Tree', which is a National Trust walking path with this great tree that the children all climb, as did their daddy's and uncles.

Yesterday, Sunday February 19th, we took the boys with us to church in the morning and then went down to spend the afternoon with their parents and sister, and Helen and Robin.

Kaitlyn started back to school again today. In England they had three terms of school - autumn, spring and summer - and each term is made up of thirteen weeks, the middle week being 'half-term holiday'. So Kaitlyn has six weeks of school left before the end of term, which we will spend in basic living mode, and then we will take the month of April (most of which is Easter school holidays anyways) to travel to Ireland and hopefully into Northern Ireland, and to Belgium we hope. We will also be trying to spend as much time as possible with Trevor's family.

We have made a firm decision to come back to Canada in May to stay, but we are exploring where in Canada will work best for us. I will try to get my photography studio back up and running, and I have some slightly unconventional ideas for portraiture that I can't wait to try. I am also hoping that I will get to do some projects with a friend of mine to challenge ideas about women living with 'dis-ease', as she puts it. Trevor is working for a couple of people now on a contracting basis and is loving it. He's hoping to be able to get enough irons in the fire so that he can make it pay well. We are still trying to figure out where church and ministry fits into all this, but whatever we do we know we want it to be serving God and encouraging His people. Please continue to pray for direction and leading for us.

Morgan Family Travels - 25 - plus pictures!

Hello all!

Sorry its been so much harder for me to keep up with the blog this past month. We're travelling much less, but it turns out that everyday living is actually a lot busier than travelling lots - or at least, different in the time it leaves for things like this.

We've spent the last two weeks getting ready for the service we are leading on Sunday. We're really excited about it, and I think that we are now ready. Tracy, I've got lots of new worship stations for you!

Kaitlyn's been enjoying school - especially the social aspect! Her descriptions of school revolve around break time (recess), school dinners, P.E. class (gym), and friends. She's had a couple of play dates and has thoroughly enjoyed herself - she is quite the giggly five-year-old when she wants to be, but can still be terribly serious when it suits her.

Trevor's been working hard, but mostly from home, so we're at least seeing him in quick moments for lunch and dinner and the odd help with a ride. I definitely like having him around.

I've been loving my photography course - especially the kick-start it gives to getting me out and photographing things. I've also done some painting for the service we're doing. On Tuesday I'm meeting with a member from the fundraising team at the local disability centre to discuss doing some photography for them, which I am very excited about.

The highlight of the last couple of weeks is that Hannah turned two last Friday! She had a (gluten-free) spaghetti and bolognaise sauce topped off with a gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate cupcake. I'm afraid the rest of us just had ice cream - I still haven't perfected the art of cooking with gluten-free flours in such a way that anyone who didn't have to eat it would choose to. But thankfully Hannah enjoyed it thoroughly! ;-)

To complete the celebration we went out as a family on Saturday, complete with Grandma and Grandpa Morgan, to Bockett's farm, where the girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves! I think the pictures are the best way to illustrate that:


Trevor and Kaitlyn - King and Queen of this castle!







Watching the lambs being bottle-fed.












Playing in the tyre-swing.











Hannah on a 'cow'.













Hannah on a tractor!








Goat milking.











Baby piglets.








Kaitlyn on the pony.







Hannah on the pony. Both girls absolutely loved their pony ride!







Watching Grandma feed the animals. No feeding of animals was desired by the girls, shall we say.

Morgan Family Travels - 24

We've had a much better week health-wise this week, although unfortunately others in the family seem to have picked up on the germs. To keep life interesting, however, I have suffered the effect of six months without chiropractic care and sleeping in lots of different beds with lots of different pillows, and got a horrible crick in my neck. So needless to say I've made friends with a local chiropractor now and am in the process of working it out.

A few people have asked us whether 'plane tickets for May 2' is the same as 'coming home May 2'. As far as we know we are coming home May 2. I can't think of any reason right now that would keep us from returning then. However, the truth is that in my heart I still don't believe that its going to be that easy, as I don't feel I know what we will do when we come home. So the uncertainty is entirely mine on this one. (Kaitlyn and Trevor are just excited to think about coming home ... I'm the weird one on this).

Our big news this week was that we have been asked to put on an evening service at the local baptist church. They have just said goodbye to their pastor of 23 1/2 years and are wanting to spend some time thinking and praying about where to go as a congregation before they set off. So we will be leading a 'contemplative' service for them - encorporating elements such as a meal and worship stations and communion which we have enjoyed at the Journey - and if they enjoy it we will be doing these services once a month or every other week until we leave. The purpose is not to create a new service that will continue in perpetuity, but rather to serve them for a time, and bless them to go on their way to become a church that will serve the local community in the way that God would see fit. Either way, we are quite excited about it. We think this might be some of the answer to what we are to do - making connections with local churches and serving them as they seek to listen to God.

Morgan Family Travels - 23

First off my apologies for missing last week's blog/email. Both Trevor and I have spent the last week fighting off various bugs, leaving us with little energy for anything else. So while we haven't got much to fill the space on the blog, we thought we should at least let folks know what we have done.

Kaitlyn's been at school for two weeks now, and we're starting to get used to the routine. I'll say this much - school uniforms sure make getting dressed in the morning a cinch! The first week I cycled Kaitlyn (and Hannah) to school and home again, but this past week we were very grateful to Robin and Helen for playing chauffeur while I was down with a cold and flu.

Trevor seems to be enjoying his job, and loves working in the middle of Covent Gardens in London. He takes the train from West Byfleet to London Waterloo and then walks (it takes 10 - 15 minutes) the rest of the way in.

Hannah has decided that she is old enough to start her formal education, in the form of learning all of her colours, numbers and letters. Grandma Morgan has several big 'learning' posters up on the doors including one with numbers and one with letters, and Hannah will take you by the hand and drag you over to these and start pointing at them. She hasn't learned it all by far, but she's so happy exploring it, that it really doesn't matter. She doesn't mind getting things wrong, either - she's just content to be 'doing' a 'big kid' thing.

Finally, please be praying about an opportunity we may have to work with one of the local churches nearby. We are still discussing things with their leadership, so I will give more details as we work things through more thoroughly with them, but for now we'd really appreciate your prayers, as this is something we'd really like to do (not just in England but long term) and also would give us a really good reason for being here right now.

Morgan Family Travels - New Year's Edition (#22)

Well, Happy New Year, folks!

We have had a house-filled, people-filled, but lovely Christmas. Trevor's entire family was able to be here for Christmas day, which was very special, and the girls were certainly lavished with presents as well as affection!

Between Christmas and New Year we all came down with various bugs, but thanks to some sleep and antibiotics we are well on the mend.

We are excited about the year to come ... Kaitlyn will start school at The Grange in New Haw (just down the road from us) on Tuesday. She will be full days there in their Reception year Pink Class. I know that she's quite excited - she said last night she was going to pop! - and I'm sure it will be a really good experience for her. But I'm sure going to miss her companionship. She has turned into a very special young lady, and if nothing else, life is never boring when she's around!

Trevor's new job is settling out, and I'm pretty sure he's enjoying it. I know he loves that when he goes into the office it means going into Covent Garden in London, which is this wonderful area with lots of live street music and coffee shops and market stalls.

Hannah hasn't yet figured out what it will mean to be without her favourite toy (sister) every day, and I'm hoping that with some effort on my part we'll be able to have some really enjoyable time together just the two of us. She is now talking in sentences and wants to explore absolutely everything ... by taking it apart or pouring it out or disassembling it, or climbing it, or whatever else the options are.

But none of that is really any different than what I said just before Christmas, is it? The thing is that there are several thoughts running around in our heads that we're still trying to find a coherent voice for. They involve where we go from here. Our plane tickets home to Canada are for May 2nd, and while we now have a sense of what we'll be doing from now until then, the future after that is a little bit more complex. Furthermore we want to be ministering while we are here as well as living, and we're not quite sure what that will look like, either. So we keep praying, and we keep taking baby steps, and we keep hoping that the future will become clear as and when it needs to.

We want to serve God, but do not feel we could be 'members' of a local church again. We want to be in community with other Christians, but are often incredibly frustrated by the churches we visit. We want to disciple and see Christians grow in knowledge and grace and truth, but often feel a lack of opportunity because of the busy-ness of people's daily lives. We yearn to see our generation come to know the love of God manifested through his Church by the Holy Spirit in an intercultural, intersocial and intergenerational community. But we don't know how or with whom that will come to pass.

Continuing the journey ...

Pictures

Kaitlyn's new school uniform and book bag


















Kaitlyn and Hannah wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

















The Morgan Grandchildren, minus Jeremiah, at the crib service on Christmas Eve.

Morgan Family Travels - 20

Hello all!

Much better week this week - so good I'm actually writing early! ;-)

We spent Sunday afternoon on the phone with wonderful friends in Canada who gave us a good 'cheering up' by listening, praying with us and encouraging us that God was really still using us and working in us and guiding our thoughts, particularly given that some of the questions I mentioned last week are also being thought about by our church community back home (much to our surprise!) God is good, life can seem dark at times, and our christian communities are VITAL to our spiritual and emotional health (not to mention physical and provisional well-being, which we have also seen God provide for us at other times through our community). So, yeah God and yeah for community!

That conversation, coupled with some other factors have convinced us to try to settle down a bit for the next few months. Trevor has a contract job based in London starting Monday or Tuesday of next week, which he's very pleased to get. It may turn into a full-time, permanent, even-when-we're-back-in-Canada job, but for now its a good job, good learning experience and it will definitely help in paying for all of our galavanting!

Kaitlyn has been enrolled in a local school to begin on January 3rd. She's quite excited about it, as am I (though I'm a bit uncertain, too ... after all, I've never been to school in England, so I don't know what differences to expect). However, we've got part of her school uniform already, the rest should come by mid-week next week, and she is going to look very smart. She will also be taking school dinners, which is something we certainly didn't have, and I hope she will like. The school also participates in a program through the County I think that provides every child age 5 - 7 with a piece of fruit or vegetable every morning, which sounds like an excellent idea. I'll make sure that once I have her full uniform we take a few pictures so you can all see her decked out like a little Brit!

Hannah and I are also going to be making plans. I'm going to start taking Hannah to a playgroup once or twice a week so that she's getting some other 'kid' time, and am also going to look into a gym class for her, but that may or may not be feasible because of transportation. I've signed myself up for an on-line course on Street Photography through www.betterphoto.com. Its an 8-week course that's conducted entirely on-line, with weekly photo assignments, and Robin and Helen have graciously agreed to look after Hannah for me one day a week so that I can go into London to do the assignments. This will correspond almost completely with Kaitlyn's school term, so will be quite convenient. It will be an opportunity to do some learning with a guide, which I haven't really done very much of until now, and will be a bit of 'me' time and an opportunity to take advantage of living close to London while I have it by being in the city at least once a week. I'm hoping to choose a different bit of the city to explore each time so that I have a better idea of the city by the time its done.

This weekend we have things booked up Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night, so I'll try to update on Monday.

Morgan Family Travels - 19

Last week is a bit of a blur. Monday the girls and I spent down in Havant with Trevor's sister-in-law Kim and her children. The children actually spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa and Kim and I hemmed curtains for her lounge (living room).

Tuesday we had Hannah weighed and measured in anticipation of her Wednesday dietician's appointment. Neither appointment was wonderful, but nothing horrid either - just no real answers for the outstanding challenges, and as she'd been ill for a week and on antibiotics her system is still slightly confused and a little bit lighter as a result.

One afternoon last week we did a load of Christmas shopping, which was fun.

Over the weekend we participated in Moot weekend retreat. We were at a place called Carroty Wood and it was a very low-key relaxing sort of weekend. It gave us a good chance to see what the community was like, get a sense of their vision, successes and challenges, and have the chance to talk to each other some more in the continuing Trevor and Heather search for who we are, what we're doing, and what this trip means.

Some of the things we are thinking about include the following topics - anyone want to weigh in with their own ideas?

1. The question of 'How Do We Live By The Spirit?'
Some ideas include:
*it must be communal
*it includes the practice of the Spiritual Disciplines and the Rule of Life

2. The question of 'How Do WE Seek First The Kingdom?'
Some ideas include:
*it is communal at heart (therefore 'we' not 'I' in the question)
*God is triune, hence communal, and invites us to be part of that community
*communities have upper and lower maximums of effectiveness
*it can't be vague of half-hearted
*accepted, loved, not left where they are -- the Kingdom is a DYNAMIC SYSTEM
*always journeying
*the values of the system include: a place of system where those on the fringe are invited into the center; where the lost are sought at the expense of those whose position are known; it brings about inclusion; people have infinite value, even if we don't like them

3. The question of 'What Is The Purpose For The Community Of God?'
The only point we have written so far is:
*it expresses Kingdom values

Any additions, amendments, comments or lively debate are completely welcome!

Moot

Sunday we went up to London again, this time to visit Moot, a church community in Westminster. They had a very nice service that was modelled around the concept of 'Godly Play'. There was around 10 kids and 20 adults, and we all sat on the floor around a sandbox set up in the middle, and were led through the story of the Exodus using the sand to represent the desert, and little cardboard characters as the Israelites. It was particapatory, in that the kids got to help move the characters through the 'Red Sea', and both kids and adults were asked which characters they identified with the most. It worked surprisingly well, and I think both kids and adults took something useful away from it. Afterwards parents were invited to go down to a local park with the kids.

Experiencing London

This week has been an opportunity for us to get up to London a couple of times. On Friday the grandparents babysat for us so we could have some time together. We took the train up to London and saw a bunch of the sights. First stop was the London Eye, which gives quite fantastic views over the city. I'm sure Heather will post a bunch of pictures soon. Then we took the tube and the Docklands Light Railway down to docklands. (The DLR is a driverless rapid transit system. One thing London has definitely got right is its transit. With one ticket, you can travel all day on the trains, subways, buses and light railway. We never had to wait for more than a couple of minutes for a train or a bus.)

Docklands used to be a run-down industrial area, but has now been re-invented as a commercial hub. We had lunch, looked at the architecture, and then headed back into town. From the tube station at St. Pauls we crossed the river on the Millenium Bridge, which is another amazing piece of architecture. Technically it's a suspension bridge, but the cables don't drop down from tall towers on either end of the bridge; rather they travel beside the bridge, and are tethered BENEATH it! It's really very clever.

Across the bridge is the Tate Modern, an art gallery. Some of it was closed, but we got to see some of the exhibits. Some were weird, some very good. I particularly liked embankment, a vast, immersive, strangely organic work that you can walk around, in and through.

We had supper on the Strand, and then I took Heather to see Chicago, which was great fun. We haven't had a chance to go to the theatre in nearly 2 years.

Morgan Family Travels - 17

I'm afraid week 17 was not the stuff that blogs are written of. We had a boring week at home sorting ourselves out from our trip and fighting off bugs that we have now, all four of us, succumbed to. But, for the record, week 17 has now been and gone.

We will try to add some pensing on the first third of our trip in the coming days.

Our Norwegian Phrases

Norge er et flott lande. - Norway is a beautiful country.

Hei - Hello

Mitt navn er ... - My name is ...

Jeg kommer fra Canada. - I come from Canada.

Jeg vil lare norsk. - I want to learn Norwegian.

Det er alt jeg kan si. - That is all I can say.

Takk for at du hørte på meg. - Thank you for listening.

Tall: Numbers:

1 - en

2 - to

3 - tre

4 - fire

5 - fem

6 - seks

7 - sju

8 - åtte

9 - ni

10 - ti

Our Swedish Phrases

ja - yes

nej (pronounced nay) - no

hej (pronounced hay) - hello

hejdå - goodbye

Jag heter _______. - my name is

tack - thank you

Tack så mycket – thanks very much

Jag bo i Kanada - I live in Canada

Lära mig Svenska – teach me Swedish

<>Jag lära Svenska – I learn Swedish

Inte – not (jag kan inte – I cannot)

Nej tack – no thanks

<>Kyrka (sheer-kah) – church

Vägen/gatan – road/street

Jag är på vag – I'm on my way

bil – car

Jag älskar dig – I love you

Duktig flicka – good girl

Kan jag få en ... - can I have a ...

Jag kan prata engelska – I can speak english

<>Jag här en ... - I have a ...

1 – en/ett

2 – två

3 – tre

4 – fyra

5 – fem

6 – sex

7 – sju (shoe)

8 – åtta

9 – nio

10 – tio

11 – elva

12 – tolv

13 – treton

14 – fyrton

15 – femton

16 – sexton

17 – sjutton

18 – artton

19 – nitton

20 – tjugo (shoogoh)

Bergen Pictures

The mouth of Bryggen harbour, with Haakon's Hall on the right-hand side (the stone building).










More of Bryggen Harbour.







Bryggen







A cruise ship leaving from the new harbour.











Old Bergen is covered with these neighbourhoods of little windy alleys with cobbled streets and wooden houses. Its not surprising the cities been burnt to the ground several times over.


















The wharf at the end of Bryggen Harbour.







The view out the front of the Floi Banen








The view from the top of the mountain.







Kaitlyn with the troll.











Hannah and Trevor with the Troll.











Bergen at night - the view from our skylight.












On our way back to England.