Life is a rollercoaster... (by Allie)

The last few weeks have been really mixed. We’d probably all identify with the saying that ‘life is a rollercoaster’ with all its many ups and downs, and this is certainly how the Wisdom family is feeling at the moment!

Thank goodness that Jesus says

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt 11 v 28-30 NIV)

It can be so tempting in the busy-ness to skip reading our Bibles or praying, after all, there’s always tomorrow, I’ll do it then. But the reality is that I need that time with my Father. Time spent resting in his presence, just ‘being’ his precious child, finding a quiet and stillness in my heart that I had forgotten was there. God is the ‘still axis’ of my wheel – the bit that does not move, stays constant, unchanging, whatever else is happening around it. I don’t have to be feeling ‘holy’ to come to God, he’ll take me however I’m feeling! Just look at David in the Psalms, we can see almost every human emotion shown there. He certainly didn’t hide anything from God, and we don’t need to either, after all he already knows every single one of my weaknesses, mistakes and shameful secrets and still loves me – wow! So I know I can come to him with anything and everything:

^“ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4 v 6-7 NIV)

What a promise!! In EVERY situation...we can present our requests to God... and he will give us the kind of peace that is beyond our human understanding – who wouldn’t want that?!

These are some of our recent ‘thanksgivings’ and things that have encouraged us...

Harry, Caspar and Felicity’s attitude to their belongings has really changed. They no longer get so emotional about letting go of things, and have even surprised me with offers to give things away before I’ve asked! I’m also finding it easier to be ruthless with what are, after all, just things.

Shopping for 10 months supply of everything eg. summer clothes, shoes, suncream etc.etc.etc. has been far less stressful than I had anticipated, and my Burundi shopping list is looking much smaller now – hooray! I’ve realised how much time I wasted worrying and stressing about it beforehand. Lesson learned? Perhaps ;0)

The funds increasingly growing in our Stewardship account have been further confirmation for us that this is God’s will. Initially the funds we needed to raise felt impossible, but we know that with God anything is possible, and financial provision is just one of the many ways he is providing for us.

Mr Jeremy (as I now call him) had a brilliantly blessed fortnight in Burundi. Thank you God for good health, great relationships, growing friendships, many practical arrangements arranged, safe travelling and many, many other blessings.

The BEST presents from Burundi were given to Harry, Cas and Fliss on Daddy’s return: the children from each child’s new class at The King’s School had sent welcome gifts. Fliss was sent a book with pictures in by all her classmates. Cas has a book of handprints with messages on from his new class saying “Welcome to Burundi. We will be happy to see you/play in the sandpit with you/have car races”. Harry has letters from each of his classmates, whom he spent a day with in February. The children have written such encouraging words to him, and several have said they understand how he is feeling about moving to Burundi because they have done the same. What a precious gift, and the children were thrilled.

The house is gradually reverting to it’s ‘blank new-build’ status (though an awful lot grubbier!). We’ve found new homes for most of our furniture, and got rid of lots and lots of ‘stuff’. It’s a long, slow process (and getting a bit boring), but we’re getting there. I’ve just ordered some proper packing crates to store our fragile things in, and have several large rolls of bubble wrap ready to receive our wedding china, pictures and a few ornaments, some of which were handmade by the children, so are very precious.

It’s always surprising when people say they read our blog! We know there are several hundred readers, but don’t know who many of them are. It was great to discover at the weekend that several of our teenage relatives are regular readers and in some cases are keeping their parents up to date with what’s going on! Thank you if you’re reading this :0) it’s a great way to support us and keep up to date with our progress and is a huge encouragement to us.

We celebrated the Queen’s Jubilee with my parents, where we escaped to for half term. Several people had kindly given me some money to spend on the children so I was able to spoil them a little. They couldn’t quite believe they were able to go to the cinema, have popcorn, go to McDonalds, go swimming and have ice-creams all in one week!! Let’s hope we haven’t set a precedent for future school holidays!

A Wisdom family get-together, where we all refused to let the rain prevent us spending the day outdoors! It was absolutely wonderful to catch up with everyone, and to see our newest nephew, born only 3 weeks ago. There were lots of opportunities for great photos to take with us, and we all had a fab time.

Please pray for...

It’s only...

28 days until the children and I move out (Jez is staying a few extra days to unscrew beds and pass them on to their new owners amongst other things!)

31 days until we go to New Wine (huge YAYYY!!!!!)

2 months until Jeremy leaves on the 18^th August...

...followed by me and the children on the 28th

Frustratingly, I hurt my back during half term. I’m having treatment for it but it’s still very painful and is going to take a while to heal. This has seriously restricted the amount I can do in terms of moving things around, reaching into cupboards, lifting and carrying. Basically, packing :0( However, I believe this is part of God’s plan (nothing comes as a surprise to him after all), and so I’m trying to trust him on this. And be patient (those of you who know me will know this isn’t one of my strongest points!). Please pray for healing, trust in God and patience.

Buying our 'new' car has become something of an issue. It is being bought for us in Burundi, but the funds won't be available until mid-Sept. So in addition to our fundraising, we're looking for a 3mth interest free loan of £6,500.

If this is something you might be able to help with, then do let us know.

Help! We still have a lot to do, and we’re going to need some help. The main things are:

Finishing packing – we’re accumulating all the things we want to take with us in our room – this is not the look Phil Spencer would recommend for attracting potential tenants, but we have God on our side. It will be fun when we need to transport 22 x 23kg cases downstairs (our room’s on the 2^nd floor!). We also need to finish clearing out all the bits to go to friends, charity shop, tip, and packing up the fragile bits that are going to be stored at my parents.

Preparing the house and garden in order to let the house (not a huge amount to do). We need to start viewings in about ten days, something I’m trying not to think about...

This is the same room as the photo further up...just with everything piled out of sight.
The far side of the bed has loads stuffed down by it!

Andy’s  A-levels began last week and finish on the 20^th. In the midst of everything else that’s happening it’s easy to forget what a pressured time this is for him, but in true laid-back Andy style, he seems to be coping well and we’re managing to get time to chat about his exams and all that’s going on.

Our dogs still don’t have a new home to go to. We’ve pursued possible homes 6 times now and each time, for various reasons, it hasn’t worked out. This hasn’t been because of the dogs, but for other reasons. We’ve had a firm offer for one of them, and still have several people to contact about the possibility of taking them both. Please pray for wisdom over this, that we will know what is best for the dogs, but also for the children (is it best to re-home one dog with someone local so the children can stay in touch with that one, but may never see the other again, or is it best to have a clean break and never see either dog again?)

At time of publishing, we have a couple of options that have opened up!

We seem to be hurtling towards the end of the summer term.  Please pray that Andy, Harry, Caspar and Felicity would ‘ finish well’ at their schools.

Goodbye parties, presents, cards and letters need to be organised. Please pray for the people organising things for us, and that we would have time to do what we need to in order to say ‘good goodbyes’ to people.

And finally... please pray :

For us to be an encouragement to others considering overseas mission

For us not to feel ‘down’ when we’re tired and stressed

That we will be able to have regular time as a family and as a couple

That we’ll be able to see all the people we want to see before we leave

Thank you :0)