Lovely wedding in South Wales

I was in South wales last Saturday for the marriage of Bronwen Curnow and Tom Roberts. I know Bronwen's parents and she has been coming to us whilst up in London doing midwifery. Tom is a member at Litchard Mission, Bridgend and they met on an EMW Camp (which is where they are now, would you believe?). The wedding was in Tabor, Llantrisant, where the Curnows have settled more recently (having been in St Mellon's before that). There was a  cake reception over the road after the service which I led and at which Tim Curnow preached. After that we headed for Peterston- Super- Ely where the excellent sit down meal and evening twmpath took place. In the picture you can see the happy couple with the Childs Hill representatives and a Cardiff couple based in St Briavel's who we sat with and had a very good time. The church we learned is the one used for an episode of Gavin and Stacey (a group of tourists arrived there during the afternoon). Great day.

Last week

Last week seems a long time ago now but it was quite a busy week. We started off at the school for our regular chat about our youngest, with whom they are very pleased. He was off to Go Ape on Wednesday. We were back the next day in the evening for what was billed as An evening with the stars, showcasing the music, dance and drama the school has been putting on this term. Another of our sons was hosting it with a friend of his and a very good job they made of it. Then Wednesday was the graduation in Cardiff (see above). Around 200 were graduating, mostly females. The ceremony was in the St David's Hall, which I don't think I've ever been in (I do know that Focus played there once and the magnificent pipe organ was used for a rendition of La Cathedrale). I slowed down after that but Eleri just carried on with another trip to Wales to drop off two sons (one an officer, one  a camper) and others at camps. She also got to see our new grandson for the first time. Back here I was saying goodbye to Dylan off on holiday and hello to my niece staying with us en route to Norwich. Busy days.

The Wiz, etc

The two middle boys (*) left from Euston today with friends for the CCIW Camp in West Wales. They will be joined by Rhodri and Sibyl and others from the church. They managed quite a quick turn around as they were camping on the Gower until Thursday with Sibyl's family. Eleri and my youngest had been meanwhile at the annual School rendezvous at the Urdd Centre in Llangrannog. That left just me and Gwion back here. I didn't get as much reading or tidying done as intended but made some progress. Wednesday was my busiest day with a long 'phone call; a short visit from my wife's brother-in-law Ian, who drives up here regularly; a good chat with Barry King about church planting in Wales, a quick visit to the pharmacist for a member plus the midweek meeting in the evening, looking at Jeremiah 18. Thursday evening we were all at the school to watch Gwion in the chorus of a production of The Wiz! It's not a great musical I guess but the kids did fine. One or two were amazing.

Visiting Dad 07 Plus

So last Friday I was off on the National Express bright and early once again. From Newport I made my way to Cwmbran and eventually Croesyceiliog. Ironically, it cost me £5 to get from London to Newport and £4.30 to complete the journey.

Anyway dad is now as well as before the big operation really, although some problems linger and he is still visiting the hospice weekly. It was good to join him in his little flat for the second half of Loose women followed by the news and the compelling Dickinson's Real Deal . We then integrated Daily Cooks Challenge with the end of a Gary Cooper film which turned out to be a 1953 film called Blowing Wild with an actress who turned out to be Barbara Stanwyck (not that my dad could remember her name). Not that I was sat about. I was busy making cups of tea, washing up and doing a wash in the machine.

Just after Heartbeat started my sister Gail and her two eldest girls arrived so it was nice to have time with them (and the third one later but not William). Most of them are in the Carey Family Conference this week.

Gail then gave me a lift to the station. I had a 40 minute wait before leaving and got chatting to the man who runs the cafe. Juma is a Turkish fellow, originally from far eastern Turkey near Harran (where Abraham lived one time!) now living in Wales and a professing Christian. Interesting fellow. I also spoke to two people on the train who turned out to be Canadians. The older lady (mother?) described herself as an aboriginal, which I had suspected though to be honest she looked a little oriental to me (I remember studying this one time - Native Americans are said to have come across the Bering Straits some time). of course, being Welsh makes it easy to identify. (That reminds me - Eleri took Dewi and Owain to the zoo while I was away. She told me that when a stranger asked where they were from Dewi (15) said 'Wales' even though he was born and bred in London. Interesting.) Anyway, I eventually got to my sister-in-law's where I often seem to end up for one reason or another (they are so kind). That's where I spent the night.

In the morning Glyn drove us down to Bridgend where Gwion and my nephew Iwan had been on an EMW camp all week in Bryntirion. They'd had an excellent week under Andrew Rees and Jonathan Thomas. Gwion had been commended for listening well and asking good questions. He'd spent over half of his spending money on a graphic version of the Bible that he continued to devour en route home. I'd have lots of objections to the book but for getting the sweep of the biblical narrative it looks brilliant. Gwion continues to get nearer to the kingdom I trust.

Glyn and Fflur and the family were off camping in Pembrokeshire so after a cup we caught the bus into town and then wandered through Cardiff doing a little window shopping. (I bought a book on vinegar for Eleri in The Works). We stopped at one of at least three Greggs bakeries to get lunch (there are 15 I see).

I'd booked the bus for 2 pm in case of hold ups so we still had a three quarter hour wait but that was fine. the journey home was straight forward and both of us slept a while. We had to stop briefly at Membury to pick up some people whose bus from Cheltenham had broken down. it was getting toward six by the time we arrived but we caught an 82 straight away and were home at a reasonable hour.

Worcester

I took two of my boys and 4 of 6 other young people from the church through the fog to a (CCIW) camp reunion in Worcester today. We left around 8.15 this morning and I dropped them off at the Wood Green FIEC church where they were until 6 pm. About 50 young people came there to use their excellent facilities.

As for me I spent the time in Worcester itself exploring a town I don't think I've visited before. I had a coffee first in the Caffe Nero and then did the Cathedral (described on its website as possibly the most interesting of all England’s cathedral’s although I'm not sure why) and a walk along the Severn. King John is buried in the cathedral, which stirred my interest. There was also a plaque to Elgar. One recent former bishop was descended from Thomas Charles I noted. Oswald and Wulfstan were their big stars. Cathedral life is a whole world quite outside my ken. One hopes someone is bringing the gospel to such people, surrounded as they are with so many prompts. An odd thing with me is that such a setting doesn't stir me to pray much. I think it is the lack of association in my mind - or proof of indwelling sin.

It was cold, of course, but it didn't rain. Worcester is a moderate sized town with a bit of history. Some buildings go back to Tudor times and there are plenty of Georgian ones. It was important in the Civil Wars. I didn't cross the Severn and most of the town seems to be on the north side. Quite monocultural the local accent seemed to be a cross between west country and brummie. There were plenty of Welsh accents too (even one pair speaking Welsh). They come up on coach trips for the Christmas shopping. Quite an effort had been made with lots of stalls and a fair (ferris wheel, carousel, etc). I saw men on stilts and a man juggling fire, etc. There was also a sally army brass band that stopped each time I came near for some reason. Some sort of celtic combo was performing in the street too. Along with the bells of the cathedral and the music from the fair there was quite a lot of pleasant noise.

I also did a little reading and praying and some preparation for tomorrow on the laptop and the time soon passed. We got home about 9.30 pm. What a pleasant day. God is good.

Battersea Park etc

The holidays are here. The youngest boys had no school last week and the older ones finished Wednesday. We're enjoying the hot weather. The older boys are away on CCIW camps this week. I took them across to Hayes to get the minibus Saturday morning. Later Eleri took the remaining two boys to Battersea Park to see the children's zoo. Sunday was funny with just the two boys and Sibyl here. Her sister and her children also joined us for a while. Even with 14 away on camps and beach missions we had decent congregations on Sunday. There were even 10 or 11 in the Sunday School. It was especially nice to see a Brazilian family back with us who we haven't seen in ages. There are always surprises in Childs Hill.

Holidays

The holidays are pretty much under way for us by now. Today (a day of glorious sunshine) it was a three way split. The middle boys are away at the CCIW camp with their cousin and other church children in Tywyn, West Wales. See more here.

Eleri and the two youngest headed off to Legoland in Windsor, where they had a fine time, although the Viking thing is not finished yet. More on Legoland here.

As for Rhodri and I, we headed down to St Paul's and then across the millennium bridge to Shakespeare's Globe. (See here). We listened to an interesting and informative guide talking about how it was in the days of the bard and then had a look around at the small exhibition there. We must go and see something some time. Groundlings can get in for a fiver. (One tiny quibble, they often speak about the way the Puritans got rid of drama but downplay the fact they were against bull baiting, etc, too. I'm sure the Puritans could be presented in a way more palatable to people today with a little sympathy).

After a pizza lunch we headed back over the river stopping off at Cheapo Cheapo Records in Soho where we picked up a few bargains (Feeder, Elvis C, Moby, Ocean Colour Scene and Tommy Emmanuel CDs) see here before catching a Number 13 home.