Two weeks in Seaway.

The Lord Jesus Christ said that "foxes have their holes and birds have their nests but the Son of Man had nowhere to lay His head." Matthew 8:20

In nature home is often in the most surprising places. At times it might to others seem most inhospitable but to the occupants it is home where peace and security are at the forefront. 

We were blessed by living in the flat of the Rusty Bucket. It was large, light and airy! It had a good view from the patio windows which was even better from the balcony. Our house in South Wales was in an even more magnificent spot but that is another story maybe to be explored in an future blog!

We have now moved just over the road but everything is vastly different. No longer do we have to scale the 37 steps to home. No longer is it bright and airy. No longer can we sit and watch the sea do it's thing! 

BUT

We are at home. Everything is un-packed, the house is looking like the Thatcher residence. Pam is a great homemaker and so everything is now in it's place and we are settled. We have our home to come to and are just waiting for normal service to resume. Wherever we have lived so far the Lord has used our house for His purposes. In Coventry we were filled up every night with hoards of young people, many of whom now follow our Lord with some being in active service in the church. We are most grateful for those many years of wonderful experiences.

South Wales found us filling up with visitors from England (and many other countries) and also bible college students alongside church members. Our home was a retreat for many family and friends from all over the world.

We had a reasonable number of friends and family visit the flat but it was far more inaccessible due to the stairs. We are getting much older now and so are our family and friends. Arthritis and other associated pains are at the fore and 37 steps are an immediate downer to those with issues. We feel that we never really fulfilled our abilities whilst there because of this and also parking issues making getting to the flat at times almost an impossibility.

Now we are in Seaway and even though still in the same location it is easier access and so parking is more of an inconvenience and not the off putting issue it was formerly. It is home for us and so we believe a place of rest for others also. Please come and visit, our unwritten motto is that the home is for sharing. Why not share what God has provided for His people.

In this we are much better off than the Lord Jesus was whilst He lived here on earth. This world was not His home, He was just passing through because He had a purpose for all who will trust in Him. He sacrificed Himself in order to deal with the personal sin of all who will trust and believe in Him for the forgiveness of their sin. This world could never be His home, that was heaven and so He has returned home. he passed through earth and accomplished salvation and is now living once again in heaven where He is about the business of preparing a home for all of His people. Some might say that Jesus was homeless here but He was not. His home was always in heaven and so he was simply a stranger to this world who had come simply because He loved us to death!!

Another new beginning.

Life throws some strange twists and turns at us and so it is as we progress through our stay on this planet that new beginnings are a regular occurrence. When we moved to Looe last June we thought that it would be the last new beginning during my working life. I had so many aspirations as to what might be possible from the work of the Rusty Bucket but sadly that was never to be. In fact the coffee shop has just closed it's doors for the last time and the building is sold to become an Italian restaurant. The Rusty now has to re-invent themselves and do what they feel is right for them.

But what of us????

We had a new beginning last year and now we embark on another. This one however is far more uncertain. There is no obvious way forward and so we are having to trust the Lord for everything. Last years experience has in many ways cost us everything, our lovely house in Wales, my pastorate, Pam's job and any security that we believed that we had. But it has not been a mistake, we are happy to be in our new house which is just over the road. We believe that this is exactly where god wants us to be, but for what purpose?

We dream great things for God's glory which in turn benefits His people, but what are they? if anybody stumbling over these latest musings has any ideas please let me know!! We would also greatly appreciate your prayers for guidance.

New beginnings do however bring new opportunities and they are abounding in many different ways but none of them pay the bills. Christians are regularly reminding me of God's goodness for which I am eternally grateful but I cannot simply tell the check out person at the supermarket that God is good and therefore I am entitled to free food. That is not how it works, we need to work to pay the bills which are enormous in comparison to the regular income.

So were we wrong in coming here??

  We are more and more confident that this is where God wants us, we regularly look over our shoulder towards Wales and want to return asap but that is not what we must do. Wales was the happiest time of our lives. Cornwall is proving to be difficult, painful and undesirable but this is where we must be, so what do we do??

It is more important to address what we do not do first. It is human nature to look over our shoulders and want the past back again and so we are determined to not look at past successes and past difficulties and to move forward into the here and now and hopefully something of a future here on earth. 

We must move forward!

On the day we moved from the Old Rusty flat I read the story of Joshua and the children of Israel crossing the Jordan and into the promised land. It was a new beginning for them and we were entering into a new experience by crossing over the road and into Seaway. This is our new land of hope and promise, the old has gone and the new is beginning. 

Please Lord let us be useful in your sight and show us where we are meant to serve you and how we will be able to pay our bills.