A Cycle of Faith: The Bicycle Metaphor

Yesterday morning I showed up at the gym at my not-normal time of 9:25am which just happened to be before a Spin class was about to start.  I waffled back and forth whether to do the class or just stick to weights in the gym.  But since it's been 9 months since I took Tina's class I figured what-the-heck.  I do love spin classes for several reasons:  the enthusiasm of a group, the accountability I feel towards a driven, enthusiastic teacher; but particularly because I always seem to get some type of inspiration from God on the bike.  And yesterday was a sixty-minute class overload.

Our family is in a season of big transition...lots of questions to answer about jobs, where to live, school choices; the list goes on and on.  And its dizzying.  But that's a post for another day when all this has shaken out.  Nonetheless, this season has been a doozy.  A dizzying-doozy. But with it's deep-digging, soul-searching, faith-fanning demands, it's also been nothing short of a miracle.  So though no life-questions were answered yesterday during spin class,  what was answered was a heart-question: the miracle of getting another little glimpse into the heart of God.  And those latter moments are the sorts of moments that make enduring the wait of the former possible.

The parallels of cycling through a life of faith and cycling through a spin class just kept building and building in my mind's eye during the hour,  like a cyclist's ascent up a steep hill.

Firstly, (no shame here, well maybe a little) I couldn't get my seat set correctly.  I turned the knob, pushed and pulled but figured the seat was stuck because it needed grease.  'Do they not routinely maintain these bikes?', I thought to myself (says the girl with the "Routine Service Soon" light on her car for 2 months) Nope, I was wrong.  The kind lady next to me simply hopped off her bike and turned the knob just a slight different way and wha-la the seat height easily adjusted to my measurement, like I was meant to be there.

So I selected "indoor cycle" on my watch and all fifteen of us set off on our stationary bikes.  Immediately, I began getting pictures in my mind.  Like God somehow orchestrated this class.  In my strange mind's eye, my pedaling was like my faith and God was the bike.  God always being available, always class-ready, for us to venture into a faith-exercise with Him.  The interaction designed to grow us not only in body, but mind and spirit as well.  Somehow for this encounter to be successfull, it was also up to me to join in on the class, to get on the bike and move my legs of faith to make anything happen.  It's not like God needs me, but He chooses me.  He's given all of us opportunities to exercise our faith in Him; but we do have to do the work.  'Just pedal', I tell myself.   'Don't just sit there.'  Sitting there: that's not what the combination of the bike and I were meant for.  We were made to move.  Me and God too.  And just as with God, if I want my faith to grow, if I want my life to feel meaningful and satisfied, if I want to see God move in my life because I know "He loves me and has good plans for me" (Jer 29:11),  I have to begin to peddle and exercise my faith.  God does His part, but I have to do mine.

There's a story in the Bible in Mark 5 where a woman who had suffered bleeding for 12 years believed that if she simply touched the coat of Jesus when He was walking through the crowd, she could be healed.  In doing so, Jesus sensed that "power went out of him when she touched Him".  He told her she was healed not because she touched a particular piece of his clothing, but rather her particular faith believed He could do anything.  Jesus says:  'Your faith healed you'.  God is moved to move when we have faith that He can move anything.

So back on my bike, so many things came swarming to mind.  Like, how often we need someone to help us get back on our bikes of faith and get us going again, like the woman who helped adjust my seat.  Or with conviction,  how mid-class, I just wanted to roll my eyes at the girl next to me who clearly must be more fit because she was sweating so much more than me.  Am I lazy God?  Why does it look like she's getting such a better workout - I mean we are in the same class?  What's wrong with me?  I must not be doing something right.  And even then, letting my faith metaphor spill over into my thoughts:  God, does she have more faith than me?  Is that why she's sweating more, because she's pedaling more? She must have more faith I tell myself.

But maybe it's not about what I see on the outside, maybe it's that she's going through something in her own life that requires her to exercise more faith in this season.  She initiates more pedaling of faith, thus more sweating, because maybe the dream she's dreaming for is huge, or her problem needs a bigger miracle...maybe they require more faith.  Paul's writings in 2 Thessalonians 1:3 allude to this very phenomenon:

"We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, 
and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, 
and the love all of you have for one another is increasing."

Pedal sister, Pedal.

We are all different and struggle differently at different moments in time.  Who am I to judge?  So instead of rolling my eyes, our eyes meet 45 minutes into class and we offer a smile of encouragement to one another saying:  'You can do this'.  'So can you'.

I also thought about Tina.  She's not merely the instructor; she's so much more.  It is an honor to have people like her who prepare routines and music for the class ahead of time, who believe in the power of change through exercise, who show us what do and how to press through a difficult class or journey.  Just like Tina, I'm grateful for the faith-encouragers in my life who believe:

God is what will fulfill & change me.

Faith must be exercised.  Me and the bike. God and Me must each do our part.

And just when we think the lesson will never end, or your miracle may never come, our encouragers are there to tell us "Just one more song.  You can do it.  Don't give up.  You are SO close!"

Lastly, there came a point in the routine, where Tina instructed us to stand up and with only the very tips of a couple of fingers touching the handle.  She said, "Use your core.  Don't use your hands to stay balanced on the bike while you peddle.  Use your core.  It's hard to do, but it will strength it."  And I thought how beautifully that illustrates our own faith walks.  God is the very core that will keep us upright and strong.  And when we exercise using it, it only gets stronger and stronger.  When we wobble in faith, it's second nature to grab to the handles of easy fixes, quick solutions,  or attempts at making things happen in our own way and time.

But when we use our core, and endure the life-lesson class,

...just like the women with the blood disorder...

God's power can't help but go out from Him,

     Miracles occur,

          And our Faith cycles on.

Looking for Signs

Years ago around the age of 25 I used to live in Charleston, South Carolina.  Having just finished graduate school I started my first job at the hospital and had this really beautiful 20 minute commute up the I-26 from Mt. Pleasant to North Charleston.  It was typically warm, often sunny and always beautiful. The "South" often is.  Shortly after May 15, 1999, when I met Clark, I began to get signs. Literal ones.  On license plates.  It became a game of sorts.  And then I began to really look for them.

Let me back up...

The week after that May wedding weekend when young, blonde, Georgian, Beamer-driving, recently mad-church-goer met younger, blonde, Texas pick-up driving, Navy dress-white wearing fighter pilot, God began to speak to me via car license tags. Or so I believe He did & still do.  Now to my fellow Brits, you will be like, What on earth is she talking about?  So let me clarify.  In the United States, depending on what State and County you live in, your license tag has a series of letters and numbers, such as (ie:  XVT 875 for say New York, or TXEA 27 for Mississippi) Basically when you drive regularly through your city  you can tell who is a local and who isn't based on these varied tag configurations.  I can't remember what the Charleston ones were at the time but I know that the week after I met Clark, I was driving to work one morning and right in front of me was a LARGE beat-up, white pick up truck and I couldn't help but notice it.  I thought to myself, "wait, I think this is the truck Clark said he drives".  So I talked to myself in my head like I often do and thought, "this is cute God".  It must be a 'sign'.  But the truck wasn't the real sign.  After five or ten minutes trailing behind this truck, I glanced at the tag.  It was no Texas plate but a regular South Carolina one.  But it didn't have the normal series of letters and numbers and spaces for our area.  In fact it didn't have any 'normal' series of letters and numbers for any town I'd seen nearby.  It read "1COR 2 9";  Spaces and all.  If we had cell phones back then I'm certain I would risked life and limb and have snapped a shot of it for what would have been posterity sake.  After a few moments, this new-to-me-Bible-reading-gal began to think that it looked like maybe a passage from the Bible....1 Corinthians something or another.  Giddy with delight I thought, "God is trying to tell me something!!!"  So I raced into work and of course only owning a pager at the time, I did what all people before the 21st Century did, I paged my friend Ann to ask her what 1 Corinthians 2:9 was.  My dear friend who knew her Bible better than me looked it up and shared:  "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what good things God has prepared for those that love Him."  Oh my.  Be still my heart.  Could this be you Lord telling me something about that Texas-pick-up-driving-Navy-Whites-Wearing fellow?  And so I guess it was meant to be.  As 3 years later I married him.  And Yes, God was right all along.  My eyes hadn't seen, my ears hadn't heard, my mind had never conceived all the good ways God would lavish me with His love since those early days of my beginning walk with Him.  And I'm still believing God knows so much more & has so much in store for me that my human, simple little brain can fully understand.  And to this day, this has only fueled a fire in me to continue to search for Him.  His Word does say after all that if we seek Him, we will find Him.  And for about fifteen years (& around two dozen perfectly timed license tag verses later), He's now begun to find other ways to send me His love letters and  I am so grateful.  It's been a new way to search His heart.  And some of that became crystal clear to me this week.

Often we have heavy seasons where it feels like Joy and Sorrow are mixed wildly like in an oil and vinegar cruet, like a dance between Broken and Beauty.  And I have to confess that lately it's been easier to feel the mostly broken bit.  I guess the acidity of the vinegar has seemed to out-proportion the soothing ointment of the oil.  Why?  I don't really know.  Maybe because that's the gravity of this spinning planet Earth we live on.  Like objects, it's easier for our souls to fall down than to rise up.  (And I am a glass half full gal!) The gravity of pain sometimes feels like it outweighs the feather-like weight of Joy.  These few week's birthday parties and long chats with friends in the English April sunshine have mixed feverishly with the stormy news of tragedy and seriously ill-health of friends & family.  My prayers were all over the place.  I have felt really sad.  I've paused a million times  & asked God what to make of it all.  How can I find any beauty in this broken?  How can I enjoy the Joy but also bear the weight of the suffering for my friends or even myself?  Both of these I realize have to be done in communion with one another & with God.

And then something so simple happened last Sunday at church.  A new sort of love letter from God.  A different kind of license tag.  One of the human heart variety.  A letter found during worship at church.  Something unexpected happened.  Something that made me think that this earthly Cruet vessel of mine, can withhold both.  Let me tell you about Jan.  He is our adorable, young German music "exchange" student who's here for the year who leads worship with our lead pastor, Paul.  Jan (pronounced: "Yawn") is his name and he always makes me smile when I see his tall, curly, sandy-brown hair self step up on stage.  England is not his homeland, nor English his first language.  Yet when he worships, it is beautiful not only because of his gorgeous tenor voice,  but also because you see the humbler side of him.  He searches for words from an unfamiliar land for an unfamiliar people all for the sake of leading them to worship His God, all our God.  It's not easy for him. Yet when he speaks to us from the mic he shares his heart, broken English & all and you can see how God's made an imprint on his heart.  And right there on the stage I get to read Jan's love letter from God. And it reminds me again and again that God is everywhere and in every thing.  And uses human beings to be the greatest vehicle for His Love.

Caught up in this simple moment last Sunday, I realized that this is the only way.  The only cure for enduring this mix of beauty with broken when forced to bend to the heaviness of these earthly gravitational pulls.  The cure is to give when it's uncomfortable.  To serve when we're grieving. To bend and break for the sake of others.  Like Jan, to offer ourselves with risk right there outside our comfort zone.  This is not the message the world gives us, which is to look out for #1.   But it is the message Christ gives us, to look after others.  To be His hands and feet even when it hurts.  To help others when we feel like we're not being helped ourselves.  Yet it is the only medicine that will soothe our weary souls.  And from this comes the Joy, and the Oil, and the Beauty.  And for a moment my Soul defies the odds of gravity seemingly pulled up from another type of home, a more permanent, heavenly one and I am lifted so that I might be able to lift another.  This is the cycle.  This is the secret.  This is where my Joy comes from.

"This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Jeremiah 31:33

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

The Magic Number 7

*tap tap......Is this mic working?  Not sure anyone is still here anymore but for 7 years I took a blogging break.  I'm not actually certain it's called a blogging break when you didn't really blog very much to begin with.  In these past 7 years, a hundred times at least, I thought about writing.  Writing because something struck my fancy and I thought I might put that moment down on paper, or rather out into the scary ether of the internet.  But a hundred times to that I said, "No".  To myself.  Mostly out of fear.  Isn't that what most writers do?  Fear?  Better yet, not really sure I can put myself in the 'writer's' category yet.  But I will not look at the past and say "Why didn't I?"  But for today, I'll take this leap of faith and look ahead right here and say, "What if..."  

This Blog originally started because we moved our small American family of 4 (now 5!) across the pond so my husband could serve the US Navy as an exchange officer over here with the RAF.  We loved it so much that after we left after 2.5 years (2012), we came right back to the same spot 2.5 years later (2014).  Here we are a second time around 3.5 years in!  And we are all better for living in this amazing country and raising our kids as 'half and halfs' ;-) Half British/Half American.

But as for blogging, I think my heart grew weary from the upkeep or either I simply ran out of things to say.  Because frankly, I tired even myself of  'a day in the life of Cindy Childers' and family' posts (there are MUCH more interesting people out there than us) and craved more about writing how I see God moving, living, breathing, active, uniquely, discreetly, abundantly - in my day to day.  Which He can do in every single human's life.  I think He's beautiful and I love what He shows me, so that's the blog I've always felt called to write about:  God in the everything.  A car ride to school, a sunset, a plant, a river, a conversation, a business meeting, a church service, an accident, a storm, a friend, a plane ride, simply everything.  

And ironically I've feared that concept of writing simply because even though time and time again I find God's handwriting all over the place, I've simply talked myself out of it.  I've reasoned: "Well God did do it today - He showed Himself to me in such a beautiful way; But then I'd question:  'But God, what if You don't do it tomorrow? I won't consistently have anything to write about!  How lame will I be? So lame!'  I laugh at this simply because my heart knows good and well that God could never, EVER run out of ways to reveal Himself.  It's simply always a matter of us to just keep looking.  But today is a new day.  And each day we are given a new chance.  So today I'm here. Trying to be obedient to the one thing I've loved all along, My God and what He's called me to do.  And seeing Him in every day life thrills me to no end.  It's wild and wacky and beautiful and until I record it (and gosh...I hope I have the courage to hit 'publish'), I will never know what may come of it.

So without further ado, I thought I'd share a simple short story from our snowy English countryside weekend.  It doesn't often snow in England...actually hardly ever, at least in the south & certainly  not this much.  About as often as I write posts...every 7 years.  The last big snowfall I experienced here was in 2011 I believe.  

(Ironically my very last post includes my husband's infamous Land Rover in the snow.)

So this weekend, it snowed so much (Maybe 8-10 inches?) that school was cancelled 1/2 day Thursday and Friday making for a lovely 4 day weekend.  (Unheard of)  Friday morning when my eldest son woke up and realized there was only wholemeal bread to make himself french toast with, he jumped at the chance to be the adventurer he is and after piling on layers of warm clothes he trekked into the village for some "white bread" from the Co-Op.  Liam is never one to accept boredom easily.  But he's trustworthy (for the most part) so off he went.   After about 45 minutes to an hour, (the grocery store is only a half a mile down the road) he hadn't returned.  The roads were icy slick and he's been known to bruise/break/thump a few bits and pieces of himself, so I started to worry.  So I went outside because I couldn't see the end of our driveway from my kitchen window.  And this is all I saw.  Nothing.  Meaning:  No child of mine.  And so I started to worry.  'Where is he?'


In the back of my mind I knew he was probably fine but it's always the 'what ifs' that get us.  And sometimes those 'what ifs' do play out, but most of the time they don't. But either way, God has us in our 'either ways'.  Yet in this moment, I sensed God.  I didn't sense any great revelation about Liam's welfare, to be honest, but I sensed God's heart about all those children He's loved and seen lost.  And like a flash, the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) came to my mind as I stood in the cold.  I looked down our cloudy, whitish grey drive Friday morning eager to see my 90lb, tall, gazelle-like pre-teen and sensed an even deeper yearning beyond my own: "God is so desperate to catch a glimpse of His beloved sons and daughters to return home to Him."  He doesn't just sit in the warm house thinking 'maybe one day' they'll show up.  Rather like the Father in the Prodigal son story, I think He stands outside in whatever it takes: in the cold, in the dark, with a lamp, with a gracious and generous heart anxious to greet us with a hug and just keeps looking and looking hoping for a peek of something that looks like this:

And then my own faith gained sight and I got a glimpse of this vision.  All 90lbs of him, and I could exhale.  And though he was only out for a brisk walk for bread.  It stirred my heart to think that if I was as happy to see this young lad walking up my drive as I was, how much more Joyous is God when He sees the heart of one of His children turning to come home to Him?

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' Matthew 4:4 

A year at a glance...

Happy New Year My dear Friends and Family!

May the blessings of the Christmas season still be ringing in your hearts -

I know they are in ours!

The Childers are still alive and well in England and loving every second of it. It has been a year, yep, nearly a YEAR since I last posted! Aggh! I am so embarrassed. Can you see the red in my face from there? The more time went by, the more excuses I had as to why I couldn't pick it back up. Sometimes I don't get it (myself, that is) because blogs to me are one of the coolest means of communication in the world. It gives a girl like me, an amateur writer, the chance to express herself and share her daily musings with those she loves and treasures the most. As one who truly believes that God has done nothing short of a miracle in her life, I jump at the chance to share these life experiences.

Plus, it seems that so many of my daily stories end up with a sub-title of "Today's Cindy's Comedic Adventure was....".

Since this post is more like a belated Christmas card, I thought I'd take the chance to update you on a bit of what happened in the hearts and lives of these FOUR Childers in the last 12 months. Note: Now having written, edited, revised, edited some more this poem, I realize how truly crazy I am. Knowing you might not read the whole thing, I mixed some pictures in hoping that it might hold your attention. *grin* I'll get right to it:

We welcomed the New Year, with neighbors and friends,

and a beautiful covering of snow;

Weeks later we traded, our truck known as lemon,

for a Land Rover to get to and fro.

Natalie settled in - quite nicely with Ms. Jill,

who teaches at the local preschool;

She painted, sculpted clay, baked sweet lemon cakes,

that surprisingly would make you drool.

(Peanut is on the front row in pigtails wearing the yellow and pink.)

While Liam excelled right next door to his sister,

in a school known as Newton Tony Primary;

Reading, Writing and Maths (!) became essential,

along with phrases like “bins, squash and ‘blimey”.

(Liam is on the back row far right)

Often we ride (bikes), go for runs, float "boats"

down the river in our quaint little village;

However, one of the prettiest blessings thus far,

are the sunrises and sets over the tillage.

Cindy's busy with bible study, playgroups, and the gym,

as well as being travel agent connoisseur;

She also started singing with the St. Paul’s church band,

*what a blessing*, and something she adores.

Clark tutors the students at Empire TPS,

He flies every day - come rain or sun;

He realized he's got the best job in the Navy,

*shhhh*, don't tell anyone!

April began the start of what became,

An amazing travel season;

First off, was Spain, the beautiful Oviedo,

the amazing countryside of the Northern Region.

However, not an hour had passed did our feet,

hit home soil in the great UK;

That Cindy would get sick and realize later, she had Campylobacter,

food poisoning - NO WAY!

Not one, not two, but three weeks later,

did she began to feel somewhat human;

Just in time to throw a *Circus* Birthday Party,

for her sweet little favorite twosome.

My goodness, your thinking, how much more can there be,

she's now just hit the month of May;

Standby, my friends, there is so much more,

we've only gotten to 120 of 365 days.

If April showers bring May flowers,

then I've seen loads of what the Almighty creates;

By the end of the month we'd been to Venice. Stockholm.

And several enchanting estates.

The summer in England was unusually warm,

High in the 70s with no rain;

Odd for this green grassy land we call 'ours'

where our ancestors, once called this "home terrain".

The month of June was full of firsts,

Liam lost a tooth and had his first campout with friends;

For Clark and Cindy, it was the first time we've known,

the Stonehenge “Summer Solstice” trend. (Brrrr)

The beginning of July, Clark and Cindy had a blast,

At the Boscombe Down Summer Ball;

There were bumper cars, magicians, poker tables, fine china

– it was extravagant, nothing small.

With hearts full of glee, two kids and their Mommy,

boarded a plane back to the great US of A;

Two weeks in Georgia with family and friends,

made the red eye flights worth it - in every way!

Just days after returning to Jolly Ol' England,

Clark had us packed up and ready to go;

Off to Disney Land Paris we went straight away,

a vacation that left "all four kids” aglow.

In September the kids went back to school,

to a place in Salisbury: Chafyn Grove;

We cannot say enough about where our kids learn,

we just count our blessings, in droves.

In October, we were blessed with a visit from friends,

The Howells posted overseas as well;

They came from Italy to tour this land,

we loved showing them where we dwell.

November was a blast, with Clark stepping out

in a new and exciting role;

He played several parts, in our Church’s “Mark Drama”,

giving breathtaking performances to many souls.

We wrapped up the year, just the four of us,

Snuggled 'round our Christmas tree;

Thankful for all the blessings we’ve been given,

Knowing God gave His Son for you and me.

Happy New Year! Be blessed in every way and may those blessings overflow to all those around you.

Love, Cindy

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God." Philippians 1:9-11 NIV

A World Away Yet So Close to Home....

Happy 2010! I hope that this post finds all of you having just had a very happy and blessed Christmas season. We couldn't have had a better month ourselves. Right now, we are ankle deep in snow. The unusually cold weather we are getting here in England is what my British friend has told me is caused by a "Negative Atlantic Ocean Oscillation" (???) (ie: High pressure over Iceland). I'm no meterologist so we just refer to this in our house as: It is COLD COLD COLD! I don't think it's been over 0 degrees celsius for a week. This cold weather is having not only a physical effect on this Southern girl but also a mental one as well. I had a somewhat frightening epiphany earlier today: "I am turning into Mr. Rogers". This is no joke. I caught myself and had to laugh and then cry. I came in this afternoon from taking Liam to soccer practice, opened the Hall coat closet, took off my heavy winter parka and then proceeded to put on my zip-up "cardigan thingy" that I wear EVERY day. Seriously. Every day. JUST LIKE MR. ROGERS DOES!! It's blue, it's boring and it's starting to make me feel really old. (But it's SOOOO cold!) So to offset this somewhat depressing revelation, I headed to Salisbury this afternoon to see if I could "Un-frump" my "frumpy" winter wardrobe. You see, as a Georgia gal, we just don't ever have to worry about cold weather so we don't own any "cute" cold-weather clothes. The few times I can remember it getting really cold and snowing growing up in Athens, we simply donned 'Roman Meal' Whole Wheat plastic bread bags on our feet and adhered them with rubber bands above our calves. Who needs expensive Gortex boots?

Now, fast-forward 30 years to this frigid Island, and I have daily decisions to make.... like: Do I wear the one pair of black leather gloves I own that are not water proof nor warm or do I go for function and wear Clark's water-proof sky gloves? Do I wear boots that are stylish and look great with my jeans or do I wear ones that will prohibit me from falling on the ice? Do I fix my hair and forgo the hat today or do I cover up with one of those full head/ear covering wool hats with dangly thingies that looks like my 2-year old daughters?


These are the tough decisions I make daily. If only I were from Chicago like several of my friends, I wouldn't have these issues. So just to let you know I did have a bit of success today and I bought myself a "cute" pair of hiking boots. Wait, is that an oxymoron? Oh well, it's a start.
Speaking of starting, I have no idea where to begin with covering the last six weeks of the Childers' activities. We have been so busy that I am somewhat embarrassed that we didn't get around to doing Christmas cards...that is a first in 7 years! (Don't worry, next year I am all over it!) There were so many wonderful things that happened over Christmas. Here are a few of the highlights:

We celebrated Thanksgiving at our home with 3 of our favorite British families. The food was excellent but the company was even better...made us feel like we were back at home :)

We then followed that up with another Thanksgiving meal two days later on the base with 50 other good friends. Everyone brought a dish and we ate like Kings and Queens, or rather James' and Elizabeths'. The children played on a bouncy castle and our friend Frank taped one of the Thanksgiving Day Football games and we had it playing on a large screen TV. Really working hard to create a true "American" Thanksgiving.

In December, both Liam and Natalie were in their school Christmas plays. Natalie was an angel and looked like a princess but refused to wear her halo......no comment. Liam was a Shephard in Newton Tony Primary School's "Nativity Story". Both events were absolutely amazing and brought tears to this proud Mama's eyes.

We celebrated Christmas Eve at the children's service at Salisbury Cathedral. Mary and Joseph made their entrance into the cathedral with real donkeys, a host of Angels (children) sang from the balcony, and the children's choir serenaded those of us celebrating the great anticipation of Christ's birth with many beautiful christmas carols. It was spectacular and the kid's had twinkles in their eyes for hours afterwards.

New Year's Eve was somewhat mellow but absolutely delightful. Our next door neighbors hosted us at their house for dinner. A small group of about 15 of us rang in the New Year and then proceeded to play a "Murder Mystery" game until the wee hours. It was hilarious and let's just say I'm no good at lying and Clark killed me off early during one of the rounds....hmmm.


I feel like there will be much to write about as 2010 gets into it's full swing. I rejoice that we are where we are and am so grateful that God brought us to this little space on earth for this season of our lives. Make no mistake, God has all of you where you are for good reasons. Give thanks for the little things and look forward to all He has in store for you this year! Be blessed friends, you are so dearly loved and thought of much. Cindy

Thanksgiving from a 2-year old perspective

So I have been asked by Natalie's teacher if I (the great historian! ha!) will come give a mini presentation to the kids in her class on the meaning of Thanksgiving. Originally, I thought they just wanted some cupcakes that might look like Turkeys, spurred on by the Halloween ones I did in October, but oh no! They want the real deal. So I figured that since most Americans don't know or like me, remember much about the original Thanksgiving story, I thought I'd google it and see if I could find something kid-friendly. Much to my dismay, "quick-and-easy" Wikipedia did not come through and was somewhat weak in their explanation so I did another google search and this one was the first to pop up.
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=14379
Pretty decent and a quick read as a reminder about where our ancestors came from - particular interesting to me now being on this side of the pond. So now having had the story refreshed in my mind, it will make it more interesting to share about how we (Now:Americans, Former: Brits less we forget) were looking for a "better way" and left their country of England. Tell me how to explain THAT to these British 2 and 3 year olds. Thank goodness I'm not having to do this for older kids!!!! You know how my heart is so fond of the British people. Really quite fond. If anyone out there can direct me to a more kid-friendly website that gives a beautiful description of this great holiday, please feel free to share. That's what blogs are for! In the mean time, I'm going to stick to a good standby and have them make Turkey Apples. You know the ones you make with toothpicks, marshmellows, raisins, gum drops and such. I think this will be the real hit. For me though, it's been a good afternoon of remembering what next week's holiday is really about. God bless, Cindy

Wonderful Wiltshire

Greetings Family and Friends and Happy November from England!
It's been a month since I posted - goodness where has the time gone. So much is going on! I'll try and remember some of the highlights or low-lights as us blondes like to say. I've also added some pictures too. I put captions with each one but when I added them to the blog, it doesn't show them. Anybody know how to get around this? So here goes an update on our last 30 days...
Our truck - the only vehicle the Childers' own is on the brink. Yep, and the cost to fix the 5,000 pound truck was 2,000 pounds! Not such a great thing but in the end, we made contact with the dealer up in Peterborough who sold us the truck and they have as of yesterday just come to Salisbury to pick it up and take it back to their dealership and will fix it there and won't charge us a thing: NADA, ZILCH, ZIP - super happy about this and we are thankful as can be. Clark would actually like to just give the truck back and start over shopping for a car but we figured we'd give them one more chance to fix it (we've had 3 major things go wrong with it so far).
Our village - Newton Tony is heaven on earth. I can't even begin to share how much I love this place. We are living the life of a Brit as much as any American can. And we're so glad we made the choice to live out in town. For instance, just the other night as Clark was about to paint our downstairs bathroom, he shook the Laura Ashley paint can and exploded about 2.5 litres of paint all over the hardwood floor, front door and our nice rug. I was so proud of him though. Without as much as a cuss word, he promptly cleaned it all up, took the rug outside in the pouring rain and the 12 degree celsius weather, knocked on our beloved neighbor David's door to borrow his pressure washer and the two of them pressure-washed at 10pm to save the rug. GOOD Neighbors RULE!! Have I mentioned how much I love these people?
:-)
Another hilarious story about Newton Tony this past week...the kids were on mid-term break and we didn't have a car so we spent a good 3-4 days poking around the neighborhood on foot. I had to walk to our post office for milk when I got desperate for groceries. Just the day before my Aunt had posted a comment on Facebook about our lack of vehicles and she sweetly (or sarcastically) suggested "Find a donkey to ride". Well, God has a sense of humor and as we were heading back from the post office, we ran into a local boy, 12 y.o. Thomas, who was working in his yard. I'd never met him before but I had met his mom. We got to chatting and he said, "Hey, do you and your kids want to come up the hill and help me take care of the 2 donkeys I care for - they can go for a ride, too." My jaw about dropped as I thought of my sweet aunt's comment and never wanting to miss a photo opportunity I emphatically answered, "YES! We'd LOVE to go! Just let me go grab my camera." So off we went and here's the photo to prove it! :) Touche'!!!
As for settling in, we are getting there. Clark is worried our family alone might be supporting the UK's economy. Too bad the pound for dollar rate is not so good. It's so hard to not shop and decorate though - they have such cute things and wandering around the streets of Salisbury is just too tempting.

We had big plans to take down Natalie's crib over the weekend as her new "big girl bedding" arrived a week or so ago. After dinner last night Clark said, "Ok, she reeeeally wants her new bed, I'm off to go set it up." Being sentimental, I said, "No, I just can't do it yet(take down the crib)...you might have to do it by yourself." Clark proceeds to go out in the garage and get all his tools to take it down, he heads upstairs and I notice it's quiet for a few minutes. Five minutes later he comes down with the tools in hand and with this sheepish, sweet 'Daddy' face and says, "I just can't do it. Not yet at least." OH boy, does he ever love those sweet babies!!
October was also full of lots of fun pumpkin and halloween activities. We went with some dear, new friends to a pumpkin patch in Antsy (funny name) about 45 minutes away and the kids got to play all kinds of pumpkin games, we had tea and coffee and cakes (always gotta have your tea) and they picked out pumpkins to take home and carve. It was so much fun! On Halloween night we went with 3 of our closest friends trick-or-treating and this year Liam really got into it and my usually shy boy (at least around bigger kids) was racing to the front of the pack to ring the doorbell and scream "Trick or TREAT!" For their school party, Liam was Batman, but then decided for Halloween he'd rather be a pilot. Natalie was a sweet Ladybug for both events. Clark and I had a village party to go to after the kid's TOT'ed and he dressed up like the "Greatest American Hero" and I went as a cheerleader (ironic b/c I can't even do a cartwheel). I told him not a soul would know who the GAH was and I was right but he did win a costume contest and was the talk of the party. He was clad in red tights and all. One thing about Clark - he doesn't mind being different.
We have found the coolest church. We fell in love almost instantly with it and one of it's pastor's, Richard, his wife, Ruth and their kids. Richard and Ruth had us over for a "Sunday Roast" after church and I can't explain it but we just knew we were home. They are amazing! Richard cooked a mean "Curry" -- that was his rendition of a Sunday Roast. Ruth is mom to FIVE kids and makes it look as easy as you've ever seen. I'm still trying to figure out how they do it all. They are awesome!!!
We have so much coming up in Nov/Dec - we are thrilled to be a part of so many festivities and the chance to celebrate Christmas in this area! We have two formal fancy Balls to attend. There is the Salisbury Cathedral Christmas Children's Service on Christmas Eve that is supposed to be out of this world. There is something called Pantomine in many of the big cities which is a play-type event for the whole family. We are participating in an American "Thanksgiving Dinner" on the Saturday following Thanksgiving on the base for anybody that wants to celebrate Thanksgiving. I am hosting a Coffee at our house in December as well as I'm sure a few other Christmas gatherings. We can't wait. The remembrance of Christ's birthday excites me like no other celebration! The pomp and circumstance is wonderful, but knowing HE arrived here on earth is glorious beyond words.
Oh, one other thing, I began a women's bible study at St. Paul's (our church) and we are doing a book by the british author, Michael Lloyd called "Cafe Theology". It is really really good and causing me to scratch my head a bit and examine my perspective on different theological topics. It's amazing! At first I thought it was going to be on how to have a theological discussion about Christianity while sharing a nice cuppa tea (duh, blonde girl); but boy was I wrong, it goes way deeper into discussions on Creation, the Trinity, the Resurrection and Ascension. Pretty nifty. You should check it out if this sort of thing interests you.
Time to wrap up and fix my sweet cousin Heather's French Dip Au Jus sandwiches. Yummy. Yummy. Love to you all :-) Please come visit us!
All my love, Cindy
p.s. Answered Prayer - Something simple but nonetheless amazing. Quick story - I left Clark's laptop on a park bench at a kid's playgrounds this last weekend on the Lakenheath base (about 4 hours away). I realized it when we got home about 10pm. I immediately called and the receptionist went down to the park to check but no laptop could be found and no one had turned one in. That night I tossed and turned all night and felt horrible about the whole thing. The next morning, while walking the kids down to school, I was thinking over the events that led to me loosing the laptop and thinking about Clark's reaction to me loosing something so valuable to him. While praying, God quickly brought to my mind Clark's response and how he had truly exemplified the character of Christ when he demonstrated, "compassion, and slow-to-anger" qualities toward me upon the news of his missing laptop. Me, on the other hand, I would have probably screamed my head off. But no, not Clark, he never even raised his voice. Later that morning, I called and talked to the manager, Rebecca, who then proceeded a full-on hunt for Clark's laptop. One of the housekeepers whom Rebecca had told, then told her husband who works in maintenance. Two hours later he comes back and says, "Wait, I think I just saw a post on the base online newspaper that someone has found a laptop in a park." So Rebecca calls Clark with the link to the ad and Clark emails the girl that found it and Rebecca retrieves the laptop and today spent her own money to mail it next-day back to us!" (Rebecca will be getting reimbursed for her expenses as well as a much deserved thank you gift.) We could not be more grateful. I know there are bigger and more serious prayer requests in God's ears but God heard my plea all night and I'm so grateful he cares about the little things. But two good things came from this, no three.
One, it showed me what an amazing husband I have and how his character, as was demonstrated through his response to me is so admirable and how much I want to possess those traits. Patience is a virtue.
Two, I felt just sick about loosing his computer. (It has his thesis on it) I thought, why couldn't I have lost mine? It showed me that when we mess up whether intentionally or unintentionally that we can really hurt other people and cause them suffering or at the very least inconvenience. Though we can't always be perfect and we are going to make mistakes, I've learned it's important to show mercy to those that don't deserve it and it's an honor and privilege to be the recipient of mercy when WE need it. Thank you Clark!
And Three, WOW! What a chain of miraculous events (there's even more to the story but I just couldn't fit it all in) that led to the finding of the computer - only God could have orchestrated all that.