Sending bits of your life across the world

Last Sunday's commissioning service went wonderfully well. Thanks to Bishop Tim and Alan Race, to the people of St Philip's who worked so hard in the background making sure it all went smoothly,and to everyone who came. It was very encouraging to have so many people there, from so many different parts of our lives: Family and friends, and people from just about every church we've been associated with over the last 25 years.

After all that excitement, it was back to Birmingham - and trying to finally decide what we wanted to send on ahead to Belize. The removal company arrived last Friday, and collected / packed / drove away the bits and pieces that we think it might be useful to have with us. (Although in the end we decided that it just wasn't practical to take enough of our favourite tea and marmalade to last three years...)


The trouble is, of course, having made the "final" decision about what to send / not send, it's just too tempting to think of 101 other things that could have been included. We're just going to have to put the tea in the suitcases that accompany us on the aeroplane!

Meanwhile, it's back to a flat that feels just a bit emptier for the next six weeks.

We've also now done the last of the Church visits for fundraising. Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who is supporting us. At the last calculation, we've now been promised more than 80% of the total we need. Several churches and groups we have visited, are still to meet to decide whether they can support us. So we are hopeful that with some help from them, what seemed to be a huge target, will be reached.

Over the next month, the priorities are
- getting the academic work submitted to the university
- spending time with family and friends before we go

Lent is supposed to be a time of preparation. This time round, it truly is proving to be a time for letting go, in order to do the things we need to. "What are you giving up for Lent, Ruth and Malcolm"? "Well this year we are giving up the familiar life we've known in the UK; but we are looking forward with hope to the new and rather different sort of life that will replace it in Central America."