Waterfalls and Randomly Placed Horses

Saturday, we took our teens on a walk in the Neath Valley (20 minutes away from Merthyr) to go walking in a beautiful forest that led to gorgeous waterfalls. About 20 altogether went. We trekked along the path as Dave SPED to hit all of the waterfalls in a timely manner. He was such a man. Could possibly be a tour leader for the park. Mud covered the paths, and luckily, we wore wellies to be able to hop in puddles and mud. However some of the girls (two of my favorites, Alys and Bec), were not so prepared with their Converse sneakers and were knee high in mud and water by the end. You were actually able to go behind one of the waterfalls we found. It was beautiful.

As we walked, it was amazing to think that God created all of this for our enjoyment. He is a master Creator. His power can be seen in the rushing torrent of water. That same power is at work in me. He is working. Trials do not have to make our hearts grow in bitterness. They can point us to a powerful God that is able to save weak people. And he loves to show forth his power. So I can boast in my weakness when I feel drained or discouraged. Because that leads me to admit my weakness, cry out for HIS strength, and SEE HIM ANSWER MY CRY FOR MERCY. He will rush over me with the power of the waterfall and fill me with His Spirit.

On the way home, we saw something Merthyr has a reputation for. We saw a horse walking around in the town! People in some of the slightly rougher counsel estates (government housing) will often have pet horses. They keep these horses in the their back gardens and have even been to keep them in their small houses! Occasionally, the horses escape. And this is what you get. See pic. Come to Merthyr and see for yourself.

Sunday, we had our traditional bring and share after church. Around 20 people filled our little house yet another Sunday. Most everyone is in their 20s or early 30s. But they are all SO different. Couples with babies, newly marrieds, breakdancers, homeless, recovering addicts, moms, government workers, etc. It's always a different group of people. Sharing food together and having a laugh. Love Sundays. 

Today is a slow day here with us. Bank holiday! I wake up at ungodly hours even on days off. Dave is adjusting a mirror I put up incorrectly. I am cleaning and perhaps working on budget. Then hopefully, off to Cardiff Starbucks for the afternoon.

Forts and Bible Study

In our effort to do fun, cheap things, we decided that for our FOUR MONTH ANNIVERSARY we would build a fort in our living room. So we set out on this adventure last night after dinner (the quickest, easiest dinner... lots of veg and potatoes, covered with hamburger meat, cream of mushroom, and cheese all cooked in oven). Pictures are posted too ;) We got out the chocolate and coffee. We have loads of chocolate in our house and I adore decaf coffee. We lit candles. We planned to watch a movie right away, but had a sweet date just talking. I love Dave. He is my best friend. Then we watched a crude movie that had funny parts, but isn't reallly worth it (Stepbrothers). Did I mention he bought me a plant with beautiful flowers, bought us a book by Edith Schaeffer, and wrote me a beautiful letter? He is wonderful. All and all, our fort was a hit.

After work today, two of my friends came for coffee. Meet Rachel and Leanne. Rachel got saved on Easter. Leanne got saved in my kitchen. Precious to pray with both of these ex-addicts to receive Jesus. We got to read the Bible today, encourage each other, and pray for each other. Their lives are not easy. They face abuse, lack of money, temptation to return to addictions, and relational difficulties. But they have Jesus now. The Holy Spirit is in them. He is POWERFUL. And he loves and is crazy about them. Have you seen someone know the Lord recently? If not, get please get to know unbelievers and tell them about Jesus. There has been so much joy in the last couple of weeks. GOD IS REALLL. He is working.

Pray for how we can change my schedule so that I can spend more time with people in Merthyr that are poor and broken. My heart is for them. Pictures for you below. Anddd I have added in a little picture from a walk about a month ago. In the Brecon Beacons. Come visit us. But come on a nice day!!!

April is Ending and Rain Never Stops Falling

Oh my my my. Sorry for being rubbish about keeping up this blog. This will serve as an update post. Hope you find it... insightful? Into life in Wales? I just like the word insightful.

Weather. The weather in Wales is less than ideal for me. In the mornings, you can hear the rushing, howling, wing outside of the windows. It makes you not want to start your day. It makes you want to stay in bed and drink coffee and eat breakfast and watch The Apprentice. Which were all done Saturday. This is going to be the coldest and rainiest May Wales has had in 100 years. Way to welcome a new member of your society.

Our little home has welcomed many people in the last couple of months. Life groups, discipleship meetings, coffees, friends from church, homeless people, family, etc. It's been great! Highlight has been seeing someone addicted to heroine saved in our home. What a joy! Two friends of mine, that used to drug addicts, have given their lives to Jesus and have hope in Jesus! Another young teen has also come to know the Lord. We went on a teens week away, and she decided to follow Jesus while the two of us were taking a walk in the beautiful country! Isn't it amazing that God uses us even when we are completely unfaithful to him? He wants to see people brought from DEATH to LIFE and could do it all on his own. But he CHOOSES to use us to share with others and see people saved! And what an encouragement it is to see people know the joy of Jesus.

Things at church are wonderful. Ministries are running, Sunday mornings are thriving. There is this ministry called Christians Against Poverty. Basically, there are LOADS of people in debt in Merthyr. This ministry is set up to share the gospel while bringing debt relief to people. These people are thousands of dollars in debt. Literally, they just pile bills to the side because they can't bear to look at them. In the middle of hopelessness, a CAP worker comes and says they are going to help. And they do help! Debts get paid. But more importantly, these people hear about freedom from sin in Jesus. Super cool. We have baptisms next week. Over 15! Keep praying for our church. There are lots of changes and we need the Lord to continue to provide direction.

Dave and I are doing just dandy. The doctors have found out why my hands are disgusting and my toes are blue. I have terrible circulation that has then brought on eczema. But nothing more than that apparently. Dave is ill off and on pretty frequently, but nothing major. So health wise, we are fine. We are currently trying to think of fun, cheap things to do in our free time. Send ideas!

Would love your updates. I feel very apart from everyone in the states. I miss things about home and it's hard when I start to think about not seeing the ones I love till December. And I miss the weather! And I miss unlimited drinks when you eat out! And BBQs in  yards. But I love Dave. And i love what is happening in Merthyr.

Well, I will now return to eating my cereal (3rd bowl I'm eating as a little snack) and watching The Firm with Dave's family. Will try to update periodically with little daily details instead of broad brush strokes. Honestly, would love to hear from you. Love you!!!

Saturday At Long Last

Hello Readers. I think we have a total of zero readers as evidenced by our overwhelming comments page. Yet I will continue writing for the sake of bloggers everywhere.

Weekends become more and more precious as weekdays get busier. This week has flown by. Not sure how time actually flies, but this week it did. Complete with dinner out three nights, 10 year old drama at school, one relaxing night-in when I dozed off after a sweet and sour chinese stirfry at 9, and teens till 11pm Friday. And what a wonderful, relaxing, exhilarating weekend we had to look forward to.

The thought of sleeping in sounded so good. But why oh why can my body not sleep past 7?! Bodies must create some sort of internal alarm clock. But I took advantage of the morning by drinking coffee in bed, eating desserty granola, and signing up for freebies on the internet. That was a mistake. They sneakily ask you for you email and phone number and then send texts and emails to lure you in further. What tricksters. Dave awoke and we watched a mesmerizing hour of Master Chef. One hour of food drama. One hour of enjoyment. That show creates entertainment for foodies and drama seekers alike. They make you love a certain character and then they drop him in the final three. After daydreaming about food, we tied our tennis shoes and went running around a castle. However, our run consisted of hardly running. We are both sorely out of shape. But the run was worth a try. And it's around a castle. Excellent.

Then groceries. Tesco parking lot equals insane. Rugby games in the afternoon completely change people's food shop schedule. Wales rugby runs social circles here like football season in the states.

I could recount the rest of my day for you - mixing instant and proper coffee, having wonderful ladies over, walking through sunny merthyr, but I won't.

I will say that our next door neighbors got a knock from the police today. I nosily watched it going down out the window. Let's just say that the icecream truck that comes around 7 each night sells products other than icecream. Products coated in powder are their specialty, and our neighbors enjoy buying and selling them too!

Washing clothes here.. different. Half the size washers makes for twice the amount of clothes loads. And glimpses of sun force me to quickly run wet clothes to the line. Then hang the rest around the house to increase the wetness of our home. Steps to washing clothes here:
1. Just bring them to someone's house in the church that has a large washer and dryer and borrow their electricity, water, and appliances. Just kidding. Can't use the excuse that we don't have a washer anymore. Will just have to learn the welsh way!

And I will leave you now to meet my husband. I love you all.

And a couple more

Aldis and Ikea and House pics!!

I am realizing how utterly dependent I am on people in our church family. Today, a kind woman brought me shopping at Aldis for food. Then another woman brought me 45 minutes into cardiff to go get a shelving unit from IKEA. Then Dave installed our washing machine! God is so kind to us to provide people that can give me rides to key places when I don't have a car!

Food shopping is different here. I can't even fully explain how. Except to say that it takes me twice as long, they sale lots of pickled things and curry sauces, and I can't find black beans. You pay a pound to get a buggy (cart). People rush around and don't smile. You leave your credit card IN the machine while it processes (don't just slide it). But at the end of the shop, we had food for our little home. Thanks to Dave's mom, we have frozen meat for a month, so our bill was cheaper than normal. I can't imagine what it will be like when we need to buy meat and washing fluid.

Dave is fixing things up more than ever! He installed our washer! What a handy man!

Lastly, here are a few pics. Not many, I know. But it rained today and I couldn't take outside pics. Enjoy these few. Any notice there is a guest bed for anyone to come stay in. We'd love to have you!!!!

Our little blog

Hello everyone! I am sitting in a friends' home writing this blog post. We don't have internet at our house, so I have been out of contact with people via facebook and email. But believe me, it's not because we have become reclusive oldies or that we don't care about our American and Welsh friends. It's just because we are newlyweds with full time jobs and haven't had time to get internet installed. But don't fear. It will happen at some point.

That said, I am going to try my best to be good at putting up pics and little happenings in our two person life. But really, I don't think there will be all that much to say. But I want to keep in touch for sure. So please check in here every so often. But then send an email and keep in touch with us.

We are pretty settled in our house. The bedroom, living rooms, and kitchen look set up. But the rest of the house needs some TLC. We have already had so many people in our home and we have loved it. Life group, couples, single parents, teens, friends from church, and Dave's family have all been in. It's wonderful.

Life has gotten back into full swing for both of us. Dave is back at church preaching and leading teens. He is also spending lots of time with some of the homeless guys and gals in Merthyr. I am working again and realizing how I have got quite a bit to catch up from the time I was in America. The girls in my class are marvelous though. They have been patient with me this week as I have been tired, sore (bad fall on stairs), and ignorant of all they have done while I have been away.

Anyway. I could write a book, but this is an intro post to say "hello". So I'll stop here by saying we hope you like keeping up with us this way. Please email and call and send pics of YOU too.

Lauren and Dave