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3 months to go

its 3 months until the big day and i cant wait. in 3 months i get to witness my best friend and the love of my life walk down the aisle towards me as we step out on a journey of faith that will take the rest of our lives to truly enjoy to its fullest. and i truly believe that Jesus is with us on this adventure, he has been with us already in the previous 5 and a half months since we got together and even since before then working seperately within our lives for His Glory. a few people have been surprised by how quickly our relationship has progressed but if you were “on the inside” over a year ago (ie working in the Newfrontiers, London office) then it doesnt come as too much of one 🙂

Having worked alongside each other for over a year has had its great advantages but as you know now that i no longer work for Newfrontiers it brings different challenges over the next 3 months. firstly is contact time, now that i am not in the office i dont have anywhere near as much time in contact directly with Marie, i cant just make her a cup of her favourite tea (Peppermint or Earl Gray) and there are just less opportunities to see her. this means that i do have to be more intentional in seeing Marie, i have to pursue like i have never pursued before, i think Mark Driscoll says something like this over on his blog (although aimed at married couples i am pretty sure most of it can apply to not yet married couples) “Men, if you don’t date your wife, someone else may eventually volunteer for the job.” the buget is tight because of studying, freelancing and all the expenses that are incurred as a result of preparing for a wedding but that still shouldnt stop me, its one of those challenges that will be fun and i will only learn good habits ready for marriage

The next challenge for me is communication, i am no longer in the same office or next room from Marie every day, i cant just walk by her desk and say “Hi” or discuss anything and everything over lunch. this means again i have to more intentionally communicate, we have to use the phone more than we used to (hooray for a linked contract with free minutes – Finally O2!) communication is probably often not my strongest point especially if i dont see someone all the time, yes i can articulate myself if i need to particularly on a geeky level but remembering to initiate will often be my weakness. this challenge is gonna be a big one and again i only think God is going to use this next 3 months to build some more strong foundations with the existing ones and only make me a stronger more solid Christian Man of God and it will only set things on the good foundations when we are married, focused on Him.

and thirdly (sounds like a mini sermon doesnt it!) Absence really does make the heart grow fonder! I have only been freelancing for a week now and working mostly from home but i do miss Marie when she is not here, and i cant wait for the moments we can spend together, even when its not just the 2 of us! its only making me love her more and want look after and protect her and cherish her more (sounds like i am saying my vows already!)

will get off my soppy love box now 🙂 in short (and in guy speak) its gonna be a hectic 3 months full of challenges that i am going to need prayer for and to pray about, so would appreciate any prayers you have. I know God is in this because he has been there every single step of the way so far and i really dont doubt that that will change anytime soon either!



Freelancing and University

well today is the day! 2 changes in my life happened today 🙂 well to be honest they have both been a gradual transition really but hey 🙂

i go back to University as a “full time” student today i say full time with a lot of emphasis because this term until december i am actually only at university 2 half days a week. i had been part time previously so already had some credit hence not so busy this term and the story behind why i went full time is a long and stressful one, to summarise it. My uni is just poorly organised and they care about businesses more than there students so part timers often get overlooked easily, i was one of the unlucky.

my second change is that i am now a full time freelancer! i was previously working full time for Newfrontiers and ChristChurch London and doing bits and bobs in spare time as it allowed, but no more! My job title is probably still to be decided but i like the idea of Freelance IT Consultant. my main skills and areas are particularly hosting management, web hosting, server setup and management and other troubleshooting or optimisation. as i gain more time and skills i will definitely add web development into that list also, if your interested in that head over to my freelance site: http://somersettechsolutions.co.uk and have a look around or email me on [email protected] – i know my freelance site is in dire need of an overhaul, its somethink i plan to do now that i have more time.

with these new changes come some great opportunities that i cant yet talk about yet and it presents challenges mostly financial. i am praying that God blesses my freelance work and provides me with lots of clients so that i can work hard and earn the money needed to keep me financially stable. i am praying that the right opportunities come through and that i can have the wisdom to discern which ones to go for, which ones to pass up (probably not many!) and how to take things like brushing my web design/development skills back up to speed (lots of reading to be done no doubt).

hopefully with the new changes and new beginnings i will also have time to blog a little more too!



Back in the UK

well i have actually been back since tuesday evening, but its been such a busy and exhausting week that this is my first chance to write something here.

Zimbabwe was an excellent time, if only i had internet to blog about it as i went, sadly i only had enough internet to do the basics and minimum stuff near the end of my holiday (like making things official on Facebook 🙂 ) i got to see a lot of the country while spending time with Marie’s family including there farm.

Shelley & Adam’s wedding at Antelope park was totally stunning and totally unique and the pictures i did get to take dont do it justice. it was a great time and a great party.

after Antelope park i took Marie up Domboshawa (its basically a very big rocky hill) where we enjoyed a picnic and the view while waiting for the sunset and i waited for the right moment to propose! note to self or anyone considering similar, if you plan to get down on one knee in a rocky place either wear full length trousers or knee pads 🙂 it goes without saying Marie said yes of course.

we spent the rest of our week celebrating and meeting friends and planning stuff for a december Zim wedding. Coming back this week was eventful, i first got food poisoning on the plane (but not from the plane food – likely something just before) and spent most of my 8 hour flight from Nairobi curled up in a ball or over the porcelain (well metal) throne, got back to england to find the good old tube unions decided to strike so we had to get a taxi from the airport at a cost of over £100 by the time i got home 3 hours later 🙁

was ill the next day at work but had to crack on, and its been non stop all week with trying to catch up with the backlog and with new FP’ers starting in the office, its scary and sad to think that i will only be working for Newfrontiers for 2 more weeks.

hopefully normality resumes soon! at least first time back at church in about a month!



Zimbabwe: The journey begins

Sat in the airport at the gate waiting for the first leg of my journey. In the next 15 hours I will have been in 4 different countries (including UK). Its gonna be a busy 3 weeks I hope to blog a little about it as I go but Internet access is not quite as good as here. Anyway here is a couple of photos



Newday: Lonnnggg Day

am writing this the morning after the long day, Wednesday was officially Day 1 of Newday, delegates started arriving and also so did the bulk of the servers, we had been prepared and made up all the badges we could before had and distributed the relevant ones to there teams but that was not even half of our number of servers (about 300 out of 750) so as normal we were manicly busy all day from about 8am until about 9:30pm only stopping for 45 mins for lunch and 45 mins for dinner.

i was on my feet all day and basically, taking photo’s, printing badges and laminating them, we must have printed somewhere near 200 badges yesterday, of which well over 100 were after lunch alone. i think i am slowly getting feeling back in my feet. as a result i sadly missed the main meeting last night and as i left this morning not had chance to listen to any of the worship or word. am actually looking forward to the live album this year. had a record low number of mocha’s this year at 2, not because i was trying to cut down but purely because we were so busy we never had time to have them, have possibly OD’ed on Mcdonalds McFlurry’s though because have had one every evening after leaving the showground this week.

am headed back to London on a train as i write this (hooray for iPhone tethering!) am glad to be able to pick up a reliable phone signal again, headed straight back into the office and back to work. after having had a nice fry up for breakfast.

keeping it short this morning due to sleep deprivation and the need to catch up with emails and civilisation in general.