i saw the queen (stacy- this person is the head of our country) and i had a conversation with her husband! it was very exciting. i said hello to her and i was only a matter of inches from her! this is the 2nd time i have seen her - the first was at the new millenium when i celebrated in london (stacy - this is the capital city of england) and saw her on a boat as she sailed down the thames (stacy - this is a river). anyway, i phoned my dad to tell him that i was about to see the queen and he said that he saw her when he was 8! that's a long time ago!

other than my exciting news, i am currently struggling with being super PMS bitch from a horrible place probably not too much unlike hell. life feels like a bit of a struggle but i expect once i get my period it'll be a bit better!

and what an honour it has been today to see the queen!! she was wearing something in red/pink.

it seems 'liz has been having a little nosey around the peace and winter gardens.

sarcasm is quite hard to convey on blogs it would appear...

last night was cool!!

wish you were here

hi all. new week, new party, new photos:

this one being in honour of the arrival of sovce to sheffield (middle, top row)

and just to say, i've got a job at hollywood bowl !!! starts next monday (for induction)

party tonight at ours to welcome sovce to sheffield and to SOFA! bring a bottle and i'm making roast potatoes for those that arrive early enough for there to be any left! start at 8.30ish!

hi all. the weekend has come and gone - i got to talk to some of my favourite americans which is always a big huge gift wrapped up in shiny paper with ribbons flying everywhere!

so here's what SOFA are up to this week:

tuesday night is a party for Sovce at our house to welcome her to sheffield.

wednesday night Simon and I are going to huddle in the evening so please pray. would you all like to come round to mine for tea at around 6.30? please let me know so that we can all bring something and share the provision!

thursady evening we are having a time of prayer and worship at Simon's flat. if you want to lead us in prayer, meditation or worship and have vision/ideas for something then bring it with you. i suppose that'll start at about 7.30pm.

it would be cool to eat together again this week - maybe friday although i can't remember if anything's on!

and ofcourse - don't forget that there is the beast of all parties at steve's house on saturday from 3pm til late. (it's also mark stoney's birthday on saturday too so make sure you bless him with a big cake each and a sloppy kiss!)

love you all lots... oh and ant, caroline and ben are on holiday - keep praying for them that they have a super duper time!

sorry 'bout that mat.

i love what God is doing with my husband - he is stirring up a mighty passion in him!

just seen the jungle book 2 with isla. i managed a brief kip in the middle of it and now she is sound asleep! so tired - really wanted to go to the sing-along-a-sound-of-music tonight but am far too exhausted.

on tuesday night we are having another SOFA party at our house. this time it is to welcome dan crawford's wife, Sovce, to Sheffield. (they've both just moved here but she's coming up 2 weeks late). bring a bottle and some macedonian to make her feel at home - 8.30pm onwards!

ps. you don't need to be SOFA to come along - the bigger the welcome, the better!

Iussi was a Welsh hermit who lived in the Black Mountains. He was martyred and the place of his hermitage became known as a sacred place of healing. When a merchant suffering from leprosy visited the site and was instantly healed, he left a bag of gold there in gratitude to God for his healing. The local people used the money to build themselves a church building. Patricio Church, somehow overlooked during the architectural vandalism of the Reformation, can still be visited in its breath-taking location.

A sense of adventure: a group of monks from southern Ireland got into a small rudderless boat called a coracle with no oars and no proper provisions. They cast themselves adrift and after seven days arrived in Cornwall and were brought before King Alfred. When asked why they had embarked on this somewhat unusual journey they answered, “We stole away because we wanted for the love of God to be on pilgrimage and we cared not where.” The Celtic instinct was to respond to the dynamic prompting of the Holy Spirit and then to begin adventuring and wandering with Jesus, carrying out evangelism, mission and church-planting as they went. This was pilgrimage to them.

Serf was a disciple of Ninian and, as mentioned above, became an evangelist in Fife and a mentor to Mungo. He went on to found a monastery at Culross. However, we mention him here because we love the fact that he had a pet robin. Better still, one hagiographer claimed that he discipled a lamb into the signs and wonders ministry. This ministry reached a peak when it saw a dead pig raised to life! (The Celtic Way, Bradley)

"the world is my parish"

: st patrick

and something else:

a little late perhaps...

our unity is Christ, not the church.

our vision is Christ, not a building.

our head is Christ, not man.

our hope is Christ, not the world.

our rest is Christ, not a time; and

our sabbath is Christ, not a day.

our salvation is Christ, not by works; for

our work is Christ, not a curse.

our Christ is Jesus, for there is no other.

thank you for the frodo wisdom - definitely feels right, but also hard. means a lot that you interact with our blog - bless you a zillion times!

A COUPLE OF THINGS:

1. can anyone babysit tomorrow evening (friday)
2. SOFA has a big get together - hopefully all 28 of us! this is organised for 31st May, 10.30am in the Gilbert Room at Crookes. We will be very kids focused as well as letting you in on the next stage of the vision which we are moving into. Look forward to seeing you there.

by the way - if you have vision/ideas for our time together then please let us know. SOFA is your community!

as an aside - i feel tired today - isla (the 3yr old we're looking after for a week) got into bed with us at 6am this morning. last night was later than usual so my body is not reacting as i would hope! your prayers are hugely welcome!

thinking about the loneliness of being a leader. looking at Jesus he clearly had times of loneliness but he also had a tremendously close and intimate friendship group. seems so strange to have such intimacy and yet be so lonely.

pray for me as i embark on discovering greater depths of intimacy with the Lord and with others - this is what God's doing with me at the mo and it's really scary!

i think thats probably the most accurate of these quiz things we've done so far. for both of us.

today actually went quite well, and was pretty productive. i started reading this book called the "new celts" which is all about discovering celtic spirituality (and not about riverdance, tye-dye t-shirts, flute music and guinness!). so far i've gone thru the history of the celtic church in the british isles - there are some mad stories that i'll paraphrase soon and put up cause they're pretty interesting in terms of understanding why england (and the west in general) is very much like it is both mentally and spiritually.

and we've got new bloggers - robby and grace cload

You are Professor X!

You are a very effective teacher, and you are very committed to those who learn from you.
You put your all into everything you do,
to some extent because you fear failure more than anything else.
You are always seeking self-improvement,
even in areas where there is nothing you can do to improve.



Which X-Men character are you most like?
brought to you by Quizilla

i am also scared of what i look like - i did this quiz twice because on a lot of the questions i wanted to give two answers - both times i came up as this character... eeek...

we're back on these again...

You are Storm!

You are very strong and very protective of those
you love. You are in tune with nature and are
very concerned with justice and humanity.
Unfortunately, certain apprehensions and fears
are very hard for you to overcome, and can
often inhibit you when most need to be strong.


Which X-Men character are you most like?
brought to you by Quizilla

thanks to shannons blog for that one, which has also been given a make over.

oh, and if you're not getting the list of links down the side of the window over there, i dont know why either.

i've also come under a little bit of attack, although not the same as bea. i was on the way to work this morning - i'm doing invigilating at the moment which i really enjoy - being able to sit in a room and read a book or whatever and i get paid for it.

and then, on the way someone pulls up next to me playing a very loud, live version of (robert palmers?) "addicted to love" and now i have it going round my head - this is really not good when i have 6-7 hours of silence to look forward to and no way of listening to something else.

please pray for me (although i think beas situation is a bit more serious than mine).

came under real attack yesterday - feel yucky from it still so please pray. i am really frustrated because if we have the authority to call on the powerful name of Jesus and he is the King of Kings then why does the devil have so much control? in the situation concerned the devil managed to steal and destroy some very precious things and if i wasn't as in love with God as i am at the moment then maybe some stuff would have been killed off. i want to live a life that glorifies God - not through who i am but by him having room to move in me and through me. if the name of Jesus saves then i want to see more of that - not the repelling effect that it so often has!! having said that we have seen several people come to know God and start living in the kingdom over the last couple of months and i love that, but there is stil 97% of Sheffield who don't go to church and so presumably don't know how much God loves them. (nb. not that going to 'church' is the only place you can have a relationship with God. being 'curch' is a far better way!!!!)

sorry to be heavy on a monday morning. off to get dressed now and to take 3 year old isla to nursery. we're looking after her for a week - we'll try and get a photo on the blog!

cathers lent me this book (by "darren") yesterday with all these cartoons in. more over the coming days/ weeks, but this is my favorite so far!!

i was nearly sick laughing.

and a few quick little photos of the (very) newly weds, james and jenny cornell:

SOFA tonight at joy's house at 8pm. see you there!

for the rest of you - things are good - have felt like a big burden was pushing on my shoulders but God really shed light on the issue and now things have been worked through so we are taking a course of action which has made the burden lift! woo hoo!

dan austin has returned and is currently getting to grips with being back in england after his sunny spell in france for 3 months. SOFA is growing so much that it is time to step into the next bit of the vision. very excited about what God is doing!

andy and i are looking after a 3 year old for a week starting on saturday - your prayers would be very welcome! friends have already stepped up to the challenge of helping us and although i expect it'll be a shock to the system i am crazily looking forward to it!

i feel like the americans need big blessings today so i pray that you would remember and know that you are planted in the mountain of his inheritance. i ask that you have wisdom and strength to walk out along the path set before you - the journey is an exciting one after all! Holy Spirit would you fill each of them with your life and give each of them time to saturate themselves in your love. i pray for inspiration and joy to overwhelm them as they pray and that in all their relationships you would be the centre. you are great Jesus, thank you that you are always with us and your promise is that you will never leave us. AMEN!

"a post on a blog is (or at least should probably be) just a fleeting moment in a persons life"

maybe just a few more pics then....

oh yes!

the party has indeed started, and these even a new person at it - funnily enough, connected to steve, and bea has already got her questions out the way including, "can you say the alphabet backwards?" and "do you have a significant other?"

photos?

kristen and joshua have had a beautiful daughter who's name is Judah!

the image is taken off the site of one of their relatives. i'll try to reference it a bit better shortly!

By: Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple


With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.


And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves


And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.


I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired


And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells


And run my stick along the public railings


And make up for the sobriety of my youth.


I shall go out in my slippers in the rain


And pick the flowers in other people’s gardens


And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat


And eat three pounds of sausages at a go


Or only bread and pickle for a week


And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry


And pay our rent and not swear in the street


And set a good example for the children.


We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?


So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised


When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

thank you kerry and diana for this poem - today seems like the day to put it on the blog. the kingdom shoes are walking their peace around the city of sheffield and i'm sure they're causing havoc in the heavenly realms! thank you so much. i love you.

just been lookin through all friend's blogs especially all our texan friends (derek&amy, andrew jones, brad s, kristen&joshua, shannon, jessica, danny&trish, nathan, ted etc) and catching up with what they're up to and seeing all the photos they've put up.

and then i realised as i went to each ones blog, i'd close their blog and open the next from the list at the side of ours, and noticed how any of them reading our blog would see all the photos of our friends, mostly people they wouldnt know, i just looked at all the photos and thought, "they're all my friends - i'm proud of all my english ones and honoured to have all my american (and NZ) ones."

made me feel all warm and gooey (as the description goes).

might even write a haiku at some point...

whoops. posted twice.

hello all! it's been an eventful few days! lots of thigs going on and today i de-dandilioned the garden (mostly the vegetable patch to be) with cathers. great having task orientated people around. i also planted some cornflower and aster seeds which should be beautiful for the summer!

really looking forward to the party tomorrow for dan austin's return from france and also in celebration of his birthday today - same day as my mum's!!

and of the brunch? it was indeed yummy.

following on the format of saturdays photos:

note the pictured s6 scallies trashing a car outside jens house today. todays youth hey...?!

a party invite for all friends of dan austin (and those who dont know him, but would like to (or even those who just want to come along for the party!)) to come along to welcome him home to the british isles.

this will be taking place at our house (3 freedom road) tomorrow (tuesday 6th) from 7pm onwards. so please come along, bring a friend, a bottle and maybe a french phrase to make him feel (kinda) at home.

i used to be very suspicious of it, but each time i watch amelie i like it a little more - its actually getting pretty good by now - love the colours of it too - make paris look all green-tinted and intriguing.

sals just left to go home, and were off to jens now for brunh. mmmmmm!

....and what an evening it was.

not exactly like the old 80 lydgate lane parties that dan and i were reminiscing about on the way home, but excellent all the same.

and there's even a few photos...:

arrrgggghhh!!!!

i'm very excited!!

but i cant really say anything about it.

very exciting though...

beas cousin sal brewis has now arrived for the weekend, and in just a few minutes we will be going to lol and beth housewarming.

i even have a big bottle of leffe brun to go with which i'm very excited about.
there may even be a few photos later...

yesterday was acvtually pretty crap, with a few good points.

bryan's leaving party was definitely one of the good points.

today should be better (apart from having to get an auto electrician out to fix our car.

err - i was judith. so there.

the weekends here and its shaping up to be a good one - party party party (well, party party roast beef actually).

you can tell i'm at work again, cause i go on about fridays and weekends with a little excitement in my voice.

I also am Abigail, the true personality of nathan and amy's dog,
I am fun-loving, loyal, friendly, modest and optimistic.
I have found balance, and I'm never too excessive about anything.
I am salt of the earth.


Which of nathan and amy's dog's personalities are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

i'm not too sure about some of it - i am possibly one of the most excessive people i know in some ways! i certainly haven't found balance when doing yoga as i wobble all over the place but of course, i am definitely the most modest person you are ever likely to meet!!!!!!!!!!!!

a reminder to SOFA about our place being the centre for catching up and hanging out tonight from 8.30pm. look forward to seeing you there.

for the americans - to help your geography in preparation for your adventures this summer!

the following image is taken from andrew jones' blog after his trip to Rydal Hall in the north of england. It is amazing - very powerful - try meditaing on it for a bit. he's put up some other images as well which are also full of impact.

beacuse i love my husband!

God has just reminded me that he's done some pretty cool things in the last day or two and we've not shared testimony! (sorry Lord - here goes:):

;o) we got given a sewing machine which is so amazing because we've been wanting one for ages and we've been learning to be content in borrowing from friends but now we have one!

;o) incredible financial provision of the weekend - God Bless you too!!

;o) we found a broken table (for our garden) - a pub one with a wrought iron fancy base and the a wooden top. it was disgarded by a pub so we took it off their hands. so good of God to point it out to Andy!

;o) someone in SOFA has asked if we can do a short course about introducing Jesus and our faith. it seems there are a couple of peeps who will be interested.

;o) shannon and ej were sharing a cheeky beer in our honour and at the same time (we know cos they phoned us) we were making tex mex fajitas.

well, here's what synthesizer i am:

You are a Yamaha DX-7
-You are the most popular FM synthesizer ever

-your digital bleeps and bloops offer a different sound than analogs

-You are a child of the 80's

-You are very hard to get along with unless people get familiar with you

-Your were very revolutionary

-You are mass produced

-You are liked by many



what synthesizer are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

i'm not so sure about some of the charcteristics - am i really so mass produced?

hey nathan - go and have a cheeky beer - it'll be a well earned refreshment in the desert.

what am i?


You are a MiniMoog

-Everyone wants you

-You are very popular

-You have a vintage look and unique personality

-You are loved by indie rockers the world over

-You are a leader and always get the melody



what synthesizer are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

sorry briefly back on these courtesy of nathan - have to say i'm quite happy with the results - didnt understand all the questions fully though.

hey neill - if you want something to do with your tomatos, i know some good salsa recipes - forget the tomato sauce, go salsa - its the way ahead.

we also watched a mental film last night - rules of attraction - most of us werent quite sure what to make of it as we came out - its not always easy to watch, is really sad in places (quite a lot of them actually) but is a very good production with some cool ideas and is definitely worth watching - gee/ tony is definitely up for watching it again, as i think am i if anyone wants to - it might be going off the screens soon though...

good film

whilst its hardly exciting to be back at work (appropriately its chucking it down outside), it is good to have free high speed net access again, which means for the next 2 weeks, we'll be blogging lots more.

a big hello to rachel cooper - so great to have you in our world!! now get back to work!!!!! (only joking)

back at work and it's raining heavily. great news for my garden as i have been getting very excited about seeing my little wild flower seeds that nick and marjorie gave me, gradually poking their tiny green faces through the soil. i have also cleared a bed in the garden which had two large and unattractive bushes in it. i am getting the soil ready to plant my butterfly mat and also some other seeds that i bought recently. then it's onto the vegetable patch! woo hoo!

something shamelessly lifted from derek and amy's blog that i think sums up where abigail is coming from, and i think i gradually am too.

"John Lake said this: "I had the faith to believe that the thing God showed me would come to pass, and I lived to see it through."

St Patrick, St Francis, Joshua, Moses, Deborah..understood that it goes from ABove to below-that's the Order. When we build from below we join the enemy of God. So identity above preceeds calling below-who you are with Him in Heaven preceeds what you do here on earth. Your authority comes from who you are with Him above...the spiritual order is always spirit is higher than what is below-so soul is lead by spirit-the natural is to submit to the spiritual. True leaders allow Him to move from above down into below.Letting Him build downwards rather than building from down to up. John Lake saw it above before it happened below! "

which is all that stuff about seeing what Gods up to and agreeing with it

and believing to see, not seeing to believe

PRAISE DE LORD!!! for he hath provideth.

once again.

not a lot happening at the mo.

just got my invigilating timetable and it seems i'm i've got a student called robert smith which is kinda amusing.

thats how little is happening right now.

thinking about going along to greenbelt this year - not been to a festival in ages, and kate rusby's playing at it.

also would love to go to prague and spend some time with the jones - very inspirational people they are.

and shannon's coming over for a fair while which'll be great!!

i'm sorry i'm not blogging much - things are a little hectic. andrew and debbie jones and their daughter have just been to stay whilst on their trip to a place near leicester for a conference. it was sooooooo good to see them both and particularly to catch up with debbie after almost a year! it was also a real encouragement and inspiration to have them worship with us at SOFA. i love the community that God, by his infinite grace, is building up around me. He is awesome.

i felt likie god gave me deuteronomy 3:18 for SOFA at this moment in time but i don't have any revelation from it. if you get revelation then please contact me.

this is part of the back cover of a book we got in texas - its a book called the monks of new skete: in the spirit of happiness, about monastic retreat/ community (i think) - everyone over there was going on about it saying how good it was.

whilst not disputing that, this part did make us chuckle:

seeing as ant has access to my blog stuff, he actually put that pic up there - i'm still kinda getting used to it - very cold.

at least the glasses dont make me look like ed norton in american history x.

and the emails are up and running. early tests show bea has adapted to the change in technology surprisingly quickly.

our new emails will now be (apparently dodgy sites can detect this stuff, and we really dont want to go thru the whole junk mail thing again):

andy "at" moogaloo.com and bea "at" moogaloo.com (obviously "at" being @)

so please change that in your email, and dont pass these addresses around everywhere. PLEASE!!....

(thank you)

check out my new haircut...

aren't i just the coolest?!

hot dang!!

i've even worked out how to ftp. its a good day for me now. not that it wasnt before, but i am quite peopled out right now.

thats what happened to our car tire on the way back from gatwick which took 4.5 hours for the AA to sort out. not impressed. actually it was more due to the dealer not supplying the car with a usable spare tire, but its pretty much sorted now.

it seems, the problem of no emails coming thru may now be solved. i'll just check it a littlke more before making our brand new email addresses public (but hopefully not too public!!).

still not quite sorted out ftp yet...

just returned from an amazing service of communion and bringing in the light up at st tom's crookes. fantastic - much better than i remembered from the last time i went. make plans to go next year if you were unable to this year. it really helped being a bit more of a night owl than usual due to the weird aftermath of jetlag!

also went to great bbq today - ofcourse, typically english: crap weather, under-done or over-done food (in this case it was actually perfect but we'll stick with my definition anyway!), and optimistic english people trying to bear the elements in summer clothing. we actually did very well and the couple who's house we were at - dave and sue's - were really hospitable so we'll be goin there again!!

last but not least, H A P P Y E A S T E R ! ! ! ! ! dance at the feet of the risen Lord in admiration and praise, knowing that you are planted in the mountain of his inheritance!!

you may have noticed that our blog address has changed to www.moogaloo.com and that even when you try to go to our old .blogspot address, you get redirected to here. once again, to the wizardry of a certain ant clifford.

and yesterday, we did in fact manage to watch 4 films at the cinema - so look down there on the right to find outr which ones. i would have to say that the life of david gale was awesome, as was phone booth

and oh my word - the new matrix trailer - i was literaly speechless - its was absolutly incredible. and on the big screen too.

oo oo oo!!!

my album has now been mastered (and just have the art and pressing up to do). very exciting indeed.

at various stages, ant nearly passed out from the stress of it all, but was revived each time by beer.

which was a relief.

on the downside of things, bea and i are so skint, we cant actually pay to get it pressed up ad released!!

oh well.

hi all. sorry not to have blogged for ages - it seems like my feet have only just touched the ground since our return from usa. God is doing and saying so much which is really exciting but also a little daunting! good news that he'll carry me through it.

tomorrow is our cinema marathon - 4 films in one day although it is only going to be 3 films as we are returning to crrokes for a rendez-vouz with the breenster and then maybe we'll make it back out for another film, or maybe we'll just call it a day!

the weather today has been phenomenal - i even put sunscreen on immediately after my shower as i knew i was going to need it! we've been out for a picnic this afternoon and rachel hall came round for lunch which was great - so good to catch up and connect again.

school is out for two weeks (including this one which is now nearly over) so i am understandably getting myself into lots of trouble!! not really. i am staying in bed too much though and not going to the gym even though i really want to go to the gym. that must be some weird psychological thing becaus eit makes no sense to me whatsoever.

and nathan, i really really want to hurt you, and if i can i want to make you cry. hope that's ok.

i've just sorted out andy and bea's new domain with this blog - hooray!!! [ant]

just had the coolest night with (beas bridesmaid) lucy and george, eating thai green curry (hi barnaby!), orange rice pudding (thyme), chocolate cake (hapopy birthday lucy!!), drinking home brew (brian), reminiscing (dan c), pipe smoking (danny) and listening to good music (hodge).

i love all you lot loads.

again, no photos due to no USB cable...

a good day of axis and allies with dan and lol tomorrow to look forward to.

ROY IS THE MEANEST MAN I HAVE EVR MET - I HAVE NEEDED TO GO INTO INTENSIVE COUNSELLING AS A RESULT OF MEETING HIM - THE ONLY WAY I CAN EXPRESS MY DISTRESS AT HIS MEANNESS IS THROUGH CAPITAL LETTERS!!!!!!! :o)

looking like a fun and interesting week ahead...

its really annoying not being abl;e to put up pics on lycos at the mo - there a classic i'd put up if i could.

anyway, things are going alright at the mo - realised we've got net access at home (although we do have to pay for the mins, so i'm typing quickly) - our bedroom has just had another facelift which is great - makes it a lot easier to get round it.

and then theres the pizza night tonight - kinda inspired by the jones' last summer.

and what an idea it is.

on a sunny day like today too.

not that you can expect any photos of it to go up...

and if you're reading this roy (from houston), you're a lovely lovely person with a heart of gold. not a mean person at all.

man these americans! ok, anita - you need to know that you were pooled in there with the texan tribe - it seems to sum up our american community. for those of you who know me, you know that my geography is appauling. big love!

i really miss all you texans!!!

maybe thats why i'm a bit down.

hello. got to sleep at the reasonable hour of 3.45am last night. uuurrgghhh! really want o be normal for once (hee hee!). anyway, i am managing to process some stuff and will blog about it soon. the biggest thing that keeps coming back all the time is that Jesus called us to make disciples, not churches. the church is what happens when disciples meet together - in this unity we are the body of Christ.

SOFA - tonight we meet at the florist pub on walkley lane between 7.30 and 8pm - then move onto another venue, yet to be confirmed. also, saturday night is make your own pizza night at ours - bring your toppings to scoff and share and i'll make the dough.

just had a look at tallskinnykiwi's blog and noticed the post about "pomo ponderings" - thought it was quite amusing that, at first glance, the word pomo looks like the word porno. pomo/porno/pomo/porno etc.

especially after all the problems he had about the hard core XXX content of his site a couple of weeks ago!

and having read andrews little piece on wabisabi, it seems pomo has become a bit of a 4 letter word now too.

maybe i'm getting our blog in trouble now.

not sure if it was a bit of jet lag still lurking, but getting up and walking to work this morning seemed such an effort. and this'll sound really bad, but having spent 2 weeks in texas, to come back to sheffield - everything about here just seems dull and lifeless.

i mean its really good to see all our friends, and be in our own home again, but just walking around sheffield city centre, everyone just looks miserable, the weathers miserable, my jobs miserable.

2 weeks holiday/ dole to look forward to starting this weekend. not sure what God wants us to do with it yet, but the wonderful cathers will be giving us some much needed help with some plans we've got. plus there'll be a 4-films-in-a-day marathon next week hopefully.

but then theres also the rest of the summer that bea and i really need some direction on, regarding work, rest and play.

a few more photos before we leave texas. ted (josh and roy) playing in a coffee shop in downtown houston:



and a baseball game we went to on saturday night with the above people and others:

and just to say that, the views held by some on this site, are not neccesarily those held by others on this blog. for example, the below "poop for peace" picture and link at the side is something bea found and (i'm assuming) supports as a viewpoint.

on the other hand i am not anti-war, and hold a stance more similar to matt p, neill, and i'm sure a lot more people who aren't antiwar but also know that its a politically incorrect/ untrendy stand point to have and so dont want to say a lot. i also get very annoyed with the attitude that assumes the rest of the country is completely anti-war too.

and just to say, i had this viewpoint before i went to texas before anyone is thinking that i'm coming home a born-again republican!!

hmm.

we're heading home today! we fly this afternoon - getting into london tomorrow morning. depending on tiredness and access to our car (which is behind secure gates) we may or may not come back to sheffield tomorrow - probably more likely to be wednesday. please pray for a safe, comfortable and enjoyable ourney - upgrades would be very much appreciated!! looking forward to seeing you all soon.

thanks kerry, dianna and tyler - you rock!

we all went to a baseball game last night (houston cougars against alabama) which was kinda fun, but a little boring. more amusing, before it, on the way to the game, ted, josh and roy and i went there in this huge pick up truck playin the stone temple pilots album, core at volumes far louder than i've ever heard a stereo go. 4 bearded men moshing in a pick up!!! what an experience.

i would've put some photos up, but lycos is still messing around and not letting me post up pics.

anyway, danny and trish has just cooked a full english breakfast by the smell of things, so gotta go. mmmm....

well it seems that bea didnt take to the new format of reading the days blogs in the order they happened very easily - as many of you know, bea can say the alphabet backwards - so its back to the other way again.

although i have just noticed that all the blogs are coming up as though we're in the uk, which is currently sunday morning over there, but here is still saturday night. which might also be a little confusing... fixed now.

hi everyone. please note that word is spreading that you may inadvertently be sending people to a "Christian" site by a small spelling mistake. if someone types in andyandbea.blogpot.com (no 's' in blogpot) then it takes you to a site which although may be good (i can't be bothered to go into it) is using our names to get people there. i'm really sorry if some of you reading this (particularly non Christians) have got to the other site by accident. the person running that site did not have our permission to use our names. yuck - makes me feel violated.

andrew jones has been studying his bible (at last!!!!!) and he suggests the following questions as a great way to simply but deeply get into the word:
1. What word or phrase "shimmered" or stuck out?

2. What did you like best about the passage?

3. What did you like least?

4. What did you learn about God?

5. What did you not understand or find puzzling?

6. What do you think applies to people today?

7. If you were to choose a sentence or phrase to meditate on this week, which would it be? And why?

andy has changed the way our posts work so you don't start with the most recent post - you start with the first of that day and then read down in chronological order. can you feed back to say if that makes it easier or harder to navigate our ramblings.

last night's gig was really cool - erika's has changed her hair again and she's doing mine on monday morning before we fly.

hope you all have a smashing weekend.

all you "english" are all asleep right now so you're gonna have to try reading in reverse order tomorrow morning.

i hope robby and grace start blogging soon, although i have the feeling they wont...

ah no - i've just worked out how to sort that bit out.

i think i would have to say that anyone coming to austin wanting a beer, unless you're feeling like trying one of the many slightly esoteric but also excellent local beers (eg sierra nevada , fat tire , live oak ), stick to shiner bock -


- its awesome stuff.

a little while on... no USB cable so no photos... musics good though. if you want a vague listen to what its like, go to teds web page , click on "mp3s", and try "lost summer".

lycos doesnt seem to be working either so even with the cable, no photos.

erika's just been called up to either dance or sing - not sure what yet. maybe just a telling off for the heckling...

ah - its singing and dancing.

kinda gutted right now - we've travelled to downtown houston with bea and danny (erika is also here) to see ted and josh play a gig at a coffee house. danny has brought his laptop down with him to do some work on, and has got it plugged up to the internet (free, high speed connection, courtesy of the coffee shop!! - a lot of coffee shops and the UT campus, have wireless connection, so you could sit out on a piece of grass in the rough area and be connected up to the internet/ uni network, for free!!). so i can now blog from a downtown coffee shop in houston, drinking a bottle of premium lager.

so why am i gutted?

well, having brought our camera down to take a few photos (as is the case in texas recently...), i got completely excited about the idea of taking photos and putting them on the laptop and then putting them up on the blog, right here, in the coffee shop at 10 at night (!!). anyway, i didnt bring the USB cable to connect the camera to the laptop so i cant do any of that.

maybe i'm just a little too into that sort of stuff...

oh well.

this is kristen's bump:
very cool. the writing is to do with some crazy gift giving thing americans do when they get a baby - HAPPY BABY SHOWER KRISTEN! they are linked at the side...

and here are some photos to go with our journey back to houston:

back at the "boss house of steaks" for drinks, carrot cake, cookies and...



beef jerky! mmmm.... sadly no alligator on sale, but the jerky was in a tin that said, " you kill it, we grill it" with a cartoon of a roadkill on the side.

anyway, we are in houston now, and need to go take the rental car back - danny's just got home and everyone seems to be tired (except me).

ps: i'm glad abigails blog's runtime bug that comes up each time you open it has been fixed...

hi everyone. we are now in houston - we dropped mr pink cheeks off at the airport and after getting slightly lost we have found our way to trish and danny's. hopefully tonight we'll make it to ted and josh's gig at a coffee house somewhere and then we'll see what the wind blows in over the weekend! caroline told me that SOFA had a lot of new faces the other night - congratulations to steve who wins the prize for fastest developmental action towards world domination. God gave Shannon an amazing word about SOFA growing which is really exciting - it is:

1So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. 2Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ--that's where the action is. See things from his perspective.
3Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life--even though invisible to spectators--is with Christ in God. He is your life. 4When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you'll show up, too--the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
5And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That's a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. 6It's because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. 7It wasn't long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. 8But you know better now, so make sure it's all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.
9Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire. 10Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. 11Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.
12So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. 13Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. 14And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
15Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. 16Let the Word of Christ--the Message--have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! 17Let every detail in your lives--words, actions, whatever--be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

jen also found part of this and shared it with us as a group yesterday. i think God is wanting us to dwell on it - it also reminds us of cather's word about worshipping every 6 steps. Jesus is really up for SOFA and he is excited about the people in ti already and those who he has lined up to enter in.

i love you guys - a lovely friend of mine pointed out that it was cheeky of me to be requesting emails when i wasn't sending any out - sorry about this. what i really wanted was for you to respond to some of the things i had been blogging either on our site or thethingaboutit. i hope this explains some stuff to those of you who i upset - i really didn't want to upset andy of you. love bea

i am going to go and have a shower - get up properly. we are on our last day in austin as we drive to houston tomorrow to drop pinks at the airport and then to hang out with the houstonites. proudly, andy and i are confirmed "honourary texans" - a title i secured after a speech i made on sunday. it was the texan accent i used to call people to prayer that clinched it!

once i am dressed i am off to a coffee shop to process the wabi sabi event and to then write some of it down. i realise i am starting to venture into the territory of the introvert processor - God help me!

welcome to pink helen who i understand has joined SOFA! i love our community even thoughvery few of them have emailed me in my absence!!!!!!!!!! praying for you as you pray for us tonight in fat jacks! thank you for your commitment to us.

i just realised that we don't have a link to sopme vital members of our community. the first of these that i have rectified is that of kristen and joshua so they are now linked to the right. i am so sorry guys that we have been so blind to the error of our ways up til now! we love you.

"i've been living my life in a snow hill

different girl every night at my hotel

and i ain't seen the sunshine in three days"

some lyrics from none other than kid rock's new song. interestingly though, it was on CMT (country music television) and is a duet with sheryl crow!!

spent a few hours on my own (!!) last night at the very cool spider house, again feeling a little depressed that there are no places like it in sheffield (yet).

going to brians house to compare homebrews soon, then off to fiesta (hispanic supermarket), and then spider house (apparently its quite different in the day) for a bit. and then off to the berryhills with loads of others for tea. then off to houston tomorrow.

yesterdays count:

no of fizzy drinks: 5

cools little coffee houses/ diners frequented: 3 (chuys - v good)

anita is blogging. check her out - she is a very very very very very very special woman of God. her art is also amazing.

oh - just a quick one, but i sold the first copy of my album today - the wonderful andrew jones literally stole it off me, shoving $12 in my hand, with that wicked smile on his face.

anyway, i like him lots, so i let him get away with it.

kinda exciting i s'pose...

well, as maffy has noted, lycos is now back up and here are the photos as promised. since talking to nathan last night it seems, our digital camera gets used more like a lomo, in that its good at getting quick photos that capture the moment, and are more arty than clear.

anyway, here they are:

1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:

1: bea and dereks 80's prom night themed birthday party

2: welcome to wabisabi

3: the texas shotgun revival

4: sabitage house party

5: reverand drew at big daves dam saloon

6: robby and grace (newly engaged) at a diner having cherry pie (excellent idea rob!)

obviously there are loads more photos to go up, but for now, i'm afraid thats all we've got time for folks.

no of very cool coffee shops visited today (so far): 2

no of sugary liquid drinks drunk: 4

cherry pies eaten: 0.5

av temp today: 24'C

expected weather for tomorrow: 28'C, 0% precip, partly cloudy - perfect tubing weather!!

we really need to be praying for this and the rest of what's going on in Iraq.

hopefully off to buy dungarees and then have manicure and pedicure. i've never had a the latter so am very excited. you still haven't emailed.

well, the lycos site is up and running. i now need to find a bit of spare time to size the photos up and upload them. thats asuming theres some software to do this on shannons computer....

anyway, things are going well - managed to find a couple of cool shirts at buffalo exchange (a retro thrift store) which i'm pretty happy about. quite a few of our sheffield friends have left now, which i'm a little sad about as we didnt get enought chances to just hang out around austin, but i'm defintely looking forward to a more chilled out week.

amusingly, bea and i got to go to "big dave's dam saloon", a biker bar, out in the country last night which was cool, also getting to spend a little time with the (newly) reverand drew rice and family, and greg atkins.

and in bridget jones style, a few confessions:

no of cans of coke drunk today: 5

no of meals out today: 2

also, a massive thank you to anyone connected to the $40 that appeared mysteriously in my wallet today.

well hi there. glad to see ya'll are emailing us and staying in touch (NOT!). we miss you guys and can't wait to see you again - i think a party will be in order maybe or a big dinner. invite yourself by email just so i can feel a little more loved! we're having a good time though, although we are SO tired! by the way, check out this site for cool clothes and a great sentiment!