Wednesday, July 16, 2014

And we're back...

Well, we are back in AL and feeling the jet lag.  I wanted to blog more the last week we were in England, but I guess we were too busy having fun.  So what all did we do after my last post...

-We got to spend lots of time with most everyone in the church.  Made me more hungry to get back over there and be able to spend more time building those relationships :)

-We had a family adventure day going to Liverpool.  SK's dreams came true since she got to ride a double decker bus (which she had been requesting since the first time she saw one at the beginning of our trip) and we rode a train in to Liverpool.  SK would say this was her favorite day I think.  We walked all around Liverpool seeing the Metropolitan Cathedral (which was massive!) and the "bombed out church" as we call it.  We had a really great day there!

-We got to check out 2 Primary schools in Culcheth and meet with the head teacher at each.  This was really great in getting SK excited for going to school there.  She loved the schools.

I am sure there is stuff I am missing, but I will blame it on the jet lag.

Overall the trip was amazing.  It was helpful.  And it was eye opening in a lot of ways.  It really gave us a glimpse into what life will be like once we move here.   We learned how to go about everyday life including buying groceries, cooking (meaning getting used to a different kitchen and finding ingredients that might have different names here--like courgette...anyone know what that is???), getting around via the bus and train on our own, figuring out the pound.  We learned so much.

We got to see and talk with many people in the church.  We saw even more the massive need for workers in Culcheth.  Our hearts grew in our longing more and more to be with this church and serve there.  The Lord is at work there for sure and it was amazing to see how he is at work.

Pray for the church there.  Pray that they will be able to find a chef for the cafe soon.  Bruce (one of the elders) is currently playing the role of chef and that is taking him away from being able to do much shepherding and discipling which is where he longs to be.  Trace is away (the other elder) and the church feels the loss of not having the Donahoo's there.

Pray for us as we raise our funds to get there.  Pray that the funds come quickly and we can get there by March.  But also pray that we enjoy this time here in AL (and where all of our travels take us) and our time meeting with people and churches.  It can be tiring (to be honest), but also so encouraging.

After I get over the jet lag, I hope blog more....for now I am off to eat an early breakfast :)  Yesterday I was awake at 2 a.m. and today Michael and I woke at 4.  That means it's getting better right?  We are thankful the girls are doing well so far with the change in time.

Alright, I will leave you with some pics and be back soon for more blogging!









(This last photo is a church-turned-home in Culcheth)

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Dunham Massey adventure

So today we decided to venture out to a place called Dunham Massey.  It was beautiful.  It was an old estate, where the home was turned into a military hospital during the first world war.  There were beautiful gardens, deer everywhere roaming, ducks to feed, and logs and trees to play on.  We had a great time exploring then finished off our time there with some delicious ice-cream :)

I will leave you with pictures today, since I got some fun ones while we were there.  More blogging to come...Michael preaches in the morning at CCC and then we have 1 more week to enjoy here!



















We had a great family day today and looking forward to worship in the morning!

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Berry Picking and Chester

Hello again!  What all have we been up to so far this week?

On Monday, Michael "hired" a car for us to have for the week and that has been quite fun (I can say that since I have been the passenger and not the driver).  So Michael has gotten to try his hand at driving on the other side of the road.  He has done quite well I must say.  We have gone to the Trafford Centre (which is a very large mall/shopping center) which is about 20 minutes from Culcheth.

We went on Monday to a farm that is only a few miles from here called Kenyon Hall.  It had all kinds of berries for picking and a cute cafe and shop as well.  We were able to try out some new berries that I have never heard of before including gooseberries, tayberries, and black and red currants.  They also had raspberries and strawberries.  We had a great time picking some berries, though Evie ate more than we picked I think.  We ate in the cafe with Bruce and Bea, then headed home for Evie's nap.

Yesterday we decided to go about 45 minutes away to a place called Chester.  Look it up y'all.  It was amazing.  There are Roman walls there, a Roman amphitheater, a beautiful Cathedral and another very old church as well.  It was buzzing with shops and lots of people about.  We had so much fun there!

I have gotten to help serve in Quench Cafe twice now and really have enjoyed that.  I even took some orders yesterday and didn't mess them up too much I believe :)  Though I might not know what they were ordering, I just wrote down what they said :)  hehe.  At one point, a guy came and sat down and wanted to order, so I asked him what he would like, ready to write down what he said and not look dumbfounded if he asked any questions...he asked, "do you have any sandwiches?"  to which I replied.."yes...I believe so"  and had to flip around through the menu to find them (and it took a few flips...oops).  It was quite funny.  I had to explain that I was new to being in the cafe as well and he just laughed.

We are resting now after going to Leigh this morning, where we got some groceries at Tesco.  I spent some time with a lady that lives next door to where we are staying and the girls played in her back garden while we had tea.  It was lovely and she has an incredible garden.

We are having Bible study at our home tonight, so I think I might go and make an apple crumble....

Here are some pics from the last couple of days to leave you with today.

 SK loves watering the plants!
 Another rose bush in the front...love love love the roses.
 What the skies have looked like for 3 days now!  
 Berry picking at Kenyon Hall, where this little girl helped test the berries :)
 Me and my love.
 Picking currants.
 Aren't these gorgeous!
 Snuggled up to Uncle Bruce after hard work "picking" berries
 In Chester.
 Part of the Roman wall in Chester.

 St. John's...had amazing history to it--read out it more HERE

 Stoping at a Cafe for a rest and treat.
Chester.