I want to encourage you to check out my friend Angie's blog. This friend lives here at Tyndale House with us too.
It is "thecambridgehillbillies.blogspot.com"
I know you will find it not just entertaining, but insightful!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Bookmobile
We walked into town yesterday~
found the Bookmobile Bus~
and checked out books!
Claire has read one three times already and finished all of hers and most of Julia's. Egads. I told them to get something besides princess books, something with more 'substance.' "I did Mom," said Julia, "I got mostly 'fairy' books!"
Hmmm~
found the Bookmobile Bus~
and checked out books!
Claire has read one three times already and finished all of hers and most of Julia's. Egads. I told them to get something besides princess books, something with more 'substance.' "I did Mom," said Julia, "I got mostly 'fairy' books!"
Hmmm~
Sarah's Day with Tatiana. By Julia
Sarah had a friend over from school named Tatiana and her little sister Maya. Tatiana was 5 years old Maya was 2 all most 3. Tatiana and Maya had brown hair and pig tales (bunches). When Tatiana and Maya came Tatiana and Sarah ran up stairs and stared to play. Their nanny Sarah stayed for a little bit but left when Maya started to play with Claire. Mommy said we were going to the park. So we all had to us the bath room then we all had to have a cup of water (Tatiana spilled hers). Then we got our coats and shoes on and OFF TO THE PARK WE GO.
We all had buddies Claire had Maya, Sarah had Tatiana and I had Andrew. Mom said we could all run down the drive way so we did. When we got to the park we ran across the field. When we got there our friends the Askelands were there they have 3 children Heidi, Morgan and Christian Joel. When Christian Joel wanted to get up in the baby swing (by the way he is a baby) his mom put him in and I sat on the other baby swing it flipped over and I fell and hit my head. Well thats all I am going to tell you now. Maybe I will tell you what is happening on Thursday.
We all had buddies Claire had Maya, Sarah had Tatiana and I had Andrew. Mom said we could all run down the drive way so we did. When we got to the park we ran across the field. When we got there our friends the Askelands were there they have 3 children Heidi, Morgan and Christian Joel. When Christian Joel wanted to get up in the baby swing (by the way he is a baby) his mom put him in and I sat on the other baby swing it flipped over and I fell and hit my head. Well thats all I am going to tell you now. Maybe I will tell you what is happening on Thursday.
Preaching in Flitwick~
We headed to Flitwick to Bedford to meet up with our lovely friends Mark and Louise and their six children.
Mark had asked Jim to preach on Sunday, and then asked us to spend the night!
Our 10 children, combined, get along very well, and always are sad to leave each other.
Jim and I have come to really appreciate Mark and Louise, and their faithful service to their church is beautiful. Below, they surprised me with a birthday cake! I was overwhelmed~
I had fun french braiding all the girls hair for church on Sunday~I should have taken a more complete picture, it looked like we were taking a group of little Amish girls to church~they sat, all in a row together, too!
And here is a picture of Jim preaching, I so enjoyed hearing my husband preach again, and I got to hear him twice!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Bedford Museum
After a delicious lunch at Subway (a new experience for some of our British friends) we headed to the Bedford Museum. First we saw where Bedford Castle used to stand. You can see the model below.
The nobleman who owned it rebelled against the King and it was captured after a long siege; miners dug under the walls and set off explosives to break down the massive walls. All that is left is the immense mound where the 'Keep' used to stand, a huge round tower some 100 feet high. Now, the local teenagers hang out here, and we climbed the mound for a good game of tag, too.
Below is a model of Bedford Castle.
The children are running on top of the mound, where the Keep once stood.
Next door at the museum we found an example of an "Anderson Shelter." These shelters were buried halfway underground during WW2 as bomb shelters to protect families. They had tin/metal outsides and came in two sizes. After the war they were modified to become sheds for the gardens. What else would you use them for?
In the museum~
I had to take a picture of this. As we wandered through the museum we came across a number of animals. After glancing at elk, deer, etc. I came across this horse head. A bit of a surprise I must admit! This is Billy, the world's oldest horse. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, he lived 62 years, poor thing. I asked Jim, "If I live really long, please don't do this to my head."
I was teacher for a day~
Sarah and Virginia were very good pupils~
Outside the museum, Andrew and friends playing on an old Roman sarcophagus found here in Britain. Julia was quite distressed by this, "ANDREW, don't you know that somebody DEAD lived in that? GROSS!"
It didn't seem to phase him~
A nice walk along the Ouse (pronounced "Ooze") River which winds through Bedford~
And ended the day with our Tyndale friends by a spending a bit of time in a park. And some wonderful hot chocolate--thanks Kathryn!
And then we headed to the Sewalls' to spend the night! They live in Flitwick, just a few miles away. Jim preached there on Sunday. Their church is the daughter church of one John Bunyan planted!
The nobleman who owned it rebelled against the King and it was captured after a long siege; miners dug under the walls and set off explosives to break down the massive walls. All that is left is the immense mound where the 'Keep' used to stand, a huge round tower some 100 feet high. Now, the local teenagers hang out here, and we climbed the mound for a good game of tag, too.
Below is a model of Bedford Castle.
The children are running on top of the mound, where the Keep once stood.
Next door at the museum we found an example of an "Anderson Shelter." These shelters were buried halfway underground during WW2 as bomb shelters to protect families. They had tin/metal outsides and came in two sizes. After the war they were modified to become sheds for the gardens. What else would you use them for?
In the museum~
I had to take a picture of this. As we wandered through the museum we came across a number of animals. After glancing at elk, deer, etc. I came across this horse head. A bit of a surprise I must admit! This is Billy, the world's oldest horse. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, he lived 62 years, poor thing. I asked Jim, "If I live really long, please don't do this to my head."
I was teacher for a day~
Sarah and Virginia were very good pupils~
Outside the museum, Andrew and friends playing on an old Roman sarcophagus found here in Britain. Julia was quite distressed by this, "ANDREW, don't you know that somebody DEAD lived in that? GROSS!"It didn't seem to phase him~
A nice walk along the Ouse (pronounced "Ooze") River which winds through Bedford~
And ended the day with our Tyndale friends by a spending a bit of time in a park. And some wonderful hot chocolate--thanks Kathryn!
And then we headed to the Sewalls' to spend the night! They live in Flitwick, just a few miles away. Jim preached there on Sunday. Their church is the daughter church of one John Bunyan planted!
John Bunyan museum
Tyndale House organized a trip to Bedford, England this past Saturday. Home to John Bunyan and many of the places which inspired locations in Pilgrims Progress, this lovely little town boasts the John Bunyan Museum and the Bedford Museum. We really enjoyed both and thought you might like to see a little of what we saw!
When we asked our girls if they remembered who he was, they said, "Oh yes! He had the big blue ox!" Oh dear~"No, that was PAUL Bunyan, girls~"
The John Bunyan museum is located next to the original location of the barn where John Bunyan began his teaching ministry (a church is there now, we will show you pic's later)
John Bunyan became a Christian as a young man after "having led an abandoned life " (quote from "Grace Abounding" his biography) and was also a tinker or tinsmith by trade, see below~
Here he is eating, but he doesn't seem to realize Andrew is hiding under the table~~
A replica of a kitchen his family might have used (Claire did a bit of cooking for him)
A shot of him in jail. In 1658 Bunyan was indicted for preaching without a license; in those days the government supported the established Church of England (C of E) and suppressed "nonconformists" who were not part of the C of E. Remember the Pilgrims who left England for religious freedom? They were in the same situation.
Bunyan didn't stop preaching, though, and was finally arrested in November 1660. He was taken to the county jail in Bedford where he was confined at first for three months. But since he refused to conform to the C of E or to desist from preaching, they kept him locked up for nearly 12 years. He wrote Pilgrim's Progress during this time.
He had just married a second time (his first wife died) and had three children. His eldest, Mary, had been blind from birth and was especially dear to his heart.
“The parting with my Wife and poor Children hath oft been to me in this place, as the pulling of flesh from my bones … O, I saw in the condition I was as a man who was pulling down his house upon the head of his Wife and Children; yet thought I, I must do it, I must do it.”
To support his family while in jail, he made shoelaces for his family to sell. He also made several musical instruments himself. He made a very nice metal violin (forgot to take a picture of it) and a recorder (from the leg of his chair) see below.
His family brought him his soup in this jug. And that is his plate right beside it.
This is a door from the Bedford county jail from the time when Bunyan was a prisoner! Those very hinges creaked as he walked in, that lock held him fast, and those six bars blocked his view.
Bunyan was released in January of 1672 when Charles II issued the Declaration of Religious Indulgence. He became pastor of the Bedford church but he was arrested again 1675 because Charles II withdrew the Declaration of Religious Indulgence. This time he was held in the Bedford town jail on the stone bridge over the River Ouse. But in six months he was free and as a result of his popularity he was not again arrested.
The pulpit from the last church he preached in~
And this museum also had his tombstone! Leo and Andrew were just small enough to sit under the pulpit next to it.
We bought a family copy of Pilgrims Progress, a bit modified for our children's sake.
The front doors of the church were really neat. An artist created ten bronze panels of scenes from Pilgrim's Progress which were displayed at the Royal Academy in 1860. The Duke of Bedfordshire bought them and had them made into doors, which he gave to the church.
That's our tour guide standing next to the doors. He was very patient with our group, which included seven small children~~
Inside the church~
The church also has stained glass windows depicting the story of Pilgrim's Progress. Here are two~
The sad ending is that the church used to have some 300 kids in their Sunday School. Now, they have 5. We need to pray for the church in England. It breaks our hearts to see what a wonderful heritage is here (including beautiful stone churches in every village) but how few people have set their faces toward the Celestial City.
When we asked our girls if they remembered who he was, they said, "Oh yes! He had the big blue ox!" Oh dear~"No, that was PAUL Bunyan, girls~"
The John Bunyan museum is located next to the original location of the barn where John Bunyan began his teaching ministry (a church is there now, we will show you pic's later)
John Bunyan became a Christian as a young man after "having led an abandoned life " (quote from "Grace Abounding" his biography) and was also a tinker or tinsmith by trade, see below~
Here he is eating, but he doesn't seem to realize Andrew is hiding under the table~~
A replica of a kitchen his family might have used (Claire did a bit of cooking for him)
A shot of him in jail. In 1658 Bunyan was indicted for preaching without a license; in those days the government supported the established Church of England (C of E) and suppressed "nonconformists" who were not part of the C of E. Remember the Pilgrims who left England for religious freedom? They were in the same situation.
Bunyan didn't stop preaching, though, and was finally arrested in November 1660. He was taken to the county jail in Bedford where he was confined at first for three months. But since he refused to conform to the C of E or to desist from preaching, they kept him locked up for nearly 12 years. He wrote Pilgrim's Progress during this time.
He had just married a second time (his first wife died) and had three children. His eldest, Mary, had been blind from birth and was especially dear to his heart.
“The parting with my Wife and poor Children hath oft been to me in this place, as the pulling of flesh from my bones … O, I saw in the condition I was as a man who was pulling down his house upon the head of his Wife and Children; yet thought I, I must do it, I must do it.”
To support his family while in jail, he made shoelaces for his family to sell. He also made several musical instruments himself. He made a very nice metal violin (forgot to take a picture of it) and a recorder (from the leg of his chair) see below.
His family brought him his soup in this jug. And that is his plate right beside it.
This is a door from the Bedford county jail from the time when Bunyan was a prisoner! Those very hinges creaked as he walked in, that lock held him fast, and those six bars blocked his view.
Bunyan was released in January of 1672 when Charles II issued the Declaration of Religious Indulgence. He became pastor of the Bedford church but he was arrested again 1675 because Charles II withdrew the Declaration of Religious Indulgence. This time he was held in the Bedford town jail on the stone bridge over the River Ouse. But in six months he was free and as a result of his popularity he was not again arrested.
The pulpit from the last church he preached in~
And this museum also had his tombstone! Leo and Andrew were just small enough to sit under the pulpit next to it.
We bought a family copy of Pilgrims Progress, a bit modified for our children's sake.
The front doors of the church were really neat. An artist created ten bronze panels of scenes from Pilgrim's Progress which were displayed at the Royal Academy in 1860. The Duke of Bedfordshire bought them and had them made into doors, which he gave to the church.
That's our tour guide standing next to the doors. He was very patient with our group, which included seven small children~~
Inside the church~
The church also has stained glass windows depicting the story of Pilgrim's Progress. Here are two~
Evangelist Points the Way
Christian Approaches the House Beautiful
The sad ending is that the church used to have some 300 kids in their Sunday School. Now, they have 5. We need to pray for the church in England. It breaks our hearts to see what a wonderful heritage is here (including beautiful stone churches in every village) but how few people have set their faces toward the Celestial City.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Quiet reading time~
As a young mom certain things seemed like they would last forever. At the time, I wondered if I would ever have a moment when I wasn't concerned about my children's physical safety! And things like buckling and unbuckling the carseats, changing another diaper, snapping another onesie, cleaning the high chair tray again were the rhythm of life.
I knew that my children would get older and be able to do these things themselves, but somehow I didn't think that I would turn around one day and discover, they had!
I used to sit and imagine a time when I would tell my children, "please go up to your room, get ready for bed, and then you may have quiet reading time." "Wouldn't that be amazing?" I would say to myself. For some reason, this image would often float through my mind as a "some day that might happen, but it seems a long time off."
Tonight, I had to take a picture of something that is happening in our family. Quiet reading time with three children. The time has come sooner than I expected~
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