GregAndSuzanne

I'm starting to love my new routine of getting up bright and early, not always so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but moving in the right direction at least. I decided that being woken up by a baby isn't really the way I want to start the day - I say woken up, but what I really mean is sleepwalking to Liya-Jean's room, fetching her and letting her  'play' in our bedroom for however long it takes for us to 'rise again' - so I'm trying to beat her to it. We're really fortunate though as she normally doesn't wake up before 7am. I'm also loving ibethel.tv. They upload the weekend's worship set ready for Monday morning. A great resource. If praying is your thing, please pray for us here in Slough, especially Every Nation Slough. I feel we're on the brink of a new season, which is always associated with some sort of resistance (sometimes that's the best way of telling you're close to breakthrough). We've been experiencing a re...

After months of promises and walking around with loads of guilt and condemnation, I have finally updated the photos and videos on our blog! It feels good, although I'm not sure it was worth it... It's never good to spend too much time on the laptop on our family day! Anyway, things are going really great in Slough. We are very happy and enjoying our daughter so much. We have had to force ourselves to get into a new rhythm as Suzanne went back to work about a month ago. She's back at the coffee shop in the mornings and does about 4 or 5 aerobics (I'm actually not supposed to call it that) classes a day. This means that I have the baby during the mornings, which is great for bonding, but not so much for productivity. So I'm spending more time working in the evening, etc. I think we're getting there... Church-wise, things are also really good. There is a real sense of experiencing God in a deeper way, which is totally awesome. I am more and more convinced of th...

We have had the privilage of our parents visiting us here in the Uk for 5 weeks now. Man, what a pleasant time we shared. Greg and I felt like we were part time parents, and we loved knowing that our little one is recieving all the love that she can handle in this time of a full house family. We are also proud owners of a beautiful garden thanks to Dad and Liya's cupboards are back in order, thanks ouma. These grandparents have served us with such abundance in every area, we are left speechless, knowing that no thank you could truely show our gratitude towards their visit here. I totally get why in some cultures families all live in one house. I believe I would love that. A house where all the parents and the kids live. Obviously some space for just you and your little house hold, but I think that would be ideal. Mmmmm, how could we make this happen....I can just see my dad rolling his eyes at this. I think it would be great! Liya-Jean has grown so much! 2 Teeth, crawling, and...

We heard some bad news this week and I am urged to write about it. I declare a blessing to all who read this to understand  this message in its fullness. I hope that you would listen out of respect of my character, knowing that this isn't a light hearted declaration but I am moved by compassion for everyone that I know. Please, think on this: About 6months ago, Roy, a  man who had a heavy heart, walked past our church one Sunday morning and decided to go inside with the hope that his burdens might be lifted. He was in great need in all areas of life. The church helped him out with some of his physical needs.  Yesterday we heard that Roy had passed away... This seriously impacted me. I reflected on every time I met Roy. I only new him the last 6months of his life. I had opportunity to speak to him about God, but I didn't, I suppose I wanted a better suited time. And I did not want to of...

Woke up this morning with a beautiful sun kiss. Oh how we love the sun, praise God for the sun! Yesterday Liya-Jean watched Jan de Wet, Loflaaities and she was super gripped by it. Her first TV experience, she was so fascinated by it. So cute. I will post a video of it soon. Other than that, we went to a ball the other night, so lovely. We 'danced', well I have to say it like that cause between me and Greg we aren't the best couple to strut our stuff on the dance floor, mmm, maybe we should take some classes...We just had such a good time with our friends, chilling, laughing, eating great food. We have got to do that stuff more often. Let our hair down. I have been refreshingly reminded that praise is the best way forward. Gratitude, and focusing on the stuff we do have and celebrating life. Let's enjoy life, stop taking it so seriously. I am sure many of us wonder how we can glorify our God more, and I am convinced that this would be the way. Enjoying and celebrat...

So much to say. About God, about family, about life... Gratitude flows out of our bellies. Our lives are growing stronger, our existence is becoming more purposed filled and our understanding, even though still small, it is more than we have ever experienced. It is always difficult to put into words what God is doing. But today I just want to speak life and encourage all of us. God created us, every good thing around us. He is yearning to be a part of your lives. Every waking moment He is revealing Himself to us. OPEN YOUR EYES, LISTEN... He is always speaking. With and without words. Inside of you is a understanding of the one whom created you. Inside of you is the ability to understand all that He is revealing. I pray a blessing over you, to hear and to see. We are grateful for our little joy, Liya-Jean, she is sooooo unique and soooooo well behaved. She is just the greatest pleasure we have ever experienced. I see her grow every moment and every next step is something to celebra...

I just arrived at my little hostel in Krakow, Poland. It's quite an interesting place. The beautiful old buildings have been converted into labyrinths with tiny bedrooms. It's nice and clean, though, and the staff are friendly. I'm here to join our pastors from all over Europe for a few days of equipping. I'm really looking forward to it. It only starts tomorrow, though, so I can wander around the old city a bit today. But first, some breakfast and then a siesta. I've been up since 3h30 and haven't really eaten!

Gosh... It's been almost 2 months since our last post. Quite a lot has happened since. Suzanne and Liya-Jean is in South-Africa at the moment. They went to visit the family (and arrange a visa for Liya-Jean) at very short notice, in fact super short notice. We decided they should go last Thursday, bought the tickets last Friday morning and they flew that night. So, it's been a little over a week that they've been away, sending me straight back to single life. I've gotta say, it's not pretty! Apart from drinking from mostly the same mug for the last few days and eating McDonalds late at night, I've been putting off cleaning the fridge and mowing the lawn for a week now. I'm not sure where the time is going, though. I suppose I'm doing a lot of work and did watch a lot of Band of Brothers, which is really excellent by the way! I also watched Back to the Future - such a classic! I've been skyping the family pretty much every day and it's been ...

Finally life is starting to seem normal again. I have been on a leisure holiday since beginning November allowing myself to do what I want, when I want...the good life. I must confess, I miss the structure of daily activity and so, after the family have all gone I have set aside March to get back on track with a new schedule. Struggling to get up in the mornings, even with our little princess around, she is so easy going that most mornings I manage to still sleep till about 9H30. My challenge is to wake up earlier. Hold thumbs;) I can't believe it is already March! On the cards for this month is getting fit and ready for pursuing my aerobics career in June. Ladies, I am sure you know the battles to fight concerning getting back in shape. Lets just say it is not the loosing of weight that is my greatest challenge..;)  Greg and I are doing very well. We are trying to make more time for each other. Life manages to run away with us, and our conversations mainly strea...

Wow! Time flies when you're having fun... Or time disappears when you have a baby! It's been five great weeks since my last post. Liya-Jean will be 8 weeks old on Saturday, which will also be the day that her 'ouma' (Afrikaans for grandmother) leaves to go back to South Africa. The baby had been spoilt rotten by both oumas! Actually, her third 'lola' (Tagalog for grandmother), Rosanna, has also been adding a great deal to the spoilage! I don't know how Liya is going to cope with her two boring parents after all of this. It's been a real joy to see her develop into her own little personality. She is such a happy and contented baby. She's been showing off the most beautiful smiles lately. And she doesn't feel the need to entertain you if she's not in the mood - she just avoids eye contact when she's tired of people getting in her face and making strange noises. I will hopefully add a few recent photos and one or two videos of her soon...

Tomorrow it'll be 2 weeks since we were entrusted with this little creature of ours. There have been a few interesting moments (like this afternoons technicolour display all over my Diesel jeans!), but in general it's been nothing but sheer joy having her join our family. She is so good. Eats just about every 3 hours, produces a nappy at more or less the same time and sleeps pretty well most nights. Needless to say, we are very thankful. I've added a few more photo's and video's if you'd like to see. Suzanne's mom arrived from South Africa today, which is really exciting. She'll be staying with us for the next 2 weeks or so. I'll be off next week as well, so we are looking forward to a great week of enjoying Slough and it's surrounding areas. On another note, church has started with a bang this year. We've had two amazing services so far during which we enjoyed the presence of the Living God. I am so excited about all that He has in store...

No big deal, just that you can now access this blog by going to 'gregandsuzanne.co.uk' rather than 'gregandsuzanne.blogspot.com'. Hopefully prevents me from having to answer 'dot what again?' every time. The old address will still work, though.

4 Days ago this little lass entered our lives with a bang! Even though she is quiet, calm and collective, her joy is evident and complete. Obviously we talk about her to each other most of the time and our family gets updates, pictures and videos etc. I know that next week is peeking around the corner and life has to go on from there. Greg is back to work and routine slowly but surely will start finding its way into our little family. But for this week allow me to focus on her completely and talk about nothing else! I am 70% recovered from giving birth, my greatest need now is to discipline myself to sleep when she does, I am far from that.  My body is foreign to me and I can not wait to get back into shape starting February, but for now I am pushing it to the back of my mind. I will be lying if I didn't say that we are missing our family in this special time and that we wish they could pop in and enjoy their gran daughter whenever they wanted to. I am ...

That's right, what a night... one of the longest of our lives. But a very rewarding one. After about 24 hours of labour, Suzanne gave birth to our beautiful little girl, Liya-Jean (yes, the spelling has changed since this morning - sorry grandma's, gonna have to change those quilts), at 7h55 this morning (1/1/11), weighing 3.025 kg. First things first, pronouncing Liya-Jean... as it's a bit of an issue. Liya is pronounced 'Lee' (as in Bruce 'Lee') + 'Yah' (as in 'Yah'we) or 'ja' (as in the European 'yes'). Jean is pronounced 'je' (as in 'je' t'aime - French for love) + 'an' (as in Arm'an'i). Make sense? Also, I should probably warn you that 'LJ' is not an option, unless you want to face Suzanne's wrath. A little summary of the labour. Suzanne starting having contractions a few days ago, but things started getting really intense yesterday afternoon at 12h. After a few trips to...