The Homeless Get Homes

Lent verse for today is Psalm 10v17-18:

The victim's faint pulse picks up;
   the hearts of the hopeless pump red blood
   as you put your ear to their lips.
Orphans get parents,
   the homeless get homes.
The reign of terror is over,
   the rule of the ganglords is ended.


And this reign of terror will end too. Loved what the old English preacher, Spurgeon said - that just as we are mortal, so too are our sorrows.

Last night decided we really couldn't be moving between two households, so this morning we packed up yet again, and brought our earthly possessions to Deb (our eldest) and Sam's. At least here, we can help with the kids. So touched that they were willing to move out of their en suite for us, to sleep on a mattress in the front room - but would have felt awful, plus, with five adults (son, Paul, lives here as well) and two small children, really need that room to hang out in, especially as Deb and Sam both still working - at home, apart from food bank.

So... Mike and Sam spent the entire day shifting stuff out of their attic, and making it cozy. It's not insulated, but surely won't get too cold now. And there's a light and a radiator and a velux, and we've ordered an electric blanket, which should arrive tomorrow. I actually really love it, and for the first time since leaving Portugal, have all my things out of the car.

So Deb and I did all the teaching today. Loved it. We did PE and school work (before I got here), Bible studies, rubbings of beech, oak, and horse chestnut bark, and stuck them in their Nature books with their leaves, Portuguese, art... and at last, I got to watch "Frozen", heck, what a deep story for kids!

Gratefuls:
- the two above, Deb's in-laws, who received us so hospitably, loved our room at their house, too, and Ella, in extra, who made a point of shifting her aging bones to greet us each morning
- all the work Mike and Sam did to make the attic so homely
- the prospect of lots of relaxed time with the grandkids. If it weren't for the scary side of all this, I'd be not just grateful, but exulting!