The delightful Miss Baxter

I'm sure most of you have heard the big news - I'm no longer single! A picture of my lovely woman is alongside - her name is Mandy Baxter, from Northern Ireland. She's been out in SA for 4 1/2 years, been in Durban for about 18 months, has been living by faith the whole time, is an amazing woman of God, and leads the youth work here as well as playing a big role with the students. The long and the short of it is that at first she thought I was a jerk (as they all do!), but she got to know me better, and God literally has orchestrated our coming together. It was two weeks ago today that she basically put me on the spot while I was just figuring out quite what to make of the whole situation. Since then we've gotten to know each other very well and can so see the hand of God on this whole thing. Obviously I'm a very happy man because of this, and I am daily more and more pleased with the surprises unfolding in this woman that God has blessed me with.

The difficult thing is that she goes back to Belfast on March 26th, and I'll be in Durban until June 16th. What we do after that is very interesting, because God has clearly led her to be involved in the church plant we're doing into Belfast. Even before this I wasn't totally sure what I would do when I returned, but even now I'm not entirely sure either. What I do know is that I want to do God's will, even if that means we spend a fair bit of time apart in the next months. If that's God's plan, He'll give the grace to make it a season of blessing rather than decline. Obviously my preference would be to be where Mandy is until we can both set a new direction together, but I want to know what God's will is, not mine. So please do pray for some guidance in this, as well as general wisdom to build our relationship healthily.

For two weeks in this might sound like big plans, but we're both mature people (she's actually 27 - 1 year and 4 days older than me), we haven't come this far lightly but after much consideration and prayer, and because this we've been able to cover a lot of ground quite quickly rather than messing around in learning to trust one another. Neither of us is looking for a casual relationship, so naturally we're seeking to make serious decisions.

God's been giving me a lot of wisdom and grace to be able to "do well" so far and quickly handle things that would otherwise have become very difficult. I trust he will continue to do the same as I keep looking to Him to help me lead in this relationship.

Anyway, most of all I just want you all to know, and to celebrate with me for a good thing has come to me (and Mandy would say the same thing about her too! :o) )! The Lord gives, the Lord witholds and takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!