Blessings come in buckets at Stanford

When we arrived here at the Boiler Room in Stanford le Hope, England, we were told about a prophetic impression someone had seen in the prayer room of water/rain coming down the walls. After the people here heard this, they had the impression to place buckets around the room to catch the water! (Which they did.) On the art room wall is a drawing of a mug with water overflowing out of it and the words 'my cup overfloweth.' Someone else attached a post-it note to it saying, 'In Stanford we do buckets'! We really feel that the spiritual blessings that God is pouring out in this place have touched our lives also.

As our time in Stanford le Hope is coming to an end, we felt we should share a bit about what being here has been like for us.

First of all, the people have been amazingly friendly, welcoming and hospitable! We really have felt like we are a part of this community. Since being here, we have been to a 50th birthday party, a 16th birthday party, a hen's night and bucks night and the accompanying wedding! What a blessing it has been to be part of these people's lives! [Right: Us in front of one of the wedding cars - a Mark IX Jaguar. Our friends own it, and we were blessed with a ride home in it! (No, Ulf didn't drive it.)]

One of our biggest challenges whilst being here was our uncertainty about when we should leave. Everything is so nice here but we knew that it was not forever. We were often seeking God about the next place He had for us, but in doing so we hadn't yet grasped what He had for us here. Over and over again, God told us to 'rest' - the kind of rest that trusts in Him, and seeks to be with Him wherever we are and no matter what is happening around us. We found ourselves pulled deeper into God's heart, and allowing Him to do some more heart surgery! This was a very painful experience, but the freedom and peace which came afterward was all worth it - buckets of blessings! Praise the Lord!

During our time here we have received so much from the Lord, and another thing that He has begun to challenge us with is giving. Not just giving money (that's easy), but giving ourselves - our time, our gifts, etc., as a conscious act of worship to Him. He wants us to worship Him with our outer being as well as our inner being.

In Matthew 5:47,48 (NIV) Jesus says, "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?"

We will probably leave Stanford le Hope this weekend. We'll be taking a train, ferry, then another train from London to Amsterdam. Woo hoo!