Girls Weekend in London

This past weekend I went to London to visit Ruth, my sister in law.  As usual we had a great time together and enjoyed my time in London.  London is truly a wonderful city and is always feels good to be back when visiting.  I left straight after work and took a bus to Cambridge and then a train from Cambridge to London.  By the time I arrived to Ruth's flat we had dinner and then went to see the movie Black Swan.  The movie was okay, not my cup of tea but glad to see it as Natalie Portman is slated to win the Oscar for the movie.  The acting was good and it was well made....just too clever for me to understand it all.

On Saturday, we had a lazy morning with a late breakfast and then off to the British Museum.  We had a nice time walking around taking in all the sights the British Museum has to offer.  We went to see the special exhibit called Ancient Egyptian: Book of the Dead.  It was really interesting to see and follow the ancient Egyptian's journey from death to the afterlife.  They had many examples of the Book of the Dead which contained spells on papyrus and linen with the oldest being over 3,500 years old.  It was really interesting and it is a fascinating world but it just left me with more questions...

In the evening we went out for a nice meal and then to see a show.  We were a bit late in ordering tickets so we didn't get the chance to our first choice but we got our tickets half-priced so that was good.  We ended up seeing Love Story: The musical.  It wasn't a classic but it was good and a bit of fun.  It made for a nice night on the town. 

On Sunday we went to church in the morning and then a lovely restaurant called The Heights which provided wonderful views of London from the 15th floor of a hotel.  Then the train/bus journey back to our home in Bury St Edmunds.  It was a really nice weekend but went by very quick.  Now its a week off from school.  REALLY ready for a break and will enjoy every moment.  Take care....

Matthew's Ordination Service

Saturday the 5th of February 2011 will always be a special day to the Jolley's.  This was the day that Matthew David Jolley became the Reverend Matthew David Jolley and his church ministry has officially begun.  Matthew and I were truly blessed by the turn out of people there to support Matthew.  There were 160 people there in attendance.  Due to the high number of people coming we had to move the service to another church as our church could not hold this number.  Luckily the United Reform Church around the corner was able to rent it out to us so we moved the service there and then refreshments back in our main church building.

Switching locations of the service actually worked out for the best as this allowed us to set our church building up for refreshment following the service.  As we were expecting around 200 people we had to provide food (sandwiches, cakes, finger food) for that amount which is a lot.  The church family was very gracious in taking it upon themselves and working together to set the church up and have all the food ready.  All Matthew and I were to do was enjoy the day together and visiting with those who came.

Church members setting up the church for after the service

They even had a special surprise for us.....

The actual service went well.  It is such a wonderful feeling to be a full church with such powerful singing.  The music was wonderful and the service was conducted by different men in the Presbytery.  Andy Young, a minister of our sister church in Cheltenham, gave the sermon which was very good.  He preached on Joshua and the fall of Jericho.  If you would like to listen to the induction ceremony, please go to this website: http://www.bse-pc.org/latest/?p=542

Within the service Matthew took his ordination vows as minister of the church and was installed as pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Bury St Edmunds. 

Then the men taking part in the service laid hands upon Matthew and prayed over him. 

The sermon was very good and then a charge was issued to Matthew.

At the end of the service the Rev. Matthew Jolley prayed and gave the blessing.

After the service had finished we went back to our church building for refreshments.  It was a full house and the food was wonderful.  It was great getting to see people from other churches come in support, neighbors and people from the community, friends from the seminary in London, and people from Wigan (Matthew's hometown) and some family.  What a blessing to be surrounded by so many and knowning there were those with us in spirit and in prayer on the day.

 Matthew with his mum and sister.

If you go to this website you can see more pictures from the day:  

http://www.bse-pc.org/latest/?page_id=16&album=2&gallery=8&nggpage=1

A special thank you to all those friends and family that have helped Matthew and myself reach this very special moment in our lives.  We look forward working together and spreading the Good News of our savior Jesus Christ who was, is and will always be our Lord and Savior.

We ask for continued prayer as the journey will be long and it will not be easy. 

But I will leave you with a happy thought as it is now official....