Portugal 2: Family Time

With apologies that it’s been a while since I’ve blogged, I’ve been having to much fun! I hope to blog a bit more over the next few days about our time here in Portugal, this one about Family Time, one about the blessing of All Nations Church which we’ve been attending and one about Me and God.

One of the aims of my sabbatical was to have time as a family, time with Tara and Jethro that I wouldn’t normally get. We have been very lucky that the sabbatical has come before Jethro goes to school. This has allowed us this extended time together and to spend a long period here in Portugal.

The time here has given us a chance to do lots together as a family, to swim each day, to go to the beach, to explore new places, to go to Church together, to read stories with each other, to go to the park (lots!). These things have been a real gift for me, but just as much a gift has been being able to be involved with the everyday of life with Tara and Jethro. Not having to go to evening meetings has meant I can be involved with Jethro’s bedtime and have every evening with Tara, not dashing out every morning means we are able to have leisurely mornings together; to pray, to have breakfast, to get Jethro ready for the day. These moments have been precious and so much more special than the day to day rush that they happen in when we’re at home.

Here are a few pictures of what we’ve been up to:

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As we’ve been doing these things together there have been times when I’ve had to remember this time is God given, that time as a family was agreed by the Church as part of my sabbatical. There have been times when I’ve thought, I should be doing some more reading, I could write another blog, I should do some writing from my reading. In those moments God has reminded me that the time as a family is part of his gift to me, to us. These moments have helped me to not rush off and read, write, blog but to focus on being a family, to look for another opportunity that we’ll remember together, to give thanks to God for his many many gifts, including at this time his gift of space and time together.

I am so grateful to God for my family and for this time.