942 gets a fresh look!

Today is a red-letter day in the history of the Baptist Church, and about 15 years since the last big day of this nature. Today marks the start of a journey with our new car! Our brand new Ford Fiesta 1.4, in a metallic blue, was delivered to us this afternoon. After our several fruitless trips to the docks to see if it was there we were feeling a little discouraged by this morning. Then Nick received a phone call from Colin, the garage owner who has been instrumental in getting the car here, to say that the car was indeed on the island, and actually busy being “MOT’d” (road-worthied), and that once the insurance had been sorted out, we would be able to take ownership of it this afternoon. Wow! Nick then went to town with Vincent to get the insurance done (all very simple, no waiting), and saw Ian in town (Colin’s son who was taking it for the MOT) who said that he would be bringing the car shortly. After lunch we all hung around, supposedly getting on with whatever we were doing, but actually anxiously waiting on tenterhooks, and the boys even managed to get Nick and me dashing downstairs by ringing the doorbell! After some time, Nick yelled to look out the window, where we saw a new blue Fiesta, registration 942, driving up the road. Assuming that Ian was taking the car up the road to turn around, we all stood glued to the window, eagerly watching for the car, such that when Ian pulled up next to the house we were practically breathlessly crowding around the front door. We stood around the car gaping and grinning like a young groom on his wedding night for a while before actually getting into the car and going for a test drive, just to town and back. After the Golf, anything would be a smooth ride, but the Fiesta is truly a dream. Being the latest model, it’s a really stunning design and looks nothing like the old Fiesta shape. It has a very dark grey interior with blue and grey seats, and even came fitted with a CD-player, per some arrangement made by Colin. It has air-con and power steering and is very comfortable, and doesn’t feel like a small car. A nice touch is that on the number plates, the word “Baptist” has been included just below the number 4. Of course the car’s not ours, it officially belongs to the church, but we have exclusive drivership privileges. We are so thankful to God for His provision of the car, as it is only in answer to prayer that we have it. He has graciously given us more than we dreamed of or hoped for!

This morning was school as usual, and it was all fine. Our crazy activity for “Cc” was to cook corn, so I thought of cooking popcorn. That was fun – I let the boys put the kernels into the hot oil (carefully monitored of course) and then we all stood around the stove listening to it popping. I showed them what would happen if I took the lid off, and a couple of popcorn pieces popped right out of the pot. Aaron ran out the kitchen terrified, but I think because one piece shot at him and it was very hot. He was nervous around the pot after that, even though I was holding the lid on. We ate our popcorn for tenzees.