7 year Anniversary and going strong

Macie and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary this past Tuesday and it was a great time to sit down and talk over our lives and all that has happened. We are currently visiting Macie's family in Atlanta, Georgia so we went out for dinner together, walked through the park where I proposed to Macie and went out to Brewsters (ice cream shop) for dessert, the UK just doesn't do ice cream like over here. It was a wonderful evening.

During dinner we were able to sit down and talk about some of our funnest and hardest times during our time together and how God has guided and helped us along the way. By the end of the evening we both felt so undeserving of all that we have. We have been given so much, have such a fun marriage and three wonderful kids. We are both able to do what we love, as I play football and Macie gets to lead worship at church and home school the kids. We both sat there and felt completely overwhelmed with the blessings in our lives. We don't deserve this wonderful life we have been given and this made us thankful to God even more. Some people might say that we give a lot of our time to others, love and discipline our kids well and try to be the best we can and so we are getting what we deserve. Macie and I know however that at times we get angry, lose our temper with one another, can be very selfish and lots of other stuff we wouldn't want people to see. We have been given so much we don't deserve.

I am not saying this to brag on how good we have it, I have a point to telling you this. The club I finished playing the season for is going through a boardroom takeover and is therefore struggling financially.  This has left the players with no pay for almost two months. On top of this the surgery I was promised at the end of the season for my hernia was not paid for. Luckily in the UK we have the NHS so I am hopefully getting the operation done when I get home from our stay in the U.S. Another factor is that my job is uncertain because that is the nature of football, unless you're as good as the likes of Wayne Rooney! My point is that by God's grace we are able to focus on Him, His goodness and everything that is good in our lives instead of the struggle and the unknown. This is why we can be so grateful and happy. It makes life much easier and peaceful when I focus on all that is good. Thanks for reading.

Jo, Macie and kids

I'm going in for surgery

I have recently been diagnosed with a sports hernia and will have to go in for surgery pretty soon, haven't finalized a date yet. I have been playing with this hernia problem for most of the season but have managed to play through it up until about a week ago when I had to stop training because I was unable to sprint. I have been playing with a lot of stiffness and pain but have been able to play fairly well in most of the games this season.

The other week I got something tiny stuck in my eye which was really annoying and made blinking hurt. I tried to get it out a few times but eventually after 24 hours I'd had enough and asked Macie to have a good look at it and get it out with a Q tip. She managed to get the tiny speck after a few tries and the feeling of relief was fantastic. I was also able to see better and for the next few hours I kept thanking her for getting it out because I had forgotten what a normal blink felt like.

Like a hernia or something stuck in my eye I have realized that we all have 'things' in our lives that are really damaging to us if left alone. We simply learn to live with them and they go on hurting us, we forget what it's like to play fully fit or to see clearly. We simply learn to live in discomfort and think it is normal. I want to play fully fit again without any pain, I wanted to see clearly so Macie helped me and I was totally fine in an instant. I am going to a Dr. who knows how to fix my sports hernia so I can play fully fit again.

I have not been able to play to my full potential all year because of my injury but I have still done a good job and most people watching wouldn't even know I was injured. No one except my close family knew about the speck in my eye. I was able to hide it from everyone but I knew it was holding me back. I pray that God will show me things in my life that are holding me back from living my life to the full. Bitterness, unforgiveness, jealousy, fear of what people think etc. Then when he shows me I am going to ask him to heal/ help me because I can't heal myself sometimes. this could be instant healing like my eye or it may take a while, like rehab after surgery.

I don't want to get to the end of my life and find out I never had to live with a certain pain, injury or some sort of discomfort physical, mental or spiritual. Please lift up a prayer for my surgery and I hope this blog somehow encourages you to get 'fixed' anything that is hurting you..

Not blogged for ages

Why has it been so long since our last blog? Mainly because every time I say, "We should blog again" Macie says, "go on then", and I do nothing and put it off. We do that with so many things in life, just put them off. I've been putting this post off since Feb 28th 2013, almost a year. I'm going to keep this blog simple and just give you an update on where we are at.

Hopefully most of you know we have a new addition to the family. Our first son Judah Myers Connor was born February 1st 2014 at 8 lbs 13. The name Judah means praise and Myers is Macie's maiden name. We have had this name picked out since before Miriam was born. We want Judah's whole life to be one that praises God and so we simply named him that. He has been with us two weeks now as in an incredible blessing to us all. Miriam and Eliana adore him.

I finished off last football/soccer season with Hereford and really enjoyed myself. I chose to play for Macclesfield Town this year because it was the closest professional club to home that offered me a contract. It has been a really fun season this year so far and if we continue performing the way we are there is a chance to make play offs and go for promotion.

Miriam is doing really well with her first year of home school and is flourishing as a big sister. Everyday she loves to dance and perform and Eliana loves to follow along and copy what she sees her big sister doing. They have become best friends and when Macie talked about putting Eliana in day care for a few days a week Miriam started to cry because she would miss her too much. Children are a blessing from the Lord and we cherish our beautiful daughters everyday and try to teach them God made them for a purpose and has an incredible plan for their lives. I tell them almost everyday they were made to change the world because I truly believe that God would not create a life if he did not desire it to do something wonderful. It is our job to do the great things we were made for and help others fulfill the destiny God has on their lives. That's what we love most about being parents. God has given us the job of helping three incredible children discover the reason why they were made and help them live it out.

One of my favorite things we were involved in this past year was a New Years eve celebration at an 800 year old church. Macie and I were so blessed to be able to help out at a 24 hour prayer event that united a number of churches around Stockport and the local area to pray and worship under one roof. Christians from all different denominations came together and prayed together for God to move on the hearts of the people of this town and praise him in various worships styles together. Macie led the worship team for two nights whilst I led the service on New Years eve which was a great honor. 

Loads more has happened to us this past year but I know how annoying a really long post can be so hopefully i'll be blogging again sooner rather than later. Love to all our friends and family we don't get to see enough and we pray for blessing over your lives.

Jo, Macie, Miriam, Eliana and Judah