To all my lovely online friends,
Life is changing for us GLWs. After about a year of supporting my 22 year old niece and her 3 year old son from afar (they live in Yorkshire) last Thursday it became apparent that my niece and her son needed much more intensive support due to various health problems and ongoing challenging situations.
So, last Friday they came to live with us permanently.
They are both wonderful and already we have been so blessed to have them here with us. However, the reality of having two new family members means that life is changing in many and varied ways.
It’s going to take us a couple of months to practically organise everything; we need to split our living room in half to make a bedroom for my niece, we have to move their entire lives down to Essex and enable them to access the support and help needed to enable my niece get better.
We have a long road ahead of us and much of it will not be easy, but God’s Hand has been on everything so far. We shared our news via email with some friends and family yesterday and already we have been able to find a 7-seater car, been given the money to buy it and will be collecting it on Sunday evening.
Less than a week before we decided to invite them to join our family, we bought a caravan; not knowing this would become my niece’s temporary bedroom until we are able to create her a proper one. God has been faithful and so far has provided for everything we need.
In order to focus the attention needed on our newest family members, it is likely I will be blogging and tweeting less; though women’s liberation runs through the core of my being, it seems God is calling me to do that more in our home than online, at least for a little while.
As we expand our hearts and lives to make room for these precious souls that God has gifted to us, I would love you to support us in prayer. Our current prayer needs are that:
- Each of us manages the changes ahead and navigates the relationships and practicalities with patience and understanding.
- My niece recovers fully and begins to thrive, perhaps coming to know Jesus in the process…
- My nephew settles well.
- Small and Smaller GLW feel secure and that their needs are being met in the midst of these new priorities in our family.
- Mr GLW and I have the wisdom and discernment to make the situation work and that they maintain deep connection to God and each other within everything.
- God provides for our many needs.
(If you would like to sign up to get prayer updates from us, you can do that HERE.)
We also have a lot of financial needs; creating and decorating a room for my niece, supporting her in accessing some none NHS funded healthcare, transporting her possessions to our house, semi-regular meetings in Yorkshire that we need to travel to and the general financial needs of a small person and his mum. If you would like to support us financially, that would be great! Don’t feel any obligation to give as we know God will provide, but if you do feel called to give, we have set up a Go Fund Me page HERE.
Social media is amazing. I have been so blessed and grown so much through being part of both the dispersed community of faith and the wonderful women’s liberationists who have welcomed me so kindly. Some of my best friends are people I met via Twitter. The love, friendship and faith that has grown through these online channels; God has used them to enable so much change, both in me and through the ways I have been able to gain a voice in a world that tries to silence those who say the things that I do. I’m grateful for all those who are part of my online community of faith and for those wonderful women’s liberationists who accept me, encourage me and have taught me so much.
I may be less vocal in this season, but I will never be less passionate. And as for that all-important question I know you will be asking; in my online interactions I shall be referring to my niece as “Niece GLW” and my nephew as “Smallest GLW”.
Love to you all!
Mrs GLW
God Loves Women 