Hello from Wales!
Our family relocated to Cardiff at the end of February which is why the blog has been unusually quiet for the last couple of weeks. It’s so great to be back writing again. It’s raining outside and the background noise is the sound of moving traffic on water.
I am so thankful that we made it here.
We started praying about moving to South Wales three years ago. We put it on the shelf in case this was just a random idea that would disappear from our thoughts. Then 2020 came. Pandemic. New baby. Cancer relapse. No clear direction on where we should be or if we would ever move (or so it seemed). But we still believed that Wales was part of our next step as a family.
Our small two-bed house became cramped with the four of us. It was also being used as a work-from-home space, the kids were with me full-time and it was our little hub of healing from all the challenges we walked through. We were thankful for this little home when we became a family of three and then four. We made wonderful friends in the community. But the thought of Wales would not go away.
We waited. We prayed. I cried (that’s me processing!). We hoped.
Timing is everything.
We made it to Wales.
God’s faithfulness and provision along the way have been evident to us all the way along, encouraging us in our faith.
My husband got a job in South Wales working remotely which he started whilst we were still living in Devon (technology does have its perks!). He started it the week I was in hospital having a stem cell transplant (someone give this amazing man a medal and a voucher to a restaurant! We’re one plate away from being foodies…).
We are joining a church family where we already have good connections and wonderful friendships. The church happens to be close to where we live which is wonderful. And we are looking forward to the opportunities ahead for the purposes the Lord has in mind for our family. Who knows what that will look like? We certainly don’t, but we trust in One who does.
The last two years prepared us to trust God’s timing and place our hope and faith in Him alone – not our circumstances. There will undoubtedly be challenges here too. But for now, we are thankful to see prayers answered in ways we could not have pictured ourselves. God’s hand is always working in the very hard, testing times of waiting and pain, and the moments of triumph and breakthrough. Whether in good times, or downright difficult, we long to serve the Lord where we are. Looking forward to sharing the hope we have, both in Wales and online!
Other updates
- I accidentally created a podcast. That’s a story for another day. It’s called ‘Hope With Ruth Podcast‘ and you should be able to find it on Spotify and Google Podcasts. At the moment, I am using it to create audio for some of my blog posts. I hope it will make it more accessible. I am looking to write more content for it in the future too.
- You can subscribe to ruthclemence.com now as I have FINALLY embraced email marketing. Although, it’s early days with it. You will be able to get extra content from me that I won’t be sharing on my blog, and I promise I won’t spam you 🙂
An Anchored Hope 