This week has been good. It's been incredibly busy, but really great.
Our trips into the local high school have been really interesting - we go into the school a couple of times a week to have lunch with some of the students that we've been able to meet, and since we've been there, we've met an awesome group of students.
They meet every morning outside of their school to pray for their school and seeing students come to know God.
This week they've really stepped up in getting out into their school to see change happen.
They have taken up a challenge to serve their school, and are really going the extra mile. They have been cleaning up in the cafeteria at the end of lunches, helping out teachers at the end of classes and even praying for them when they do it.
We were in for lunch on wednesday, and we went in ready to challenge them and help them to get active and do something, two students went with Kerry and Lisa from my team, to go and speak with the vice principal. They asked the vice principal for ways that they could serve around the school. He was a little taken aback, but has said he will come up with a list for them. But one thing they could do for that day was to litter pick at the end of the school day.
Ready to get involved, there were about 10 students that went and litter picked across the car park at the end of the school day, and they have now decided to make it a regular occurence and go every single wednesday afternoon! Awesome!
They are starting to see things change around their school . . . . little by little. But once it gets going, it's going to make a huge impact!!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
When the task ahead seems to great . . . . .
Ever faced a task that just seemed to big? Felt like all you had to bring, was no way near enough to complete it?
There you will find me right now. The task ahead seems too big, and what I have to bring to it is pathetic in comparison.
There are so many students in just this one small town, thousands that don't really know the name of Jesus and what relationship with Him is all about. Many think they do, but few are truly aware of the life changing relationship it is. And then there is me, little me. I struggle keeping up with the few people in my own little world, let alone reaching out to others and doing it in a big enough way to impact and change their lives.
But I guess that must have been what the disciples felt like with over 5000 people standing in front of them hungry for food. More than 5000 people and all they have is one little boy's lunch. To the disciples this is pathetic in the face of the need.
But Jesus already had a plan and knew what he was going to do with the 'pathetic' offering.
To the disciples this was probably just a day of lack, when they didn't have enough for the task ahead. But the little boy gave all he had, everything, even though it was pathetic in the size of the need, but Jesus took it and performed a miracle with it.
What would happen if we took our offering, our pathetic offering in comparison to the need, but we gave everything, all we had to Jesus. How many miracles might we see him perform? How many lives might we see him change in ways we never though possible?
What if we take the pathetic and offer it up to Him? What might come of it?
There you will find me right now. The task ahead seems too big, and what I have to bring to it is pathetic in comparison.
There are so many students in just this one small town, thousands that don't really know the name of Jesus and what relationship with Him is all about. Many think they do, but few are truly aware of the life changing relationship it is. And then there is me, little me. I struggle keeping up with the few people in my own little world, let alone reaching out to others and doing it in a big enough way to impact and change their lives.
But I guess that must have been what the disciples felt like with over 5000 people standing in front of them hungry for food. More than 5000 people and all they have is one little boy's lunch. To the disciples this is pathetic in the face of the need.
But Jesus already had a plan and knew what he was going to do with the 'pathetic' offering.
To the disciples this was probably just a day of lack, when they didn't have enough for the task ahead. But the little boy gave all he had, everything, even though it was pathetic in the size of the need, but Jesus took it and performed a miracle with it.
What would happen if we took our offering, our pathetic offering in comparison to the need, but we gave everything, all we had to Jesus. How many miracles might we see him perform? How many lives might we see him change in ways we never though possible?
What if we take the pathetic and offer it up to Him? What might come of it?
Monday, October 20, 2008
Time to Stop and Think
Well, it's day 3 of something me and my husband have decided to start.
For 40 days we are fasting and praying to see change happen in our lives, the lives of those we love and care about most, and the world around us.
Now before you start telling me we're absolutely insane, and that not eating for 40 days is stupid, that's not quite how it's going to work!
Believe me, I love food far too much to give it up completely for 40 days, for one day is hard enough!
We will be fasting in daylight, so before the sun rises in the morning and after it sets we will be eating, but during the day we won't. But also to try and be healthier and take care of our bodies better, we are going to be eating healthy, natural foods when we do eat.
We're going to be praying for 3 specific things:
For 40 days we are fasting and praying to see change happen in our lives, the lives of those we love and care about most, and the world around us.
Now before you start telling me we're absolutely insane, and that not eating for 40 days is stupid, that's not quite how it's going to work!
Believe me, I love food far too much to give it up completely for 40 days, for one day is hard enough!
We will be fasting in daylight, so before the sun rises in the morning and after it sets we will be eating, but during the day we won't. But also to try and be healthier and take care of our bodies better, we are going to be eating healthy, natural foods when we do eat.
We're going to be praying for 3 specific things:
- Us - our marriage, our personal walks with God, specific things for each other and our relationship together.
- Our families and friends - to bring before God the needs of those we love and care about most.
- Our ministry - we are both passionate about reaching the lost students in our community and training those who know Christ to reach their friends, and dedicate our days to doing that, so we are praying we will see amazing changes in the lives of students around us.
I'm excited that it will be a great time to see God move mightily through the situations we are bringing to Him. I really believe God sees the sacrifices we make when we feel passionate about the things in our lives.
I'll keep you updated on how it goes!!
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Our Little Home!!
Well, now we are settled into our fantastic new home down here in San Antonio!!
We have been so unbelievably blessed with where we are living!! Both me and Chris work full time voluntarily, so we live on the amazing support that those around us give, so when we got married, we weren't really sure how we would be able to furnish a house completely. But God has supplied our every wish and desire, and then even more!!
The family that have given us our house for while we are in San Antonio, have been unbelievably amazing, and have given us so much to help us out. They pretty much furnished the house for us!! Which meant we were able to use the money we were given for wedding gifts, for extras for our house to make it feel more homely and more like ours!!
So take a look around our home!!!
We have been so unbelievably blessed with where we are living!! Both me and Chris work full time voluntarily, so we live on the amazing support that those around us give, so when we got married, we weren't really sure how we would be able to furnish a house completely. But God has supplied our every wish and desire, and then even more!!
The family that have given us our house for while we are in San Antonio, have been unbelievably amazing, and have given us so much to help us out. They pretty much furnished the house for us!! Which meant we were able to use the money we were given for wedding gifts, for extras for our house to make it feel more homely and more like ours!!
So take a look around our home!!!
This is our guest room, I love the duvet that we managed to find for it!!
This is our bathroom, and it actually has one of the original walls from the farm house when it was made 100 years ago!!
The rest of our bathroom, with the shower which is amazing!!
Our bedroom!! I absolutely love the bedside lamps we managed to find at Home Depot!! And we have pictures on the wall that we got in the Dominican Republic, on our honeymoon!
And this is our living room/dining room!! Our tv is massive and in this photo it has bargain hunt on it!! Yay for BBC America!!
Well that's our home, we've enjoyed starting to make it our place and putting things in it that matter to us. We also have a study and we are going to be creating a wall with frames that contain pictures of all the places that we have travelled together to!! We absolutely love exploring places together and are excited about creating a room to remember those experiences in!!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
All Star Team!
Well, I've arrived in San Antonio for the start of this year's new adventure! Me and Chris are going to be pioneering a new team down here in the South of Texas. It's a big city, situated just an hour from the capital of Texas, Austin.
We are going to be partnering with a church called Oak Hills Church (oakhillschurchsa.org), working in the schools in the area, to bridge the gap and connect students into the body of Christ!
We have had a fantastic start to the year, and have just finished doing 3 weeks of intensive training in Dallas, TX.
So I thought I would introduce our new all-star team for this year!!
So here is our team!! From left to right - Lisa, Anthony, Kerry, Chris, Me!!
We are so excited to be working with this great new team, Lisa is 18 years old, from Germany, Anthony is 20 years old, from San Diego and Kerry is 21 years old from Exeter. This is their first year on Pais, and we are really looking forward to what God is going to use our team to do in this city this year!!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Married Life
Just over 3 years ago, I met a guy. Over the last 3 years, we got to know each other and fell in love. He is my best friend!!
After spending two years dating, 1 1/2 of which were spent apart, we got engaged on Christmas Eve!Planning our wedding was amazing, it was so exciting to be able to spend the first big day that would mark us spending the rest of our lives together!
On 12th July 2008, we got married!!
It was an absolutely fantastic day, which we got to share with all our friends and family. We were married in my home church, had our reception at a fabulous hotel near where I lived, and then were whisked away to a fabulous hotel in a stretch limosine!!
I can't think of a better way to begin married life!!
Here are me and my fabulous bridesmaids!! We had way too much fun posing for photos here on the bridge. It really wasn't made for women in high heels as we kept getting our feet stuck and almost falling over!!
Below are my husband, dad, brother, his dad and groomsmen!!
We've been through a lot together (and we're still talking!). We've managed to keep in touch amazingly well, even though we've been living 3000 miles apart for the last 2 years. My life is brighter because she is in it and I cherish every crazy moment, with silly giggles we get to share together!!
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The beginning of married life has been great, a lot of fun! I can't wait for what comes next in the adventure!
:oD
Starting at the Beginning . . .
Well, I was born in 1986 . . . . ok so I don't need to go all the way back to the beginning!!
Let me tell you a little bit about me. I'm on an adventure, to find out who I am truly am, what difference I can make in the world and how to love others with all that I have.
I'm 22 years old, and I work for a Christian organisation called the Pais Project. I've been working with this volunteer organisation for the last 4 years. We do Youth and Schools work, going into local communities, bridging the gap between the schools and churches, showing students that they can live a meaninful life serving Christ and connecting them into the body of Christ!
I've worked in Leicester, England, Gladewater and Granbury, Texas, over these last four years.
I'm originally from London, England, and I love my home town! I love pretending to be a tourist, visiting all the best sights and taking goofy pictures!!
I have a fantastic family who support me all the way, even when I do crazy things like move to the USofA!!
I am incredibly sentimental, I love the relationships I have with those closest to me, and spending time with those whenever I can! I miss my friends from home so much, and love it when I get to go home and spend time with them and my family. I love to scrapbook (really fits in with the sentimentalness!!), I really enjoy doing something creative and being able to look back over my favourite moments!
I love reading, and challenging myself by learning more, and listening to music or some of my favourite podcasts!
I couldn't live without chocolate! The good english kind, not the fake american kind! I miss jelly tots, fruit pastilles, digestive biscuits and baked beans :o(
I guess that's a few random facts about me!!
I'm about to start a fantastic new year, with a great new team, in a brand new place, with a brand new challenge! But I'll tell you more about that adventure later.
Let me tell you a little bit about me. I'm on an adventure, to find out who I am truly am, what difference I can make in the world and how to love others with all that I have.
I'm 22 years old, and I work for a Christian organisation called the Pais Project. I've been working with this volunteer organisation for the last 4 years. We do Youth and Schools work, going into local communities, bridging the gap between the schools and churches, showing students that they can live a meaninful life serving Christ and connecting them into the body of Christ!
I've worked in Leicester, England, Gladewater and Granbury, Texas, over these last four years.
I'm originally from London, England, and I love my home town! I love pretending to be a tourist, visiting all the best sights and taking goofy pictures!!
I have a fantastic family who support me all the way, even when I do crazy things like move to the USofA!!
I am incredibly sentimental, I love the relationships I have with those closest to me, and spending time with those whenever I can! I miss my friends from home so much, and love it when I get to go home and spend time with them and my family. I love to scrapbook (really fits in with the sentimentalness!!), I really enjoy doing something creative and being able to look back over my favourite moments!
I love reading, and challenging myself by learning more, and listening to music or some of my favourite podcasts!
I couldn't live without chocolate! The good english kind, not the fake american kind! I miss jelly tots, fruit pastilles, digestive biscuits and baked beans :o(
I guess that's a few random facts about me!!
I'm about to start a fantastic new year, with a great new team, in a brand new place, with a brand new challenge! But I'll tell you more about that adventure later.
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