Half Term

As I mentioned at the end of last week's blog, I have been home at with Mum and Dad for a few days this week. Sunday was Dad's birthday, so after church we went to John and Catherine's house for a roast dinner which was very yummy! It was lovely to have the whole family together to celebrate Dad's birthday and I'm very impressed with John and Cat's cooking skills!
In the afternoon Mum, Dad and I watched a very weird film - it seems to be becoming a tradition that all the films we watch together are a bit odd! Dad had received some nice cheeses and crackers as a gift so we ate them for dinner.

It was lovely to go back to Christ Church in the morning and see everyone... not entirely sure why Ian was preaching from a bicycle though!

There was a big storm on Sunday night which was all over the news, but despite this I drove up to Reading on Monday to visit my grandparents. My Granddad grows chrysanthemums, and he bred a new one a few years ago which he named after me and it recently won first prize in a flower show, so he gave me the prize money of £3! It was lovely to see them both and to have a proper catch up and a good cup of tea (even if I did get told off for having sugar in it!)

I survived the journey back, avoiding all the fallen trees on the A33, and the next day I spent the morning doing some essay writing. In the afternoon I left Basingstoke again and drove down to Southampton to see Esther - one of the girls that I was with in Uganda. She's now at university in Southampton so I stayed with her on Tuesday night before heading back to the island on Wednesday evening.
It was so lovely to see her and to get to meet some of her new friends and see where she's staying. We went to the Christian Union and then out for ice cream and afterwards we both fell asleep watching a film back at her room. The next day we met up with some of her friends to sing worship songs, and just as we were singing 'Blessed be your name' which we used to sing all the time in Uganda and Esther and I were singing in Luganda (the local language that we learnt in Uganda), Clare (one of the other gappers) phoned and joined in which was lovely,although a bit emotional.

The next day, back on the Isle of Wight, we had a light party at church. About 80 people from the local community came along which was brilliant! We had lots of crafts, food, games and fun. I led some parachute games which went down well, and I gave a short talk at the end of the evening about Jesus the light of the world which went really well.
On Friday I actually got a lot of my essay written instead of just procrastinating which was very good. I also managed to get lots of planning done for other things which are coming up. So all in all a productive day! I also had a quick phone call with my friend Terry in Uganda who recently had her 2nd daughter Breanna. She told me that Berindah (who is 2 and a half) has been trying to breast feed her baby sister!

At the weekend I went to Cowes to visit the Chivertons, (a family from my home church) who were staying on the Island for half term. It was lovely to see them and catch up and share lunch with them. I then spent the afternoon with my friend Natalia. We went for a walk and had a lot of fun in very strong winds by the coast. Natalia had been asked to lead some games at a church social in the evening so I went along with her to that too.

We're starting our new youth club - rock solid, on Thursday with a party. Please pray that it will go well!
Please also pray for me as I lead the YFC prayer breakfast tomorrow morning.

Thanks :)