Studying, Climbing and Playing with Fire!

After such an intense weekend, I was glad to be able to sleep in and take most of Monday off before a meeting in the afternoon. I went for dinner with a family from church in the evening as usual which was lovely, and afterwards I headed up to a friends house to just hang out with friends for the evening which was great.

We took a couple of visitors to Moorlands on Tuesday - 2 young people from the island who are thinking about studying there, so it made a change to have them with us. We had some interesting lectures about the importance of context and about the geography of the Old Testament and the archaeology involved in researching it. I also got back my New Testament essay on the culture of New Testament Galilee.

Wednesday was very exciting because I got to go climbing for the first time in a very long time! We took the young people from DofE indoor rock climbing, so I got to train them in how to tie in, how to communicate properly whilst using the wall and how to belay safely for a climber. I also had a Steering Group meeting on Wednesday and I went to help out another youth worker with his 'Go Deeper' group where we did a bit of practical work - putting lots of tins away for the Food Bank, and we did a bible study on Acts 1.

By Thursday the tiredness was setting in, but I got all my planning and preparations for Rock Solid ready and I ran the session in the evening around the theme of love - rather appropriately for the time of year!

At YFC we completed our listening training on Friday and we said goodbye to Dan who left to spend 5 weeks in Canada for his Moorlands block placement. Afterwards we just about had enough time to grab some lunch before we went to school for lunch club where I gave out lots of cards advertising our new youth cafe - The Space which we're opening after half term.
We decided after school to go to the cinema to see 'Lego Movie' which was a laugh!
In the evening a bunch of us got together to spend the evening together. After watching the guys shooting zombies (on a screen), playing with fire, and then playing with knives (in real life!) I concluded that I just don't understand boys!

Lego Movie

Come Saturday, I definitely was in need of a lie in, which I was glad to take!
I've been thinking a lot lately about what I'm actually doing here... after running a seminar on God's plan for our lives, I had a think about my own life and what God's plan is in it. I think that this period of my life is definitely a time of a lot of growth and learning.  I face a lot of challenges in my work, but the biggest challenge for me isn't in the work that I'm doing, but in the fact that I feel so torn between where I am now and a hot, dusty but stunningly beautiful country 4000 miles away. So right now I'm just trying to do my best. I'm doing what I think God has called me to do right now. I'm training and growing and trying to become more like Jesus Christ. And all the while I'm trying to help other people to do the same.

So if you're up for praying for me this week...
- Pray for energy.
- Pray that I'll have enough time, motivation and efficiency to get an essay and a sermon written.
- Considering the recent weather, pray that I'll get off of the island easily on Tuesday.
- Pray for Rock Solid - I currently have no leaders which is less than ideal!