Looking Ahead

There's so much that I could write about this week...
I've had a great week on the island including a trip to the farm with our toddler group, the largest ever group at our Rock Solid club, some meetings about all sorts of exciting things, a few meals with friends, my highest ever grade for an essay and our best ever position in the pub quiz - we only came joint last this week!
Things here on the island are going really well at the moment and I'm excited to see what God will do over the Summer and next year.

On Friday I left the island and picked up Esther so that we could leave early the next morning for GoFest - A Christian festival all about mission. Despite getting very lost on the way there (I blame the satnav!), we had a good time and got to speak to some great people who have some fantastic stories and experiences. It was really helpful for me in starting to think about the next steps for me after completing my degree. In the late afternoon we decided to pay a surprise visit to Clare who had just arrived home from university. It was so lovely to see her and to all be together. We had a very special afternoon and evening catching up and sharing dinner with her fantastic family.

This is also quite a significant week for me because Tuesday will mark exactly a year since we left Uganda. My memories from my Gap year will always be very precious to me, but I've come to realize over the past year that whilst that particular season had to end, I'm been blessed to be able to carry forward friendships, experiences and lessons from that season and I know that Uganda will always hold a special place in my heart. So its with an awful lot of excitement that I'm now preparing to visit my friends in Uganda again next week! For me I hope that this will be the first of many returning trips to a place that feels very much like a home from home.

Do I really look 12?!

Once a month, a bunch of young people in Cowes run a really simple Saturday evening service with some worship and a talk. I love it. For one thing, its just nice to go to church without having any responsibilities, but aside from that, these young people are just fantastic! Its so exciting to see a bunch of people with such a passion for God, and already using and growing their gifts... I'd love to see what God has planned for them in the future! And of course, its just great to get to spend time worshiping God with other people who love him.

I'm also loving the fact that the sun is still out. I had a weird flashback the other night when I realised that I was sleeping without a duvet - something I only ever did in Uganda... it made me smile :)
...Well anyway, you'll be glad to hear that I didn't spend the whole week in bed thinking about Uganda! Aside from getting asked if I was in year 7 (That would make me 12!!!?!) when I was in school for a lunch club that we run on Friday, I also got thrashed in a pub quiz on Tuesday, made it down to the beach with a friend, read a grand total of 3 books in one week, and ran a youth club and a prayer walk among a several other bits.

Compton on Tuesday

So its been another pretty chilled out week, but its been good to spend time with a few different people; on the beach, in the park and most importantly, over plates of something yummy and edible!

I'm not good at doing nothing

I've had a pretty chilled out week this week.
We had our payer breakfast with the team from the Jubilee Training Center on Monday before they left to go back to the mainland. It was great spending some time with that team last weekend - apart from anything its just nice to have some new people my age on the island to get to know, but they were a great bunch of people - so passionate about God and about seeing his transformation among young people.

I've had a couple of usual youth groups this week and some meetings and bits, but I've still found myself having what feels like more time on my hands than usual - something I'm definitely not used to, so I actually really missed going to Moorlands on Tuesday! Over the rest of the week I decided that I would try to make better use of my free time. I've been for a couple of walks by the coast - I sat and watched people paddle-boarding the other day - silhouetted against the sunset which was beautiful. I've spent time reading and I've had some time to just chill with God. I've also spent time with friends; in person on the island (usually with either food or tea involved!) and on Skype and the phone to those further away.



On Saturday, Pete and I took to the water again in the sea kayaks. We paddled around some of the East of the island, and Pete challenged me to paddle all the way around the island over the next couple of years while I'm living with him and his family. Whilst we were out, we got caught in a spot of torrential rain which was fun! It was amazing to be on the water while it was raining so heavily, and to watch all the rain drops bouncing off the surface of the water.



So I guess that this week I've been learning to relax, and to "Be still and know that I am God". I'm not very good at doing nothing, but I think that God wants me to remember to rest in him.

Hello Sun

Over the past couple of weeks I've had the joy of getting to see lots of friends from lots of different places. I went home last week as I had no youth groups over half term. Its always a blessing to get to spend lots of time with my family and to see some friends from home that I don't see very often.

At home with the family :)

Unfortunately, holidays never last forever and I was reluctant to get back on the ferry on Sunday evening... but God's been blessing me this week too :)

I had a spontaneous visit on Wednesday from Esther and a couple of her friends who wanted to see the island. It was so lovely to see Esther, and was also great to meet some new people. We had a picnic on the beach and a very yummy cream tea too!

With Esther

On Friday I had the challenge of cooking for 25 people as we've had a mission team from the Jubilee Training Centre (all the way from the Mainland!!!) on the island this weekend they all came along to help us to run our 'Emerge' youth event. Well dinner went well, and Emerge was even better! I loved having the opportunity to meet new people and we had a brilliant evening worshiping God with a bunch of brilliant young people.

This morning, I had the privilege of leading a group of young people in leading our service at church. It was themed around worship and it was so brilliant to see these young people sharing their stories, their faith and their gifts with the rest of the church. It made me very proud! Later on we all walked up to a big BBQ put on by the team from Jubilee. We had a great afternoon playing games in the sunshine. 

We wandered back down to Newport I had a chat with one of my best friends on the phone from Uganda; a blessing its very difficult to ever take for granted!

If you fancy a few more juicy details about my youth work, I keep another blog here so please have a read of that too!