So here i am, mini life update since March....
*I've two weeks left at my job in the Old Roan (and almost one week of that is on holiday too!!) I'm not sure how I'll feel once I've left, there are some massive things i won't miss, but some things i really will too... It's been 18 months of investing in young people and feeling like it hasn't really got us anywhere, but looking back, some real changes have occur ed. This Tuesday God really rewarded me with an awesome conversation with my one real success story...
I set out 18 months or so ago with a plan to create strategy for the youth work at the church, to link the outreach and the Sundays, to create a situation where young people we meet off the streets can end up in the church and in a relationship with Jesus in a way that is easy for them to follow. And it's been so difficult. But this Tuesday i sat with this 14 year old girl, played connect four and we had an honest discussion about how we go about living for Jesus. I met her just over a year ago when her and her friend would come and drop in, giggle and leave at our youth drop in cafe. Now I've seen her walk from there through a youth residential where she took the first steps towards exploring Christianity, a 4 months of a youth alpha course, a response at a youth event to the gospel and a year of chatting about mundane life things each week into being part of our church youth cell, reading her bible and exploring what it really means to be a Christian and thinking seriously about how she wants to go about it. God is good!
But that doesn't mean it's not gutting to think of the others who didn't get it, who rejected it, or who generally just didn't really care. Its hard to walk away from some, knowing they need someone to walk through the next few yeas with them, and not knowing if anyone will do that. But I trust in a God who is much bigger than me and my little life plans, who's already got it sorted, and that's so exciting.
*I'm travelling up and down the country at the moment, for meetings, GoldDigger things and most influentially, a boy. I love Spring Harvest, it's one of the best weeks of my year i think, and this year was topped off by meeting a pretty lovely guitar boy who i discounted for practicalities sake... he didn't, thankfully, and even though it makes my life pretty hectic at times, it's totally worth it right now. I have no real clue how this works in the future of course, but that's normally a good thing, it's when i start making plans that God changes everything anyway :)
And he must be pretty special if i can manage to overlook the fact that he's a united fan... sheesh.
*I preached to a whole adult church last week for the first time... it was pretty darn scary actually, stepping out of my comfort zones in terms of content. Really being challenged at the moment on knowing my bible... and how little i do know in comparison. But i love really exploring things that God's done and continues to do, he's pretty clever really that God fella.
*I've nowhere to live in Sheffield yet, and not really anyway to pay to live either! But trusting it'll happen... sooner rather than later would be great though :) I'm excited about this season in my life, but also just being reminded that it really isn't about what we're DOING sometimes.
I divide my life up so much into what I'm practically doing, and already I'm aware of wondering how long this season with GoldDigger will last in my life and what God will do next... but actually, these worries are so insignificant sometimes. Tonight we were looking at having a perspective of eternity, about how much the bible talks about watching and waiting for Jesus to come back. I spend so much of my time doing, i never stop and do any watching, and I'm pretty sure that's not something I'd want to miss... so whilst we work, its finding that good balance of doing the here and now and keeping our eyes focused on heaven, where in comparison, our stresses in life are so pathetic.
So there lies a quick overview of my month or so, less ground breaking or emotionally put as usual, but still, writers block sometimes needs breaking.
x
