I'm off

Hey to all who read this. I'm off to Spring Harvest tomorrow until Thursday, so will tell you all about it when I get back! Have good weeks and say hello if you're reading!
xxx

Service

Was reading again last night... I'm reading Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. It's a really cool book actually. My church are reading Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life, but I thought I'd really CoD this lent. It's bizarre though because up until yesterday, nothing had really challenged me.

So I was reading the chapter about The Discipline of Service and it was talking about the differences between self-righteous service and true service. So I read a couple of sentences that went something like this... Self-righteous service seeks approval. It needs to know that it has been worthwhile and appreciated. True service does not mind whether it has been appreciated. It is content in being hidden.

I was so struck by that. People are often telling me how much of a servant's heart I have and how they aspire to follow my example. Sure, I do serve quite a lot, but what does my heart look like? Those sentences weren't the only ones to describe the 2 types of service, but they struck me.
When I do things for people I like to be acknowledged, to have someone say thank you. And if that doesn't happen, sometimes I do get a little frustrated or something in my heart wonders whether what I did was worth it. But, I shouldn't be like that should I?

My gut reaction to those sentences was 'but it's only natural to feel like you want appreciation. I'm sure everyone feels that way'. But maybe they don't. Do you? So what am I supposed to do? Never expect any thanks? Not care whether people know what I've done or what?
It seems odd, maybe that's the way it's meant to be. Any thoughts?
I shall go and dwell on this for a bit!

Princesses

I was reading this neat little book last night. It's designed for women either to work through together or alone and it's pretty neat.
I read the prologue last night and it was about a Dad calling his daughter a princess and as it went on and the girl grew to become a woman, she turned to faith because of this unconditional love she felt when she'd been called a princess as a child. It's a pretty cool story and I don't tell it very well, but let's face it, how many converts to Christianity are we going to get by going round and telling women they're princesses? My guess is not many.
I was struck by this book though and it helped me to remember how much God loves me and how important I am in his eyes. And I liked that.
In God's eyes I am a princess, I am a somebody and he loves me. Mmmmm. It reminded me of a conversation I heard between 2 sisters a few weeks back. It went like this...
Claire: Oh, I'm so rubbish at colouring.
Emma: Claire, you can't say that coz if you're rubbish at it, that means you think God is rubbish.
Claire: What? What are you talking about?
Emma: God let you be able to colour, so if you think you're rubbish at it, that means you think what God's has let you do is rubbish and you think he is rubbish.

When I heard those girls a few weeks ago I was struck by it. Now, I'm not one to like the way I look, but by saying I'm not happy about it I am in a sense saying I don't like how God created me. Mmmm, now there's some food for thought...

***

And with that, it's time for my bone scan.... The department of nuclear medicine here I come!

Newsflash

I no longer feel like a pressure cooker. Guess why?



I got some awesome news today.....



Alex and Katherine are getting married! Woooo! How exciting is that?! It made my day :-)

Boring me!

So yet again this place is in serious need of an update! One day I might actually have something interesting to say on this blog, but until then, I'll just waffle!
Hmmm, so I have a concert for band on Weds. That should be fun.
Feeling like a pressure cooker right now. Time for bed!

Inspired

So excited yesterday... CMS produced a DVD of South Africa Tour and I got my copy yesterday. Watched it this afternoon and it brought back many many happy memories! I felt all inspired and blessed again. Was so wonderful. I miss Kate and Jacqui though!
Oh, such good times!

My week

So I have a bunch of work I need to get done today, but right now I'm not feeling to go and get dressed and start the work! Whoopsy!

So this week's been pretty cool... on Mon after a 2 hour prayer/supervision with Mark I went to Selsdon Bap to meet a bunch of youthworkers. It was really cool to meet them and hear where they're all at with their youth. Then I had band and a holiday meeting. I think I was a bit too talkative at the meeting, maybe I was just too excited! We've chosen something to do with a Jungle as our material for this summer. I'm well excited and am really looking forward to being upfront. It's gonna rock!

On Tues Ali was down from Cardiff for the day coz her uni (RWCMD) was doing a concert near home, so I went and met her, rushed back to her house before the concert so she could check out her new bathroom and went back to the concert. I stayed and watched the concert which was really cool. It makes such a difference to hear a string section that can actually play. It was a cool concert; they played a selection of stuff from Fantasia.

On Wed I got up late, helped at parent and toddler in the afternoon which was cool coz Jane was there, so that meant I could talk to her a bit. It's gettting better now coz that's the 3rd or 4th time I've done it, so I'm getting to know the names of some parents and children and don't feel like such a wally! In the evening I had to help with Alpha catering again as the group couldn't serve, except they could serve, but didn't stay and wash up, which kinda annoyed me, but such is life!

Yesterday was a cool day... despite the cold I've been fighting all week coming out, I did a few cool things... I had to speak at the over 60's fellowship. I spoke to them about some of my experiences in South Africa and told them of how God spoke to me whilst I was out there. That was cool. They really enjoyed it and I'd taken some photos and it was generally very cool. Then I had a bassoon lesson, which is always great fun!

Today, well, I'm due to do creche for Ailsa's cell. Other than that, I've got to do some Child Protection admin and sort out the rest of the Informal song files! Then tonight it's Brownies and we're having a dinner & dance. Pippa and Mark are coming to judge. It should be great!
And with that thought, I should probably go and get dressed!