Long week

Well, it's been a good week, but a long week.

Everything seems to be slowly winding up towards easter now. Done a couple of sessions on friendship in the last week. Very good, starting to look at the way Jesus calls us friend. It's a challenge.

Well, there is only 1 week left of school and only 2and a half weeks before soccer school. Great!

I'm going to be in Luton in the next 2 weeks as well. So keep an eye out for me! Before I come back to lovely Cadiff I'm sure I'll have made lots of decisions about next year. Very excited.

Day off

I love not getting up. Its a very rare that I get to stay in bed to read and check out what's going on in my head.

Its been an interesting week. Ended with another chatty class, who were without Rachel, and their teacher was really disappointed by their behaviour.

So thats lessons over with, pretty much. Just one left.

I hope that the classes have learnt something.

Chatty

Well, its been another long weekend. Liz was down for a time. We had a laugh and I discovered I really have no idea what shape and style of dress makes me look good.

Seriously. This wedding thing is great! I really don't mind what I get dressed in for the day. I just wanna look passable!

So we had that and the wedding fayre. Was very fun to be walking around, and weird to say that Liz was getting married, albeit in July 2007.

At the moment lots of stuff is happening with Schools work and the youth work is starting to get intense and a little bit risky. Esther and I talked about Sex and relationships this morning and actually putting our opinion out got a great response. Definitely makes it all worth while when some one stops to ask a question about morals.

The class was really chatty today, so discipline was called upon, but its so much harder to discipline when you have no idea of names or school discipline structure. We try not to end up shouting, but its a focus thing too... Oh well, I don't have to teach that class again.

So here goes with another week, more schools work and youth work. Wohoo!

Reports

I'm gonna try and keep this one short. I didn't achieve my aim, I wasn't as good as I could have been. I know if I'm gonna do God any justice I need to work a lot harder.

My team are used to seeing me very passionate about things, and I lacked big time.

My power point on the other hand was great, with a little help from The Brick Testament. Great resource.

So nothing overly amazing. But I'm hoping I'll really let go when I talk to the 11-18's on Sunday about the importance of Jesus in relation to heaven and hell. Exciting!

Passover

I'm currently spending half of Thursday dedicated to learning the Christ parallells in the Old Testament. It's great fun... I know absolutely nothing and am slowly learning the essentials of the Old Testament map.

I was amazed at how little I really know. Its my turn to present this week. As part of the course I've so far done 1 presentation and am about to present the Passover story as if I was talking to 8-11's.

Something that is going to be incredibly hard when the people who are looking a me are actually 19-23 yrs old!

I will be patronising, and I will make an idiot of myself. I intend to have some auidence participation and use of imaginations. I would take the Prince of Egypt clip and use them... but I don't have it at my disposal. Very sad.

Maybe I'll go into work tomorrow and try to put together a power point. Anything to take the attention off of me.

Sorry there are no revelations about the Passover story. I can see the connections with the New Testament, but I don't think it would be very fair to bombard 8-11's with them!!

Billericay people... look out for me in the next Pilgrim.

Covered in Rain

Well snow to be exact. Its snowed alot here, and its hard to believe we're well into March. We woke up to snow this morning and outfits had to be changed before heading to church.

Got another busy week ahead, delievering talks and meetings for conferences and weekends away.

Gutted that I can't really book my ticket home for Easter and a trip to Luton until I've heard back from a number of people on different things. Cardiff school children seem to be the busiest people on the planet and planning a social is proving near impossible. We only found that out tonight.

I had forgotten how self-centred young people can be, but a few incidents this week have proved that we all go through stages of being extremely self-centred. Its very tough to break through.

I'd like to thank you all for your continuing prayers. I'll let you know what is going on, and I'll even try and add some more things.

Just a quick prayer request

Yes Michael, I will probably move back to Luton. Its up to God now whether doors get shut and opened. The people who have known me a while will understand something about my passion for youth work.

Its one of those things where you have to go where the need is.

So, prayer requests for the next few weeks.

* Jules, my housemate, is starting to rennovate a house in her spare time. She's gotta keep going at it and hopefully it'll be ready to rent soon. Then she just needs a family to rent to.

* For the team as we start to see paths for our next steps. Matt got into college and will start to do a degree in youth work in September. Ruth Mc is going to uni in Reading. Rach is still hoping to go to teacher training. Nick and Ruth D, well God knows and we are praying for guidance.

* I have been offered the job of Pastoral Youth Worker at St Hughs Lewsey in Luton. Praying for funding for the job and that I'll really see if God is leading me back to Luton. I'm searching after God's heart and still keeping my options open.

Just like to say a massive thank you to everyone who prayed over the last weekend, prayer definitely works!

Lovely Luton

As much as you can be scared of anything you go into, I have never been so scared when I was being interviewed by 7 members of St Hughs youth yesterday afternoon!

It was really good to go back to Luton and let God get me passionate about the place again. Some people might disagree with me going back so soon, but I think I'm ready to step into the 'real' world and get a 'proper' job.

There are also possibilities of doing my masters whilst working. But probably not whilst doing my first ever full time paid job.

Thanks again Chris for looking after me! It was really great to catch up with those poeple I saw and those I didn't I'll be around at Easter.

Photographic

I know you guys value honesty and integrity... and a little photographic evidence is always helpful in maintaining that.

So may I introduce to you Steve the pig...


Yes, it was great to meet him, he did smell abit and we didn't stay long cos it was really really cold the entire weekend.

And to prove that I'm really enjoying myself...

We cooked pancakes on Monday evening in anticipation of Shrove Tuesday. The young people are good at telling me how I should do things, whether I actually take it on is another entire ball game!

Well, there you go, I finally posted some pitures from Wales, it's taken a while. Hard to believe that I could be working somewhere else next year in a proper job, in the real world.

No more year outs for me, sadly it is time to start paying off the student loan and gaining a pension.