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Saturday, 28 April 2012

A Damsel In Distress

"The Lord will fight for you and you need only be still."
Exodus 14 v 14


Officially my favourite verse of the week!

At some point in so many films, a damsel in distress gets stuck in sinking sand. Despite the attractive hero throwing her a rope offering to pull her out, to fight for her, the damsel continues to struggle against the sand in her own strength. The more she struggles, the weaker she becomes, the more she sinks and the closer to her death she edges. At some point she has to stop and be still so the hero can fight the sand on her behalf...
This is the sort of situation I'm reminded of.
"Be still! I'll pull you out!" the hero assures her.


My understanding is limited, but I find this verse such a comfort in times of spiritual weakness. Instead of standing firm in your faith it seems you're (barely) clinging on by your fingertips. Instead of running the race set before us you're dragging your failing body through a spiritual desert, gasping for water and shade. You're weak from spiritual battle. You're being tempted. You're discouraged. You're failing.


That's been me this past week. That's me now, this second. This will more than likely be me tomorrow. I am so thankful for the truth in this verse. I am so thankful for the God who's fighting for me. I will happily be still.


Pass me the rope Lord...

Thursday, 19 April 2012

Travelling partner application


As most people know, I'll be travelling to Kenya between 29th June and 9th August and I'm in search of a travelling partner for between 27th July and 9th August. There's a fun filled potential itinerary including a 2 day safari, a sneaky trip to Zanzibar or Mafia island, a visit to a tea plantation (very optional), 2 days volunteering at a monkey sanctuary and much much more! (WOW)


At this point, I can't really be picky about who comes with, but I've decided to suggest some desired (but not  essential) qualities:

  1. Be funny (like a toddler, I need constant entertainment)
  2. Not be annoying
  3. Be a good napping buddy
  4. Not too attractive (so that I look relatively good in photos)
  5. Be a good photographer (same reasoning as above)
  6. Have good taste in music (for the flight back)
  7. Good singer
  8. Not high maintenance 
  9. Owns a backpack
  10. Not afraid of spiders/snakes/lions/scorpions/other deadly animals local to Kenya
  11. Not be a fussy eater (goat's feet are apparently popular Kenyan food. Yet to be confirmed.)
  12. (MOST IMPORTANTLY) Be able to afford it.
So, I'm just going to wait for all the hundreds of requests to flood in...

Monday, 16 April 2012

Weddings

I've recently discovered that I'm one of the few girls who hasn't been dreaming up/planning their wedding (even the slightest amount) since they were 5 years old. However last week my friend Portia planned it for me, which is quite kind of her in my opinion.


According to Portia, when I go on my travelling gap year I'm going to fall in love with a rich, blonde haired, blue eyed Australian surfing instructor called Cruz. Sounds quite nice, if incredibly unrealistic.

Australia is going to be one of the first stops on my travels, despite rumours of their massive spiders.
I've always wanted to learn how to surf and it just so happens that (according to Portia) Cruz will be my surfing instructor. After falling madly in love with me and growing crazily attached to the Kenyan orphan I'm going to bring back this summer, he'll apparently spontaneously quit his job and join me on my travels before proposing by the Eiffel tower, approximately 4 months into what is essentially a ridiculously long vacation

Eventually we'll get married in Bali (my last stop), in an 'amazing' surfer-esque beach wedding. The guys will wear shorts and flip flops and there'll be surfboards stuck in the sand behind the minister.  

Since doctors are employable worldwide, we'll move to some exotic beach location where Cruz can open his own surf shack...


Somehow I know this will never happen, but planning it kept me and Portia occupied/distracted from revision for about 4 hours.

Tuesday, 10 April 2012

Revision timetables and easter assignments

Contrary to popular belief, I am an awful student. (Though I'm sure several of my teachers past and present can testify to this.)


Usually I just about scrape by throughout the school year, getting rubbishly average test scores at best in class and not fulfilling my potential at all. Yet somehow (to the annoyance of many people), at the end of the year, I pull out the high A grades my teachers expect of me with a relatively small amount of effort (compared to others). How? I'm  not entirely sure, it is certainly not deserved! But it is all by the grace of God and I am definitely thankful!


Recently I've been really challenged about my half-hearted, 'I'll get the grades in the end' attitude. God's placed me in college to be a student and so, with my previous attitude, I'm not honouring Him and not using the gifts (intelligence) He's given me.
I've loved listening to a seminar from the Aber 2011 conference about how to honour God through our studies. In the past I've been fooled in to adopting the mindset that I would be honouring God more by helping out in church and CU, by spending time in fellowship rather than studying. I've been tricked in to believing my studies were unimportant, that what I did almost didn't matter.


In truth God has placed me here, in Yale College Wrexham, to be a Christian student.
That doesn't mean that doing the other stuff is bad. Helping in church is great. Engaging in fellowship stirs my affections for Christ. But so does studying. Doing what God has placed me here to do makes me love Him more.


Anyway, for the first time since I was much younger I'm putting effort in to my college work. I'm talking actual, creating-revision-timetables-and-sticking-to-them effort. My easter assignments have been completed (almost), my revision organised and past papers printed...


Praying it will pay off, and that God will be showing me more how I can glorify Him through my studies.

Tuesday, 3 April 2012

Transcendent beauty







This is one of my favourite views ever, photographed by my beautiful and talented sister.
Sunsets must be my
favourite part of the day. I suppose sunrises could be, but I'm rarely awake early enough to see them. A sunset brings with it the end of one day and the hope of another and never fails to stir my affections for our Creator.

The beauty of creation is infinitely diverse - cleverly displayed in the rolling green hills, boasted of in a child's mischievous giggle, magnified in the rising and setting of the sun as the skies are splashed with pastel pinks and hues of blue or burn with fiery reds and smouldering oranges.

This transcendent beauty is our immediate form of the eternal. It displays the generosity and power of our Creator. It reminds us of the beauty of Eden we never knew, yet know deep down our hearts were created for. Earthly beauties are reminiscent of the beauty of our heaven to come - where everything shall be beautiful and all will be perfect.


Beauty haunts us with eternity. And eternity is etched on our hearts.


'Beauty says, 'There is a glory calling to you'. And if there is a glory, there is a source of glory. What great goodness could have possibly created this? What generosity gave us this to behold? Beauty draws us to God

John Eldredge