Just very busy and overwhelmed right now!
Just wanted to express my aaaaarrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh to the world!
Aaaggggghhhhhhhh! September 22, 2006
yesterday, today and tomorrow September 20, 2006
Yesterday – day off as usual. Spent the day with the family. Mum had some good test results from the hospital, and we spent most of our time decorating my brothers bedroom. It was hard work, but my sister got her room back and my bro is pleased with the result.
Today – meetings, meetings, and preparation. But what I was going to say is that my study has started this week. I have begun three years of hard work to complete a Diploma in Informal and Community Education. Two text books arrived today, and I need to get down to reading and working! I spent last saturday reading all the bumpf they sent me, and monday printing things out and organising it all! I now understand where I need to start – just need to get down to it!
Tomorrow – a quiet day, but also an important meeting about our Time For God volunteer. Ideally, I don’t schedule anything during a quiet day, but I made an exception in this case. Haven’t really thought what I will focus on tomorrow. Perhaps I’ll pick a few parables or some other element of Jesus’ teaching and focus on that. I’ll be spending the morning in a church in town which opens its doors during the day. It’s a quiet, calm space. After my meeting and lunch, not sure where I’ll go. I’m thinking a good walk would do me good. A day of peace and rest, just what I need.
the tandeming two September 13, 2006
Yesterday was an adventure of the tandeming two (just like the adventures of the secret seven or famous five!) We set off for a small village about 8 miles from Eastbourne. We found the village, got the tandem out of the car and were set for our adventure. Off we set, but ten minutes of cycling later and we had still not found the beginning of the cycle route in the book! Without a map, we did our best to aim for where we thought the start was, and at one stage found ourselves trying to drag our bike up a very steep, dusty hill. We probably managed to get two metres up, by dragging ourselves up using the handy wire fence! It was at this point I envisaged us falling to the bottom of the hill with a bike falling on top of us! So, we turned round and went back. We abandoned trying to find the route the book suggested, and cycled down a byway, not knowing where it would lead. A few miles later we hit a road. We turned right, but soon turned round again. Partly, because I didn’t want to get lost and wanted to head for the main road, and partly because we could see long hills lay ahead! So turning back, we discovered a bridleway signposted back to the village we came from – we took it. Through fields of cows, the grounds of a manor house, and then a farm (but by this point I think we had come off the bridleway by accident.) Having hit a road again, and even more unsure as to where we were in terms of the village we were trying to get back to, we headed towards the main road. 15 minutes later we were back at the car, deciding never to use the cycling book again (our other one is much better)! We enjoyed a gorgeous lunch at the Ram Inn and a well deserved pint of lemonade each! I must mention the buffalo mozzerella wrapped in parma ham I had, served with rocket salad, special crutons i don’t remember the name of (a bit like bruschetta) and a sundried tomato dressing. It was fantastically simple and very yummy!
As we had planned previously, we then spent the rest of the afternoon in Eastbourne, enjoying the sun, a game of pool, a bit of shopping and a quick paddle before heading home.
All in all, a great adventure and an exhausting and fun day out!
introverted youthworker September 13, 2006
I’ve had a busy afternoon of two meetings and a phonecall, and now I’m drained! Thought I’d relax by thinking through the afternoon on the blog.
So, first meeting. A really good chat with my support person. We chatted about the way I’ve been feeling over the past few weeks (extremes of stress and pressure, and then excited and enthusiastic!) But what I think the key discussion of the meeting was about me being me, especially in my youthwork. Two points came out. 1) I need to accept that I am an introvert, and deal with that. I think I do this generally, and do have structures and tools to help me be an introvert in ministry. What became clear though is that I try to be an extrovert youthworker. I haven’t been working to my strengths. This links to point 2) God has gifted me with the gift of compassion, and I need to work this out in my ministry. I have always known this to be the case, but God confirmed it to me this summer at Soul Survivor. But I do what everyone expects of a youthworker, which isn’t always my strength. In particular we were talking about being enthusiastic ‘upfront’ and ’selling’ things. I can do this role (badly), but there are others who do it better. But as the lead youthworker, I’ve felt its expected of me and I’ve done it! I need to re-think how I do ministry. If my gifts are indeed working with individuals, or small groups then I need to be doing more of this. I need to be making more visits, encouraging individuals. There’s quite a bit of thinking to be done, and I won’t be changing the way we do youth ministry as such, just my role in it. God has also given me the gift of administration (not usual for a youthworker I know!) which I hope will enable me to organise the rest of the team to do the jobs I have been doing. I am left wondering how many other introvert youthworkers are there out there? I remember a seminar somewhere for them, but stupidly I didn’t go! I’d be interested to see how other people feel their personality fits their ministry. It’s time I started to work to my strenghts!
Meeting no 2 was with our Time For God volunteer. Things are still difficult. We are not what he thought we were and he’s not what we thought either! We’re working through it though. He wants to be with young people all the time, and doesn’t seem to realise the time needed for prep. I started training with him this afternoon, working through the book ‘ what every volunteer youthworker should know’. It’s not really his thing. He’s not here to learn about youthwork, but he needs to before he can do anymore! I’m doing practical training alongside as well, but it’s slow.
The phonecall was with a fellow youthworker, and then it was time to end my working day. Having unloaded my heart and mind onto the internet for all to see, I feel refreshed and ready to prepare dinner for a friend who is coming round this evening. Thank you!
another new look! September 10, 2006
Thought it was time for a change again. I had some time to waste, waiting for hubby to get back from a family service he performed at this morning. It was either cleaning the kitchen, or re-designing the blog. The blog won!
I’ve been thinking about why I blog recently. I don’t really remember why I started blogging – a mixture of boredom and I was always reading others. The one thing blogging has encouraged me to do is to reflect on my life. It was a bit strange at first, but I soon found that blogging was helping me to reflect more. These days I tend to reflect away from the blog (rather than as I type) and sometimes I’ll post my resulting thoughts. Recently, the blog has become more of a ‘what I’ve done this week’. Can’t decide whether this is a good or a bad thing, but I’ll try and post more of my reflections and thoughts on things.
But for now, here’s a short round-up of my week:
It’s been a good week. I’ve got lots of things done and I’ve been better with my self discipline. Our day off was spent doing cultural stuff in London. We whizzed round the Tate modern, and then after dinner went and saw the Life of Galileo at the National Theatre before rushing to get the train home. A great day out, though I’m hoping we’ll get out on the tandem next week.
routine September 1, 2006
I’m failing to get back into the normal routine of life. It’s partly because I’ve been working strange hours, settling our Time For God worker in, and partly because I’ve been lazy!
Really, it’s less about routine and more about self discipline. I’ve managed just one exercise session this week – and I still ache from it! It’s amazing how much just a summer out of an exercise routine can affect you! Having aching muscles is not inspiring me to get back into this routine of exercising at least three times a week!
The other area of self discipline I’m struggling with is to get back into my prayer routine. Before the summer I had a great few weeks of praying four times a day, at specific times with specific aims. I’ve not managed this once since I’ve been back from the summer. It’s partly laziness and partly busyness (and pressure of work), but I know how much I benefited from it before I went away and broke the routine!
They say it takes 21days to form a habit? Not sure if its true, but it definitely only takes a summer to break one! My hope is that as my work becomes more regular and routine like I will be able to get back into my prayer and exercise routines! More self discipline needed!
