where am I?
I just had the hardest week in a long time... but also the best week in a long time. I had an exam tuesday and another thursday, both of which I am disappointed in my effort to do. That doesn't matter. God's got it under control. Then I stayed up till 2am friday morning finishing an assignment which I woke before 8am to walk to uni to drop in by 9am. From a point of view of organisation and achievement, this week was a total failure.
But wow it was weird. I shall begin with the beginning of the freakyness.
I'm involved as a leader with my church's recently started youth group. After a few months of having kids turn up, and doing whatever we're getting some organisation going. So we had a meeting Wednesday night. The meeting went well, plenty of ideas were thrown around, and names for the youth group were discussed. We settled on 3 that we liked, and decided to sleep on it. The 3 were: Arguile, Transit and Atomic. Arguile was apparently (according to Anthony) William Wallace's (Brave Heart's) uncle. As strange as this may sound, he actually had a point to back it up; in the movie Brave Heart, William discussed freedom many times with his uncle growing up. But I digress, the name was decided as Transit tonight (I have some ideas for a kinda cool poster... if they turn out I'll see what the others think).
At the meeting, I also met for the first time the two girls who are joining us (before that, we only had guys as leaders). Tash and Trin, from somewhere (I feel terrible that I can't remember...) and apparently they just moved here cos they felt like it. More power to them! They turned out to be real sweeties and I think I'd have a lot of fun hanging out with them. They live just down the road, too. They love the kiddies at our youth group too. They seemed a little quiet tonight, but I think that they were just a bit overwhelmed (35 psycho little kids does that to most people).
After the meeting, we had a bit of a devotion. Stu read about the parable of the sower and the seeds, and explained that we really need to start living as models for these kids. And here the strangeness starts. I got home, had dinner and got ready for bed. Then I had my own quiet time, and opened up to where I was at myself. I read the parable of the sower and the seeds. I *think* God is trying to tell me something. At this point I was a little unsettled, and suspicious. So I prayed about it, spent some time praising God for calling me to help with the youth, and went to bed.
Thursday I spent all morning studying for an exam, and most of the afternoon doing the exam. Mentally at least, I was exhausted. When I got home I just sprawled on my bed for a few hours. Thursday is my church's Men's Night. Surprise surprise, we were talking about what a life full of God would be like. At the time I thought to myself "Yeah, this is good." because I had totally forgotten about the events of the previous night (stupid goldfish memory...). Now, looking back, it seems like another clear sign. On top of it all, what I read that night was all about how we shouldn't fear when we feel overwhelmed because God is in control. Even at this point, I was very thick and didn't realise.
Then there was today. Today was just so beyond any subtlety that I have no doubt. I handed in my assignment, took my notes in class as per usual, and left uni at 11 when the class had finished. I live roughly 5km from the uni, so it's a fair slog - the hills and traffic make it between half an hour and 50 minutes. About halfway home, I passed an old lady out walking with a young girl. Out of the blue she said hello to me and we had a great chat. I was feeling a bit tired at the time, and this really refreshed me. I was still grinning when a few minutes later a car pulled over beside me. In it was another old lady! She beckoned me over, explained that she'd seen me walking past her house and asked if I needed a lift. Of course I accepted. So we had a talk too - she was such a nice old woman, I think I'll have to drop in and say hello to her sometime.
So I arrived home, happy but scared. I was way outa my depth. After a magnificent avocado on toast (haven't had it in soooo long!) I had a lie down and a think about things. I had a lot on my mind after all, two old ladies, two new youth group leaders, two parables of the seeds, two living without fears. BAM. Sorry... I just felt a bam was appropriate, at the time it was more like continental drift, owing to my lack of sleep. Anyway, I've always been rather shy, and lately I've begun to question whether that's really a good thing when I'm a youth group leader and I'm meant to know 30 odd kids by name. I guess I have my answer.
OK, things were settled. Tentatively I resolved to talk to the kids more at youth group, as a start. The young ones are so cute! I told one of them the same thing more than 10 times, and he listened earnestly every time and couldnt' remember it 5 minutes later! Anyway, I got to know a fair few of the kids better... and I think they listen to me more when they know me. It's very fun, and exciting. Even so, 2 hours of that mob a week is about all I can handle. I hope I get to know tash and trin better, they really are so cool. And now my brain has run out of steam, so I shall go watch Jackie Chan movies for a while. Y'all have fun now!
But wow it was weird. I shall begin with the beginning of the freakyness.
I'm involved as a leader with my church's recently started youth group. After a few months of having kids turn up, and doing whatever we're getting some organisation going. So we had a meeting Wednesday night. The meeting went well, plenty of ideas were thrown around, and names for the youth group were discussed. We settled on 3 that we liked, and decided to sleep on it. The 3 were: Arguile, Transit and Atomic. Arguile was apparently (according to Anthony) William Wallace's (Brave Heart's) uncle. As strange as this may sound, he actually had a point to back it up; in the movie Brave Heart, William discussed freedom many times with his uncle growing up. But I digress, the name was decided as Transit tonight (I have some ideas for a kinda cool poster... if they turn out I'll see what the others think).
At the meeting, I also met for the first time the two girls who are joining us (before that, we only had guys as leaders). Tash and Trin, from somewhere (I feel terrible that I can't remember...) and apparently they just moved here cos they felt like it. More power to them! They turned out to be real sweeties and I think I'd have a lot of fun hanging out with them. They live just down the road, too. They love the kiddies at our youth group too. They seemed a little quiet tonight, but I think that they were just a bit overwhelmed (35 psycho little kids does that to most people).
After the meeting, we had a bit of a devotion. Stu read about the parable of the sower and the seeds, and explained that we really need to start living as models for these kids. And here the strangeness starts. I got home, had dinner and got ready for bed. Then I had my own quiet time, and opened up to where I was at myself. I read the parable of the sower and the seeds. I *think* God is trying to tell me something. At this point I was a little unsettled, and suspicious. So I prayed about it, spent some time praising God for calling me to help with the youth, and went to bed.
Thursday I spent all morning studying for an exam, and most of the afternoon doing the exam. Mentally at least, I was exhausted. When I got home I just sprawled on my bed for a few hours. Thursday is my church's Men's Night. Surprise surprise, we were talking about what a life full of God would be like. At the time I thought to myself "Yeah, this is good." because I had totally forgotten about the events of the previous night (stupid goldfish memory...). Now, looking back, it seems like another clear sign. On top of it all, what I read that night was all about how we shouldn't fear when we feel overwhelmed because God is in control. Even at this point, I was very thick and didn't realise.
Then there was today. Today was just so beyond any subtlety that I have no doubt. I handed in my assignment, took my notes in class as per usual, and left uni at 11 when the class had finished. I live roughly 5km from the uni, so it's a fair slog - the hills and traffic make it between half an hour and 50 minutes. About halfway home, I passed an old lady out walking with a young girl. Out of the blue she said hello to me and we had a great chat. I was feeling a bit tired at the time, and this really refreshed me. I was still grinning when a few minutes later a car pulled over beside me. In it was another old lady! She beckoned me over, explained that she'd seen me walking past her house and asked if I needed a lift. Of course I accepted. So we had a talk too - she was such a nice old woman, I think I'll have to drop in and say hello to her sometime.
So I arrived home, happy but scared. I was way outa my depth. After a magnificent avocado on toast (haven't had it in soooo long!) I had a lie down and a think about things. I had a lot on my mind after all, two old ladies, two new youth group leaders, two parables of the seeds, two living without fears. BAM. Sorry... I just felt a bam was appropriate, at the time it was more like continental drift, owing to my lack of sleep. Anyway, I've always been rather shy, and lately I've begun to question whether that's really a good thing when I'm a youth group leader and I'm meant to know 30 odd kids by name. I guess I have my answer.
OK, things were settled. Tentatively I resolved to talk to the kids more at youth group, as a start. The young ones are so cute! I told one of them the same thing more than 10 times, and he listened earnestly every time and couldnt' remember it 5 minutes later! Anyway, I got to know a fair few of the kids better... and I think they listen to me more when they know me. It's very fun, and exciting. Even so, 2 hours of that mob a week is about all I can handle. I hope I get to know tash and trin better, they really are so cool. And now my brain has run out of steam, so I shall go watch Jackie Chan movies for a while. Y'all have fun now!
posted by Merlz at 12:53 AM
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