First Love

Craziness.

I've been brought back to my first love and it's really cool.

Plus, weird things are happening. Cool conversations with people about Jesus. Love it.

The Wanderer

I am but a nomad
I've not one house called "home"
I wander through a desert trail
With no place to call my own
Not 'gypsy', 'pikee', or 'yonk'
Thrusting slander on my name
Why look at me so differently -
I've done nothing to bring shame
My people love the road, you see
It whispers tales of old
Legends of a promised land
The streets paved with gold
My new steps tell a story
Of adventure and of dreams
Each new face reminds us
All is not what it seems
It's easy to keep separate
Never settling in one place
The challenge is to learn to live
With ample amounts of grace
We travel through destruction
We travel through disease
We learn to rest upon the one
Who brings us to our knees

Butterflies inside

..."go and sleep and plot and work out a way of being brave..."

The last thing my aunt said to me, at 2:30am this morning.
Even just that word, 'brave', makes me feel funny inside. I am not very brave. But I love that she is rooting for me. Prodding me forward.
Being brave always involved a risk. But I haven't yet learnt that taking a risk is the best thing one can do.

I need to learn this

I should always be the first to apologise.
That is what God just said to me.

I've learnt that pride is painful, but humility covers everything.

People Move Me

The more I trawl around the internet, the more amazed I am at people who are proactive about doing something that changes the world. It doesn't matter how small the change seems. And it doesn't mean nagging people to give money to something. There are incredible organisations out there, and I wanted to share just a few of them. Don't just go to the websites, but buy something knowing that your money is being used for something great. THE BEST Christmas presents are on these sites.

1. Got Your Back Movement
This non-profit organization exists to distribute school uniforms to children who need them. Buy a t-shirt online (they are lush) and you fund a child's education. Literally.
Nearly 1 billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. For many of those individuals, finding a job to support themselves & their families will prove to be a daunting, if not impossible, task. Education provides the necessary tools to not only advance in today's work place but it also helps to create lasting and sustainable change for the good of communities worldwide.
I remember the first time I went to Africa and I realized that in most places, a child cannot attend school if they don't have a uniform. We take our education for granted. They don't.
www.gybmovement.org

2. TOMS
Sometimes, ethical clothing lines aren't quite up to our taste. They look, well, funny. Not these bad boys.
Proceeds from the sale of these shoes goes to build 3 wells in Ethiopia, in a region without access to clean, safe drinking water, and where long barefoot walks expose people to soil-transmitted diseases. And with every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need.
www.toms.com

3. Freeset
In India, prostitution is big business and thrives on exploitation and slavery, robbing the poor of dignity and innocence. At Freeset, women have the opportunity to leave prostitution, are trained with new skills for a new job and empowered with life-skills needed to appreciate freedom. They are paid around twice the going rate for an equivalent job elsewhere and as part of their employment package have health insurance and a pension plan.
As well as wonderfully recycled bags, clothing is another item which can be bought online at their site. Buy one, set one free.
www.freesetglobal.com

Always hope

I have discovered a new found love of intercessory prayer! For a while now, I’ve put off spending time with God, bored by the routine and selfish with my time. But now I enjoy praying for other people and trying to listen to what God might be saying. What’s strange is that I don’t enjoy praying for myself much. Maybe because I ‘pray’/think/talk to God so much about my life throughout the day, that there is no need to have a specific time for it.

Is it right to pray for specific things? When an alarming situation arises, I will always choose life and wholeness and healing rather than whatever God wants! Should I always pray for that? Should I always expect it to happen? I know that God loves those things; doesn’t mean they’ll happen. Is it wrong to pray that my friend gets the job she’s going for? Is it selfish to pray that my friend’s unborn child won’t have anything wrong with it? I don’t know what God wants. We pray for His will to be done. But the disciples knew His will; they were sent out and then did stuff. They didn’t pray over people, “O Lord, only if YOU desire it, then shall it be.” They said, “Be HEALED!”

At the moment, I’ve been praying a lot for hope. That hope will be obvious in the situations; that hope will rise out of the moment, and that it will calm and protect. Hope is good. It reminds us that although things aren’t as we might want them to be right now, anything is possible. I like that.

Romantic films are bad for my health

So I came home today and popped on the tv while doing some stuff on my laptop. The film 'Hope Floats' was on and gosh was it gushy. I knew it was bad when I heard Brian Adams singing, but it was slightly redeemed hearing the Bob Dylan classic 'Make You Feel My Love'.

I have mixed reactions to romantic films; I HATE HATE HATE that it gives me a false impression of love and relationships. It says that there will be someone who sweeps me off my feet and we'll live happily ever after. It actually sometimes makes me sad because that is not the case in my life. However, it also gives me a little bit of hope.

And then I become melancholic, and go and sit at the piano to try and express how I'm feeling. I don't get me sometimes.