Feeling the overwhelming urge to be a bit more cool and sophisticated (but only a bit) as student life quickly approaches, I’ve discarded the email address referencing my pre-teen love of Pop Idol’s Gareth Gates and discovered a website where I might be able to learn how to include photos within my blog.
The longest summer holiday ever is nearly over! Spending three months doing everything and nothing has made me quite lazy and my blogs less frequent. I need to learn to write again and also recover all the science which has slipped into the back of my mind and become obscured by biblical Sudoku puzzles and poems about cats. It isn’t that I’ve lost my love of writing, but I thought maybe I could do with a change of scenery to revitalise my enthusiasm for excessive blogging. Also, I really love that picture of the rainbow!
It has taken me 4 years to grow a bit tired of writing everything I do into a blog but I’m determined to keep it up because it’s good. It’s just that I am starting to slightly bore myself by writing ‘...then I went to church...then I went to The Castle....then I went to fanclub’, seemingly allll the time, as much as this sort of routine has proved a great way to spend the last few weeks.
Having said all this, as I recount the last few days, I realise that they have inevitably involved all of the activities above. This being our last weekend at home in Leicester seemed to give us a licence to go a bit more mental than usual, starting Friday night at The Castle and ending at Fanclub, visiting soarpoint along the way. Unbelievably, It has only just struck me ober the weekend just how much youth in general subscribes to this bizarre excessive binge drinking culture- I realised this whilst watching Joycey’s lone and rapid intake of two whole pitchers of some cocktail...absolutely unreal.
The last two days have been wicked. After a lovely lunch in town on Friday with Chris we wandered around the new shopping centre for a while before visiting the home department of both John Lewis and TK Max. We excitedly explored the kitchenware sections discussing what sort of teapots and chopsticks we would buy were money no object, and spent a very long time assessing what we do and don’t need for uni (ie teapots and chopsticks). We somehow ended up at one of those ridiculous knife selling demonstrations in Debenhams and narrowly avoided getting a great bargain on some knives, advertised as ‘the sharpest knife in the world’. We did however, pick up a free ‘magic spiral vegetable cutter’ each and a free ‘juicer to the couple over there’ which definitely needs to be on a timeshare. After narrowly escaping the lure of the bargain knives we quickly came to the conclusion that actually neither of us need or can afford any more kitchen accessories. It was so lovely to wander around town with no real purpose or money to spend- like the good old days before Saturday jobs when Saturday was penniless window shopping day. Friday brought standard fanclub fun, with a couple of embarrassing moments when drunken mess Jack kept throwing us literally onto the dance floor. (yes, full on lying down..cringe.)
On Saturday I headed with my parents to ASDA, to buy a terms worth of university essentials such as can opener, cheese grater, baked beans, pasta, rice and party rings. We got ridiculous amounts of shampoo and things like that, a tea tray to match my teapot, oven gloves...the list goes on. Then I went with mum into town and she bought me some really nice clothes and some really swishy red boots. My parents are so very good to me. I also got some socks- with my favourite things on. Actually amazing..two pairs with piano keys on, two pairs with teacups on, two pairs with rainbows! Last night we headed to Helen’s where most people appeared to be drinking ‘ecstasy’ - a truly disgusting bright blue concoction of spirits ..no less than seven I believe. Sure death. My sobriety, is still going pretty well- I wisely steered well clear. I really do prefer dancing to sitting on a kerb, and from a past rather embarrassing experience I really do prefer semi-sensible conversation to being sick on people’s grounds J
After a short time a huge 28 of us (i think) piled into taxis and piled out again at soarpoint (de ja vu) before heading to Mosh, where I honestly saw most people that I know. It was fun times, with some good dancing. I met a man who asked me to marry him which was a bit odd, but my only real (mild) hassle was my painful choice of shoes, but such is life.
Today has been pretty cool too. Although it has been quite upsetting to say goodbye and ‘see you at christmas’ to a few people already, like my Nanny. It’s weird. I’ve thought about going to uni and being there, but not much about leaving home and not being here. It’s weird because people are getting all a bit sad now about going and I can’t decide if I want to be leaving or not. I’m excited and terrified at the same time, in about equal measure. Or as Martyn, my old English teacher would say, I am oscillating at a high frequency between the extremes of hope and despair, drowning in the swamp of confusion whilst the helicopter of clarity is nowhere to be found. Okay, it isn’t quite that dramatic.
I can’t wait to meet my brothers and sisters at a church in Norwich and the university Christian union, but i’ll miss those at home so much. They are truly fantastic, and to me they are an example of how I should live as a Christian. Their love is so big, because it love comes from God. Today Deb made Tom, Ruth and I stand up whilst people prayed for us in church, which was really a nice thing to do, if a bit embarrassing. It is so wonderful to know that I’ve a wider family who somehow love me unconditionally and who are so keen to offer me and the other young ones so much encouragement and support. I don’t want to say ‘see you at christmas’ yet, but tomorrow will be the last time I see lots of the leaders and the young people from youth group for a while. It will be my last official Quest, and Rock Solid- I cannot put into words how much being a youth group leader has helped be over the few years. I might try but it is getting a bit late...maybe a job for tomorrow? It is good, soooo good to know that when we go off to uni there is a serious amount of prayer going on for us back home.
The best thing is this: When I move to uni...loads of things will change. But, God, he never changes. Jesus never changes. And what he has done for me, never changes!
I often think that one of the best things about our God is that he is unchanging. His love is everlasting and his grace is never ending. The world around us changes and we will change, our homes will change, our relationships will change, but the truth God's good news will never change. Therefore we can rest assured that whatever happens If we want to accept what God has done for us, then our salvation is never going anywhere. God's promises are true, and so once we are christians we know that nothing will ever seperate us from his love. God is forever faithful.
Here are the words to a song we sang today.
It is very famous, and rather old I imagine. The words, they are wondeful.
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me.
Summer and winter and spring-time and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me.
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me.
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