Surprise!

York woke this week to a bit of a surprise; sunshine! According to the weather forecast, there is going to be a heatwave this week and every day will be sunny and hot! It seems to be the remnants of a summer that never was and I'm suddenly glad I'm not organised enough to have packed away my summer clothes yet :)

It has reminded me of a part of God we sometimes neglect; that He is a God of surprises. He is a God without limits, that can't be put in a box or given boundaries. Well, you can, but if you give God limitations then you run the risk of Him only working within them. If, however, you acknowledge that God is capable of "immeasurably more than all you can ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20) then suddenly you are asking God not to work inside of limits you've set, but allowing Him to work outside of limits altogether! What amazing things we would witness, if only we were brave enough to ask God to do more than we could imagine, and had the faith that He would deliver!

Not that we can direct God, or decide what He can or cannot do (those church leaders who think that Jesus is returning on October the 'whatever' need to read their Bible again because that's not the God I serve). What I'm saying is: what makes us think that, if we ask God for small things, He will deliver big ones?

Think BIG! Ask God to do 'immeasurably [abundantly, excessively, unfathomably, indefinitely, boundlessly, endlessly, infinitely] more' than you are capable of asking or imagining and then watch what He does... Let the God of surprises show you just what He's capable of and I am certain that, when He does, you will never again try to set Him within your limits.

Now go outside and enjoy the sunshine ;)

For The Love Of God

I'm sat in my choir uniform in Heslington Church ready to see my friend, Emily, get married! We're singing a few gospel tunes while they sign the register...

I do love a good wedding, but I don't think you can beat a Christian wedding. There's something special about putting God at the centre of a marriage; like was originally intended. God is love (take a look at the book of 1 John) and all love comes from God. Marriage involves 2 people declaring their love for one another and promising their love and faithfulness forever. A Christian marriage involves all of the above, but the love they declare is recognised as coming from God and the promises they make are sealed in Christ.

A marriage which honours God and two people who come together for the love of God, as well as the love of one another, is one that truly reflects what marriage is about and represents Christ's love to those who see it.

"Love strongly, Live compassionately, Honour deeply, Trust unfailingly." (Pete Roderick)

Politics In A Coffee Shop

As a youth worker, I seem to spend a lot of time in coffee shops and I have decided that they would be the best place for the government to meet; forget Westminster! Conversations in coffee shops always seem to turn to discussions on religion, morality, politics, social constructs, sex... Basically, all of the so-called 'taboo' subjects.

I've overheard many groups of people putting the world to rights and think that if the government met in a coffee shop, perhaps their conversations would also turn to more fruitful matters such as these?

Today I had to bite my tongue as I overheard a pair discuss:
- Whose responsibility it is to provide sex education.
- What we should do now that sex has become "something to do, like playing video games" (their words).
- How it is time for different races, religions and people groups to "unite".
- Where our individual morals come from.
- Who is to blame for the violence in today's society.
- Why they don't believe in God.

How I wanted to get involved in that discussion; to ask them questions, challenge their views and basically let them know that the "problem with today's society" is that so many are without hope, love and faith.

People need God; they need to be told about the hope, the love and the faith that comes out of His grace toward us and love for us. Maybe I should be praying for my conversations in coffee shops... That God may be the centre of coffee shop politics, and the centre of the politics that guide this country.

A Day In The Life

And so the blog begins.
I've always wondered what would happen if I started one of these... I'm not entirely sure that something is supposed to happen really! You see, we used to keep blogs hidden and secret - we called them diaries. Now, thanks to the wonders of technology and the advances of this generation, we write our diaries on the internet, for the whole world to see. It's an odd transition really, but I suppose it makes sense for people to share their experiences with one another; maybe we can learn from one another's mistakes, thereby making fewer of our own?

So, yes, I'm a youth and children's worker, I trained originally as a primary school teacher and one day soon I hope to go off to be a missionary wherever God sends me, to do whatever He asks! But currently, youth, children's and family worker it is. I love my job: people say this a lot, I realise, but I really do love it. It has it's downsides, yes, but they never get close to outweighing the good.

Tonight was our church meeting. Not really a thrilling experience I suppose, but I had fun :) I shared my report and ended it with prayer requests. Following this, it was suggested that we pray there and then, leading to an impromptu prayer or two for the youth and children's ministry in our church. I felt so blessed to be reminded of how much the church supports me in what I do, and how much they care about the young people in our church. God gives us these little reminders of His love for us; I'm thankful He does because sometimes (shamefully) I forget. I thank God every day for the job I have and the love He gives me for the children and young people that He puts into my care and discipleship.

I am so in the right job :) and I sat in the meeting tonight wearing no shoes (I don't know why I ever bother putting them on in the first place), looking down at my odd socks, my dinosaur t-shirt and my Veggietales watch and thought that anyone who sees me would instantly be able to guess what role I fulfilled in the church! I shall endeavour to share some of it with you, in the hope that it will prove useful or helpful to someone, somewhere.