It All Comes From Here*

From Friday 21st to Saturday 22nd October, I experienced the second Youthwork Summit (YWS) retreat and conference. I am overflowing with thankfulness for what God has done for me, overwhelmed with gratitude because for the past 48 hours God has not stopped talking to me; He has not stopped holding me, filling me, blessing me, encouraging me and speaking directly into my heart.
There are many things that I could share with you, but there is one story from the 2 days that I want to share here; one that blessed me and spoke to me deeply.

It was on conference day (today). We arrived and were given our goodie bags full of awesome free stuff; in it was a postcard. On the front of the card was the YWS tagline for this year: 'it all comes from here', and on the back was space to write anything that God was saying to us, or whatever had blessed us from the last 2 days. We had been encouraged, a number or times from the stage, to fill it in. Well, after lunch I got out my postcard and considered what I could put on it; I decided that God wanted me to write a poem (hopefully one that would fit on the back of a postcard).

So I sat and thought and considered, and decided to use the tagline and I wrote a short (for me) poem based around the ideas from the 2 days and around youth work as a ministry. I wrote it on the card, put it in one of the bins (that were for the cards, not for rubbish) and thought nothing more of it. I thought maybe it would end up on the website?

At the beginning of the last session, before we went into a time of worship and Mark Yaconelli's final address, they read out a few of the cards. They didn't read mine; 'fine', I thought. I had only put my card in during the last break so I figured they either hadn't had time yet to read it or it was too long to read. It didn't bother or concern me, as the poem could be put on the website and bless people there (I'm beginning to realise that most of my poems are from God to bless others, not just me, so I need to share them). Then we joined hands, put our arms round one another and the room of 700+ youth workers prayed together as a young lady prayed over us.

Martin Saunders (the host and one of the organisers) then explained that the plan had been to take some of the things from the cards, and some of the tweets written through the day, and put them together to make a liturgy for everyone to say together at this point. (I should say - at the beginning of the day he had warned that they weren't event planners or organisers, that they weren't sure what they were doing and that it could all go wrong...) He then said that they hadn't had the time or organisation to do that and were a little worried that it therefore wouldn't happen and they'd have to miss that out. However, he then said that someone had come along in the last break and done the job for them. That "a person in this room" had written a liturgy/poem on their postcard; had answered the need and prayer with an already formed liturgical poem...

My poem was then projected onto the gigantic screen at the front! The entire room full of youth workers stood together and said my poem aloud! I was shaking the whole way through it. Not because I was nervous (I have confidence in the poetic gift God has given me), but because I realised that through my obedience and faithfulness to God's simple request (to write a poem on my postcard) I had not only become an answer to prayer, but that I had blessed an entire mega-church-size room full of youth workers. At the time that God asked me to write it, I was a little frustrated because I really wanted to listen to the speakers (each one only got 5/10 mins and I didn't want to miss one), but I realised that all along God had a particular plan and my obedience led to the fulfillment of it.

I am not sharing this story to glorify myself or boast in anything but God's grace, mercy, generosity and goodness. I am sharing it to show you that through obedience to God we are allowing Him to use us as a part of His grand plan. We may not, at the time of obeying, understand that plan but when it becomes clear to us the blessing is well worth the patience and perseverance. Be a willing servant and who knows what God will lead you into. Who knows who you'll end up blessing through the simple, humble act of saying 'yes' to God...


It All Comes From Here*

It all comes from here.

From an extraordinary God,
capable of ALL things.
From His unfailing love
for ALL that we are.

From a purpose and calling
that He placed on our lives.
From a passion and desire
to change young lives.

We give our time, our energy,
We share our ideas, our lives,
We offer our teaching, our advice.

But we give, we share, we offer
Because we do not love alone,
but with the help of God's heart.
Because we do not stand alone,
but with the strength of God's Spirit.
Because we do not fight alone,
but with the power of God's will.

From a God who loves
all which He has created,
From a God who guides
all who seek His face,
From a God who welcomes
all who come in His name.

It all comes from here.

I'll Be There For You

Today I am being thankful for friends. I am blessed enough to have people who not only love me, but pray for me and care about me. My friends mean the world to me; no-one else believes in me the way they do (other than God) and they have this way of making me smile even if I feel like crying. What a gift!

I sometimes, sadly, get complacent about my friends; I take them for granted without realising and, for those times, I'm sorry. My friends pick me up and put me back on my feet, sometimes without even realising they've done it...

I used to watch the TV show Friends (still do, it remains funny to this day) and be jealous of that group: that they were so close-knit, that they loved each other through thick and thin. When I look around today, I see that God has blessed me with friends on every side. I can never say I'm alone, even when it feels that way, because I see the company God's given me for the journey and I realise that He must love me very much.

Machu Picchu Prezi

Machu Picchu on Prezi

Beauty Is...

I was on my bicycle today, enjoying the last of the surprisingly hot weather that's hit the UK this past week. I was cycling along, looking around me at the wonderful fields, wildlife, trees, sunset... And I thought to myself; God has provided us with such a beautiful world. You may have noticed this already. If so, well done! If not, where have you been?

The thing is, that as I noticed this (not for the first time, by the way. I was aware of it, I'm just reminded of this fact now and again); as I thanked God for His breathtaking creation and looked around at the evidence of a creative God, I began to think of myself - not in a conceited way - and how the same creative God has created me. And so I considered; if I look at this world and am speechless at it's beauty, then surely God must look at me (and you) and be beyond speechless at our beauty! What a thought!

If a sunset, to God, is a lovely thing to look at then how much more must we, the pinnacle of His creation, be a marvellous and beautiful thing to look at. And it's true; the more I thought the more I realised that God must look at me and, though He sees my sin, be so pleased with His handiwork! When God created the world, HE saw it was good. After He had created man and woman, the Bible tells us that God looked at the world and declared that it was VERY good. We are the icing on top of a beautiful cake, the pièce de résistance... What an honour, what a responsibility!

So next time you look in the mirror and see only flaws, ask God to help you see yourself the way He sees you. Don't put yourself down because when you do, you are insulting God - saying His creation is not good enough! You are handmade by the Almighty, and the Almighty doesn't make junk!

Psalm 139:14 "I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well."