What If?

Well the rain has returned. I know I will be sick of the rain by the time I leave here, but it was nice to see some rain again today, even when I had to walk in it I enjoyed it. Today was the first day of track specific teaching. This means that according to the path we chose we have a teaching session with the others who also chose that path, some are youth, sports, creative, and mine, children. So along with 2 other girls in the group we spent the morning learning how to reach children for Christ, and what types of qualities make a good children's leader. I really enjoyed learning this morning. Ali and Lynda, the children's workers here are amazing and truly have hearts for Christ and for children. One of the things that stuck out to me in the teaching this morning was when Ali said "fight for the children to reach the heart of Christ." How powerful is that? Don't only hope or wish that these children will come to know Jesus, but fight for them! This gives a clear image to me and really praying for these children and to do anything that you can to help them understand who Jesus is. I know that only Christ can be the one to bring these children actually to him, but who are we to ignore God's call to love others as He has loved us?

Some days I wonder what I am doing here and I feel that I am not making a difference and that there is no way that I can make a difference in these few short months that I am here. It is then that I must remember that God has brought me here for a purpose and that those thoughts are only insecurities that I have and lies straight from the devil himself. I know that God has a purpose for me here and I need to remember that every moment of every day. I need to trust in God and not discount the fact that I am here because He brought me here. Just a few random thoughts going through my head.

What if we all began to pray fervently for those around us, those we don't know, the children, the youth, the elderly, adults who don't know Christ? Would there be a revolution in our nation? Would we see more people come to know and love Christ? Would we see a nation that loves God? A nation that truly loves him and doesn't care who knows it? A nation that doesn't just go through the motions of religion, but whose hearts are after more than this earth can offer? Would we see a difference in our churches? Our friendships? Our families? Our own lives?


For your entertainment, this is Pam, Audra, Me, and Jesslyn eating our DELICIOUS pastries from Greggs. I'm pretty sure mine was a glorified donut, or two with custard in the middle.

This is the four of us again in front of a large chair that was randomly placed in front of city hall and the museum, it had a purpose, but I don't remember what that purpose was.

A Schedule??

Today I began to really hurt for some of the high schools in Cardiff. Yesterday at staff meeting they were asking us to pray for the schools because some of them are supposed to close for certain reasons. From what I understood this has been going on for about 2 years, and so far they have stayed open, but it is still a concern. If the schools were to close it would not be good because rival schools would be merging, the school would be further for the students to get to without a decent bus route. I really just want to ask you to pray for the school and for the teachers and staff and for the students as well. Pray that God would should us a way to help these schools and that he would begin to turn the schools around so that they wouldn’t want or need to close them.
This afternoon we were invited to Friendship, which is for those over 50. They sing songs and just spend some time together worshiping. We were invited and given 30 minutes total as a group to talk. It was a fun time getting to sing with these individuals and getting to meet some of them and I think that they really enjoyed meeting us as well. It was lovely. We also got the opportunity to sit around and chat with them while we drank tea and ate a snack.
Some of you may be wondering what exactly I am doing here in Wales. This week we have begun to get into the sort of things that we will be doing for the rest of the semester, it seems like it is going so fast! I am working with the children in the church and a lot of children’s groups. On Monday I am involved in a group called Sprogz, which is where mums or grandmum or any other caregiver bring their children, up to 5 years old, to the church and let them play around while the caregivers chat and spend time together. There is also a snack time and a bible story. It is a neat ministry, but some of the women are skeptical, so pray for those barriers to come down. On Tuesday have teaching in the morning where I sit in a classroom like setting and learn about working with children and bringing Christ into that. Then during lunch I go into the schools along with a few other people and we have a lunch club, which I believe is similar to FCA or something for the younger children, and of course not just for believers. Wednesday is full of craziness with children. I have Wrigglerz, which is a club for younger children up to year 1, I believe. Right after that I have G-Pod, which is another club but for kids year 2-5, I think. Both are just a crazy, chaotic time where kids can come and play, sing songs, and learn about Jesus. After that I am going to be going to a bible study, which they call house groups. I am excited about this because it is through the church, so it is an opportunity to meet new people and hopefully feel more connected with the church, and have some interaction with people my own age. Thursday is our teaching day, where we will be going through the bible this semester, I’m sure there will be much more on this when the teaching begins. Then on Thursday nights I will be involved with Generate (GnR8) which is a teaching of the basic principles of the bible. My Friday will begin with service at The Gate and then in the evening I will be involved with Kidz Klub, and I have no idea what this consists of. I am excited to work with so many kids and to see how God is going to work through these ministries.
On another note, I just signed up for another half marathon…I think I’m slowing trying to mutilate my body and knees. Pam and I are going to attempt to run the Cardiff Half Marathon on October 18…we have run a couple of times already, but we are really beginning to train now....we are meeting at 8:45 in the morning for our first intense workout, well maybe just for a morning run to build up our stamina. This should be quite an experience and hey why not?!? You don’t have to opportunity to run half marathons in Wales all the time, right? I suppose that means I need to cut back on the sweets again...the absolute worst part! The good news though is that my family here is healthy, so I’m already off to a better start that I was last time I ran a half, oh yeah and I’m actually training this time. This is going to be a breeze, well if it’s not raining and feel like 0 degrees. And also in all fairness Marilyn just warned me that she isn’t treating me for injuries after the race.

And these are just a couple of views of the sunset last night that I thought were pretty.

The Leaves have Begun to Fall

I was walking to City Street today when at some point I realized I was actually headed to City Center…oh stupid me. After my 45 or so minute walk I settled with buying some slippers at the one and only….wait for it…TK-MAXX!!! This might sound somewhat familiar to you, and just so you know it is the exact same thing as TJ-MAX, just add another X and change the J to the next letter in the alphabet and there you have it, the British version of TJ-Max. J Then I headed back down to my original location and here I sit in a shady café called Orange Café, that serves massive amounts of food, for cheap. I am currently the only one in here that doesn’t work here, but hey why not? Seize the day!

This past week has been a good week. Yesterday we went down to The Gate and had a prayer day and spent the morning praying on our own and then the afternoon praying for each other, what better way to bond with your team? I was supposed to go to the movies with my mentor but I really just wanted to spend the evening at home, so we cancelled that and I had a lovely evening at home with my British family. You see dinner around here is not eat, clean, leave…it is eat, have dessert, drink coffee and sit around and talk until you feel it’s time to move on to something more, or usually in my family’s case, get the kids in the bath and into bed. So we spent about an hour and a half or so at dinner, eating our dessert and drinking coffee. It all began when Carys and Rhian wanted to try my Dr. Pepper, that they had never had before, so they each tried a little bit and Carys really didn’t like it, Rhian said she didn’t like it, but she drank most of hers, then Marilyn and Warren both decided they would try it as well since they had never tried it before either….the consensus on Dr. Pepper is that it tastes of mouth wash…lucky for me that means the entire 2 Liter bottle is mine! Then I tried some sort of drink that they have. A lot of the drinks here are concentrated and you mix them with water or sprite or something, so that is what this drink I tried was. It is called Menthe and you mix it with Sprite. If you wanted to honestly know what this tastes like then get a bottle of Sprite and literally mix it with mint mouth wash and drink…it was even green, ewww gross, is all I have to say, luckily I hadn’t finished my coffee yet so I was able to rid myself of the awful taste fairly quickly. We had a lot of fun trying new things though. Next Rhian decided it would be funny is she had me say “tomato,” because I say it funny… She got the biggest kick out of hearing me say it my Texan way and then hearing me try to imitate her in saying it her British way. It was actually really funny and amusing. Then we watched some Wallace and Gromit, which is a cartoon like movie with very few words, but actually pretty funny. It was good spending some time with the family last night and laughing a lot.
This afternoon I got on the bus and at one of the stops I was the only one left on the bus and the driver turned the bus off, shut the doors and left. I was very confused by this, but he soon returned...maybe he had to smoke or use the bathroom, I don't know but it was weird.

Climb Every Mountain

Well today was a wonderful day, if I do say so myself! The day began with a staff meeting, and since we are like interns or something of the sorts, then we are considered staff as wale....get it (I'm in Wales). Sorry I couldn't resist. Staff meeting was very fun, and all of the staff at the church and with Going Public seem to get along well. It is going to be a fun semester working along side all of these wonderful people. Then since we don't know the British, not English because apparently they really hate to be called English when they are British, students and they don't know us we spent the afternoon getting to know each other. We played many games such as lining up by your name, birthday, age, and number of siblings, all without talking...there might have been a little cheating going on. I am now known as a cheater, although I don't really do it too much, only when I'm losing at games. (The British students have been told not to play card games with me for this reason...at least I'm honest when I cheat...is that an oxymoron?) I had a wonderful time getting to know them a little better and it seems as though we are all going to get along well.
I am having a little trouble with one of the younger guys, I need to be more patient. He tried to tell me today what the AC joint was and where it was. I tried to politely inform him that I've taken tests over every bone/muscle in your body, so I knew where it was and what it's actual name was....it was only my major in college, no big deal. Please pray for patience.
I came home and decided that I was going to go for a run because I'm in love with the desserts here, and I had cereal, 2 small pancakes, a croissant, and a roll thing with chocolate all for breakfast alone this morning, so I needed to get out and get some exercise. When I got home my host mum, Marilyn, wanted to go as well, so naturally I was excited that I had someone to go with me...yet I failed to think about the fact that she is a doctor and likes being healthy. I think I am going to be sore in the morning. She was fast, but claimed to be slow and we ran for 30 minutes, which really isn't long until you are out of shape and eat thousands of sweets in a weekend...well and a full days worth of meals all for breakfast. It felt good to workout, but man I'll pay for it in the morning! (I hope I can get out of bed!)
Tomorrow we are doing a scavenger hunt throughout Cardiff, so it should be very fun. We need to make sure we know each other and the city! Hopefully by Wednesday or so I'll be doing some of the stuff that I will be doing for the rest of the semester.
Well I'm off to bed, goodnight.

A Shot in The Dark

Well I have moved in with my new family, Warren, Marilyn, Rhian, and Carys. They are a very lovely family and are always fun to be around. The girls are 8 and 6 or 7, somewhere around there and they are hilarious. They like to tell joke and laugh a lot, many times they are in their own little world and it is fun to listen to the types of things they are saying to each other. This morning I heard Carys speaking to Rhian and apologizing for something followed by "My Queen." It was quite funny. Warren loves to read and works for a non-profit called Speakeasy that gives free legal advice and Marilyn is a local general practicioner. One thing I have had to adjust to some is that they are very in to healthy food. This is quite the opposite of my family from home...we don't eat too unhealthy, but by no means was I forced to eat vegetables! I think I have eaten more vegetables in these past 4 days than I have in my entire life...maybe an overstatement, but quite possibly true. The good new is though we have had dessert each evening after tea (dinner) so far...I hope this continues!
Yesterday we went to an art center that is a ministry partnered with the church called "The Gate." It is a very neat environment. It is an old church converted into this ministry that offers dance classes, pilates, plays, musicals, and a cafe. I think this will be a place I spend a lot of my time...well hopefully. The music in this coffee shop, that I am at, is interesting...it sounds like someone pushing down on the record and still playing the music and I'm pretty sure the person singing in dying a slow painful death...apparently the people here like that kind of music though. Anyways, I would imagine the music at The Gate is a lot better! We heard an orchestra practicing yesterday while we were learning all about The Gate and it did sound nice.
It was sunny yesterday and most of the day today, but we had a true taste of Wales weather on Wednesday because it was tipping down as they say here! I had on a rain jacket, and an umbrella and still somehow I was still getting wet. The British students that we are working along side will be arriving tomorrow and Sunday, I am excited to meet them and hopefully all of them and all of us Americans will get along nicely. We will begin doing a lot of work on Monday, so I am also excited about that and hopefully it will be very challenging and fun at the same time!
I know there is loads more to tell you, but I seem to have forgotten what they are now. Have a nice day!