March

I am very aware of the fact that I have not updated my blog in almost a month but here goes...

Most of February was incredibly busy just with trying to settle and establish everything for the semester and one would have thought that March would have been a little less busy but on the contrary. If anything, we've become busier. You will be pleased to know that the building project has officially begun. So there is a lot going on at the moment but it's all so exciting!!!

The new housekeeping system continues to work well so praise the Lord! After the contracters sand-blasted one of the rooms, we spent a whole day cleaning up the laundry room and washing all the towels and rags again because the sand had seeped through the doors and vents and completely covered the laundry room! But you can only imagine my joy and satisfaction in cleaning it all up and seeing restored to its former glory!

The hospitality team continues to work well together and the system hasn't really changed so much except that we now have filter coffee on Sunday mornings as opposed to instant coffee. The coffee lovers in the church were over the moon when this change took place!

The Lord has opened door too for me and a team to go into a local school to share about Jesus once a month. The Lord definitely works in mysterious ways. I had been thinking about how to complete a project for my placement studies that requires involvement with a school. I was at a loss as to what I could possibly do or which school I could possibly go to. So 15 minutes before our Tuesday afternoon prayer meeting I just asked the Lord to show me what to do because I had no idea! Then during prayer meeting a friend, who has children at this particular school, begins to pray thus, "Lord You've put the children at this school on my heart and just the need for a someone to go in and share with them. I know I'm not the person for it but I pray that You would raise up the right person for it..." Now you can imagine what was going through my head..."Is this my answer to prayer??" So after the prayer meeting I told him about my project and how I'd just asked the Lord to reveal something to me and then he prayed that. Anyway to cut a long story short... I met with the head teacher and she agreed with the idea of a team of us going in once a month. She wants the spiritual level of the school lifted up! What a wonderful opportunity!

"Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for such is the Kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 19:14

I continue to meet with a young girl for discipleship once a week and it has been stretching, challenging, convicting and fruitful all at the same time. I will also be meeting with another girl every other week starting this week and I pray that our times together would be enriching and blessed!

The beginning of March was my friend's birthday so I went down to visit her and we all went out for a meal at this huge Indian buffet. It was such a great time of food, fun and fellowship but it made me miss being down there so much! I love my church family down there and I wish I could see them more often. The bond we have in Jesus is so wonderful because it doesn't matter where we are or how long it's been since we last saw each other, we can just pick up from where we left off! I love it! The following weekend was my birthday and they all came up for it and it was such a blessing to have them there! Here are a few pictures from my birthday...

I had a ceilidh which is a lot of Scottish and Irish dancing. It was so much fun and if you've never been to a ceilidh I strongly urge you to try it because it is just SO much fun! You can see more pictures of the night on my facebook.

A few days prior to my birthday, I had a bit of a melt-down... as you do. I was overwhelmed and tired and I felt like I never have any spare time. Some days it was a fight just to get some time to be alone and in the Word. Isn't it surprising how we can get so caught up in doing His work that we neglect Him? And it's not that I didn't want to do my devotions, it's more that I couldn't find the time to. And I know usually when people say that they can't find the time, you tell them to make the time but I was that busy that I wouldn't even eat sometimes. Anyway I guess it all hit me 2 days before my birthday. I was crying, whining and feeling sorry for myself but I guess it took me being in that broken state for the Lord to remind me that His grace is sufficient for all these things (2 Corinthians 12:9) and that "His will, will never take me where His grace will not provide." I was undone. And I guess a part of my frustration is that I want to be doing other things and I often ask the Lord why I'm not doing the things He's put on my heart to do. And He very gently reminded me of His promise in Psalm 84:11,

"The Lord is a sun and shield, He will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly."

The Lord will not withhold anything that's good from me and if He's withholding something it must not be good for me! What a simple concept but it only hit me then and it was comforting to know that where God has me right now is the best place for me to be and what God has me doing right now is the best thing I can be doing right now. May I be content in the good that God has given me!

Tonight is prison ministry and I am so excited because one of the guys who has become a Christian will be sharing his testimony and he gets out of prison in the next few weeks so it will be exciting to see where God leads him!

Outreach Week starts on Saturday and I'm staying in York this time. I'm really excited for what God's going to do because we have a lot of exciting things on the agenda but we're still flexible! We have an acoustic night planned, a married couples dinner, a deep clean of the sanctuary :), painting a lady's house, street witnessing, dramas and of course covering all the M199s (children's, moms and tots, coffee shop, hospitality etc).

Prayer Points:

- The building project. Pray for the finances, protection, labourers and excellence

- The local primary school outreach. co-labourers, vision & inspiration, young lives to be changed & souls saved

- Discipleship. Pray for blessed and fruitful times

- Personal devotion time. keep making time for it because it's the most important time of my day

- Better personal time management

-Pray that I would stand firm on God's promises that He has given me and be patient with the visions He has given me

-My family. Pray that God would continue to guide and provide for every need

-My friend in one of the photos above is pregnant! please pray for a safe pregnancy and that the baby would be formed beautifully and perfectly in her womb

-PRISON! pray that God would draw hearts to Himself and that men would be saved. Pray for the guy that's getting out that he would remain rooted and grounded in Jesus

-Outreach Week. Pray that people would be blessed by our service, that souls would be saved and that God would be glorified in everything! Pray for the other outreaches too to Romania, Scotland, Norway, Kings Lynn and Cambridge

Thanks for all your prayers! "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." And I pray that you are all growing in the knowledge and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!