text-a-toastie

It is all sorts of necessary that i blog tonight.

For many reasons. But there is one, in particular, overriding, very incredible reason why i should overcome my current writing mode (i.e. 'just swallowed a dictionary' or 'writers block' - both due to recent essay deadlines) and blog about what just happened.

This is what just happened:

It may not seem like much, but let me explain!

Our Mission Coordinator, Becca, is very good at her role on CU exec (as are the rest of the team - but this story relates directly to her initiative!!). For the past few months, she has been contacting other CU's around the country and checking out their websites to get creative ideas of how we can be more missional, and bless Keele students in a practical way, whilst also creating opportunities to talk about our faith.

In order to make space for us to be intentional about this, we have made a tri-weekly schedule of our CU meetings.

Week 1 - ARK (Act of Random Kindness). Mission / service project / outreach on campus, and maybe an invite for them to join us the following week, which is:

Week 2 - Social. A time to hang out and fellowship together - every Society on campus has regular socials, and that usually involves heaving drinking, so we avoid that aspect and just enjoy a time where we can chill out and spend more time together, maybe go out for food or to the pub, or have a quiz or something along those lines.. and then:

Week 3 - Meeting. In this week we have a time of worship together, and teaching or discussion where we can really dig in to the Word and learn together about our amazing God!

So that's our new structure, and this week was a 'Week 1.' ARK.

Enter, 'text-a-toastie'.

I'm unsure as to what Uni we got the idea from, but having heard that it works verrrry well on a number of other campus', Becca introduced the idea to us. The last two times we've done an ARK have been making pancakes for people in blocks all over campus, and then washing up in kitchens (which is 2nd in the list of student appreciation, only to 'free food') both of which have been successful and great conversation starters. Tonight was sort of... well, a step up from these.

Lots (and lots!) of prayer and preparation went in to making this evening happen and it was just awesome to see the ways that God turned up.

Flyers, posters, a giant whiteboard outside the library and lots of facebook profile pictures helped get the word out about 'free toasties' on wednesday may 11th.

Between the hours of 7 and 9 tonight, anyone on keele campus could text in to request a toastie (with 2 fillings, cheese / tomato / ham / chocolate spread) and ask one question they have about God / Christianity / Life / the World etc...

And text they did!

Keele CU had the privilege this evening of spreading out across campus, serving and providing food to students, and giving an answer to / conversing about some of the most difficult questions that even we as Christians often struggle with.
Questions about life after death, sin and forgiveness, good vs evil, homosexuality and the church, amongst others flooded in and I couldn't help being inspired and somewhat emotional by what I saw and heard; the obvious craving for spirituality, for answers to hard questions, or just for opportunity to ask these hard questions and talk about possible answers if not the definite one... cravings for love and acceptance, for honesty, for someone to follow and look up to, for certainty in a life that is all over the place, for clarity and peace where there is confusion and hostility..

Christ offers all of this.

I have Christ to offer.

How can I keep Him to myself?

"You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.." Matt 5: 14-15

The light we have in us, is not to be hidden. The message we carry, we should not keep a secret.

I know I am blessed to be part of a CU that is so richly resourced and supported by students, by Keele itself and by the local church. I hope and pray we are using the resources we have efficiently and wisely and to their full potential and I am so very excited to see what God has in store for the rest of the year... If the past 5 months are anything at all to go by, Father will be growing and stretching us immensely as we continue to shine the light of Christ around Keele.

At the end of this long, but amazing day, I have to declare that God deserves all the glory for this and the success and fruit that has already and will come from this evening.

Hallelujah!

Did you hear about that guy?

I took a bit of artistic license here so some of the details aren't necessarily correct and obviously this is a fictional character / sign :P
I also have never lived in Biblical times so have little idea of what it really would have been like for a Jew during the weeks surrounding Jesus' death and resurrection.
But it was Easter so I had a little fun and got creative :)

The sign read,
“NO MORE LAMBS AND RAMS AND DOVES ON SALE”
Because, apparently, some guy died last Friday
And tore the veil in the Temple.
His name was Jesus.

Now all the righteous and religious ones
Have shut up shop and gone home to mourn.
“The Temple is closed until further notice” they said.

Well, that’s great.
Now there’s nothing to offer
And nowhere to offer it.
I am sinful, in need of cleansing.
What do I do now?

But the sign also said,
“ULTIMATE SACRIFICE MADE, SINNERS DEBT ALL PAID”

Apparently, this veil-tearing guy
Was a bit of a big deal.
And this is for real, some say He was the Son of God,
King of the Jews!
But wait… what?
We crucified Him?!
What have we done..?

Oh wow, apparently, while up there dying,
He forgave those who were crucifying Him.
And apparently, death couldn’t stop this guy.
On the third day, He came back to life.

But what does that mean for me?

If it’s true that this guy was born of a virgin,
And lived his whole life without even verging on sin,
If He really was the Son of God,
Then He would have been the perfect sacrifice.

If it's true that He really is alive now,
Maybe through Him,
we can finally step forward in confidence and see
In all His glory
Only by grace
Face to face,
Almighty
God.

For God desired communion,

As in, His Spirit and my Spirit together again.
A reunion!
Like the good old days
before Adam’s mistake
before Grandfather Abe
or Isaac or Jake or Big Mo or Dave.

Before all this,
apparently, God would walk
side by side with His people
through the garden
as the sun set.

Oh how I would love that.

And people are saying that this must be the guy
all the Prophets told us about.
The Christ.

I never thought I would live to see this day
But it seems that last week
The Saviour of not only Israel, but the entire world,
Did His thing and is still around here somewhere proving it!

I’ve got to see this…

…I’ve seen Him.
Fully alive,
With the scars to show that it was Him who died
up there on that tree,
on that cross.

And to receive the forgiveness He’s offering,
all you need to do
is repent and believe.

Well I do repent.
I fell at His feet and told Him
I’m sorry for my old ways,
For my sin, and my selfishness and for not changing.
But I thank you for your sacrifice, and I believe.

I have seen and I believe.
But He said once that
even better blessings are in store for
those who believe without seeing.

Amazing.

And underneath the sign, in small print
was hand-written in red ink
“I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Not Letting Go

You drew near to us

although we were scum and undeserving.

But we were yours

and you weren’t letting go

without a fight.

In fact

you weren’t letting go at all.

Betrayed with a kiss,

They beat and bound you

Lashed and ground you down.

Well, they tried.

But you uttered

not

one

word.

You weren’t letting go.

They crowned you with thorns

With ridicule and scorn,

Dragged you before the crowds

Who did the same all the more.

‘King of the Jews?’ they spat,

‘He’s not our King!

Crucify Him!’

So they took nails,

And they pierced you

your hands and your feet.

They hung you up there,

bleeding and cursed on a tree.

But You weren’t letting go.

They cast lots for your garments,

Tested and tempted you

To come down from there,

To save yourself,

To give up,

To let go.

But the only thing you were giving up

Was your Spirit

in to the hands of the Father.

Letting go of your life

as ransom for ours.

To save us.

You were pierced for our transgressions.

Crushed for our iniquities.

The punishment that brought us peace was upon you,

And by your wounds we are healed.

Broken, forsaken and yet still forgiving.

Oh righteous Christ,

full of grace, abounding in love

even at the point of death,

giving up your last breath,

You never let me go.

Lost In Wonder

OK so I'm uber excited because I recently re-discovered my favourite ever worship album (and I'm blogging about it whilst it's uploading to my iPod).

I'm not sure where it came from, it's be AWOL for a few years now but somehow it ended up in my car's CD case, I think when driving up to Burnley a few weeks back.. which meant a couple of hours of good music! Hurray!

Martyn Layzell - Lost in Wonder

It feels really quite old school, but apparently was only released in 2006.. my concept of time is a bit off I think!

And you know those albums that start off amazing with the best and most famous songs, and then as the tracks progress, they get worse and worse?

Yeh, this isn't one of those albums. Every time I listen to it I actually have the thought, "Oh yeah, I forgot this doesn't get boring - every song on this album is amazing!"

And then I get sad when it reaches the end so I usually listen again (hence the 2 whole hours of joy on the way up to Burnley in Feb!)

ANYWAY:

-if you've never heard it

-if you're looking for some awesome songs to praise our awesome God with

-if you appreciate seeeriously good harmonies (not quite as epic as Casting Crowns harmonies, but just as great to sing along to!)

-if you're all or none of the above

you should totally listen to this album and just try it out!

This is just my opinion, of course.

But I hope you get a chance to listen, and enjoy it as much as I do, and worship our Saviour while you're at it :)

Psalm 147:1

Praise the LORD.

How good it is to sing praises to our God,

how pleasant and fitting to praise Him!

(Even at half past midnight - it's always fitting to praise Him!)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Slices

Mine did not come out looking at all like the picture on the previous post. Haha.

Ready to bake..

Ready to eat..

(please note that mine don't have the Tulip back drop either, which obviously makes a difference.)

They do taste like cookies though. Which is a start. And OK cookies actually. Maybe even good. Like, not as good as Brenda's or Donna's, but good cookies all the same!

(Next time I'll add more chocolate chips though, and cook them on a lower temp for a longer time.. see I'm learning!)

In fact, I've judged them good enough to take round Mark and Vicky's tonight, for dessert. So they passed on that level. Plus Matty enjoyed one hot out the oven last night, and then another for his drive to college this morning. Double score.

Not bad for a first go, eh?!

Masterpiece #2. Get in. I don't have one for today though, unless (by some miracle) I finish this essay I'm writing..

I told my Nan today about the cookies, and about Monday's Lasagna success too, and she said, "Oooh you'll make a good wife one day!"

Thanks Nan, thank you muchly.

That is definitely in the Top 3 of what a girl wants to hear at my age. (I'm not joking!)

The sun is shining today too - it's over 20 degrees outside.

And I am 400 words in to my 1500 word essay. Better than nothing!

What a happy little bunny I am today!

Mennonite Girls Can Cook.

I am not a Mennonite.
However, I did live with a Mennonite family for a year and can therefore somewhat appreciate their sense of community and their attitude to cooking and/or baking good food.

http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/

This site gets almost 4500 visits every day.

I'm thinking I may be one of those visitors, looking for some inspiration over the next couple of weeks - especially since today's recipe is Chocolate Chip Cookie Slice.

(got this pic off the site - not my creation!

If I do end up making these I'll upload my pic although I

doubt they will look quite as d-lish as these..)

Oh gosh I will have put on so much weight by the end of these holidays....

Easter Break: day one.

OK firstly, my cousin just posted this to me on fb and it is incredible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIhGxEdez98

Click and watch and be amazed all over again by the gospel.

(sometimes you need to hear it again afresh, right? I don't know how I get so blasé about all of this..)

Right, so now you've watched that.

Check this out!

Ready to bake...

Ready to eat..

It's a shame the photo doesn't do it huge amounts of justice! But trust me, it was good. Especially for a first ever attempt at making lasagna (from scratch might I add!).

In fact, I was so excited about baking today (and being all 'housewifey'!) I've had to stop myself from making a goal of 'creating a masterpiece a day' for the duration of my easter break..

(This would count as masterpiece #1, obviously.)

But I'm pretty sure after like 3 days I'd run out of things to make, or else run out of creativity or motivation.

And in all fairness, it would just be another way to procrastinate from getting my essays and revision done.

But we'll see what I can do, anyway.

Like I also made chocolate cornflake cakes for supper whilst watching Glee, for Mom and I to eat while watching Eclipse again.

(Can't think of a segway so this can be it!)

Last night I was reading Eat, Pray, Love (getting through it slowly - I'm almost half way through).

The story is written by Elizabeth Gilbert, and is about the year she takes out to travel and find herself and ultimately, get her life back on track. It's split in to three parts, and I'm in the second one - she is currently in India, living in an Ashram while visiting her guru (I know this sounds weird, you have to read it to understand but stick with me here!).

So last night I got to a part where she was admitting how hard she finds the act of meditation and I was so incredibly challenged by it, I couldn't wait to write it down and reflect on what she'd said.

"There's a difference between meditation and prayer, though both practices seek communion with the divine. I've heard it said that prayer is the act of talking to God, while meditation is the act of listening. Take a wild guess as to which comes easier for me. I can prattle away to God about all my feelings and my problems all the livelong day, but when it comes time to descend in to silence and listen. . . well that's a different story. When I ask my mind to rest in stillness, it is astonishing how quickly it will turn (1) bored, (2) angry, (3) depressed, (4) anxious or (5) all of the above."

What she said so resonated with how I feel most of the time (minus the angry and depressed parts).
Even when I sat with God this morning, and prayed and read the Word, I felt like this.

It's funny how in the times when life is crazy and hectic, I so crave that quiet time and just to hear God in the stillness.. and then when life calms down and I get some time to be still and listen, it becomes the hardest thing in the world for me to do!

I was listening to someone talk a few weeks ago, and he was saying that we can't or we shouldn't be bored with God.. and I agree with him on that. This is not so much that I am bored by or with God, it just feels more like I've got a case of ADHD of the mind - I can't be still long enough to simply sit and wait on God, and listen to what He's saying.

And yet God says, 'Be still and know that I am God'.

He spoke to Samuel while he was sleeping, and to Elijah in the still small voice.

And I want for Him to speak to me in the quiet, too.

But I know I have to listen in order to hear..

It's encouraging, though, to know that others feel like it too (I know it's only in a book, and Elizabeth doesn't have a relationship with God through Christ like I do, but it's encouraging still..)

Even in Romans 7, Paul talks about not doing what he wants to do, and doing what he doesn't want to do and while he's not talking about listening, I think it's applicable here.

So this is something I've asked God for help with, and I'm hoping for change.

:)

It's a good thing my God is in to change!

That's enough musings for one day I think.

G'night!