Saturday, September 06, 2008

Recent Discoveries

I've now been here for three weeks and I have made some very important discoveries.

1. buses are great
2. Starbucks is not an option for morning coffee for people on a budget
3. my accent stands out in the school playground
4. it's possible to play piano proficiently, sing beautifully, canoe for Scotland, play tennis like Andy Murray and swim like a fish before the age of 12
5. my new colleagues ARE wonderful
6. spiders of gargantuan proportions rule the city
7. Earl Grey tastes like tea that's gone off
8. I'm not very good at telling polite lies. (yes, at times, no, at other times!!)
9. ceilidhs are possibly the best kind of social function to ever have been invented
10. children, however full their lives are of activity, achievement, belongings and friends, all have have the same desires and longings. They want to be listened to, they want to have fun, they want to have access to all the good things of God that they perceive adults do. If taught well, they will take on the rights and the responsibilities.

I'm here helping with that because I believe, as do all my family, that we were called by God to do so. But I'm uncomfortable with the growing sense that I just might have to go against the flow sometimes; and this has the potential of being perceived as bolshey (sorry, can't think of a better word to use)

Before I came here, I was asked what my greatest fear was. It was of being misunderstood. But the greatest role model ever was the Lord Jesus who was despised and rejected. I'm sure I can face anything that comes before me at any stage in my life if I only draw in close to him :-) And I love people; and since coming here have felt an even stronger sense of desperation for those OUT there, not in the warm and comfort of the established church, to know Jesus, to know how brilliant it is to be loved and have someone walking with them every day.

4 comments:

  1. Wow - great discoveries. Have you only just worked out #8? I knew that about you ages ago!

    Having been misunderstood & perceived as bolshy in the past (to be fair I was a bit gratuitously bolshy) I can identify with your fear. However, I know God will enable you to model the radical calling in a way that will attract people, not repel them. That's what you & Mr HIWWC have been doing as long as we've known you. Geography may change, character doesn't.
    Bless youse,
    V xx

    P.S. re #3: don't worry, you'll soon have people flocking round you paying for the banter!

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  2. Anonymous8:56 PM

    Em ....


    2. Starbucks was never an option for refreshment for people who had visited the people who produce coffee for Starbucks and see the abject poverty in which they they live ....

    Sorry and all that. I don't do Starbucks!

    But glad things are OK otherwiase, if hard ....

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  4. Anonymous9:29 AM

    1. I've just discovered trains
    2. A Starbucks allowance should be part of a Children's Pastor's job related expenses
    3. I used the Glasgow Bible in the service on Sunday (I'm sure many had no idea what was being read but the kids did!)
    4. Oh to be young and gifted ...
    5. What a blessing it is not to work alone
    6. I quite like Earl Grey but then I don't like tea with milk ... it smells bad!
    7. I knew there was a reason I didn't like that place!
    8. Do you mean your good at telling impolite lies!?!
    9. My husband's from south of the border - can't even spell ceilidh so he keeps us away from them
    10. Yep!

    I'm pretty sure going against the flow was part of our Lord's ministry! Going with the flow can lead people to places that they should be running away from ... do you remember the Christian fish poster with lots of fish heading in one direction and the wee Christian fish heading in the other!?!

    You are uniquely gifted, equipped for the task and what you bring to it is what God has given you to use in this place, at this time! It's you - that's who you are and that's what you give, and that's why He will bless what you offer and make it work! Look foward - those not flowing with you will change direction ... even though it may take time!
    L x :)

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