independence day

happy belated birthday to Zambia. it was 44 yesterday...

i was thinking of going to london tonight to celebrate with friends. but instead, i went on a bike ride with my beautiful younger sister and we went on the big ride at the end of the pier. it was GREAT :-) and tonight there are exciting going ons in brighton which i'm sure i shall report about in due course.

God as gardener

Mary mistook Jesus for the gardener after he'd risen from the dead. Maybe she was not so mistaken.

Gardener: one who works in a garden.

Garden: where life began and ended (Eden) and ended in order for it to begin again (Gethsemane) ... the seed first has to die in order to bear fruit.

The gardener DELIGHTS in seeing things grow. the garden is his joy. sees potential in bare soil. kneels on the ground and gets his hands dirty. cannot force growth but does all he can to prepare and encourage and maintain

"...while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful" ---

[those who do not garden may not understand the seemingly harsh necessary measures taken]

BUT "if you knew I was GOOD... then while you might not always understand what i am doing, you would trust me"

(i know i've used this quote before but i love it!)

"this garden is your soul. this mess is you! Together, you and I, we have been working with a purpose in your heart. And it is wild and beautiful and perfectly in process. To you it seems like a mess, but to me, see a perfect pattern emerging and growing and alive...

quotes from the new testament and 'the shack'.

london (again)

as well as going to 'Epic worship' this weekend, i met up with my friend Yinka, who i see nearly everytime i go to london and we always meet in a different place and walk and talk about just about anything and everything and then go our separate ways again!

(waiting for Yinka at russell square)

i also went to Camden (first time!) to hang out with 2 beautiful friends of mine. we had a lovely day. :-)

Sunrise

"Pilgrim was taken to a large upper room that faced the sunrise. And the name of the room was Peace." (Pilgrim's progress)

sunrise over brighton

"EPIC WORSHIP"...

... is a night put on by my friend Nick who loves trance music and loves God and combines the two... in a basement in old street... and a random selection of beautiful people who came to express their worship and prayers in dance and paint and words and more...

erasmus snapshots

i've just entered an erasmus competition for which i had to submit 6 photos that summed up my "erasmus experience". i've posted some of them here. it's great to be able to look back and remember the good times and trips and people. I just focused them on the first 6 months abroad as my time in Badajoz was pretty far from typical! and yesterday i spoke at the 'year abroad fair' which is for the second years who are in the process of chosing their year abroad destination. I can't believe that was us TWO YEARS ago! I hope i didn't come across too negatively. Everyone will tell them that they'll have an amazing time, which they will, but i guess the three of us that spoke wanted to give more of a realistic picture; a bit of a warning that it won't all be easy, and that that's ok. because i think i wished that someone had said that to me before i went. but afterwards i worried a bit that we'd scared them all! Ah well.... :-)

it all seems very distant now. especially Sevilla. but i am seeing in bits and pieces how i have grown through it, especially in confidence (SOME of the time!!) and the privilege it was to be able to go.