This week we are in the office preparing for some of the events that are coming up:

21st March: Strictly Come Praying, Grangemouth
8th-13th April: Spring Harvest, Minehead Week 2
16th-18th April: The Mix, Norwich
29th-3rd May: Baptist Assembly, Plymouth

There are others in between but these are what we are focussing on! A meeting about each to plan and prepare, as well as rehearsals, stock checks and other admin type stuff! We had an office prayer time this morning, its great to catch up with the people who work in the office, day in and day out keeping everything going and doing the really important stuff that keeps us going on the road! A chance to find out how the other ministries are going and what God’s doing. We’re going out for a meal on Thursday lunchtime, sort of a leaving do for Clive but he can’t make it…so we’ll still go anyway! Any excuse to go out! Also this week is a chance to meet with Andy and Joy and chat about how everything is going and what’s happening next year…I have no idea what God’s plans are for me for September so your prayers would be much appreciated!

Currently preparing part of a seminar for Strictly Come Praying. It’s on ‘How does God speak to us?’. Myself, Keel and La Roche are running it and have chosen the 3 topics of through The Bible, Sung Worship and People & Circumstances. We’re doing 5min chat and 5min practical activity for each. I’m doing Sung Worship so if anyone has any thoughts they would be much appreciated!

On a non-work level…It’s nice to be ‘home’ (Mum gets upset if I call Wickford home so hence the ”!) for a week, a chance to catch up on washing, hang clothes up and have a bit of a tidy up! Very much looking forward to watching Holby City at 8pm tonight, rather than on iPlayer a few days later! Saw Maddie, Emi and Billy at the weekend – we went to the park and got really muddy and it was great fun! I fell over so had to change into my pjs when I got back to Sarah’s and put my jeans in the wash! Watched a film called ‘Fish Tank’ in the evening and it was really good! I recommend for anyone who likes real life films. Had Billy laying on my tummy for a couple of hours, all snuggly and warm! I miss them so much when I don’t see them! 

I bought the Florence + The Machine album and have been listening to it for the past couple of days. I like it a lot!

Well, last week was a pretty interesting week!

It started on Sunday with Taste leading worship at TCC’s evening service. We had a minimal set up but still arrived at 4pm to make sure everything was ready. I was due to be doing Psalm 139. We met to pray just before the service and I was starting to feel quite dizzy (get dizzy spells occasionally so didn’t think too much of it) but then as we left that room I felt like I was going to faint so sat down and Keel got me some water. I then felt quite sick so went to the toilets and was retching but wasn’t sick. Meanwhile the service had started but every time i tried to stand up I just felt really dizzy. Karen came to see if I was ok and I told her I wasn’t able to do Psalm 139 so she passed the message on to Andy. I managed to get back into the church towards the end of the service and was able to be prayed for which was really good. I just felt really miserable because I felt ill and also felt I was letting people down. I just wanted me own bed and really didn’t want to be going to a new host house and preparing for a schools week! Becca and I were staying with Andrew and Avril so I went to bed as soon as I could after I got there and Joy told me not to get up in the morning til I felt better.

So Becca got up and went to Deanes Schools for 6.30am. I heard her go and just felt so awful that everyone was going to set up and I wasn’t. I felt really guilty but knew it probably was best for me to stay and sleep. I eventually got up and went in at lunchtime but didn’t take part in the final lesson, I just wanted to familiarise myself with everything before Tuesday. There were only 3 lessons each day but they were 100minutes each. We were set up in the hall, but it was being used all day Tuesday and a few other lessons for drama, so we had to do a basic acoustic set up in various classrooms! It was a lot of setting up, packing down and moving around and at points no-one really knew what was going on! Andy and Joy had created a new lesson about what a Christian is, which went down really well. Other lessons were a combination of music interviews, quizzes, Abi and we got a lot of Q&A session time which was brilliant. Some questions… ’Did God create Aliens?’, ‘Do you believe the world will end in 2012?’, ‘Why did you become a Christian?’, ‘Do you have to go to Church every Sunday?’, ‘How do you know Christianity is the right one?’, ‘How can you prove God is real?’ so we got really good opportunities to share our stories and opinions.

Throughout the week various people felt poorly and grumpy! Becca was sick on Thursday and during Thursday night so stayed in bed Friday morning. Jack and Keel both had dodgy tummys, La Roche felt shivery and achey… by Friday it was looking pretty grim! But after an intense pray backstage for the day, the lunchtime concert and the evening gig everything got better! The gig was not as well attended as hoped but still had around 30 young people who were enthusiastic and had a great time. La Roche had a bit of a chat towards the end and a lot of them responded which was fantastic and so encouraging.

We were very well looked after this week, thank you to all the lovely people who fed us: Nick and Karen, Ian and Miriam, Andrew and Avril.

Fri 19th

In at 11.15 ready for everyone to arrive at 12. Today was the day of rehearsals! We spent the day alternating with the band for stage space and time in the room upstairs. We had technical rehearsals, run throughs and then played games so we didn’t get totally fed up! 4.30pm was the dress rehearsal which went brilliantly. Then time for something to eat, soundcheck and ready to start at 6. Matt (last year’s drummer) came to watch, very excited to see him! The performances went really well, the girls were so nervous but did a great job. The band performed their song twice to a very enthusiastic audience. Oak Grove Chapel was packed out so it was a very successful evening! Then for the fun of clearing up, packing down and heading home, arriving back in Wickford just after 11pm, phew!

Activity weeks are great fun and it’s good to get to know a group of young people over the week and help them create something. I find it a challenge to create something of a high standard without making it repetitive and boring for them! It’s their half term so in a way you can’t tell them what to do too much, but then to make something really good you need to. I try to make it as fun as possible, but with so little time it can be hard work for them. The girls this week were fantastic though, worked really hard and I hope they are really proud of what they achieved and enjoyed the week. I guess we pray now that the relationships between them remain strong and also with Darren and Becky, the youthworkers at Oak Grove, that they can really get alongside these young people and encourage them to explore more about the awesomeness of Jesus.

Weds 17^th

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK!!!! In for 9.15 this morning. The morning consisted of the group being split in half – half going out on the trip and half staying back to play games and then swapping. The groups picked their leaders one by one, I was picked third which I was quite happy with! So addigned to group one we headed off to The Forum in the centre of Norwich for a look round the BBC Radio Norfolk Studio to see how it all worked and how a radio show is put together. It was quite interesting, though I was more excited by the walk down the TV Studio corridor where they film Look East! We got to see the dressing room and control room but sadly not the studio. Big canvas pictures of presenters past and present on the walls, but didn’t see any in real life! Also had a brief stop in the current exhibition there on Climate Change, the concept was quite interesting. Then back to the Chapel for some games and then Group 2 came back and it was lunchtime. After lunch we performed All About Abi, La Roche led the related discussion afterwards and then we had a time of Q&A where the youg people could ask us anything. The questions were fantastic; ‘What made you decide to become a Christian?’, ‘How do you hear God?’, ‘Can you feel God?’ were a few so we got to share our own experiences and really talk about how much God loves each one of them. Brilliant stuff and we could have gone on a lot longer but some people were getting fidgety so we had a break and then finished off with some games. Set up for tomorrow’s recording at the end of the day and then headed to Jo and Colin’s for dinner (where I stayed last Wednesday). Gorgeous Chicken in Coronation Sauce with veg and rice and then a gooey chocolate pudding with candles for Jack’s birthday! We then played the infamous Take 2, which is never fun because Joy always wins! and a games called Sequences which was quite good. Back to hosts just after 9pm.

Thurs 18^th

In at 9.15 again to check everything. Music people spent the day recording all the different parts to the song and choreographing the dance routine while we rehearsed our play over and over again. We took the scenes apart and really focused on them, worked on making the transitions quick and smooth, filmed it and then watched it back so they could critique themselves and also had time to go on the computers and design programmes/posters. By about 3.15 everyone was going a little bit loopy so we stopped and all came back together to play some games. Then at the end of the day set up the extra staging, positioned lights and arranged tabs while Andy finished mixing and then all hands on laptops to burn 30 CDs with the finished song! Then over the Ang Fox’s house (run’s The Mix in April, last year we arrived on my birthday, so my birthday dinner was at her house) for dinner; chicken in sauce and vienetta and crumble for pudding. We spent a long time discussing things for tomorrow and the weekend but never really coming to many conclusions! Then it was time to head back to hosts. Lie in in the morning, we don’t start til 11.15, young people arrive at 12!

Mon 15^th

Happy 7 year wedding anniversary to Sarah and Matt! Got a lift to the chapel with Carol for 8.45 and we set up and prepared for the day. The day runs from 10am-4pm with half an hour lunch and a couple of short breaks. We have 21 young people this week, so spent most of the morning as a big group playing games and getting to know them…including the infamous Name Game run by Joy. We then spent the last 20mins of the morning and all afternoon in our separate Drama and Music streams. Ben and I have 5 girls in our drama group and they worked really hard to begin putting a piece together. We have the theme of relationships and they have to create a piece of drama with a message for their audience. We decided on a theme, message, team name, storyline, characters and began devising the separate scenes. I was impressed with their enthusiasm and how well they worked together. At 4 the young people left and we packed down and headed to Ann and Steve’s who were feeding us. La Roche, Keel and I were dropped off at Sainsbury’s for vital supplies and then we walked to the house. Dinner was really good, really nice pizza, La Roche claiming the best he had ever tasted ‘with real food on top’. We had a nice relaxed time after, a sort of meeting but everyone was joking around and it was good fun! We had a prayer time and then headed back to hosts about half 8. I had a peppermint tea and phoned my mummy and had an early night!

Tues 16^th

Becca picked me up this morning, in for 9am. We started the day together with registration, a song and a game and then split up into our groups for the rest of the morning. We spent the morning continuing working out the scenes and then scripting them. I typed everything up so they had copies to take home and learn. We finished the morning by acting out the story of The good Samaritan in lots of different styles including as aliens! Then lunchtime which I spent making a powerpoint for the afternoon…Oak Grove’s Got Talent. We had 9 acts including singers, poetry, piano recital, baton twirling and ‘The Potato Heads’ (Darren, Bex and Pete singing Mrs Robinson by The Lemonheads). It was a highly entertaining performance, though not much in the way of vocal talent! We spent the rest of the afternoon delving into ‘The Check It Out Team’s Collection of Amazing Games’ and having some fun! After everyone had left we set up for Abi tomorrow and then headed to Conor’s beautiful extended refurbished bungalow for dinner.  It was a gorgeous meal with make your own pancakes for pudding! We then spent a bit of time playing on the Wii and trying to complete a couple of puzzles in the house – a cross in a cage and a 4 tiered heart. Then back to hosts!