Rush Hour

Wow! I haven't posted for a long time, but it seems this blog has been getting more traffic in the past couple of months than it ever did when it was regularly updated. Maybe I should start again. I've been learning plenty of lessons in the past few months that I might have a few snippets of interest to share with you!

Tuesday speech therapy day has morphed into Monday and Wednesday speech therapy days, and I am now weekly resident SLT in a local school, which is lots of fun but comes with it's own trials and challenges! I'm still holding on to that trust, that God has everything under control. I certainly don't.

When there aren't hundreds of bank holidays everywhere, life has even settled into a bit of a rhythm, which is nice. There are always new challenges and I always could be doing more, but I have come to realise that actually, no one has ever 'made it' and reached that place in their life where everything is learned and achieved and it all feels doable, so I'm certainly not going to get there in my twenties!

I have also made my first ever batch of flapjack! It wasn't as good as my mum's (too much golden syrup and overcooked by a few minutes) but definitely the start of a family trait. Watch this space.

The Wednesday Lull

Tuesdays are messy days. Every Tuesday when I finally drag myself up to my room to fall into bed I see the sight that awaits me and exclaim, "I hate Tuesdays!" You see, Tuesday is speech therapy day. My office, resource room, storage facility, everything, is the little box room in the attic that doubles up as a bedroom for the rest of the week. Everything lives on top of my wardrobe (which has not collapsed under the weight... yet. I live in constant fear that one day it will). On Tuesdays, everything has to come down from the wardrobe to travel to one or other appointment. The printer and laminator have to come out to create some last-minute resources. And several outfits have to be tried on to find something that matches and looks professional. Which makes for a big mess in a small room. Tuesday evening is students night so it's pretty late by the time I finally retire to bed, by which time my only energy is to clear space enough to crawl under the covers and fall straight to sleep, and the problem is put off for another day.

Today I tidied, mostly. I really need to organise, more than tidy, but that will have to wait. An office would be lovely, but I fear that will have to wait even longer. So for now I carry on, and if I'm still here next week maybe I'll take a step closer to sensibility. Maybe.

Making me a mountain

This song is my theme tune at the moment. When everything's on top of me, I remind myself of the outcome- I am becoming a mountain that cannot be shaken. Beautiful song.

It's the sweetest thing
To trust you
Just to know
You got everything under control

It's the sweetest thing
To trust you
Just to know
You got everything

You are making me a mountain,
Making me a mountain that cannot be shaken

You are making me a mountain,
Making me a mountain that cannot be moved

High up on a rock
Looking out at the horizon
Watching as the storm rolls in
Wondering if my heart will survive it

As the waves crash all around me
And can't remember what it feels like to be free

I know You're making me a mountain
Making me a mountain that cannot be shaken

You are making me a mountain
Making me a mountain that cannot be moved

You say, I've got you my baby, oh I've got you
It's quite the mess you're in but it's nothing Love can't fix
So sit here upon my shoulders and watch as it all unwinds

You are making me a mountain
Making me a mountain that cannot be shaken

I know You're making me a mountain,
Making me a mountain that cannot be moved

I've always been a late starter...

I wrote this on my way to Sheffield to bring in the new year with some very good friends of mine. At the time I didn't think it warranted posting but as we begin the second month of this year already, maybe it's worth acknowledging that the old one has passed. Here goes...

So, it's the end of 2010.
I'm not really ready for this year to end I don't think, but it's ending so I guess I better get on with it. I kind of hoped I'd be ready for life by the time 2011 rolled around, but here I am still floating. So what has 2010 held for me?

January: I returned to Leeds to work on the bank, apply for jobs and live in Eden. And that's just what I did- worked lots, lived with Scot and Andy, and tried to catch up with a world that had changed almost beyond recognition when I left it in aug 09.

February: Kidz klub came around. I met this crazy American girl who shared my name. Lots of girls group events where only 'older ones' came. The Eden era ended and I moved to Ben & Hannah's house.

March: How long will I be staying? I made half-hearted attempts to find somewhere to live, but not really. I visited Kidz klub and discovered that it really was as good in real life as it looked on the video. Applied immediately and had my first week on team on matt's 21st birthday. Went on a mission to buy American foods for the occasion.

April: Easter rolled round and still no house, still no job. Decided to stay put til July- the Jones's were wonderful and continued to put up with me. Other than that I don't really remember... maybe started bible studies with Becca K? She fast became a very special friend.

May: Still working, still at Kidz klub. A growing desire to live somewhere that I could continue Kidz klub work as I got to know and love the kids in the neighbourhood more and more. My birthday=anticlimax

June: Jess & Ben got married; that day the Harehills home plan was hatched. I got an email from Pete Larkum about this project called the Challenge in London- thought I may as well apply and got the job with a week or two notice! Maj & Seb got married and moved to London, but before that I stayed with Amy r and went to their party. Oh, also stayed with JC one time- random!

July: The Challenge! Four crazy weeks in London with inner-city gangsta teens learning enterprise skills that no-one wanted. Lots of fun but I never want to live in the capital long-term. Stayed with M&S to finish.

August: Catch up month. Leah got married; M:Powered happened and I spent awesome times with Rach Munn. Worked lots to make up for 5 weeks off. Lived in ore's flat and house-hunted like crazy. Moved to Harehills!

September: by far the most ridiculous month. New housemates, weekends in London (staying with Tim & Chloe, Maj & Seb), working, Kidz klub visits, students, german. Insane.

October: back to Saturday kk with no Becca- sad! But still hectic. I did PMVA training only to find Ruth B on the same 5-day course! Ben came to stay in half term for a birthday treat then I went home. Began to settle back into weekly church attendance after months of weekend youth work.

November: Bonfire night is my favourite of the year! We went to Roundhay then had a party at ours. Space started and I'm fairly sure I broke my toe. First night shift at Parkwood. Started doing SLT for Anne franklin. Started attending intensive interaction cafe. It snowed, lots.

December: More snow, more speech therapy, more work! We gave out hampers and Kidz klub wound up. I caught flu, then stayed at brian's house for a week, all throughout 2 weeks of solid work. Came home for Christmas, dad was ill, matt trapped in Kenosha, but all came good in the end. New year in Sheffield...


Wow, who knew all that could happen in just one year! There's lots more detail that has been left out. I guess maybe I am ready for the new year now. It's been a long one but I have come full circle and I'm back to the focused position I was last year, if a little tireder and hopefully more wise. What am I looking forward to this year?

• More speech therapy, in whatever guise it presents itself.
• Building some more long-term friendships with people outside of an organised setting. Building up a network that is relationship-based.
• Weddings! Lauren, Tilley, Andy, Mike & Amy. How many more?!
• Community.
• Calling home more. Calling people more. One month I'd like to run out of minutes, just because I'm talking to people lots.
• Making time to visit people and receive visitors. Practicing hospitality.
• Loving Jesus more than I think possible at the moment!!

The Simple Things

This afternoon I got an email from my housemate telling me about something good that had happened in her day. It was nothing important- just something nice that she wanted to share with me straight away! It's fun to get messages like that. 

It got me thinking about the highlight of my working day today. The best thing, and the reason why I stayed on ten minutes after my shift had finished, was that I made a cup of tea. 

Yes. I made a cup of tea. 

But this wasn't any old cup of tea, this was a nice cup of tea, in a blue cup, with two sugars!

I can see you're still not very impressed. But it was a wonderful moment. It was the moment I connected with a patient for the first time; the first smile; in fact the first food or drink he'd accepted all day. And it was a cup of tea (in a blue cup). And it was nice. And he enjoyed it. 

So I went home. My job there was done. 

Not a Minority Mindset

Wednesday was a busy day. My bike was in the shop getting some working breaks fitted so I had to get up super-early to make the 40 minute walk to work in time to arrive by 7. It was a busy shift with such adventures as the boiler breaking and having to wash the old-fashioned way by pouring kettles of water into the bath. Fun times! It was also kidz klub visiting day- the first time back after half term so I was looking forward to getting out and seeing all the kids again, though not excited at the prospect of the rain and drizzle that has been falling from the sky all week! A series of events meant that I had to make it into town and out again within an hour of finishing work to pick up our visiting pack with all the colouring sheets we take out to the kids, so I jumped onto the bus after work.

Sitting there, catching my breath and minding my own business, a couple of people got onto the bus and started having a fairly loud conversation just behind me. I defy anyone to sit on the bus and not listen to the conversations going on around them- the human being is innately nosey (but what's most fun is to try and imagine what the people you can hear behind you will look like, and being surprised by how inaccurate you were when you/they get off). So these people were talking, and one girl was describing her job and what she did- it was some kind of charity. She went on to describe how there could sometimes be conflict between Christian and non-Christian service users and staff, and how that was a shame, and then started talking about her church and an event that was happening soon. Hmm, I thought, another Christian on the bus! So often I assume that I am the only Christian in whatever environment I find myself. That's not a bad thing in itself, but it can feel lonely sometimes.

As I was getting off the bus (and had a quick peek behind me- as always my imagined image of these two was very far from the truth!) I overheard a couple of old ladies talking about the new Christian bookshop that's just opened in Leeds near the bus stop, and whether they'd been in there yet. This bus is full of Christians!! I carried on my way, a little amused by what had happened.

Visiting pack collected, it was cold and wet and the prospect of walking home in order to walk for another two hours was just too much, so I opted for the bus again. I stepped inside the bus stop to shelter from the wind and rain, and the only other lady there was on the phone. "Don't worry," she was saying, "only God knows our future. Just trust in Him." Seriously. Christians everywhere!! It made me smile to myself that everywhere I went, people were relying on and trusting in God. I'm part of a big family, and it's good to remember that.

I'll take any excuse to post a video, and this one's pretty clever, though maybe be careful if you get motion sickness...

Hello again.

Wow. It’s been a while. One thing and another- moving house, lack of internet, spending waaaaaay too much time on the M1- has prevented me from having space to even think about writing the past couple of months. But here I am, writing, and it’s nice to be back.

So what’s happened? I’ve moved house, and now live in a lovely little terrace in the much-sought-after neighbourhood of Harehills (jokes, it’s got a pretty poor reputation but I love it; name any country in the world and I’ll bet you there’s someone from there living within a mile of my house). I’m coming to terms with the fat that my church community and my local community are pretty separate now, but I’m sure you’ll here more about that in months to come. I spent every weekend of September in London completing my work for “the Challenge” which was definitely a challenge for me! LOTS of hours spent on buses and trains and tubes and all sorts, but it was good to see it through to the end. And I enjoyed spending time with London-based friends that so kindly put me up. October has been the month of students and Freshers- we’ve had our student “Re:fresh” barbeques outside of City Church, and have spent Sunday afternoons hosting student lunches for all the shiny new faces that have turned up to meetings. That’s been pretty hectic in its own special way but slowly things are settling into routine and this week has been a quiet one. I needed one of those.

Kidz klub = great, I’m loving having my own visiting round and am being trained up to be a bus captain soon which is a terrifying thought but a welcome challenge!

Work = still going, I’ve just sent off a CRB form to volunteer at a local school and got some work experience with the SLT from the trust I work for so those are developments. Eventually someone will pay for my services but apparently they’d much prefer them for free. Same as anyone I guess. God is faithful all the same.

I’ve got a few things I’ve been thinking about the past few weeks that I’d like to write about so hopefully they will be along soon. I kind of intended to write one of those tonight but this little round-up has been pretty constructive actually so maybe I’ll leave it there. Not too long til next time, promise!