Injections = Nightmare!!!

Last Thursday i went to get the first of my injections for going to Uganda. I was rather nervous as i have a slight (and by slight i mean enormous) fear of needles. So i went into the wee room which was tiny, sat down on the seat and started answering all the necessary questions about my health etc... Then the part I hate...the nurse went over to a wee table and started fiddling around with the needle, getting it out of the wrapper etc (I know its wierd but when this is happening i can't concentrate on anything else!) So over she comes and gives me my first injection in my right arm...my foot is shaking like nothing else and she is jibbering on in my ear about random rubbish as she is trying to distract me! The first injection really wasn't that bad, i was getting another one in my left arm aswell so i thought that if that one was anything like the first one i'd be landed! So in goes the second needle and i feel like a pins and needles sensation in my arm, not really pleasant...then i turn to my mum (who i had with me for moral support!!) and I say that i'm not feeling too well. Next thing i remember i'm lying down on the seats with mum right up at my face with a cold towel trying to bring me around! I fainted! haha Mum later told me that when i started to black out my eyes rolled in my head and my mouth dropped to one side and siezed up then i had a full on siezure! Talk about drama! It took me about an hour to come round and when i got home i slept for the rest of the day! I can sort of laugh about it now but i think i really scared my mum and also the nurse who thought i was having an epileptic fit.
Now i have to get 4 more injections...lets just hope they run a bit more smoothly than the last 2!!

Cell

At Cell Last night we did a wee exercise which was pretty class, it really made me feel quite good about myself and gave me a really good feeling! First of all, let me say that in my every day life, i try my best to be happy. I don't just mean happy on the inside, but happy on the outside aswell...i try to do everything with a smile. It's always such a joy to hear that this happiness has been noticed. Anyway, this exercise lastnight...we all had to take a page and write our names at the top, then pass them round the room and each person had to write something positive about the person whose name was at the top of the page...make sense? Good. Here is what my page said...

1. A rock.
2. Disciple.
3. Friendly, Charming, talented, beautiful smile.
4. Great laugh and easy to get on with. Someone that you're glad to know. Top notch person. Friendly.
5. Easy to get on with and good company.
6. V. Cool! Bring on Uganda 08!!
7. Excellent company - very easy to get on with - friendly personality. Poor taste in men, Scott's a balloon (just kidding) (John Guy!!!)
8. Very cheery! - Cheers everyone up!

Now I don't know about you, but when someone says something nice about you, i can't help but feel a real boost. Here I have a page of 8 things people have said about me and I just feel so happy that people see a joy in me. I don't in any way want to sound like I am being big headed, I just want to out across that me Joy comes from God. Before I was a christian (I have been a Christian again for over a year..lots of crap in between....later post maybe??) I had a real sense of something missing in my life, I was and have always been happy, but I still knew something was missing. When I came back to the Lord, it was literally an overnight change for me, i suddenly had this joy that i hadn't felt in a long time. I know that joy comes from God. There may be hard times and some serious testings in my life, but i still try to live evry day with a smile. My smile was noticed lastnight at cell.

True

"I am as sure as I live that nothing is so near to me as God. God is nearer to me than I am to myself, my existence depends on the nearness and the presence of God..."

Last night at True Brother Thierry from the Monastery in Rostrevor came to speak to us about practicing the Presence of God...what a guy! I could actually have sat and listened to him all night!

I was really challenged by him in quite a few ways actually, but one aspect in particular was about prayer. He said that as a monk, every day has 6 seperate times of prayer. Oh to have that discipline! I struggle so much with this sometimes. I would love to be disciplined enough to set aside a certain time in the day to pray. I'm not saying that i don't pray...it's just that with me, it tends to be little and often, and at no particular time. In Mark 1:35 it tells us that "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." As Christians it is our desire to follow this example...so why do I and many others find it so hard? Busy schedules? Love of sleep? Laziness? I think if I am honest I am guilty of all 3 of these things. But I have been so challenged to set aside some time of my own to pray. I am going to try this for a week to see how I get on, I am going to set aside other things which I may think are more important and spend my time with God, talking to Him and praying to Him, and really try to practice God's presence. I shall let you know how I get on...feel free to join with me!

"What if we realised that all God desires is our faithful attention so He can share Himself with us? What if we discovered that we love because God first loved us? This and more comes from practicing God's presence.
These are the essentials of the practice of God's presence, what Brother Lawrence called the holy habit: We engage in a continual, silent, and affectionate conversation with our Father. We walk with God in faith, love, humility, and simplicity. Out of love, we strive to do nothingand think nothing which may displease Him. Calling God to mind at every possible moment, every opportunity, we focus our attention on Him and silently say, "Thank you Father" throughout each Day."