Youtube

Can anyone tell me how to upload youtube videos onto my blog??

Alpha

Lastnight saw the first night of the Alpha course at church. John Mac and myself have been put together to lead a group and I have to say both of us are extremely happy with the group we have. We have a mix of Christians and Non-Christians which I am loving. I was quite nervous about it yesterday and when I arrived at church I had a real sick feeling in my stomach, but I prayed all day and I really couldn't have been happier with how it went. The format will be the same every week, there is a 20 minute talk at the beginning then we break into our smaller groups to discuss in a bit more depth and people are free to ask whatever they want and we will try to provide the answers...in about the 5th week there is even a wee residential!
The topic lastnight was, quite simply, "Who is Jesus?". Steve McCready lead the talk lastnight and i thought he did a great job, simple, easy to follow and in my opinion, answered the question very well using historical evidence that Jesus was an actual person, who walked on this earth 2000 years ago, not just this mystical figure who lives in the sky and helps people (which is what I thought when I was a child!) He pointed out that this evidence is also documented in non-christian history books. This is the sort of stuff that I would love to have heard when I was a non-christian. It makes it all very real and I think it is so powerful.
I think we got alot of the "big questions" put to us lastnight, eg, Why is there so much suffering?, How can an all-loving God condemn people to hell if they aren't saved? These are questions which both John and I knew would come up. Over the next 10 weeks of the Alpha course we are going to try and give some answers to these questions, but I do know that it's going to be hard and there are some things that neither of us are going to have the answers for. I'm really looking forward to the journey though, and I am really looking forward to learning more myself.
Prayer for the Alpha course would be great also!!

Love love love

Mistakes

I do realise that there are alot of spelling mistakes in my last post but the reason for that is simple...my nails have got too long and they keep pressing the other letters!!

Bad Blogger

Ok so there it is...another 6 weeks or so since my last blog!! I'm terrible at this!
So what's new with me? Well, i'm back at uni to repeat one of my modules, once i have, i can graduate. It's a European Studies module and I hate it to put it bluntly, but it has to be dome if I ever want to see the back of university life! Saying that though, i'm enjoying haveing routine back in my life. I love September when everything starts kicking off again, school, uni, Church life, cell etc. I may be one of the few people in the world who actually preferes autumn/winter over spring/summer! I love that we are soon going to be wearing our winter woolies and hats and scarves and all the rest of it. It's such a cosy time of the year.

Another exciting thing is that I have been asked to be one of the group leaders for the Alpha course which will be starting in chruch on 6th October *plug*
This is something which I am very excited about, but also extremely nervous about. I am excited to be a part of a great group of people who I will be working along side with for the duration of the 10 week course, I am excited that I may touch someone's life and make God real to them, I'm excited to form new relationships with different people and try to help them as they seek God. This is also why I am nervous. Christians know that there are some questions we just don't have the answers to. I'm nervous about being faced with one of these questions and feeling inadequate. I'm sure everyone who is going to be involved are being faced with the same fears. I'm praying about it though, I know that God will see me through and set aside my fears and replace them with a real passion to bring people close to him. So if you know anyone that you think might benefit from Alpha please give them the time and the date (6th October 7:30pm Emmanuel Church)

I really promise that I will try and be a better blogger from now on!!

Love Love Love

Another year older

Ok so what has it been, 2 months since my last blog?? I keep meaning to write but I always seem to forget! So much has happened in the last couple of months, mainly my trip to Uganda in July, which has to be (without sounding cheesy) the most humbling, thought provoking trip I have ever made.
Alain rang me on Saturday evening asking if I would get up in church on Sunday night and be interviewed about our trip, which i agreed to, even though the thought of getting up to speak infront of that many people scares the pants off me! I did my best but I couldn't help but feel a tad frustrated afterwards because of all the things I had in my head to say I hardly said any of them! I could have talked all night about my experience (my first in Africa) But i barely even touched on the surface. The whole time I was there I was just so aware of God around us. He was in each and every child that touched my hand, He was in the teachers who were so happy to see us there, I have never felt so surrounded.
I really feel so proud and so privilaged to have been a part of the building and I am definately going back..no questions. You really need to be there to understand why I am finding it so hard to describe it. I'm not going to talk a load of waffle trying to, so please come and ask me about it and I will happily chat to you for hours about it!
On another note, it's my 24th birthday tomorrow! Scotty and I are heading up to Portrush to his caravan for the day and we are going to try a apot of body boarding, then head out for a wee bit of dinner in my favourite restaurant...The Ramore Wine bar!!
I will try to blog a bit more frequently from now on...i never stick to any routines in the summer!!
Love love love!!

A little bit of clarity?

I'm sure if you read my last post you will have realised that i have been slightly frustrated with things of late...work being the main thing. Some of you may know that I have been applying to join the police. I got word back last week there that I was unsuccessful yet again. I had completed the Initial Selection test, and the successful candidates go through to the next stage. The pass mark for this test was 52...i got 51. Gutted isn't the word! Although I have been having thoughts that maybe the police isn't for me (I thought this before I heard I hadn't been successful) and so my thoughts turned to jobs that I think I would want to do, a job that I will enjoy, and one that I think I will be good at. I have found myself back at a thought I had when I was a youngster...Beauty Therapy. This is something I have always wanted to do, but then I went to university to do languages so it never entered my head again. Now that I know I don't want a job using languages (what a waste I hear you cry!!) i needed to get my thinking cap on as time is rolling on and I aint getting any younger or richer!! So in October 2009 (good things come to those who wait eh??) I shall be enrolling in the Roberta Mechan College of Beauty and I don't think I have been as excited about anything else! I think I would be good at this job, I think I will really enjoy it and in the future i hope to open my own salon...so for your future spray tan or waxing needs i'm your woman!!
One other thing that has been brought to my attention is a comment Scotty made on a recent blog about marriage being on the cards soon...i'm still waiting for that!! haha (get a move on Scotty!!) xxxxx

Rant...Contentment

Do you ever have one of those days when you just feel like crap but have no real reason to? I'm having one of those days. I don't know why. I feel that this may be a bit of a sour post, but hey, blogging is about truth isn't it? I realise that a few posts ago i was writing about my happiness...how ironic. I find it so wierd how one little thing can bring down your whole mood.
I'm at a point in my life right now where i really have no idea where i'm meant to be, what i'm meant to be doing, or more importantly, where God wants me. I know i don't want to be in retail all my life (i'm in no way knocking those who make their living this way, i'm just saying it's not for me). Pastor Phil was speaking about contentment on Sunday evening, something i feel i need a little bit more of at the minute, not in one particular area of my life, in fact, a little bit in every aspect would be great. Philippians 4 v 11 says, "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances"....Sometimes i wonder to myself, is it possible to ever be completely content with everything in your life? Like i mean EVERYTHING? These are just my own thoughts, stupid as they may seem. This is written in the study part of my Bible under the above verse...

"Are you content in any circumstances you face? Paul knew how to be content whether he had plenty or whether he was in need. The secret was drawing on Christ's power for strength. Do you have great needs, or are you discontented because you do not have what you want? Learn to rely on God's promises and Christ's power to help you be content. If you always want more, ask God to remove that desireand teach you contentment in every circumstance. He will supply all your needs, but in a way that He knows is best for you."