boats

What kind of boat are you?! A bit of a weird question I know...let me explain...

So this week at Bode we have a couple speaking; Simon and Gill Brisco. Gill have been taking a few of our lectures giving us all some 'life lessons' as they have been called. She is such an inspiration; she's just an amazing woman of God.

Anyway, today we turned to Luke 5 where Jesus gets onto the boat with Simon Peter and tells him to cast his nets out on the other side of the boat, and so they end up catching loads of fish...I'm sure you all know the story well.

Gill explained how we are all like boats, and Jesus want to be on our boat. We are called to be 'fishers of men' and we should have Jesus as 'Lord of our ship'. Each of us has a different shore of people who we are to fish and share the gospel with; our friends, our families, our work colleagues. And through us and our boats Jesus want to reach these people.

And what is awesome is that our boats are all ready equipped with all that we need to reach these people, no matter what kind of boat you have. Some boats are big cargo ships, they can carry a lot of things, they can reach a lot of people with all the knowledge and supplies that they have. Some boats are more like submarines; they work for Jesus underwater, behind the scenes. Some are more those little pulling boats that guide the bigger ships out of, or back into, the docks. But regardless of our type of boat, God has supplied us with all the skills and talents we need to reach out to those people on our shore.

Gill challenged us to try to think of what type of boat we are, and what supplies and talents God has blessed us with in order that we may go and fish for him. She also and asked us to think about who and where our fish are. Are we fully utilising the supplies that God has given us to reach out to the people on our shores? Are we even making it to our shores, or are we just bobbing up and down in the same place in the waters?

So often I think it is easy to just stay out on that water. Or even to fish in the swimming pool of the church. We need to get out of the swimming pool and into deeper waters where there are people searching for something; searching for God. And we need to step onto that shore where our friends are, and tell them about who Jesus is.

soon, i promise

Oh, hello again internet.
As much as I would love to properly blog about life right now, I have a ton of work to do and stress levels are slowly rising. Once I have this Bible study project done and dusted I WILL update you all on my life. I promise. For now though, it’s back to Isaiah 42! ...Why I chose a chapter of the bible I know very little about, and understand even less of the context, whilst knowing I wouldn’t have internet to help me research I’ll never know!

thanksgiving

I'm thankful for my family.
I'm thankful for my friends in England.
I'm thankful for my friends here at Bode.
I'm thankful for being at Bible School right now.
I'm thankful for the huge thanksgiving meal tonight.
I'm thankful that I don't have to worry about where I'll find my next meal.
I'm thankful that I live in comfort.
I'm thankful for the autumn sunshine.
I'm thankful for the staff here at school.
I'm thankful that was brought up in a Christian home.
I'm thankful that God blessed me with a job over summer.
I'm thankful that I got to go to Africa this year.
I'm thankful that I get to go home for Christmas.
I'm thankful for the Lund.
I'm thankful that I had a great CU at uni.
I'm thankful that I don't have to worry about my future because God has it planned.
I'm thankful for God's grace.
I'm thankful for God's mercy.
I'm thankful for Jesus.

today

So today, for my work duty, we made 631 biscuits.

Now THAT was a great work duty.

proverbs

OK, so right now I'm meant to be writing an assignment on proverbs right now, but I've been staring at my screen for the past 2 hours or so, getting nowhere fast. And so I decided that I may as well cut my losses and just blog, then at least I'm being semi-productive right?!

This morning I did something crazy. I set my alarm for 5.45am, got up, put on my running shoes and ran. It was dark. It was pretty chilly. But it was awesome. I feel like I have pent up energy here, with no real way to get it out of my system, and so this morning I got rid of some of that energy. It felt so good to just run in the dark, seeing the stillness of the world.

I'm enjoying being back at school now, knowing that I'm here until Christmas (...and on a side note, some people here have starting playing Christmas music already. I'm sorry, but its not December yet, therefore Christmas music is not allowed yet. Just wait a little bit longer please!). The past weekend we had our travel weekend and I ended up going to Salzburg in Austria. It was nice to be away from school. Not in the sense that I was ready for a change of environment, because to be honest, I didn’t want to leave this environment because its become familiar to me now. But it was nice to have independence again, to go to bed when we wanted, have meals at times that we wanted. Choose what we wanted for meals. I didn’t realise how much I've missed that.

Anyway, Salzburg was great. The city is beautifully old. And I can cross off watching the sound of music in Salzburg off my bucket list!! We wandered around the city, did some sightseeing of castles and cathedrals, saw some sound of music places, shopped, went to an Irish pup! It was nice to be in a small group again. Just spend time with a core group for a few days and get to know them more.

This week in lectures we have Rob Whittaker from Capenwray Hall. And I know I say this every time, but I mean it even more this time, because Rob has a NORTHEN ENGLISH accent. And he keeps making references to places in England like Lancaster, and the Lake District, and I'm like 'I know these places!!'. And he uses very northern phrases and word. Mann, its great to listen to him. But not just because of his accent. He is a great lecturer, and I'm getting loads from him. Maybe I'll blog about it another time.

For now though I'll leave it there and get back to the book of proverbs.

fall

I've decided. Autumn is my favourite time of year.

Wait, let me be more specific with that. Autumn in Germany is my favourite time of year. England it kind of sucks, the rain sets in, the leaves get all mushy and squidgy, and the nights are dark.

But in Germany, the trees are beautiful autumn colours. The leaves crunch beneath your feet. And the weather is cold enough to wear a nice winter jacket, but not so cold that you freeze.

I love autumn.

Wanderlust:

beginning

Remember when I blogged a while ago saying my life was just busy. Well, that still remains the same. When I look at my time table of things that are coming up, I almost feel like I’m going to be sick! ...OK, so that’s a huge exaggeration, but no kidding it’s looking like it’s going to be an intense few weeks leading up to Christmas.

I feel a little bit all over the place at the moment. My life so far here has been a bit, erm, bitty! I arrived here back in September, was at school for three week, went away to Switzerland on outreach, came back to school for a week, went away again for a week on outreach, and now here I am, back at school for a mere 4 days before I go away again for a travel weekend. So yeah, it’s been bitty. I’m ready to just be here. In one place. For longer than 3 weeks at a time.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I’m not settled here, because I am. I have become familiar with this place; I refer to it as home when I’m not here, and I’m getting more comfortable.

Being on outreach two times and being part of a smaller group made me realise that I haven’t yet got to the point here where I’m fully myself. When I was away, I got to know the people I was with so much better, and the ‘real Steph’ came out. I was stupid, I got really giddy at times, I said daft stuff. It’s not that I’m being fake while I’m at school or anything, but when you are around like 103 other people, it takes a while to get to know people enough to truly be yourself around them.

I appreciated the time away with a smaller group to just be me. And to get to know other people well too. We got into some great chat about general life at the Bode, and it was so great to be in an environment where I could just be open with them, and share things that I’m struggling with. And it was so encouraging to here that other people are struggling with the exact same things as me.

I almost feel as though my time here is just beginning now, 7 weeks in. I’m starting to appreciate things here more. I’m starting to be more diligent with my personal quiet times. I’m starting to get to know people a little bit more. I’m starting to be myself more.

More importantly though, I’m starting to fall in love with God again.