A letter to myself

This week something kind of weird happened to me. I've been half expecting it for a while now, I knew it should be coming the end of this month, but it arrived earlier than I expected, and kind of took me by surprise. 'What is this weird thing' I hear you asking!? Well, this week I received a letter off the March 2012 me. Yeah, weird.

OK, so a a year ago I was finishing off at bible school and getting ready to come home. Our principle gave us the option of writing a letter to ourselves which the school would then post to us a year later. And so I did. I wrote this 6 page letter to myself which this week I got to read as I sat in a coffee shop in town.

As I read I laughed out loud, I cried a little, and laughed some more (....the 2012 me was a pretty funny lass I'm not going to lie!!). Most of all though, I seriously encouraged myself. I read all the things that I'd written to myself, things that the 2012 me didn't want to forget, things that I knew I would need reminding of. And it was so awesome. There was so much in there that I needed to read.

God is so good, he knew exactly what the 2013 me would need to hear, and so he'd put it all on the heart of the 2012 me to write down. Literally everything that I'm struggling with right now, the 2012 Steph covered. I was reminded of all the things that I learnt during my time at Bodenseehof; verses that had challenged and encouraged me during those 6 months, lessons that God had taught me, principles that were based on His truth that he placed on my heart. His planning never ceases to amaze me.

I got thinking to all that's gone on the year that I've been back home. Firstly  I cant really believe that its been a whole year already...where does time actually go!?! But yeah, I thought back to what He has done for me the past year, how He has provided for me. He reminded me through this letter that He is my provider, and he wont ever stop being my provider.

I'd also put in this letter 'the best equation ever' ...

CHRIST + NOTHING = EVERYTHING.

I think we are often so quick to think that all we need in X, Y, or Z in our lives to be satisfied, or to be that little bit happier. But we are so wrong to think this. He is all we need. In Him, and only Him, can we find true satisfaction. 

This letter couldn't have come at a better time, and couldn't have contained anything more that I needed to be reminded of.

Thank you Jesus. 

blank page

Home.
It's funny just how fast you settle back home. I woke up this morning and just smiled as I saw my room, as I lay on my bed; my incredibly comfortable bed! It's good to be back.

I know I've been a total failure at blogging recently, and part of me regrets that, but a bigger part of me doesn't because I'm glad I used that time in a more valuable way with my Bode friends. Pretty much all of them I wont see again in the foreseeable future, me being all the way in England, and them all the way in North America which kind of sucks. But to look on the bright side, it gives me something to save up for right?! Road trip adventure around North America?!...yes please!

The past few weeks have been almost going at high speed, they quite literally just flew by. God was gracious and gave us some amazing weather to enjoy our last weeks together in, so my volleyball skills improved (...kind of) as we all played together outside like everyday. I already miss the community of the Bode, with there always being someone to go and hang out with; having your friends so close all the time. It's weird not being there anymore, and constantly being around all those people who you get so close to. And saying good bye to all those people was really hard. That weekend when people all left was one of the longest and most emotional weekend ever. I think I dehydrated myself from all of my tears haha!

Anyways, thanks goodness for post men, emails, facebook, and skype huh!?

I've always had something ahead of me that I know is next in my life. I finished school and knew I had 2 years of A Levels. I finished my A Levels and knew I was going to university for 3 years. I finished university and knew I have 6 months of Bible School to look forward to. And now I've finished Bible School, and I'm in a position I've never been in before. I have nothing planned ahead of me. I just have this blank page to look at with no solid plans written on it.

Half of me is nervous. I know I have to do something, I mean both in terms of finances and also if I don't find something to do I'm going to get very bored very quickly!! I just don't know the next step I'm going to take yet. I'm almost playing the waiting game.

But another part of my is excited. I'm looking forward to what God has planned for me. For how He is going to use me. In the mean time I'm learning dependence on Him. And I'm learning more about His sufficiency. While I wait for Him to make clear for me where He wants me next I trust that He will provide for my needs. It's almost a forced learning, but maybe that's what I need.

So yeah, I'm back home from Bode, and its bittersweet.

too fast

Depending on how you look at it I have:

1week,
or 7 days,
or 168 hours,
or 10, 080 minutes,
or 604, 800 seconds,

left at Bodenseehof.
What the heck!?

volleyball

Spring is defiantly in the air. The sky is blue, the sun is shining, the air is fresh, the shorts are back out, and the volleyball net is back up. It’s been a good day.

Nice weather really does make you feel good. There was just a feel good vibe around the school today, it was great. I went out for lunch with my old room mates and the girls who were in the room next door to us. It was great to get out, eat food, and laugh together. When we got back to school, I headed out to the decking and read my book in the sun, and then played volleyball for like 2 hours.

It was almost like déjà-vu from the first week of school, all of us out back of the school playing volleyball in the sun. But now we all know each other’s names, we are all comfortable around each other, and it’s not awkward!

I appreciate all the people that are here, and I’m starting to realise how much I’m going to miss the community we have here. I’m going to miss living with my friends, seeing them every morning at breakfast, spending each afternoon hanging out with them...I’m going to miss being able to wander around the building knowing that there will be someone somewhere who I can go and hang out with.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m so so excited to go and see my friends from home (like, seriously excited) but at the same time, I know when I’m home I’m a long way from most of them, and I won’t be able to spontaneously go and meet them as easily as I can here.

4 weeks to go....4 WEEKS!
Man alive.

With Him

You know those new years resolutions that you make that after 2-3 weeks have already gone down the drain?! Well for me, blogging was one of those. I told myself I would try to blog like 2 times a week this year....FAIL! Never mind.

The past 6 days I've been on outreach with my English Outreach team. We went to the same place as last time, with some of the same kids, but this time was so so much better in loads of ways.

The last time we went to this camp my attitude was all wrong. It was still early on in the school year, I had already spent a week away on another English Camp in Switzerland, and I just didn't want to go away again. I wanted to stay at school with my friend. And so during the camp, I was there in body, but not really there in spirit. I put little effort in, and therefore got little out of it.

This time I was excited to go. I was ready to get out there with my outreach team and tell these kids about Jesus. I was more organised, I was more ready, and I tried to be more available.

God used the 6 days to remind me that without Him we are nothing. Nothing that we do...the drama's we perform, the worship songs we play, the nights that we organise, the questions that we try to answer...none of them will ever be enough unless we have God in them too. We are useless without Him. We can organise nights to show children who Jesus is, and give devotionals explaining the gospel until the cows come home, but unless God is apart of our plans, and we are committing all we do into His hands we won't get very far.
We are so inadequate to do His work with out Him.

But when we realise this, and commit our plan to God, then we can see mighty things happen. We can see Him opening the eyes and hearts of children. We can see His Spirit move within a place. With Him we can do all things.

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in Him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing"

- John 15:5

Sun 5th Feb :)

You know those days that are just awesome. For me, yesterday was one of them. Why?

1. The weather. It was a b-e-a-u-tiful day; it was freezing cold, but the sky was blue and the sun was shining.

2. Church. The sermon was pure gospel amazing-ness.

3. Photos. We got our yearbook photos taken which was great fun, and they are all looking amazing. The guys are doing a great job with them. I'm rather excited to see the end result.

4. The afternoon. I spent my afternoon with my Bode peeps playing ice hockey on a frozen lake. Ohhh yeahhh.

5. The sunset. A few of us walked back to the lake to watch the sun go down. We took photos, laughed, and watched the big pink sun set behind the mountains of Switzerland.

6. Skype. The highlight of the day, month, and year so far for me...skyping with my best friend with her now FIANCE (!!!) SHE IS GETTING MARRIED AND I AM SO SO SO EXCITED AND UNBELIEVEBLY HAPPY FOR HER.

So yeah, it was simply a great day.

in a nutshell

So I realise I've been back at school for like 3 weeks now, and I've posted nothing on here which informs you of what I've actually been up to. Well, for those of you who were wondering, this is what the past 3 weeks here has looked for me in a nutshell...

- New room, new room mates
- New duty: dinner dishes (...my fave duty by far, we're an efficient team!!)
- Numerous runs around the German countryside (we'll see how long this lasts!)
- Lectures on John
- New seat for lectures - Party Paradise Desk, THE best desk in the lecture hall this time!
- Walks to the lake
- Flea market visit
- Crossing planning
- Paper on a Christian Classic
- Paper on the poetic books
- Games of Settlers
- Saunas
- Movie making social night
- Kgroup 80s v nerds bowling
- Journal making
- Lectues on Acts
- Lectures on minor prophets
- Letter writing
- Sharing my Bible Study Project in front of the whole school (!!!)
- Getting a cold
- Recovering from a cold
- Coffee in town with cool people
- School film night of Cool Runnings... "Jamaica, we have a bobsled team..."

And there you go; my life here so far second term. Next time I'll try not to leave it so long in blogging properly, it was hard to remember all that!

Turbulence

After a ridicules 12 hour journey I’m finally back to the Bode. OK, so my journey here was quite epic, I feel the need to share it haha!

So myself and Erin travelled back together. Erin is another girl from school who was in London the few days before Bode started, so she decided to come up north so see me and travel back together which was really nice.

We got the airport in plenty of time, but the website I booked my tickets through this time were totally crap and basically the flight ended up way more expensive than they should have been. Anyways, we sorted that out, got all checked in and boarded the plane. We get the majority of the way, I’ve read about 30 odd psalms trying to catch up on the bible reading that I seem to have got way behind on during the Christmas holls, and suddenly we get some turbulence.

OK, so a little bit of turbulence I can handle. But I have never experience turbulence like there was on this flight. For what seemed like forever the place was bouncing around all over the place. I tried to put my bible back into my bag and even that turned into a bit of a challenge because of the turbulence. Seriously, it felt as though we were on a rollercoaster. I remember turning to look at the air hostess (...do you call male air hostesses that?! Or are they male hosts?! ...anyways...) sat at the back of the plane behind us and he was sat on this like crate this sorting out the rubbish bags and he literally nearly fell of this stool, he laughed, and then a door swung open and pretty much hit him in the face. Because he was laughing at the situation my nerves kind of calmed, but I really hope I never have a flight where it’s that bad again! The captain then came on the speakers, sounding rather stressed I might add, and said we were going to start the descent into Zurich, and I was like THANK GOODNESS!!

We do safely get our feet onto solid ground, find our bags, and head to the train station. We had around 40 minutes until our train left so we sat and grabbed a drink and chocolate bar. 10 minutes before our train came we head down onto the platforms. It’s getting minutes before our train should arrive and I’m looking around and see this number 4 on our platform! “Wait, we are on platform 4, we need to be on platform 1!” I look over at platform 1 and there is a train sitting there! So we start heading over to the right platform, are going down the escalator and Erin says, “Wouldn’t it be funny if that train that’s leaving is ours!” It was. And it actually wasn’t that funny. Luckily there was another train going in an hour, so we wait for that one on the right platform and finally we are on the move again, one step closer in getting to Friedrichshafen.

We get off at Konstanz, were we are due to catch a ferry across the lake. OK, so we are each carrying a significant amount of luggage with us, and we have 3 minutes to get to the ferry, which out train ticket said would take a 6 minute walk. We are running towards the harbour, scanning the boats to see where ours is. More than 3 minutes goes by and we don’t find it. Ferry = missed. One hour later again we get the next one. And FINALLY we reach our second home. After a 20 minute walk to our hostel, we get changed and head out for some much needed pizza.

It was quite the journey, but totally worth it. I’m now back at school, in my bottom bunk (...ooohhhhh yeahhh) and it’s great to see everyone again and catch up. I’ve missed these guys so much over the holidays.

Let term two commence....

3 months gone?!! what?!

(Written 14:40, Sun 18^th Dec)

I’m currently sat at Aran, the cool coffee shop in Friedrichshafen that we go to. Not going to lie, my bum is starting to get a tad numb! I’ve been sat at this seat for, let me work this out, 4 hours now ...and I have about another 2 hours until my ferry leaves to take me to the airport. So far I have completed all but one level of majong tiles, drank some tea, eaten a Panini, watched inception (...which is an awesome film by the way; is he left in reality or a dream?!! Oh my gosh, my mind was working over load when I was watching it!). And I’m pretty sure the staff have noticed that I am STILL here 4 hours after arriving, still sat at my laptop haha! In fact, I think I’ve even sat through some shift changes; the girl that walked past wasn’t on shift when I first got here! OK, enough about the length of time I’ve sat here, let’s move on...

Bodenseehof tem one is officially over. I can’t quite get my brain around this, where the heck did three months go?! I honestly can’t comprehend it. It feels weird that I’m not going to be at school for the next 3 weeks, but I’ll be at home again. I’m glad for the break to be honest. My brain has almost reached saturation point, and would probably benefit from some time just to digest more what I’ve been listening to in lectures.

Lots of us have been reflecting back on our time here so far, asking each other about our highlights. So I thought I’d share a few of mine!

One thing that everyone seems to say is how awesome the people are. We really are a little community, and I appreciate the friendships that I have here. For me it took quite a while to get settled with people; to get past the ‘surface’ friendships that you have initially with people and reach the more meaningful friendships where you feel open to share exactly where you are with things, what your struggling with etc. And that’s a big reason why I’m so excited for next term. This term, half the time was getting past that surface friendship with people. But once we get back after Christmas break, I won’t have to spend weeks getting to know people from scratch, but I’ll be able to get to know them more.

At the top of the swiss alps :)

English camp for me was another highlight. For me the first one stands out more. It was a smaller camp so I got to know each of the kids and also our team of 6 people that went. There were so many awesome moments during the camp; hiking up to the top of a mountain to see a 360 degree view of alps surrounding us; praying with some of the girls who as the start of the week were pretty quiet when it came to talking a out Christianity, but then by the end were praying aloud to the rest of the group; eating my first ever smore. It was just a great week.

I have also loved all of the social events that the school has put on, especially all of those where music was involved. We have some seriously talented people here musically, and I could sit and listen to them perform for hours.



When the Bode took over the 10k!



Doing the 10k...hard work but SO MUCH FUN!

Having a week where I didn’t go on the internet, sent no emails, didn’t go on facebook, listened to no music from my ipod was also great. When the media fast was going on the school was so much more sociable, you could seriously notice the difference. There was more time to just sit and spend time with God one on one. Go for a walk with no music to fill your head, but just quietness for you to talk to Him.

Our outreach events have been great too. It’s awesome seeing the school work together to put on events like The Crossing and Advent International. And as scary as it is afterward to go and talk to random people who have come, some of which know little English, it is kind of fun. Especially now when we recognise some faces from previous events.

Shopping at the Christmas market



Ohh, and seeing shooting stars! I must have seen about 5-6 since I’ve been here, which I think is quite a lot!

The Christmas market at Stuttgart was so much fun too, wandering around all the cute little stalls and getting in the Christmassy mood.

There have been SO MANY great lectures. Ones that particularly stand out have been the ones by Peter in the series ‘walk the talk’, the life of Abraham by Rob Whittiker, and Jill Brisco giving us some ‘life lessons’. I’m excited to have time over Christmas to maybe look through some of my notes; read back about what they said.

Mann, when I think about it my list could go on and on and on and on and on...

Can you tell why I’m excited for next term?!!

four instruments

So I'm sat here doing a little bit my next paper listening to...wait for it...a cello, a piano accordion, a xylophone, and a banjo type guitar playing the most awesome Christmas song. I cant help but smile when they start playing. Possibly the best background music ever! ...Though I've written nothing since they started because I'm transfixed listening to them!

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.

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.

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.

14 mins

OK, so the time here is 07:08.I got up early to finish my Old Testament paper before I leave again for English camp. I swear I'm not trying not leave these things until the last minute, I did actually have this paper finished on Thursday, but them realised that I'd missed out like half of the big things that I should have put in it.

Writing this paper to begin with was such a chore; I felt like I was getting nowhere with it. I didn’t know how to start, what to put in the middle, or what conclusion I should put! And every time I sat down to do it, something for more exciting was happening somewhere else. After being away the whole week before, I already felt like I'd missed out on a whole lot. Not necessarily certain things that happened, just more spending time with people. With it being still early on in school, friendships and stuff are still forming. And I honestly felt as though I was missing out on a key time of school. I felt lost for a long time when we came back, I was out of the school routine. And people seemed a lot closer than when I left. Add in a cold, tiredness, and a lot of work to catch up on, and the result was quite a hard first half of the week.

But after I got over my cold, slept up, and sat down with my paper, I suddenly noticed all this things I had missed. It was like a light bulb went off on top of my head. And I couldn’t stop writing. Everything made sense. Normally reading things in the Old Testament just confuses my brain a little bit. But when I got into this paper, I just got it. And I totally could see how it all points towards Jesus in the New Testament.

Anyway, so this week I’m off again to English Camp. Part of me is excited to be going but another part of me just wants to stay here because I still feel like I’ve just got back. But I’m sure it will be an awesome time. Anyway, its not 07:22 and I need to get ready for breakfast and finish packing ... OK, I need to start getting more organised. Last minute packing is never good.

Credo

Tiredness has set in at the Bode. Everyone is walking around looking like they just want to go and have a nap. I’m feeling that too. My eyes are heavy, my brain is tired, and I feel like a cold is setting in. Great.

As I come to write this post, I’m sat here wondering where to start. I feel as though I have so much I want to out on here, but when I think back everything about the last week is just one big blur; the days have all merged into one big one.

I spent the last week in Switzerland doing an English Camp with 20 kids (...well, I say kids. They were between like 13-17, so more teenagers than kids I guess) who wanted to improve their English. There were 6 of us from school went to help out. I loved the week, and there were so many highlights of my time there, but after a few days of being there, all of us missed the Bode. I valued my time in Switzerland, but couldn’t help feeling I was missing things back at school. I don’t think any of us expected to miss school as much as we did. The morning we set of home (yep, I have been referring to the school as home now) we were all so giddy at the thought of getting back into Germany.

...But what were the highlights Steph?! You said there were highlights before you started getting all soppy about missing school!?

OK, so just general camp life was fun. Yeah, it was exhausting, but we had so many laughs with the kids. And though the camp did feel quite long because it was a full week, it gave us more chance to get to know the kids there. We got pretty close to some of them, and it was to encouraging seeing them by the end of the week asking more questions about the bible talks, and praying for each other in small groups. And because it was a small camp, only a small group of us went to help out. Spending a whole week with just 5 other people from Bode was class; we all got to know each other so well. On the journey there none of us really knew each other. We were asking questions like ‘so, Natalie, do you have any brothers and sisters?!’. But on the way home, we were chatting away like friends do, laughing away, and generally being giddy.

What else happened?! ...A farmer near the place near where we were staying shot at us. Yep, you did read that right. Well, he maybe didn’t shoot directly at us, but he sure did shoot his gun with the intention to tell us to get of his land. Us guys from school had a free afternoon one day, we had a bit of cabin fever from being inside all day, it was raining, and so what else was there to do but put on bin bags, and slide down some hills. SO much fun. Got a few bruises and some very muddy clothes, but totally worth it.

We also went on a sweet hike up a mountain. And the view, not joke, was AMAZING. You could just see the Alps for miles and miles. We sat and had lunch at the top, and an eagle was flying around, soaring through the air. It was quite a sight; it was flying effortlessly though the sky. Watching it fly I couldn’t help but remember the passages in the bible where God says he will lift us up on wings like eagles. How he does not grow tired or weary. He is strong and powerful. Standing at the top of a mountain, looking out at the greatness of His creation just reminded and confirmed to me how amazing He is. He made the mountains just though speaking words. He spoke and they appeared. I mean, can you get more powerful than that?!

Honestly, I’m struggling to think of other things that we did. We played a lot of games, did general camp things. I had my first real smore at a campfire taught by North Americans and they were pretty darn good.

Anyway, I’m back at the Bode; for now anyway. Next week I’m off again with the whole of the English outreach team to lead a camp somewhere in Germany. So this week on my agenda is catching up from all the I missed from last week, doing this week’s work, writing the assignment that’s due while I’m away, and planning some English lessons for the camp. Busy?! Yes. But its all good.

                                                                                                                                                            

didnt think so

Can it get much better than waking up and seeing this out of your window?!

Or going for a walk and finding this?!

Or hiking up a mountain and seeing this?!

No. I didnt think so.

They weren't kidding

Right at the start of bible school they told us that the first two weeks would drag, and then once we reached the third week, time would just fly. They weren’t kidding. And so I come to almost the end of my third week at Bode. Silly as it sound but I’m already dreading leaving this place in March; the final day here is going to suck, big style.

This week has been slightly more chilled. Now that people are settling into life here, more people are starting to just hang around at the school during afternoons, rather than head out places. And this week I feel I’ve chilled a lot. And it came to a point yesterday where I just needed to get out of the school, so four of us went out for coffee so my roommates birthday. We came across the cutest little cafe (...which we are tempted to keep on the down low!). It was awesome just to sit with these girls and just chat, there are some great people here and I love getting to know them. Because there are so many of us it’s almost hard to really get to know people. But then you head out with a small group and you can just chat and chat.

Anyway, so what has happened since I was last on here?! Oh my gosh, where to start...

We had a school trip last Saturday to Switzerland where we hiked up the Alps. It was such a beautiful day for it, and the view from the top was immense. Though reaching the point for the amazing view was hard work.

K-groups have started. Basically, the school is split into smaller groups of 12-14 people and we meet each Monday, chill out and share together. I got voted as one of our group leaders, not entirely sure how I feel about this yet. Part of me would just like to turn up rather than organise, but I guess God has other plans! And I’m also not too sure what my role entitles, time will tell!

Friday night was international night. We had a German style meal with all the staff dressed up in traditional German attire. The dining hall was all decorated and after that each country took to the stage to represent themselves. And yes, the rumour is true; I did in face rap about England! Maybe one day I’ll put my lyrics on here. Maybe.

Sunday I realised how unfit I have become and my need to stop eating the amazing chocolate they have here as I ran in a 10k race. My time wasn’t too bad, I got what I would aim for, but it was pretty hard going running the race, and 3 days post run I could still feel my legs. Not good. I need to find the motivation to run here to avoid serious weight gain.

We have also been put into our outreach teams. I think I actually put about that in my last post. Since them we have had a couple of meetings and stuff. I’ve gone from being totally overwhelmed about the amount of stuff we are doing, to really relaxed and excited, and back again. I leave with 4 other students and Justin, the guy who is staff and heads up the English team, on Saturday. I am pretty excited but it feels surreal that I’m going. I worked out than in the next 35 days I’ll only be at the school for 18 because in 2 weeks I’m heading out on another English camp in Germany. Part of me is gutted that I’ll miss loads of stuff that goes on at the school. But another part of me is excited that we get opportunities that other students won’t be getting. I’m torn.

Also while I’m away I’ll be missing the lectures by a guy called Ken (not sure of his last name!). And he is from England. Gutted. But he knew I wasn’t going to be around, so invited me and another girl out for coffee and cake today. It was really cool to chat with him. And it made me realise I want to get to know some more of the staff here.

What else can I tell you...hmmm?! I actually think I’ll just leave it there for now, lectures are starting again soon.

busy

I have little time to blog properly right now, but know that time is starting to fly by here. Life is so busy I have little time to stop and think sometimes.
We got assigned to our outreach teams this week and I got my 1st choice which I was so chuffed about. I'm on the English Team, so we will basically go to like a teen camp where the kids are learning English, and we help them learn the language whilst telling them the gospel, pretty cool huh?!
And I literally just found out about an hour ago that I'm one of the I think 5-6 people going to a camp in Switzerland in...wait for it...7 days time! And we are away for a whole week leading this camp.
My life just got a whole lot busier!

camp feeling

So it turns out finding time to blog is kind of hard. And each time I come to write something I don’t know where to start, so much happens every day here.

I’ve been here just over a week. It feels like I’ve been here about 5. And I don’t mean that in a bad way, time by no means has dragged, but I’m feeling settled, I’m getting a routine, and I’m getting to know the people here. But it’s still got that camp feeling to it a little bit, like I’ll be going home in a few days. But in reality those few days are actually a few months. That said I’m glad they are months as opposed to days, I love it here.

I’m currently sat in my room typing this. As I look out my window onto the back of the school I can see people playing football, I can see people playing volleyball, and I can hear a community. I’ve found it amazing how a group of over 100 people can come together with a mutual love for Jesus and just instantly get on. You don’t get that with other groups of people. We have a developing little community here, and I get the sense that if you give us a few more weeks and we will have some great friendships developing between people.

Our timetable seems slightly intense. We have 3 lectures in the morning, and then 2 in the evening after supper. There are some days which have exceptions, for example on Monday mornings we have a small group instead of one of the lectures, and Friday night is always free. But generally that’s what happens. We have quite a few papers to get written and handed in. I’ve already done 3 this week; my testimony, a purpose paper (basically explaining how it came to be that I am here what I want to get out of this next 6 months) and also a spiritual life survey, which asked us a few questions on our relationship with God at the moment, what we are struggling with etc etc. The last one Peter said we could hand in anonymously, and he wanted us to be brutally honest. So I was. It was actually really challenging to write, being truly honest with myself and then typing it out for someone to read.

Alongside the lectures we have 4 books to read and write reports on during the terms, learn the books of the bible in order, learn two memory verses a week, do a bible study project, read the whole Old Testament and write papers on different sections of the Old Testament once we have read them...I know right, it’s a good job we have a decent amount of free time.

I get the feeling that Bible School is a lot like other things, you get out of it what you put in. I read a couple of chapters of one of assigned books today after church. It talks about how you don’t just become a Christian and then immediately have a great relationship with God. And reading you bible all the time and studying it hard can’t create that either. Tozer in his book puts it like this, ‘The modern scientist has lost God amid the wonders of His world; we Christians are in read danger of losing God amid His Word’.

Moses knew God, but he prayed in Exodus 33:13 ‘Now therefore I pray, it I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight’. David wrote many psalms that sign of how he seeks to know the Lord more and more, and psalms of how he rejoices God speaks to him and reminds him of His awesomeness. Paul writes in Philippians 3:10 ‘...that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection’.

There is so much going on here, so many things to do, people to talk to, places to visit...but I don’t want to be too distracted from the real reason I’m here. I don’t want to become complacent with where I am, but continue to seek Him.

it sometimes sucks to be english

Life at the Bode is good; slightly overwhelming at times, but good! I’ve decided to write these posts in my room and then just copy them onto here when I get chance to go onto the internet, which I think is going to be a bit of a rarity. In a way I think it will be kind of good not to be on my computer much, because it means I’m spending more time with other people, chilling out and getting to know them. And boy are there a lot of people to get to know.

So this year at Bode there are 104 of us ...104! It’s pretty much as full as it can be. Now, remembering names is not one of my strong points; literally, I’m useless and end up feeling really rude when I ask someone’s name, knowing that I spent the previous dinner time with them, or went for a walk with them. So learning 104 names is going to take me some time. Good job I have 6 months with these people.

I’m rooming with 2 Canadian’s and an American, so I think we are one of the most international rooms. And if you maths is pretty good you’ll realise that I’m in a room of 4...phew! There are a couple of rooms that have 10 people in, and I’m pretty glad I’m not in one of those. I think that would just be a little too much for me right away. We switch rooms after Christmas, so potentially I could be in a 10 room after then, but I’ll be more used to sharing a room by then so I might hack it better.  

There are only 6-7 countries represented here I think, I was kind of expecting more. And I’m the only British girl. OK, so typical conversation with someone I’ve just met...

‘Hi, I’m so and so, and I’m from Canada’
‘Oh hi, nice to meet you, I’m Steph and I’m from England’
‘Woahhh, you’re from England!? That’s cool, keep taking so we can hear you accent’.

It’s so funny. And they ask if I think they have an accent?! I’m like ‘yeah, OF COURSE you have an accent, what are you on about?!! You sound North American’. Also, I’m really scared that I’m going to come home with a North American twang to my accent. I miss the English accent, thank goodness for skype so I can get my English fix!

On another  kind of English note ...OK, so there is an international night coming up and basically each country has to do a little (well not so little in my opinion!!) like skit/sketch/whatever you want thing of something that represents their country. Now, if you’re a Canadian there are like 50 odd people to work together with ideas to pull off a really funny sketch. And if you’re American there are I think like 20-30 people to come up with something and share the 15 minutes (!!!) of stage. Even if you’re German there are like 6-7 of you again to come up and share the joy of representing your country to the rest of the school. But it sucks to be you if you’re English. Not only do you have to come up with something on your own to do, but then you have to actually go through with that idea on your own. Fair?! I think not! What the heck am I going to do?! Seriously, please help me think of something because I have not a clue how I’ll fill 15 minutes with Englishness!!

Anyway, I don’t want to bore you with every little detail about what I’ve done so far, so I’ll give you some highlights briefly. Yesterday we just had some intro lectures, filled in some forms for visas etc etc. In the afternoon there were different options of what to do; football, volleyball, I opted to go into town on the bus and get an ice cream though! Last night was like an open testimony night, there was just a microphone at the front and if people felt called to share their testimony briefly they could (We have the same again tonight). Today we had our first ‘church’ service. I think it’s just pretty much us students that go, with the odd visitors from the local town. It was good to listen to a sermon, and it made me realise how excited I am to start actual lectures here. Bring on tomorrow.