Merry Christmas Everyone

It's the 25th December 2014. Here I am sitting in my bed reflecting on the day that has been Christmas day. This year, I feel, has been the best Christmas as an 'adult' should we say. It started by waking up at 10.30am and going downstairs to make myself and my dad some breakfast (scrambled eggs and toast) because my mum reminded me that my dad likes eggs the same way as I do. As everyone else woke up, we did the usual routine to be happy in the morning (I had a cuppa), then we went into the front room to open our presents. Needless to say, everyone was very happy with what they got. We then visited my grandparents house which has become a tradition in the family. We got to see our family who live in England which was lovely as they have been over visiting. My brother and I went to Milisle to let me have a go in his new car which was amazing. We then came home and I talked to my boyfriend on Skype which is always lovely and I miss him a lot. My grandma then came round and had dinner with us which was great as its the first time I've properly seen her since I've been back. Then my uncle and Auntie came round and we had a laugh with them then they went home and the rest of us retired for the night.
The thing that has stood out to me today is that no one argued or got mardy with each other. This has completely made my day and I've been happy the whole way through it. I only have my family to thank for this and I can definitely say this has been my best 'adult' Christmas.

Happy holidays, Char xx

New Year

I have no new years resolutions, is that bad? I feel like I make resolutions and don't keep them then feel guilty because I haven't kept them. It seems pointless to change anything when I'm happy how things are. Yes, I could pick up some new habits such as going to the gym or eating healthier but, I'll do that when I feel like it not just because it's a new year. I prefer to take the new year opportunity to look back on the previous year and look at what was good and what was not so good. 

This time last year I was not in a good place. Like really you could probably say boo to me and I'd cry! Many, many things had happened in December which amounted to me feeling like rubbish I couldn't begin to list them but January was horrible, if you look back on this blog you'll see that I managed to pull all my ribs on my right side by coughing so much because I was basically sick for the whole of December and January. Although January was crap, I moved in with the most amazing and supportive family I could have and I cannot thank them enough for taking me in and caring for me for a whole 5 months. 

University plans were also under way during the first few months of the year and I didn't expect to be living in Sheffield. When I found out I wasn't going to Jordanstown I was devastated and it put a lot more pressure on me to get into Sheffield, which I did and I'm very happy there. 

During 2013 my little (2nd) cousin came into the world. He's so beautiful and his smile would melt your heart! I also got to see my family in London a fair bit this year and that has been a serious highlight because I love them so much and my cousin Yasmin is like a sister to me, it has been amazing to see how much the kids have grown within such a short space of time! 

The next day I finished my gap year which was far too much crying in one day! I was happy and sad at the same time. During my gap year I made so many life long friends who I laughed and cried with and who know me inside and out and I feel so blessed to have them in my life. It was the perfect end to the gap year and I don't regret a thing about it! 

Summer was all a bit of a blur because I was ultimately busy the whole time. I got my first paid job, went to London, met up with loads of my friends, sunbathed (got burned basically), finished paper work for university and finally said goodbye to loads of people which wasn't fun. Have to say summer 2013 was probably the best one yet! 

Then came September when I left for Sheffield. Having been there for the past 3ish months it has been great! I've already explained all this in my previous blog but yes, many friends, half decent grades, I'm pretty darn happy. Looking into a Taekwondo club to join in the new year if I'm not too busy with placement! 

So now we're in 2014, I'm really hoping for a better start to the year, in fact it's already been better. I have better people in my life now who don't put me down over nothing, I've got people who understand me and have a genuine interest in who I am. 2014 is going to be so much better than 2013 and I cannot wait to see what it brings! 

UPDATE!

Well hello there!

I haven't written on here in ages... oops. I needed a break from everything, to digest what happened last year and of course to settle into uni. That's right, I left my beautiful homeland of Northern Ireland and moved to Sheffield. It's wonderful here and I've met so many beautiful, banterful people. 

My time here hasn't been the easiest so far to say the least. The day my mum left was awful, truly just horrible. I have never cried so much over leaving someone, mum and I were weeping messes in the train station but only 2 more weeks and I'll get to see my parents again and all the people I love at home. YAY! My drink also got spiked the other night, not a great experience as I ended up in hospital the next day but hey ho, learned the hard way didn't I? I spent the night feeling awful and very, very home sick. I cried like a baby and just needed to be hugged by someone close, my flat mates and one of the girls on my course took very good care of me, I've very grateful to have them. It hasn't been easy but, no one ever said it would be. 

The 3 weeks I have spent here though, have had some amazing benefits to me, it hasn't all been hard! The people here are just amazing, very welcoming and kind. I've made so many friends that I would never have met if I didn't move. I'm starting to realise that I did the right thing in taking a gap year and picking Youth and Community Work as I'm really enjoying my course, especially the aspects I thought I wouldn't enjoy. Assignments and assessments are a bit scary but, that comes with the university experience. 

I feel like I'm in the right place to be discovering what comes next. I'm finding out what I really value and want in life, sound really old, but reflecting on my time here so far, I think I've grown a wee bit, taken more independence, responsibility and particularly, grown up a fair bit. Having to take care of yourself when you feel ill is really hard if you haven't done it before! Cooking, every day, doing your own washing and ironing, cleaning dishes, changing bedsheets, cleaning your room and adding a personal touch. It's hard but I've got through it and I'm proud of myself. I've got the drinking out of my system now, I'll go out when my friends are going out but to be honest, I want to remember my nights out. I want to do well in my degree and become a great youth worker - nothing is going to stop me from doing that now, I've got my game face on. Prepare yourselves.

Happy Ever After (Part 1)

My gap year is officially over! I graduated on the 7th July with the most amazing bunch of people I could have ever met. It was a truly beautiful day, but more on that later. The last 2 weeks of my gap year consisted of Summer Madness '13 in Glenarm, Northern Ireland and in Sheffield, England (where graduation happened). 

Summer Madness is a festival held over the space of 5 days, 4 nights. We were there for 9 days. It is a Christian festival where there is worship held in a huge tent called the 'big top' every morning and evening, there are also cafes situated across the grounds where speakers may come in or mostly acoustic musicians come in and play, there is also a place called info point where there are also exhibitions and books being sold. This is where people show their stuff like Belfast Bible College, blood donation people etc, then there are 2 seminar tents where speakers do, well... seminars. It's a whole bunch of fun and I think there was about 2,000 people there, I'm not sure so don't hold me to it! Loads of people committed their life to God while they were there which was amazing, it brings me joy that people are still committing their lives to God and fingers crossed they get the support they need to continue their journey. 

The first four days of SM13 was setting up, a lot of hard work. I have to say we had a great team of leaders who gave us direction very well and were always happy to give you more jobs to do, but hey, that's what we were there for. We also had a great team of volunteers who worked hard (most of the time) and were also great banter to be around. God was always in the conversation and it's really awesome to be around so many people who want to talk about Jesus, discuss what He did in His ministry, ask the tough questions and also support and pray for each other. We had a great morning away in Ballymena swimming pool, it was so much fun to just spend time with the team and have some silly fun. Then came the festival and the campers. Worship in the big top was amazing, totally got lost in it and connected with God in such a great way that I hadn't been able to outside of my home church and Romania. The speakers were so engaging, don't know how long they spoke for because they kept me interested and challenged me! I also received prayer which was really great, God spoke into my life through the prayer ministry team so I was well happy with that. I was sad to be leaving the team at SM13 but it was a really great experience and I will certainly be back. 

When God does such an intense amount of work in you during a period of 9 days, it's hard to slack in your faith. I've realised that I have a lot of changes to make to my life and God gets that I'm not perfect but who's to say I can't aim to do the best I can for God? God gets me, He gets that I'm not perfect and knows I'll fail a lot of times before I can change my ways. God is good, in fact He's great. 

Our God, is a great big God (clap, clap)! 

To be continued...  

MVI Youth Works - My 7 months

It's that time. Good-byes happen, the turning of the next page is almost complete. 

So much has happened in the past 7 months and I cannot possibly begin to imagine it any different from what it has been. A lot of change has happened with MVI and I'm glad Phil and I got to see the re-branding of what was Fringe Youth Works. Right in the centre is God. The solid foundation of what happens in each step they take, it's so encouraging to be around people who believe God has a divine plan for everyone, have a passion for the young people in Monkstown and to see His kingdom there. God is good and I will pray for MVI Youth Works, that God will continue to provide everything they need, especially volunteers who have a calling to the area. 

Our work was changing and developing right through till the end. We started off solely doing youth work but then expanded into doing work with children from Hollybank Primary School which aims to build meaningful relationships from a younger age and gain their trust, that we have their best interests at heart. I think this is a fantastic way to engage fully in the community, starting with the young, as they are the area's future. It's been great to be silly with the primary school kids and I've built some great relationships and had fantastic conversations about God and life in general. It's a privilege to be able to bring even a little part of Jesus into their lives because now they know at least a little part of God's love. I've really enjoyed working with the secondary school young people as well, the conversations have been silly and they've been serious. I've learned a lot from them, what is normal and how much they need Jesus in their lives, I wish I could have brought more of Jesus to them. I know faith is actions, not just words but part of me now wishes I had told them more of my experience of God's love and grace. 

I can't explain in words how great the team is at the centre, not just talking about the youth work team but everyone. Such a great bunch of people hungry for God and want to see a positive input into the area. I really appreciate their warm welcome onto the team and cannot thank them enough for their willingness to take us on. Moving onto the youth work side of the team though. Steve our line manager has been of amazing help this year, he's helped me to grow so much over the past year and I cannot thank him enough for that. He has helped prepare me for uni next year, whether he knows it or not, I have thoroughly enjoyed his banter and of course his skills on comic song improvisation! Ben, who is also a youth worker in the centre (sorry don't really know how else to describe you!) has also be a great help this year, was a real trooper when I kept pestering him about stuff for uni! Much banter was had and I hope he doesn't fall down the stairs without Phil or I there because I would feel super bad if he did! (Wee personal joke there). Ben (if you're reading) I hope you have the best wedding and honeymoon, may God bless you and Nicole in your journey together! The army of volunteers: Claire, Colin, Reece, Reuben, Chris and David have been great to have around this year too each of them have the patience of a saint and are great fun to be around, thank you guys for being there, it's been great to get to know you. 

I think I've written enough for now but I guess you may be able to tell that as I reflect on my time in MVI Youth Works, it has been pretty darn good. It'll take a while to set in and digest in my head but it has been one heck of a journey that I'll never forget.

Love you guys!

Charlotte x

1 Week Left

One week left! How quickly has my time in Monkstown gone?! 

I have to say it's been a mixed experience, I've been blessed so much during this year and yet it's been super challenging at the same time. Definitely been tons of trials but I've learned a lot about grace and provision during this time. 

I have been personally challenged, my view on things have had to change, not for my sake but for others sake. I have this thing where I can just destroy something for myself completely and shut down everything about it that is good and draw out only the bad, I've done that a few times this year. I've run away from difficult situations because I hate facing the fact that I might be wrong, I've wanted to quit so many times but I haven't and I'm glad I didn't. 

Perseverance is another thing, when the going gets rough, persevere. It'll all be worth it in the end, the tears, the emotions, they're all worth it. This longest run isn't the one that's made the most impact though. Romania was the one that has made the most impact. I don't think I could go through life the way I had been now. Seeing the poverty but the gratefulness of having someone to talk to, even if very briefly because of the language barrier, or to crochet with is amazing. You value not just possessions more but time. When you have no TV (in your language), no internet in the house, no central heating and monotonous food, you find joy in other ways. Spending time with people, talking about everything and anything, playing card games, chopping fire wood (mostly the boys!), reading, doing your nails with the other girls, watching the same movie several times (Tangled!) and just enjoying each others presence in the most comfortable way you can imagine, it's great. 

 

Don't get me wrong, Monkstown has been a great experience and I've learned a lot of valuable lessons about real life here but Romania was so different, refreshing actually. Even though difficult at times, my heart longs to go out somewhere again, maybe Romania, maybe Peru or maybe even Thailand. I don't know where I'll end up in summer 2014 but I hope I end up somewhere apart from Northern Ireland! 

 

Sorry it's been a bit over the place but I'm just rambling, congrats if you got this far! :) 

 

Charlotte x 

Missions Week

I was blessed to spend a week in Newcastle, England with a few of the other Xplore people, what a week it was!

We went over to do a Kids Club in St. Paul's which is an old Church building, no longer a church due to no congregation. Aoife was an amazing organiser and I wouldn't have pulled it off half as well as she did, so thank you Aoife for being an amazing person in general. 

Day 1 consisted of us travelling a lot and then attending Sunday celebration, thankfully it wasn't too hectic and we were able to chill out with some kids and their families. We got dinner there which was lovely and then headed home for some rest.

Day 2 was just getting stuff ready and getting the hall set up for the club to start the next day, it ended up looking pretty well and we had fun making stuff and what not, although the army net things smelt a bit and we're super dusty but we got over that very quickly. Our setting up was over before we knew it so we went home and had dinner then Phil, Pete and I went outside to kick a football about and talk for a while, altogether a good evening. 

Day 3 consisted of kids club, twice. A nice number of kids turned out to it and we had a lot of fun being silly with the kids. At the end of the day it's for them, and telling them about God and that's the reason we're there. The kids were such a blessing to be around and their energy gave me energy! After 2 kids clubs we were pretty tired so rested for the rest of the night! 

So day 4 turned out a bit different than what we had intended it to be as the weather was bad so unfortunately we couldn't run our sports day which was outside. Instead we went to Walking With which is a food bank run by St. Luke's church who help asylum seekers. We met some really cool people and I was touched by their ability to speak in such a positive way when it seems like they have nothing. A guy was telling us how much we should be thankful of little things and it really gets you thinking about everything we have and just take for granted! It was a super fun day and I was so happy we got the opportunity to go there because it was just amazing. Phil, Pete and I also went to go see Hangover 3 which was really good and we had a nice wee walk there and back too.

Another full on day came along for day 5, the last day of kids club which was really good. It worked out really well and the kids seemed to enjoy it! I did a drama at the night time session with the children and it was really good to see them act out the story of the lost sheep, I just hope they understood it and got something from it! That night we went to Aoife's mentors house for dinner which was really good and I was so stuffed after it and also super tired but still managed to stay up to 12:30am! 

Today was the best day of mission week I think, on a socializing note. We went to the coast which was warm for about 1/2 hour but then got cold so we went home at about 2:30pm and then sun bathed in the garden for about 2 hours which was so relaxing and just what we needed. Everyone was less stressed about the kids club and it was just great fun to hang out with the Xplore family! They're super good for your soul, I recommend them! 

Over all I've had an amazing week filled with laughter, children but most of all God. A presence was with me the whole week, while we were laughing, while we were stressed, while we were tired and while we were working. God was in our midst and it was great! I've come out of this tired but refreshed, I cannot wait to see everyone in 3 weeks time. For now, it's back to working in Monkstown in the final stint of our year. How quick has it gone in?! I'll definitely miss this bunch of crazy Christians! 

Charlotte x