Monday, December 12, 2011

Wait

I don't know if any of you have children, or have ever worked with children, but there is one thing that I've notice is difficult for them: waiting.

I do a variety of work with children, as a Beaver Scout leader (6 - 8 year olds) and Sunday School (4 - 11 year olds). I've lost track of the number of times that I have felt like I've been pulled in a hundred different directions when the children have all wanted my attention and I've only been able to deal with one at a time. And I've uttered the dreaded word: Wait. Something that is difficult to understand. They want to know why I can't help them that second, why they can have the thing that they've requested right now, why must they wait.

The same is true in my walk with God. Except this time, I'm the child wanting to know why this hasn't happened, or why I can't have that now. When will the perfect job appear, my career path be revealed, other issues much closer to my heart. Waiting is sometimes the hardest thing. I've learnt over my many years of walking with the Lord, that His timing is never wrong. There reason something didn't happen is because... I've needed to grow more, experience something, move somewhere else, learn patience (isn't that a hard one!!).

I follow someone called Louie Giglio on twitter, and recently he tweeted "Waiting is not wasted when we are waiting on the Lord. God works while we wait." Followed by "Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14"

"God works while we wait": he is moulding us, challenging us, changing us to be more like Christ. Waiting is part of the long journey. What do you think a child would be like if they got everything they wanted straight away?

Christmas is only a week away, a time when we remember the birth of Christ. (On a side note, I was delighted that my Beavers seemed to know about the Christmas story, it's an important story that needs to be shared). Bit it is also a time for giving and receiving gifts. That period of time between Christmas eve, and Christmas morning seemed like such a long time, having to wait until you could find out what was hiding behind the coloured paper. The gift seems that much better if you've been able to wait, to have patience.

So we may not always see what is in our future, and why we must wait, but I trust and love God. I know he has my best interests at heart, so like the children that I work with, I must learn that my prayers and requests will be answered in time, just not always right now.

God bless,

Ruth x

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Avoiding the most talked about topic of the day

I was going to write a blog post today, then I actually sat down to write it, and couldn't think of a thing to write. 


I could always revert to one of my favourite topics, Formula 1.


This week, Kimi Raikkonen announced that he was making a come back to Formula 1, about 2 years after he left to try new things such as WRC and NASCAR. I greeted this news with mixed feelings: I have followed Kimi's career since 2001, when he was a rookie, driving for Sauber and making quite an impression on the bosses at Mclaren, and myself. It was with joy, excitement and tension that I watch him have good races and bad races, and get with in touching distance of a World title in 2005, before he lost it to Fernando Alonso. 


Then in 2007, he final won the World Championship, much to the disappointment of British fans everywhere, as Lewis Hamilton lost it by 1 point in the final race. I remember watching the race back in second year. It was an afternoon race, and one of my housemates and I decided that we would be late to church, just so that we could see live the end of the championship. I couldn't believe it when Kimi won, and then we had to leave, arriving at church just in time for the sermon I think. I also think that one of the guys on the sound desk has also been following the race so that most of the congregation knew the result before we got there. 


You know what, having go this far I have no idea whether I blogged about Kimi winning at the time or not. Ah well, I'll carry on anyway. 


Things didn't go so well for Kimi in following years, and it wasn't much of a surprise when, despite still being in contract, an opportunity opened up in World Rally Championship for him and he took it. 


And now he's back! I love the reaction I get when I tell people at motor sport event or motor sport fans, like my former driving instructor that I'm a Kimi fan, they groan, and dispaire. Why when we have great British talent, did I choose a bloke who in a lot of peoples opinions has no personality and barely opens his mouth when he talks? To be honest, back in 2001, I picked up my dads Formula 1 magazine and just looked through to find who I thought most interesting (or cute, knowing me at that age...). And followed him ever since. 


When he left the sport, he did an interview discussing who he tipped as a future World Champion. He suggested this young gun, a kid as he was when he first started who'd managed to make quite an impression early on. Now two years on, and 2 World Championships under his belt, you can see that Kimi's judgement of Sebastian Vettel was correct. I just hope that his judgement to come back to Formula 1, with all the barriers that can face any driver coming back will have, is the right one.


And who will I support? If Kimi and Sebastian happen to be fighting for a win, who would I want to win? Hmm...


There you go, a whole blog about Kimi, sorry for that. I hope that one person manages to make it to the end :)


And I didn't mention the strike once... oops!


Take care,


God bless,


Ruth x

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Recently I've mostly been...

Well hello! I'm still here.


I've been thinking (no insults please!), and I came to a conclusion: when I first set up this blog, at the insistence of a few of my friends, it was to keep people updated on what has been happening. Most of my readers then were the people regularly mentioned in my posts because they were there. Now that I'm further away from most of my friends, now is the time that I should be using more. Admittedly I think that my life is a lot less interesting, and my spelling has got worse(!!), there are still plenty of things that I could blog about.


For instance, I am now regularly helping with the church youth club every Thursday. We get anything from 6 youth, to 25+ coming along, mostly from the estate our church is based on, coming along to play pool, video games, air hockey or just hang out, with a short "God Spot". 


I am now driving, having passed my test in February, and am very grateful, that without too much traffic, my 1 hour 35 minute bus journey, has dropped to about a 40 minute drive, in the warm. 


I finally have a pet, after a lot of begging during my younger years, I went out in May with two friends to at pet shop, and came back with an eight week old Syrian hamster, who I names Tiberius. If I ever get another I'm choosing an easier name, like Joe, as my hamster is regularly called Tibs out of laziness!! He's a lovely hamster, who will constantly try to escape given half a chance and bite me if I don't pay attention... but his antics are very entertaining, even if it did cause a few sleep disturbed nights in the beginning with a squeaky wheel.


Some things haven't changed. I am still Formula 1 mad, even if I now support that unknown up and coming 24 year old (how can a 2 times World Champion be younger than me?) Sebastian Vettel. 


I'm still working as a science technician at a school, with all the madness that can come with it, as well as the strange requests. I bought 5kg of salt and a few bars of chocolate early on Thursday morning and Friday saw me grating chocolate, and making fake urine! What a combination!! 


The Beaver Scout colony at which I'm the Assistant leader is doing well. Six to eight year olds can really tire you out though! We recently has a Doctor Who in Space themed sleepover with two other groups, involving a lot of craft, and plenty of glue on the tables, chairs and floors, and lots of outdoor activities. On the night hike only one person fell over...me! How embarrassing. The good thing was that the Beavers had a good time, and were tired at the end, not just us adults.


I miss a lot of the social life that came with being at University. I don't have as many friends that live near here in Bristol, but having a car does help! An I don't see my friends who are living in places around the country as much as I would like. 


I'm going to attempt to post at least once a week, that shouldn't be too ambitious I hope, just to keep everyone informed. It's also nice to have a record so that I can see what I have done, and how God is working in my life. I'm in a supportive church, where I'm starting to feel like I'm part of it, not just an outsider, and I'm anticipating that next stage of my life that He has in store, where ever or whatever it may be!


Take care,


God Bless,


Ruth x