you wait for ages for one, then two come along at once. Yes, that's right folks, I'm back!
Second post in one night!!
Well, I'm back in Portsmouth, came back yesterday, having been in Bristol for nearly a month, but had a change to catch up with a few friends. I was a little concerned about moving back to the house on my own, but it's been ok as there's another girl living here called Emily. I've only met her briefly but she seems nice. I'm going into the lab with my project supervisor tomorrow morning which I'm very excited about!
So what else has been going on? Erm, not a lot to be honest. I gave my testimony at church, which went well; I went to my grandma's with my parents, including a trip to the huge Borders in Oxford; I've seen two of my friends new flats and stayed up all night and watched the sun rise on Clifton Suspension Bridge, in a moment of madness with a friend, but life's been fairly quiet. Ooo, and I got a new bed, and my room is really tidy, which is astonishing, which those who know how messy I am, know how amazing that is!
I hope that I will be updating more regularly. Because more stuff has happened, it just doesn't seem as important any more.
If anyone wants to read my testimony from the last two years, I can put it on my blog, as I typed it before hand.
I'll wrap this up now, and appoligise for blogging twice in once night!!
Clare xxx
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Praise You In This Storm
There have been a few songs that have really struck a chord with me at this moment in time. In this blog I want to focus on one in particular: Praise You In This Storm by Casting Crowns. If you haven't heard this song, below is the video, sorry the videos not that great, but you can at least hear the song.
I also wanted to put the lyrics down as well:
Praise You In This Storm by Casting Crowns
I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.
Chorus:
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm
I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away
Chorus
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
Chorus
There are lines that are so relevent to me right now. There have been changes in my life. Two of my housemates have secured placements in Reading, and are living together next year. I've found myself a house with 4 other girls for next year. Another of my friends has got engaged, and one of my friends is two months away from getting married. There have been some major complications with financing the summer, and whilst a vague plan has been formed, as I write this its still not fixed. And with all these things, come all these different emotions. Since having a major chat with one of my friends, things have been more settled, but there have still been a few tears and wibbles.
When things get tough, we do sit and question why all of this is happening, why does life sometimes hurt so much. But as that first verse says, even when we go through the storms of our lives, no matter the cause, God is right there, whispering to us. We are not alone, whether we feel it or not doesn't change the truth.
"Every tear I've cried, you hold in your hands" God cares, our tears don't just fall for no reason, nor do they fall into oblivion, but our caring, loving Father catches each one. In the chorus, they sing of one of the hardest things to do, worship God when life feels impossible. God is unchanging, and is still worthy of our praise. And the best thing we can do when we feel down, caught in the middle of the storms of this life, is to turn our eyes back to God, to worship Him, give everything to Him, and to let go (which is also hard, really hard, I know, I keep struggling with it). The last bit of the song is taken from psalm 121:
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
Clare xxx
I also wanted to put the lyrics down as well:
Praise You In This Storm by Casting Crowns
I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.
Chorus:
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm
I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away
Chorus
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
Chorus
There are lines that are so relevent to me right now. There have been changes in my life. Two of my housemates have secured placements in Reading, and are living together next year. I've found myself a house with 4 other girls for next year. Another of my friends has got engaged, and one of my friends is two months away from getting married. There have been some major complications with financing the summer, and whilst a vague plan has been formed, as I write this its still not fixed. And with all these things, come all these different emotions. Since having a major chat with one of my friends, things have been more settled, but there have still been a few tears and wibbles.
When things get tough, we do sit and question why all of this is happening, why does life sometimes hurt so much. But as that first verse says, even when we go through the storms of our lives, no matter the cause, God is right there, whispering to us. We are not alone, whether we feel it or not doesn't change the truth.
"Every tear I've cried, you hold in your hands" God cares, our tears don't just fall for no reason, nor do they fall into oblivion, but our caring, loving Father catches each one. In the chorus, they sing of one of the hardest things to do, worship God when life feels impossible. God is unchanging, and is still worthy of our praise. And the best thing we can do when we feel down, caught in the middle of the storms of this life, is to turn our eyes back to God, to worship Him, give everything to Him, and to let go (which is also hard, really hard, I know, I keep struggling with it). The last bit of the song is taken from psalm 121:
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
The maker of Heaven and earth, the Creator, is willing to help, not only willing but wanting to help us. He doesn't expect us to do things on our own, and we can't do things on our own, no matter how hard we try.
This seems to have turned more into a preach than a blog, woops, but hopefully it'll spark something.
Clare xxx
Friday, May 30, 2008
For those you that are wondering...
I am still here, even though I haven't blogged in over a month!!
So whats new?
Well, I am nearly at the end of my second year at uni (how did that happen??) and I've completed one exam in macromolecues (proteins and all that jazz), that went much better than expected.
I have a house (nearly) secure for next year, with 3 other girls from church, just need to find a 4th housemate.
I am actually loosing the weight thanks to the new diet, even if it has been hard for me and those around me, (thanks for putting up with me!!). At the first weigh in I'd lose 3kg in just over 3 weeks :).
I'm starting to get more involved in the youth work at King's, the 11-15's age group, where I feel my heart lies more.
We didn't get the grant that we applied for, for the summer project, but there are plans being made that will hopefully still make it possible, and prayers are appreciated.
On a more serious note, God has been showing himself so much to me, both through events in my life, placing people, and things like Bible verses in my life at the time when I need, as well as showing the power of pray etc, in other peoples lives. It's been a great month, and whilst I know that there is still a lot of room for growth and improvement (as there always is) its going to be an exciting, challenging, tough at times, worthwhile thing.
This has been a bit of a random, all over the place, post, kind of how my head is at the moment. Things are changing, my housemates are moving to do years in industry, I'm going into my final year of uni, and have no idea what comes next, its a bit of a muddled, mixed up time, but new things are just around the corner.
I'll try to be back with a more in depth, proper post soon.
Until then
Clare xxx
So whats new?
Well, I am nearly at the end of my second year at uni (how did that happen??) and I've completed one exam in macromolecues (proteins and all that jazz), that went much better than expected.
I have a house (nearly) secure for next year, with 3 other girls from church, just need to find a 4th housemate.
I am actually loosing the weight thanks to the new diet, even if it has been hard for me and those around me, (thanks for putting up with me!!). At the first weigh in I'd lose 3kg in just over 3 weeks :).
I'm starting to get more involved in the youth work at King's, the 11-15's age group, where I feel my heart lies more.
We didn't get the grant that we applied for, for the summer project, but there are plans being made that will hopefully still make it possible, and prayers are appreciated.
On a more serious note, God has been showing himself so much to me, both through events in my life, placing people, and things like Bible verses in my life at the time when I need, as well as showing the power of pray etc, in other peoples lives. It's been a great month, and whilst I know that there is still a lot of room for growth and improvement (as there always is) its going to be an exciting, challenging, tough at times, worthwhile thing.
This has been a bit of a random, all over the place, post, kind of how my head is at the moment. Things are changing, my housemates are moving to do years in industry, I'm going into my final year of uni, and have no idea what comes next, its a bit of a muddled, mixed up time, but new things are just around the corner.
I'll try to be back with a more in depth, proper post soon.
Until then
Clare xxx
Saturday, April 19, 2008
One week on
So I've been doing this healthy eating thing for a week now and it has been hard, really hard. I think anyone who's been near me over this week will have realised that I was struggling. There are so many temptations around, it's easy to get caught up in it.
I have also found myself being more emotional and getting more teary than usual. But I've managed to keep going because of the awesome people around me. I have my friends praying and supporting me. I am also getting support from my tutor and one of the chaplains here.
I have had so much to think about and it's easy to lose focus. I have a week of 9-5's next week in the lab doing recombinant DNA techniques, that I have to read about this weekend :S. And I could list the problems that I can forsee because of all of this, but I won't because it will work out, I have great friends, housemates, family around me that will help.
Last Friday night, Ben, Dan and I gathered in the kitchen for a prayer session, which whilst being the tiniest bit random, was awesome. Tonight we did it again, and after the bumpy day today has been, it was really good to spend time with God and my friends, and have a chat as well as praying.
Whilst I still acknowledge that there will be bumpy times ahead, when I just want to attack a bar of chocolate or whatever, I know now that I can turn to my friends for that extra support to get me through. I know that there are many people praying for me and that ultimately God is right there by my side, never leaving me and never letting go!
This has been a bit of a random post, so I may re-read it tomorrow and wonder what on earth I've written, but I hope that it has made sense. And thanks once again to all those that are supporting me, in whatever way, it all helps!
Until next time...!
Clare xxx
I have also found myself being more emotional and getting more teary than usual. But I've managed to keep going because of the awesome people around me. I have my friends praying and supporting me. I am also getting support from my tutor and one of the chaplains here.
I have had so much to think about and it's easy to lose focus. I have a week of 9-5's next week in the lab doing recombinant DNA techniques, that I have to read about this weekend :S. And I could list the problems that I can forsee because of all of this, but I won't because it will work out, I have great friends, housemates, family around me that will help.
Last Friday night, Ben, Dan and I gathered in the kitchen for a prayer session, which whilst being the tiniest bit random, was awesome. Tonight we did it again, and after the bumpy day today has been, it was really good to spend time with God and my friends, and have a chat as well as praying.
Whilst I still acknowledge that there will be bumpy times ahead, when I just want to attack a bar of chocolate or whatever, I know now that I can turn to my friends for that extra support to get me through. I know that there are many people praying for me and that ultimately God is right there by my side, never leaving me and never letting go!
This has been a bit of a random post, so I may re-read it tomorrow and wonder what on earth I've written, but I hope that it has made sense. And thanks once again to all those that are supporting me, in whatever way, it all helps!
Until next time...!
Clare xxx
Friday, April 11, 2008
Hold On
It is fair to say that things haven't be going brilliantly well for me at the moment. I've have a series of doctors appointments and a blood test to confirm a diagnosis. It has been playing on my mind a bit, and today, the final diagnosis came through as being the same as what was suspected. Please forgive me for being vauge, but I really don't want to write what it is. It's not life threatening but is life altering. I have been told by the doctors to lose weight...ah. But as I will waffle on about later, I have an amazing group of people surrounding me who are supporting and helping in various ways.
I have friends who are supporting and praying for me even thought some of them are unsure of the difference they are making. Believe me, it is making a difference, a huge difference, whether you can see it or not. I have been so blessed by the people placed in my life, who are being so amazing!
All the troubles and hardships will make us stronger when we get through them. They can show us our friends, and can remind us to let others help, and where our help comes from. Yes there are times when we have to fight the world and ourselves to continue, when we have those massive struggles but have to keep going, and follow the light at the end of that tunnel. There are times when it feels like everything is dark, but then you realise that there are glimmers of light breaking through the darkness, the light coming from our friends, those that love and care
about us, that walk with us, supporting, guiding, helping and sometimes being very honest with us and telling us when we are being stupid. Our brightest light comes from God, who sent Jesus into the world, to be light, and chase the darkness away, how amazing is that.
I know that there are always going to be times in my life that are going to be hard, that's part of life, but I also know that I have a God who loves me, friends who love me and that things will get better.
I hope that this makes sence. Thank you to all those who have supported me, I won't name you, but you know who you are!!
Clare xxx
I have friends who are supporting and praying for me even thought some of them are unsure of the difference they are making. Believe me, it is making a difference, a huge difference, whether you can see it or not. I have been so blessed by the people placed in my life, who are being so amazing!
All the troubles and hardships will make us stronger when we get through them. They can show us our friends, and can remind us to let others help, and where our help comes from. Yes there are times when we have to fight the world and ourselves to continue, when we have those massive struggles but have to keep going, and follow the light at the end of that tunnel. There are times when it feels like everything is dark, but then you realise that there are glimmers of light breaking through the darkness, the light coming from our friends, those that love and care
about us, that walk with us, supporting, guiding, helping and sometimes being very honest with us and telling us when we are being stupid. Our brightest light comes from God, who sent Jesus into the world, to be light, and chase the darkness away, how amazing is that.
I know that there are always going to be times in my life that are going to be hard, that's part of life, but I also know that I have a God who loves me, friends who love me and that things will get better.
I hope that this makes sence. Thank you to all those who have supported me, I won't name you, but you know who you are!!
Clare xxx
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Space
Not the cold vacuum, but stopping, having a break. By the end of term, life can get a bit frantic, life can get on top of you, and a break is greatly required.
I was looking forward to coming home, especially as I haven't been back since Christmas. My first day back home, I went to a retreat day in preparation for Holy Week. One of the most useful things about the day was not the teaching, but just the quiet, the stillness, the time to "stop". It was raining, but that didn't bother me, and I spend time in the garden, just walking around, thinking, sorting out my thoughts and listening to "The Stand" and "Awesome God". It was good to give God some space.
Life seems to be constantly busy now, for everyone. People are working, then house keeping, with less and less time left for socialising, resting etc. There are times when I feel that we need to take a breather. One of my friends facebook statuses was ...is taking a deep breath ready for a busy week. It does often feel like we are diving into busyness and sometimes even trying to swim against the tide.
The creation story, as most people know has 7 days, the 7th being a rest day. I believe this is for a reason. Whether you believe in God or not, we need that 7th day to collect our thoughts and catch our breath. But in this world, when we work everyday of the week, we are removing that rest day. And we are suffering, the world is suffering.
I'm not sure where all this has come from, but I feel it's important. In a society where more and more people are suffering from stress, depression, other illnesses like that, we should be noticing this trend that working too much is bad for our health. So as we head towards Easter, maybe we should take this opportunity to slow down and take a breather.
And on a totally unrelated note, fish.
Ok, hope I haven't offended anyone, said anything too factually incorrect, or talked a load of jibberish!!
Take care, God bless,
Clare xxx
I was looking forward to coming home, especially as I haven't been back since Christmas. My first day back home, I went to a retreat day in preparation for Holy Week. One of the most useful things about the day was not the teaching, but just the quiet, the stillness, the time to "stop". It was raining, but that didn't bother me, and I spend time in the garden, just walking around, thinking, sorting out my thoughts and listening to "The Stand" and "Awesome God". It was good to give God some space.
Life seems to be constantly busy now, for everyone. People are working, then house keeping, with less and less time left for socialising, resting etc. There are times when I feel that we need to take a breather. One of my friends facebook statuses was ...is taking a deep breath ready for a busy week. It does often feel like we are diving into busyness and sometimes even trying to swim against the tide.
The creation story, as most people know has 7 days, the 7th being a rest day. I believe this is for a reason. Whether you believe in God or not, we need that 7th day to collect our thoughts and catch our breath. But in this world, when we work everyday of the week, we are removing that rest day. And we are suffering, the world is suffering.
I'm not sure where all this has come from, but I feel it's important. In a society where more and more people are suffering from stress, depression, other illnesses like that, we should be noticing this trend that working too much is bad for our health. So as we head towards Easter, maybe we should take this opportunity to slow down and take a breather.
And on a totally unrelated note, fish.
Ok, hope I haven't offended anyone, said anything too factually incorrect, or talked a load of jibberish!!
Take care, God bless,
Clare xxx
Monday, February 25, 2008
Our God is Amazing!
I make no apologise for the highly God filled nature of this post!
When I was younger, I went through the whole girly teen magazine phase. One of the features every fortnight or month or whatever was the horoscopes. If I squinted, they could probably apply to me, but there were days when, not only was the horoscope wrong, it was very improbable that the future as told by this horoscope could happen! However yesterday, there were two separate instances when the sermon at church and my daily bible reading hit right where I was, were exactly what I needed to hear at that time, even though both the sermon and the bible verse would have been thought about and written without any knowledge of what I'm going through and weeks if not months before this moment in time.
If I'm honest, things have been a little bleak over the past 4 or so days. But I have been provided with some fantastic friends who have helped me to keep going. My faith was not at it's strongest, lets be honest, it was hard to pray and the words from the Bible weren't really sinking in. The sermon last night was on worship, and turning our focus back to God. It was a good sermon anyway, but as I said earlier, met me where I am.
I know that having been a Christian for as long as I have, I should expect the unexpected, but there are still times when God surprises me.
And just to finish, Philippians 4:12-13 says: I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
God Bless
Ruth xx
When I was younger, I went through the whole girly teen magazine phase. One of the features every fortnight or month or whatever was the horoscopes. If I squinted, they could probably apply to me, but there were days when, not only was the horoscope wrong, it was very improbable that the future as told by this horoscope could happen! However yesterday, there were two separate instances when the sermon at church and my daily bible reading hit right where I was, were exactly what I needed to hear at that time, even though both the sermon and the bible verse would have been thought about and written without any knowledge of what I'm going through and weeks if not months before this moment in time.
If I'm honest, things have been a little bleak over the past 4 or so days. But I have been provided with some fantastic friends who have helped me to keep going. My faith was not at it's strongest, lets be honest, it was hard to pray and the words from the Bible weren't really sinking in. The sermon last night was on worship, and turning our focus back to God. It was a good sermon anyway, but as I said earlier, met me where I am.
I know that having been a Christian for as long as I have, I should expect the unexpected, but there are still times when God surprises me.
And just to finish, Philippians 4:12-13 says: I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
God Bless
Ruth xx
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