single= out-of-luck

Well another week has come and gone. I feel as if every moment has been packed with one thing or another. Today was a particularly busy end-cap to the week. This afternoon after church Kyle, Josiah, and I had lunch with a couple from the church and their daughter and her friend. It's fun to be around other people in their twenties. It seems that there is a real generation gap here of young adult Christians. The girls said that they see the same thing at the churches in Liverpool.

After that Kyle and I went out to a church in Southport called "The Kew Fellowship" (Kew is a Welsh word and it happens to be the name of the roundabout that the church is off of). Kyle preached there on the story of Joseph and suffering. It seems like some members of the church were really encouraged by Kyle's message. Afterwards we went to our church service and then an engagement party for a couple who were from our church. It's been a long day :)

It's on days like today that I actually feel discouraged. I talked a long while with a woman from church who is part of our outreach to young moms. We have a play group where mom's can bring their babies (0-2) every Thursday. I don't do much in this group except hang out with the moms. I'm just starting to feel comfortable to make more connections with these women, and conversations from my women's ministry classes are screaming out in my mind with new ideas for how to bless these women through the church and show them love. I see so many needs for outreach to women here. Most of the women at our morning Bible study are elderly. Where are the middle-aged women? Where are the young moms? Young women? This seems to be an issue in the three churches I've been to thus far. I see the needs for vision and development and yet I know that I am powerless to help fill them at this time. And even more discouraging is the fact that I feel like there is no place for a single woman my age to be involved in ministry unless it's to children...which is not my best suit. As of right now I don't see the possibility of me being able to do ministry anywhere here for more than a couple of months. I have to trust that God would make a way for me to do so if that's His will.

It's days like these that make me feel so inadequate for ministry. If only I had more this...or I wish I could be more like this...it's hard to be ok with being yourself, and trusting God.

Holiday Club (VBS) is just around the corner- Tuesday to be exact. That leaves us one whole day to panic...I mean rest before it begins. Then Wednesday morning I'm off to North Carolina to spend some quality time with my favorite two girls and watch one of them get hitched.

Pray for the needs here. Pray for godly leaders to rise up in this country- men and women. Pray that God would give us more emotional and relational energy than the average human.

"All flesh is like the grass. And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and it's flower falls away, But the Word of the Lord endures forever." - 1 Peter 1:24-25

On My Toes

Well I have officially survived one week (almost) on internship and I have been having an amazing time. Thanks to a lovely little sleeping pill that helped me sleep on the plane, I adjusted to the time change within a day or two at the most. I have been thinking a lot about how this is the first time that I have been in England, that I don't feel as if I am in a foriegn country. I guess you could say it feels more like a familiar country :)

Ministry has been great. It's nice to come back to a church in which I feel I have significant relationships. Some of the people here are very dear to my heart. We have been involved in one ministry or another almost every day of the week. So far we have done a kids program, a women's bible study, a wednesday mid-week study, two youth programs (older and younger), Sunday morning service, Sunday night, and a senior's event this afternoon. Kyle, Josiah, and I are splitting up most things amongst ourselves and I think we make a fantastic team. Specific challenges for me are teaching children's church on Sunday mornings, teaching the women's Bible study on Wednesday mornings, running a children's program on Thursday nights, and team teaching older youth with Kyle on Friday nights. Children's minstry is one of those things I thought I'd never end up doing, but I've been challenged by teaching Sunday school, and doing the other mid-week kids event, and I've found that God has made a special place in my heart for the precious kids that come to us. Many come from non-Christian homes. Please pray that we will be able to demonstrate God's love to them in any way possible. Also please pray that I'll have an abundance of energy to get everything done and spend time with people!

It's funny how confident I used to be when I was younger. Nothing ever intimidated me. I always volunteered at church to do anything and everything. Now that I actually have the training, I feel less equipped then ever before. I guess I'm just realizing that God can and does use anyone that He wants regardless of their qualifications. I suppose we should always have a sense of dependance on God when we're serving Him. I'm wondering if I will always feel so nervous or if I will settle into a level of comfort. I guess we'll see.

I only wish that the "life change" would last a bit longer than 2 months. By the time I'm used to staying up 'till mid-night, drinking instant-coffee, and constantly being at church, it will all have to change. It takes me time to get used to major schedule changes, but once I've gotten a handle on them I like to keep things running smoothly. I guess God's just keeping me on my toes.

Formby

Well I am officially in Formby, England. It was sort of a long jaunt. Due to the ash cloud, and the fact that my passport and boarding pass were checked in a bag that was taken from me as we got on the plane, we decided to stay in Atlanta and take a flight the next day (which included free hotel rooms, meals, and flight dollars). It did turn out to be a long wait though. The boys read books all day and I couldn't sit still for longer than an hour. But alas, we made it to Manchester after all. Unfortunately they didn't send our luggage with us to Manchester, so the boys are currently going on day 3 of wearing the same t-shirt. Yeah.

It's a bright, sunny day though, even though it's in the high 50's. We'll start into the full swing of the internship tomorrow. Can't wait for everything to begin. I also can't wait to stop feeling so groggy. Pictures to come.

Lauren

Fearing Irrelivancy

Well this is my first official post on my first official blog. Up until this point I have considered blogs to be totally irrelevant to anyone accept the person writing and possibly their mother. After being encouraged to start one by several friends though, and after seeing that a 9 year old girl that I baby-sit for had one, I figured I'd take the plunge. I'm mostly starting this so that those who want to (and I can't really imagine who would really want to) can follow my summer adventure in Formby, England. If nothing else, maybe my mom will keep up with it (but mom, please don't feel obligated). I promise not to write 5,000 word sagas about unimportant happenings every day. I promise not to send out lengthy e-mails, or try to coerce friends into subscribing. I promise to write just enough to inform and entertain, and hopefully post some pictures from time to time. Well that's my pledge. At the risk of being boring and creating even more boredom in the lives of one or two...here goes nothing.