God's Call - the unyielding truth

It seems it has begun, the band wagon has well and truly been jumped upon and the blogging has once again begun. I've got so many thoughts running through my mind about what I could write about yet at the same time I'm totally stuck for words, I don't know where to begin or what to say, so I thought I would follow in Eve's well placed footprints and be totally authentic. 

My first term at university has been one of ups and downs. Looking back it's mainly been down, but despite all that I can say that God is faithful. I've thought to myself many times over the last few months 'what am I doing? I had the best job, I was surrounded by people who loved me, who spoke truth over me, who challenged me, and who encouraged me everyday to press deeper into the things God has for me. Why did I give all that up? What on earth possessed me to go to university?!' The answer is simple, God's call. 

As 2014 has begun, I've sat and dreamed for my year, and I've looked back on the dreams that I had for 2013. One such dream was to follow God's call wherever that may take me. In the midst of the busyness of university I had forgotten this dream for my life. I can sit in a coffee shop writing this post and think back to August and September where I heard God telling me that university was the next step for me, I can see how he provided the last place on a course for me, in the city I had wanted to live in for many years. It was no coincidence I ended up where I did. So why was it so easy to forget that this is God's call on my life for this season? 

Surprisingly the answer is simple, because the enemy wants me to forget. Going to university means entering into a whole new lifestyle yet keeping my identity fixed in and on Jesus. But if I forget that God's the one who called me and placed me there, then my identity slips and suddenly my ability to change and shift atmospheres, to speak wisdom into situations, to carry peace and light into fear and darkness, to declare healing, and to share the Gospel is lost. That's exactly what the enemy wants. 

You might be wondering where this post is going, well it's simply a post to say that I know. 

I know who I am - a daughter of the risen King Jesus

I know where I am placed - in one room, in one flat, in one university, on one course for the glory of God

I know what I carry - the Kingdom of Heaven 

I know what the enemy is doing - distracting me from the truth of my identity and God's plan for me

And it's a post to say that I choose to live in the light of that knowledge, to wake up each day and declare my heavenly daughtership, to reject the lie that I am not where God wants me, that my presence is wasted and that I cannot have an impact on my campus, and to be all that God created me to be for his glory. 

Will you join me? 

The throwing down of the gauntlet

So, our devoted and probably non-existant followers... we have sad news. The founders of the tea-house have been blown apart, scattered over the country, forced apart by the ever-moving tides of fate.

(Too hyperbolic?)

2013 was our first year where we didn't spend every waking moment with each other...and it. was. HORRIFIC. No more laughing literally every second, no more deep bible-chats, no more going to the loo together, no more knowing exactly what item of clothing everyone has...it's all over. Finished. Kaput.

But wait! Don't quite give up on life just yet, all is not lost. That was one brilliant chapter of our lives, (and it was brilliant!) but 2013 wasn't a complete waste of time. It was, and I'm speaking on behalf of everyone here (I hope not incorrectly!), one of the years where we grew the most, faced the most challenges and survived, gained experience and had a heck of a lot of fun!

There was the five adventurers who 'found themselves' in Africa

The one who let her creative flair go wild in Falmouth

The one who stayed true to her mission-oriented heart and designed graphically 

And the one who did just about everything, including taking to the seas! 

We all made new friends, went to new places, stepped over our the foreboding walls of our comfort zones again and again and again...dreams were fulfilled, passions were kindled and throughout it all we remained friends joined by the invisible golden threads which will forever link such devoted daughters of God.

This blog was created with the initial purpose of keeping us together when such separations eventually happened...and, well, there's been some success...okay, I'll be honest, it could be better.

That's why I'm writing this! 

This blog is the call to arms for all my sisters, it's the throwing down of the gauntlet so-to-speak, the metaphorical kick-up-the-bum. (I had such a cheesy line I was going to use here...I might just say it, just to make you cringe: 'who's going to answer, girls?' Doesn't that make you GAG!?) 

Be that as it may, we're all at University now, the gap year's been and gone, and despite this continued distance, lets use this space to bring each other closer together. Let's post our experiences, our pictures, our feelings, our thoughts, our memories, our news...

To sum up, I love you all so much. Have a brilliant 2014.

STILL cracks me up.

P.S...How awkward will this post be if no one posts afterwards!?