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!?

twenty twelve

I think a photo montage is a good way to summarise this past year and resurface all those old memories that make you smile a little. Why not stir the emotions a bit? It's the end of something brilliant. And I think a celebration is in order:

 

Gina x

The Potter's Hands - Gina

Gap year series HERE WE GO!

So this is a series to give everyone a little glimpse into what we've each individually been doing on out gap years. It's called The Potters Hands (Not because of Harry Potter as I originally thought) but because we've each given this year to God and we now want to share what he's done with it so far...One of the reasons we created this blog was to keep each other updated as we each ventured out on our individual gap years, so here's the first installment!

I was wracking my brains as to a cool and quirky way which I could show this, and I realised that my gap year coincides with my instagram pictures! I'm going to write too, and I'll try and be concise!

 



Sarah's send off to Falmouth . beauty whilst bike riding . a stay in Swindon with Eve .



So far it's been a year full of hardship. I think I wandered into it with a little naievety, expecting to 'get a job', 'earn money', go away to Africa and come back with life-changing experiences! In a sense that's still going to happen, but God's had a LOT to teach me about it and myself in the process.

I didn't just 'get a job' as I expected, there was many weeks of trailing round town with CV's, hopefuls and then dissapointments, hurts and tears as I was rejected. I found the odd one day job, and eventually settled into part time shifts with the school kitchens. This is excruciating as it means being around the school I have supposedly just left. To start with it brought back a lot of memories, and it felt like I was drowning in the old ones while I was supposed to be making new ones.

 

Not being around my friends every day was painful, I felt so lonely suddenly and so miserable knowing that it wasn't going to change. But God has taught me that I don't need to find my happiness in earthly things - I thought that was just money and clothes and all the rest, but I think it means things like friendship too - and that true happiness resides in HIM. So that brought me up short, and meant that I began to tenativlely seek God more and more.



toasties with Eve . Transform interview travel with Abbie and Milla and Kate . Milla 'performing' at Reading train station .

 

The dissapointment didn't stop there though...God still had more to teach! So I expected to go with SMILE  a crosslinks organisation to Uganda. I went to the interview. Got a place on the third team. But ended up not being able to go as they couldn't find the leaders. Crap. This threw me into a whirl of 'what am I going to do?? What if I never go away? aaaaahhhh'. BUT, God is soverign and it all worked out for the best.

 

I've currently got a place on a transform team to go to Tanzania with Tearfund. This is clearly where God wants me to be. It has such a better feel to it than the SMILE one ever did, the interview was soooo relaxed and I met some really nice, notatall intimmidating people there! I think what God was trying to teach me was that, in the words of C.S.Lewis 'not to put your heart in the future.' (Screwtape Letters) The bible says that where your heart is your treasure is also. And what C.S.Lewis was getting at was that you shouldn't put your heart in things that could change so easily and dissapoint you. You should put your heart in the present and praise God for the things that he's given you now. It's changed my whole outlook on life and I love it!

 

Mentioning 'Screwtape Letters' I've been trying to read some Christian books to become a lot wiser and more knowledgable about God and the bible, and to get my head around some issues. I would seriously recommend the 'Screwtape Letters' - I know that Kate would too. It is so amazing and it's written from the devil's perspective so you have to constantly be reversing it in your mind, reverse psychology works!! It's taught me so many things that I can't go into, but go and find out for yourself!

 

Another book (I don't want to turn this into a book-review post but I have to mention it) is 'Desiring God' by John Piper. I know Abbie would also recommend it. It's amazing. Give it a read. It has some amazing views on joy i.e. our purpose is to glorify God by enjoying Him.

 

bike ride with milla . monopoly with Kate, Milla and Abbie .

So I'm currently spending my days in the paradox of dreading and yet needing the call from Julie to tell me there's work in the kitchens. I find it so difficult as it's so hard to get on with the people there, and I find it quite lonely. But I try and use the time to myself to pray for all of them - it is my mission to pray for them constantly so that at least one of them starts to question God and look at Christianity. I'm trying to be a light for God there, his ambassador in that place. I have had one conversation with someone, but I desperately want more. And all for His glory!!

To sum up: The gap year so far has been hard and will probably be harder but it's brought me closer to God! And I have had some fantastic times with friends aswell. There should be another post, post-Tanzania with tons of pictures and stories, so keep reading! I will be so impressed if you read this, hopefully there will be more stories from the others to come.

Walking across clifftops in the summer sun

These photos were taken when Kate and I went on a cliff walk on our holiday in Cornwall (sorry- you've probably already heard about Cornwall if you've been following the blog but I couldn't resist sharing this beautiful view with you!) This beach is definitely making onto my favorite places list! It was a sunshine-y day. From the edge of the cliff, it felt like you could see for miles. We could even see our friends body boarding if we zoomed in on our cameras (photo 5!) I wish I could have taken more photos but my memory card was full and I didn't want to delete my end of term photos. Alas.

The beautiful little beach by our house

If you look closely, you can see Milla, Gina, Abbie, Sarah G, Sarah P and Meggy D body boarding!

You see the big rock island thing  in the sea? We swam out there!

On another note: I just got back from a week of summer camp where I was so blessed. It's been raining for months in England but we had the most ridiculously sunny week (prayer works), friendships were nurtured and many lives were touched by God. We were studying the books of Daniel and 1 Peter- I learned so much about how we should react to suffering as a Christian and what it really means to stand apart from the crowd. One of the memory verses that stuck out to me was this one: 'Do not fear what they fear, do not be frightened. In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord' 1 Peter 3:14. I'm such a worrier and this verse is a beautiful reminder to me that I don't need to be afraid of anything in this world but that I can take all my fears and insecurities to God.

Hope you're all enjoying the summer sun!

Love,
Megan

First glimpse of the morning

So I'm not usually one for getting up any time before ten in the morning in the holidays but around Easter time my Dad told me about a once-in-a-lifetime, spectacular, must-see event happening at 4 AM: the transit of Venus. So my family and a few others walked out onto the levels looking slightly bleary-eyed and consuming vast quantities of tea. Thankfully, it was all worth it: the transit was 

beautiful, the company kept me laughing and the sunrise was indescribably breathtaking.

I love how God blesses me through the world he has created.

All that is important

Am I now trying to win the approval of man or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I was still trying to please man I would not be a servant of Christ.' Galatians 1 v 10

'I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law Christ died for nothing.' Galatians 2 v 21

'Because we are his sons God sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, the spirit that cries out 'Abba, Father!'' Galatians 4 v 6

'You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.' Galatians 5 v13

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. Galatians 6 v14

So we had a little stay in Cornwall, all 9 of us. We made it our mission to memorise all these verses during our stay there. They all really challenge and inspire me. They outline five fundamentals which I view as crucial to life:

Who am I trying to please?

How am I trying to do it?

Will I be doing it on my own strength?

How should I express my freedom?

What then should we do??

These verses give clear answers: We're trying to please God. He should be the only one we're working for, the only one we're trying to impress with all our endeavours and purely because of who he is. And the way we should do it is through Gods grace: His completely and utterly undeserved favour that he lavishly bestows upon us all the time. If we could be pure through our own actions or through the law then Christ died for nothing, his death was pointless. But as it is, Jesus died for us all so that our salvation doesn't depend on ourselves but on him, therefore his death means everything.

Because we accept this as fact, God calls us his children and gives us an unbelievable gift. His spirit!! He lives within us, helping us, strengthening us all the time. All this means that we are not dependant on the law or ourselves - we're free! BUT, we shouldn't use this freedom for selfish purposes. We need to use it to serve others in love. I think that's such a fantastic and incredible aim for life. As a result, we should shout about Christ from the rooftops! He is the only thing we should boast about - not ourselves and our achievements but JESUS CHRIST WHO DIED FOR US!!!! (That's shouting over the internet) I don't mean go into a street and yell about it, but metaphorically shout in everyday life. Let Christ be the one thing that matters and it will show in everything that you do. I promise.

So. That's a lot to unpack, I'm going to leave you to think about it ;)

Gina X