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

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

Leavers Ball

Last night and the early hours of this morning formed what was our last event together at school; our Leavers Ball. It was a truly amazing evening, yummy food and fantastic music, crazy dancing and hilarious laughter. I think it's safe to say that we all had a complete blast and really did go out with a bang :)

It was so nice getting ready together, snapping hundreds of photos, having drinks and making beautiful memories. After the ball ended we wondered up the famous Monkton Hill to watch the 'sunrise' - sadly it was cloudy and so it was more watching it go from dark to light! Never the less it was truly beautiful.

God's given us such a wonderful two years together and this was the perfect way to end. Here are a few snaps, i'm sure many more will come in subsequent posts by the others...

A special bucket list...

We're about to leave Monkton. You may have guessed by a few of the highly emotional and nostalgic blog posts that we've been circulating recently. We're determined to make the most of our last few weeks at school, we love the place, we love each other. As a tribute and a last challenge we've decided to create a bucket list of things we must complete before we leave:

1. Time capsual (leave it somewhere around school...in a wall...)
2. Leave messages in a library book 11th May 2012 - Kate, Milla, Abbie and I left some messages today...they were humerous and meaningful, filled with advice and challenges. It could be awkward if they were found before we left...haha.
3. Make Mr Sertin blush  20th May 2012 - I'm going to cross this one off although he really just made himself blush through some blunder of this own...if you let him talk for long enough it's bound to happen really...I wonder why we didn't think of it before...
4. Quote something in every lesson
5. Have a picnic we had a picnic by the river after all our exams had finished, was great :)
6. Play tennis on the grass courts  16th June 2012 - Our (Sarah, Milla and I) last match tennis match EVER got cancelled! :( So we decided to kill two birds with one stone (see below) and play tennis on the grass courts. It was a LOT of fun, Megan D joined us too!
7. Watch a guys match (see above)
8. Take lots of photos  17th May 2012 - We took tons at the a house BBQ and house dinner and just generally around school :)
9. Play in an informal concert (this applies to Milla, Kate and I)
10. Inscribe our names somewhere (it could be considered 'vandalism'...ssssh)- On the tree by eddy!!
11. Watch the sunset/rise - On the last day of school EVER before we went to Cornwall!
12. Battle of the bands (...gulp...) 1st June 2012 - WOO!! We did it!! So much fun, very scary, such a buzz, loved doing it together :)
13. Talk to someone new 18th May 2012 - Sports dinner and an arranged seating plan saw this one completed...awkward small talk is always fun!

(I will be crossing off as we go) Blogging this list will make us all the most determined to complete it. Wish us luck! Any other suggestions? Pranks we could pull...? They would be much appreciated!

Gina x