Nice... (job stuff)

It was the National Academy for Parenting Practitioners' away day today. That's where I work by the way. One of the perks about working for a government-funded organisation affiliated with King's College London is that you get the nicest venues for events, like our Christmas party, and now our away day. I love it. Today the venue was near Tower Bridge (which I do see everyday on my journey to work anyway, but the novelty has not yet worn off). Really posh stuff, but this time modern, not rustic.

It was fun, actually - nice to be out of the office for a day, and I got a really good picture of what the academy is about. It basically exists to help parents who don't have the resources to be better parents and raise children who are wonderful contributors to society. I think I'm on board with that. I don't think some of my colleagues were much helped by it though, but nobody could fault the food!

One of the team building activities was African drumming. In a nutshell, imagine lots of clueless academic types trying to force a rhythm out of (large and very heavy!) drums. We weren't too bad.

I won an award! 'Best newcomer' was me - I think thanks to the lovely team I am a part of at Denmark Hill. Made my day actually, as there are lots of newcomers (NAPP is a very new organisation) so the competition could have been tough.

I still can't get over God's amazing hand in how I got the job! It is one of the things that gives me joy, and allows me to share God's greatness to people. Basically, I was at my lowest when God used my friend Ibiere to slide me into the role. I can't even boast that I beat off many applicants at a role I saw advertised somewhere.

Message for me: God is KIND, and God answers prayer.

What have I learned?

It's been a totally crazy time since I finished Relay. Real Life is one big challenge, and my first 5 months in it has brought its many obstacles, smiles, new faces (with the job I've been doing, I've seen hundreds), hopes, prayers, tears.

Resolution has come, with a new job starting Monday, and maybe, just maybe I'll be able to settle into a routine that means I journey daily to one place, interact with about the same people every day, and form a semblance of normalcy in my young life. Who knows?

Well, practically on the eve of this momentous occasion, I want to remember to take stock, and think - what have I learned in the past few months since Relay has finished - about myself, about my relationship with God?

1. God is always on my side. What I mean is that God does all things in my life to grow me, to glorify Himself and to teach me. So an unexpected job rejection is glorifying to Himself in that it means that I don't rely on the job, I learn to find my hope completely in Him.


2. I need to communicate with God more. Hands up who feels close to God all the time. I certainly don't. So when trials/worries come, I tend to take them one board like I'm the only one who has them to deal with instead of praying like I'm reminded to in 1 Peter 5:7. Because I have a God who not only can but will look after me I shouldn't worry. I should pray!


3. As little as I like to admit it, I'm a typical girl. I'm no different to other girls. I like similar things (clothes, good food, the odd magazine). I get self-conscious about my thighs. Some days I feel ugly. Some days I feel lonely. Some days I feel single. This is a good thing because it keeps me humble. It makes me realise that I'm not the only person in the world that's going through what I'm going through, and that I'm not the centre of the universe, Jesus is. I recommend Louis Giglio's "Indescribable" and "How great is our God" tour DVDs (to be viewed in that order) to remind you of just Who is in charge when you feel prideful self-pity, or just plain old ugly pride in yourself.


4. Jesus is really the most beautiful. The Psalms point to God's majesty and splendour, and how great His love is for me. I need to learn to fix my eyes on God, so I don't weep for sheer despair when things collapse in on me. God is beautiful. God is beautiful. That should be my mantra.


5. I have to learn to fear sin more than suffering. The consequences of my sin have far worse repercussions than that of my suffering. I currently fear suffering way more than sin.

I think that's all...but that doesn't mean I won't have to keep learning all those lessons again, particularly the last two points. Thank you Lord for your patience with me. Help me grow, and not to keep crawling like a baby Christian when I should be running, sprinting for the fnish line.

NEWs

I got a new job.

It's really not what I envisaged I'd be spending my time doing; more a last resort as pending expenses loom large and funds run really low. I've also had a really rubbishy time jobhunting, with real disappointments that I've been told were owing to the current financial situation. So you'll understand my feeling that it's back to square one, to roles that I feel slightly overqualified for. Can I hear somebody say "Aww?!"

I have to praise God though. Even though I've found it so hard to in the past few days. He has been extra gracious in giving me at least something to fill my time and pay my way to a good extent for a while. By his grace, He's also given me team leader who is a Christian, and a Nigerian. I wrote a post not too long ago asking people to pray for more black fundamentalists, and wow, I believe I may have met one in my team leader. It is a rare thing just to find a Christian in a group, but to find someone who seems to really know what it means to hold fast to Christ alone - that's encouraging. Thank God. I look forward to seeing how this works out in the hectic nature of the job. There is always something to thank God for, as I was reminded today, because He is forever gracious.

So, there are so many bible verses that should comfort me in this time - "consider it pure joy, fridns when you go through all kinds of trials, because the testing of your faith produces perseverance, perseverances (produces) character, and character hope". That's from James 1.