Choose Life – 11th of April

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HEIRS AND DOGS

” 1 John 3:1
‘ How great is the love the Father has lavished on us,that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!’

A new convert approached Watchman Nee in deep anguish of soul, saying, ‘No matter how much I pray, no matter how hard I try, I simply cannot seem to be faithful to my Lord. I think I’m losing my salvation.’ Watchman Nee replied, ‘Do you see this dog here? He is my dog. He is house-trained; he never makes a mess; he is obedient; he is a pure delight to me. Out in the kitchen I have a son, a baby son. He throws his food around, he fouls his clothes, he’s a total mess. But who is going to inherit my kingdom? Not my dog. My son in my heir! And you are Jesus Christ’s heir because it is fo you that he died.’
It’s deeply liberating to know we are Christ’s heirs not through our strivings for perfections, but simply by means of grace. It’s difficult for us to grasp fully the concept of grace. Maybe this illustration will help: A burglar broke into a house and killed a sleeping baby. If the father tracked down the burglar and killed him, that would be revenge. If the law took its course and the burglar was sent to prison, that would be justice. If the father forgave the burglar, took him into his home, and treated him as his own son, that would be grace. It sounds an absurd scenario, yet that’s what God did for us, even though it was we who killed his son. How about spending some time meditating on that for a while?”

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Choose Life – 9th of April.

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Amen, anger, bible, Bless, book, broken homes, Caring, Children, Choose Life, Choose Life by Simon Guilebaud, church, church family, Corinthians, discomfort, earth, encouraging, family, Franciscan, God, hunger, inspirational, jesus, Joy, justice, kindness, life, life is not a dress rehersal, living, love, Loving, opinions, our family, pain, peace, people, poor, pray, Prayer, reading, rejection, Simon Guillebaud, truth, turn their pain into joy, war, Wisdom, world, writer

Topsy or Turvy was the title of todays reading and I thought I would share it with you because it’s genius.

” 1 Corinthians 1:27,28
‘God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are.’

God’s ways are sometimes topsy-turvy. With him, things work differently. The first are the last and the last are the first. God in heaven becomes a baby on earth. Our life comes through his death. His cross provides our crown. Foolish shame wise. Weak shame strong. His ways are most definitely not our ways. But thank God his ways aren’t ours. In our sophistication, we’ve learned how to make a living but not how to live; we have higher incomes, but lower morals; we have more acquaintances but fewer friends; we have fancy houses but broken homes. The list goes on…
Tosy-turvy… his ways right, our ways wrong.
And when it comes to praying, you might think it reasonable to pray for comfort, peace, joy, wisdom, but this Franciscans prayer offers us the total opposite.

‘May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war,
So that you may reach our your hand to comfort them and
To turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in this world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done.
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.’

Lord I choose – maybe with some hesitation, but convinced it is your will – to embrace this benediction for my life today. Amen!”

– Choose Life by Simon Guillebaud

I almost shouted at my book as I was reading the prayer by this Franciscan but as I kept reading, it strangely made sense. What do you think?

Much love

I Love What I’m Scared Of.

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Academy of Music, Acoustic Guitar, America, blessing, City, creation, family, father, friends, Fundraising, Garden, God, heart, IHOP, IHOPU, Influence the world, international house of prayer, jesus, Kansas City, King, Leading Worship, life, love, music, musician, praise, Prayer, Praying to God, Provision, Pursue, students, Talking to God, university, walk, weather, wildlife, world, worship

I just came home. Drenched and cold. Do you ever have those days where you just need to go for a walk? yup.. well maybe when its nice weather. It was pouring but I still went. Jacket on, non-waterproof shoes on, headphones in and of I went. I knew where I was going. I was going to one of my favorite places, the garden. Many of you might know where it is but I don’t really tell many people. Many.. as in 1. The good thing about going for walks in the rain is that no one is around. Its peaceful. The sound of the rain is peaceful and my music makes me happy. I can sing aloud till my hearts content and that’s what I did. I just needed to think and have space to think and to pray. I had a little outburst at God this evening.. I said to him “God, do you know how much I want to go to IHOP Uni?! Can you not just show me what to do!” 

Your probably a tad confused at the moment? Well, IHOP is the International House Of Prayer in Kansas city, America. America!! They have a University which includes an Academy of Ministry, an Academy of Music and others. 

Academy of Music… where you don’t need to be a certain level to attend.. ‘FMA (Forerunner Music Academy) is geared to take the one who knows nothing to being able to be proficient in the instrument they choose.’ Perfect. More than perfect. They have such a heart for their students. To help people influence the world. Because we are more powerful than we think we are in Christ. 

You guys know how much I love music and how much I want to try my hardest to pursue music. Its the thing that scares me most. Getting up there and leading worship. I can’t harmonize to save my life so I prefer leading.. My friend once said to me ‘If God wasn’t with you, He wouldn’t give you the last bit of courage to get up there and do it.’ I worry and worry and then when I’m actually worshiping it is my favorite place in the whole world. Seriously. I love it more than I’m scared of it and I never want to leave. Its actually quite difficult to worship while you lead. That’s something I need to work on too and I really want to go to IHOP to learn, to discover and to grow in a country I never stop talking about. Like ever. 

I just don’t know.. I mean, maybe God does want me to pursue Music but maybe its not at IHOP. It would be awesome if it was but I am struggling to figure out what to do. I mean, Gods going to have to hurry up because if I do go to IHOP then I’ll need to start fundraising extremely soon. God always provides though so I shouldn’t worry about that. I just want to know whether its the right thing because ‘God doesn’t plant a desire in someones heart that he doesn’t plan to fulfill.’ Right?

I can’t remember all the encouraging things people have said to me.. but some are:

” You are going to influence the world.” (this one.. I was like, wow. I was really really young when someone told me this at church so that is just the gist of what she said to me. How am I going to influence the world? through music or something else?)

“I can tell your a musician. You sing everywhere.”

“You really blessed me with that song.”

“I can tell you have a real desire for it and your heart is in the right place for it.” 

And, I only have the guitar I have because the person that gave it to me felt that God wanted him to give it to me.. 

So, these are my prayers just now. Please pray for clarity and provision in the way God leads me. Thank you my lovelies. 

Songs On Repeat..

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band, Beth Croft, christian camp, church, Creating music, dance, dreams, festival, friendship, God, Gods Kindness, Gods love, Gods mercy, holy spirit, Hope, Hope for the hopeless, Joy, leaders, life, love, Love story, Loving Jesus, Loving Music, lyrics, music, peace, people, Praising Jesus, Prayer, Praying To Jesus, reality, Rule In My Heart, Songs on repeat, Soul Survivor, Soul Survivor 2014, Soul Survivor England, Soul Survivor Scotland, Summer Camp, world, Worship Album, Worship Band, Worship Central, Worship Leaders, Worshiping Jesus

I thought I’d lighten the mood over here on my blog by sharing two of my favorite songs right now. The Way by Worship Central literally makes me want to burst. It is SO good. It really makes me realize that that would be my dream. To do something like that. To create music. To encourage people. To see people dance. To see people showing their love to Jesus through music. To express my love for Jesus through music. It literally makes my heart want to burst. Ah! The song is amazing though.. have a listen 🙂 

And Beth Croft just released a new album called Rule In My Heart. I.Love.The.Lyrics. Beth Croft is one of the worship leaders at Soul Survivor so I was already familiar with the song and I love it so much. Soul Survivor introduced me to both of my favorite songs just now, good job!;)

Soul Survivor 2014 – God is amazing!

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Emotional, friends, God, Healing, holy spirit, jesus, Joy, laughter, life, love, music, pain, praise, Prayer, sermon, Soul Survivor, Soul Survivor 2014, Soul Survivor Scotland, suffering, Summer, worship, youth group

Chances are, you have probably arrived here after reading my last blog post about Soul Survivor. The light hearted, funny stories that came out the week. There are also some more serious and amazing stories that I’m going to share with you.

Again, I don’t know where to start.

During the week God was doing some amazing stuff. If you haven’t seen it before, it can be a little strange. Like, when people pray and stuff happens. Some might cry, shake, laugh, fall over. Its the Holy Spirit filling them. There are a few funny stories that I actually just have to share. One of the people in our youth group laughs when he is filled with the holy spirit. I don’t mean a quite giggle, I mean more of a howling laugh and it was absolutely hilarious. The sermon started and he just kept going. The whole room erupted in laughter, I’m not exaggerating. But as the week went on, we got used to it. There was someone else who was still standing at the front when the sermon was happening and he was standing there, hands in the air, dancing and praising Jesus. Again, we got used to it but it was really funny. Joking aside, I always got so happy for people when they were filled with the Holy Spirit. It was so good to watch and to pray for more.

I had never had an experience like this before Soul Survivor. Then, on the second last night, Mike was talking about pain and hurt. Two things that I really did go to Soul Survivor praying about. So I went for prayer. Nothing happened. I stood there getting kind of bored if I’m honest and the lady who was praying for me whispered in my ear ‘your so closed up, why is that?’ I replied ‘I.. I don’t know.’ she asked me to hold my hands out in front of me, to receive Jesus. My hands starting feeling tingly and I was crying. My tears were coming from deep, deep, deep down and thats how I new it was Jesus. It was like I was crying out everything and I couldn’t stop. I can’t even describe it but I had never cried like that before. I was finding it hard to breath as well. I actually thought I’d need to take my inhaler haha! But it felt soo good and when I went back to my seat my friend came over and I just hugged him for ages. Crying, still crying and then a different friend came and I hugged her and him for ages. Everything got a bit emotional at times! I loved being there for my friends too.

Seeing my best friend being filled with the Holy Spirit was the most amazing thing ever. We were praying for our friends ankle which was extremely painful (God healed it! whoop whoop!) and as she was praying she just started laughing. Like randomly laughing, really really loud. I couldn’t stop smiling because I knew this was how Jesus filled her with the Holy Spirit. So I prayed for her and I prayed for more and I couldn’t stop smiling. You have no idea! After a while, we gave her time by herself and I could see her with her arms stretched wide, tears rolling down her face, praising Jesus. I went back to my friend and he and I just danced and sang at the top of our lungs. I ran and him because I was so happy for her and so happy that the Holy Spirit filled her with such joy.

Man! I don’t even know if any of that made any sense what so ever! But, God did some amazing things at Soul Survivor. Loads of people were also healed. Oh and on the first night, Mike said: ‘I think God is saying that there is someone in here who seriously thought about committing suicide a few days ago and He knew you were coming here and wants to heal you.’
Wow. Some one at the back raised their hand and she was prayed for. How amazing is that though?! 

I could go on and on… So I shall stop now. I can not wait for next year!! 🙂

 

Soul Survivor 2014!

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cafe, Camp Site, Ceilidh, Christianity, church, family, food, friends, God, Harry Potter, jesus, Joy, laughter, long boarding, Lord of the rings, love, music, pain, praise, Prayer, Scottish Music, Seminars, Soul Survivor, Soul Survivor 2014, Soul Survivor Scotland, sports, suffering, Summer Camp, worship, youth group

I’ve been sitting here for a while trying to figure out how to start this blog post. Attempting to compact a week of camping, worshiping, phone disasters, seminars, friends, a ceilidh and much more into one post is going to be a challenge but here we go….

Wait. Before you start reading, I suggest you grab yourself a cup of tea or coffee. Your going to be here a while. Especially since there is another post to follow.

This time last week we were at Soul Survivor Scotland. It all began by the job and half that putting up tents always is. We had an amazing lady who cooks the best food in the universe join us too to cook for us and laugh with us. I honestly don’t think the week would have been as good if we didn’t have delicious food 😉 we are all so thankful for that! Each day was filled with two main meetings, seminars, a cafe, tool shed (stuff to buy!) and sports. There was also an open mic afternoon, celluloid (movies), late night worship and hanging out at the camp site. I went to the late night worship a couple of times which I really enjoyed! Some of us took our long boards but the skate park wasn’t big enough to cruise but we took two guitars so I spent a lot of time playing and singing which was fun 🙂 The main meetings were by far my favorite. I loved the balance of worship and hearing from Gods word. Gathering with everyone and praying for others was awesome.

I’m finding this all very difficult to put into one blog post….

The seminars that I went to were Praying For People So That Stuff Happens, The Problem Of Pain, Growing In The Wilderness, The Transformation Of A Nation, Has Science Disproved Christianity?, and Naturally Supernatural. I didn’t take notes for all of them (sadly) but I might share some with you in a different blog post.

I’m not going to lie, by the end of the week I was pretty tired so, stupidly, I made myself comfortable in the ‘Has Science Disproved Christianity?’ seminar and dozed off a couple of times. My friend had to hit me on the head to I’d waken up. My other friend literally fell asleep for the whole seminar. I remember hearing a lot that I’d learned in RMPS though so its ok! It was pretty funny though because a few of my other friends were finding it hard to stay awake too. Not because it wasn’t interesting (It actually was extremely relevant!) but just because the going to bed late and waking up early catches up on you at some point and thats when it decided to happen.

Now, there were many weird and wonderful events that occurred through out the week. One being that I dropped my phone down the toilet. I know your thinking, its water just put it in rice for a few days and it should be fine. No no no… this was the camp site toilets which means they are filled with chemicals. Plus, I’m pretty sure my phone was down there for a number of days. Highly unlikely that it would work again. To my surprise, some people fetched my phone when they were cleaning out the toilets (yuck!), they disinfected it, cleaned it and gave it back. I now have my phone, sitting in a bowl of rice knowing it is never going to work again but the hope is still there… kind of… maybe not so much. However, my sim card still works so that’s a bonus. Anyway, that was kind of an event of the week. Oh but it got worse, my friend decided to tell Mike Pilivachi this story so in an evening meeting he mentioned it in front of the whole of Soul Survivor. Mike and Andy starting asking me a series of questions and generally rubbing it in that my i Phone has died forever. Pretty sure I was Soul Survivor famous for that…. everyone seemed to know my name ” ahhh your Lisa? The one from Inverness who dropped her phone down the toilet?” …. “Yep. Thats me.”

BUT.. yesterday I opened the door to two of my friends giving me a gift. They gave me a phone and I was speechless. All I could say was ‘Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Thank you!’ Such kind, kind people! Wow!

As the week went on we started getting a bit more lively in the main meeting worship. We started dancing and jumping and it was ok because everyone was looking silly. The music was loud and you could feel it in your heart. One of the worship leaders, Beth Croft, has an album coming out so if you haven’t listened to her I recommend you do! I really love her music 🙂 I also bought a song book from the Tool Shed which has hundreds and hundreds of songs that Soul Survivor have played over the years so I can learn loads more on guitar! This is very exciting for me…

Then, on the last day, at the last main meeting, many dressed up. The theme was movie series. It was absolutely hysterical because Mike and Andy dressed up as Legeless and Frodo Baggins with Darth Vada leading worship. I could not listen to the sermon seriously. It was so funny. I didn’t dress up, I like seeing others dress up but I don’t really like it. My friend dressed up as Harry Potter and another as the Joker. Then, there was a ceilidh on the last night. I love ceilidhs! But I wish they had actual Scottish Music (Pretty sure they booked the band for the wrong night) but it was fun all the same! 😀 Oh and on that last night, someone decided it would be a fabulous idea to play bag pipes at two in the morning. Just as well I have deep sleeps other wise I would have kicked off 😉

I think I’m going to stop this post here. I’ll write another one with stuff that God had been doing through out our week there 🙂

But here are some photos!!

 

Challenging Myself.

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A change in me, Acoustic Guitar, Beauty and the beast, broadway, challenge, Challenging myself, confidence, encouragement, friends, German, Germany, God, guitar, life, love, lyrics, Maths, Modern Studies, moral, music, Music theory, Musical, patience, philosophical, piano, practice, Prayer, Religious, school, senior, singing, subjects, Summer, Voice

It feels strange, being in my last year of high school. I remember when my brother was in sixth year. I thought he was so old and much like an adult. I don’t feel old.. in fact, because of my height, I feel like I could pass as I first year. Last week, I was buddying for the Primary sevens that are coming to secondary school after the summer and I kid you not, many of them were taller than me. I mean, it is slightly worrying but at the same time I do actually love being small. I just had to laugh because I doubt they realized that I’m actually a sixth year. Anyway, this is my last year of school so I wanted to challenge myself a bit.

This year I chose Higher Modern Studies (because I’m so bad at English so I need some literacy subjects) Intermediate 2 maths (bad idea!), Advanced Higher German (Currently trying to convince Edinburgh College to make an acceptation and let me do open learning because apparently our school don’t have the syllabus for this level) and Higher Music. Maths is just not my thing. I mean really… I am literally incapable. But I’m trying. I will stay at least until I receive my exam results because if I didn’t get a good grade in Higher RMPS then I will re-take that and drop Maths. Anyway, Music. I have missed a year of music and therefore I’m pretty out of practice with the theory side of things so this alone is a challenge for me. However, my music teacher is so so patient and does anything he can to help me. On top of this, I chose acoustic guitar and voice as my two instruments. Acoustic guitar? no problemo. Voice? totally out of my comfort zone. I mean 1, this means singing solo infront of people. 2, this means singing without my guitar. 3, this means being tested on my vocal range. As you can imagine, voice is really testing my confidence. Which I don’t have a lot of, to be honest. But this is part of the reason I chose voice. All I want to do is be able to sing without shaking like a leaf. Its actually extremely annoying and I really want to have more confidence because music is something that I love.

My friend is helping me in music because he is also doing voice and plays piano so we don’t need the teacher all of the time. However, yesterday I went into my own practice room and practiced ‘ A Change In Me’ which is from Beauty and The Beast. My teacher gave me the CD so I could practice and it was going really well singing with no one there. Then my friend came in and asked ‘Are you winning?’ and I replied ‘I am actually’… bad idea.. this meant he wanted to hear it. I always sang really quietly so both the teacher and my friend could barely hear me but yesterday I just had to try harder. I asked him to stand where I couldn’t see him so I would be less nervous. But I sang. And I sang louder and it was so nerve racking. I could hit the high notes but I stopped because I was scared I’d mess up but it was ok,he helped me because he knew I could do them.But that was enough for one day. The thing is, I will get more confident and eventually I’ll be able to sing it all with people watching but that was quite an achievement for one day to be honest haha! I’m just trying to challenge myself and praying that I’ll get more confident because music is something that I love.

above, I linked ‘A Change In Me’ so if your interested you can listen to the song I’m practicing 🙂 But I realized that I think the version I’m doing at school is bit higher so its actually easier to sing with this video. Maybe I’ll ask if I can sing in a little bit of a lower key. Failing that, I can cope with the higher notes if I have to haha!

Keeping Score.

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artist, broken heart, emotions, encouragement, forgiveness, francesca battistelli, God, Hope, instrument, jesus, keeping score, life, love, lyrics, music, peace, praise, Prayer, song, songwriting, worship

There are so many songs out there, so many different types of songs. Your almost guaranteed to find one that fits how. Your feeling. You know when you just find a song that is so on point with how your feeling? I do.

Future Plans and Personal Statements(:

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Avon, Berlin, books, church, college, Communities, culture, encouragement, English, family, Fluent, future, German, Grammer, guitar, history, Language, life, magazines, Modern Studies, Munich, music, passion, Personal Statement, philosophy, Prayer, Psychology, reading, religious studies, school, Skills, Social Sciences, society, Sociology, Tourism, travel, Work Experience

The last time I spoke to some of you guys about ‘future plans’ I probably told you that I plan on staying for sixth year. There has been a change in plan. Don’t worry, I’m not flunking school or anything… I’ve applied for some courses at colleges that would allow me entry into the second year of University… if I complete them with the needed grades. I have applied for Social Sciences at Glasgow Clyde College and Travel and Tourism and Advanced Higher German at Edinburgh College. During the research process, some of my friends and I have been praying. However, if it’s not right then I’ll probably just not get accepted and I will do my sixth year at school but I am so excited In case I do get accepted. Most of my time has been spent writing these three personal statements so I hope either my Travel and Tourism and Advanced German or Social Studies statements will be enough. So yea, I just thought I’d let you guys know. I also spoke to my guidance teacher about it and she thought that it would be more beneficial for me and I am sensible and ready for the next step. I would really appreciate your prayers. I have just submitted the applications today so it may take a little while for them to reply but I will update you when they do. Thank you for praying for me!(:

You can stop reading now but if your interested in reading my personal statements or maybe you need some ideas for your own then keep reading 🙂

So I had to write three personal statements. The first one, Travel and Tourism, took the longest because my brother was helping me with corrections and he’s a perfectionist.. I’m not complaining! Its probably better than my other ones because I just wrote them by myself and my mum helped me a little 🙂 So Travel and Tourism:

‘Your family lives all over the world’ is not something every child gets to hear. Every year there would be new places to visit, new people to meet, new countries to see. I first realized I had an interest in Travel and Tourism when I began to discover more about the countries I would be visiting. I became fascinated by the vast variety of languages, tourist destinations and stunning scenery. 

This industry interests me because I enjoy learning about different cultures and tourist destinations. Since I was a child I have toured around Europe and other parts of the world. This founded my passion for languages and culture. I have also been taught German from a young age and studied it at school to SQA Higher level. Because of the enjoyment and challenge I experienced, I am eager to further my knowledge in the language. 

From spending time with family in Germany, I have personal experience of that country’s way of life. Through this I am able to appreciate the wonderful contrast in cultures. The city of Edinburgh is therefore an ideal study setting for this field and living in the heart of this historic city would enable me to familiarize myself with the issues relevant to international Travel and Tourism. 

Outwith studying, my interest continues. Attending youth group and church has allowed me to meet numerous people from many backgrounds which has strengthened my interest in the subject. Committing to learning to play the guitar has inspired me to explore music from many cultures. I also enjoy reading books, magazines and newspapers. These can provide knowledge of various cultures, industries and world events. Work experience at Munlochy Animal Aid and Avon has taught me about cooperation with others; these have increased my confidence and my sense of responsibility. 

I am passionate and enthusiastic about places and people. I have good social skills and I am disciplined and organized, striving to fulfill my potential in all areas of my life.

Next, Advanced Higher German:

German has always been a focus in my life. Because both of my parents and other family members are German, I was taught the language from a young age. As I grew older, I wanted to become fluent. The more I practiced, the more I wanted to learn.

However, I first realized that I had a passion for German after an exchange trip to Berlin where a completely different dialect from my family’s one is spoken. I thought it was fascinating that there were different ways of speaking the same language. During this experience, I became friends with a girl from Berlin. She has been my pen pal since then and we exchange letters and emails regularly. Writing in English and German allows us both to practice our conversation skills and learn new phrases. As well as this, spending time with family in Germany has given me personal experience of this country’s way of life. 

I studied German at school to SQA Higher level. Because of the challenge it brings, I am eager to further my knowledge in the language. Outwith studying, my dedication to Germany and its language continues. By reading German magazines, I have deepened my understanding of grammar. I am determined to accomplish my potential in this subject. Recently, I helped out with a German Day at my school where many pupils had the opportunity to discover more about the culture and basic knowledge of the language. It was an enjoyable and rewarding time for me as it encouraged the pupils to learn about the culture and basic knowledge of the language in a relaxed atmosphere. Moreover, I learned a lot about working with others; this has increased my confidence and my sense of responsibility. 

Germany’s culture has also inspired me to pursue the study of German. With a great interest in travel, culture is something that I am intrigued by. I am passionate and enthusiastic about places and people. I have good social skills and I am disciplined and organized, striving to fulfill my potential in all areas of my life.

And last by not least, Social Sciences:

There are so many unanswered questions in the world we live in. Why are people being discriminated? What makes
people react in the way they do? These are questions I have been asking myself during the time in which I am studying
Religious, Moral and Philosophical Studies and Modern Studies. These subjects allow me to be challenged by the issues
prevalent in the society we live in today. 

My interest in the workings of society revolve around the people I spend time with regularly. I am particularly interested
in the ways people recover from difficult situations. By attending youth group and church I have met different types of
people who have been through various incidents in their lives through which they may have felt excluded or confused.
Youth group has taught me a lot about cooperation with others, responsibility and equal opportunities.

I am also intrigued by the way people react to their surroundings and, in particular, the reasons why people commit
crimes. This is a part of the Higher course I am doing in Religious Studies. I am intrigued by the questions raised by
philosophers about the problems people are and have been faced with both in History and at the present time. In Modern Studies,
we spend time exploring the issues pertaining to Health and Wealth in the United Kingdom. We covered topics such as,
poverty, health inequalities and why they are caused. This enabled me to have a deeper understanding of inequalities that are present in my own environment.

I also feel that foreign languages help me to understand different societies and communities. From a young age I have
been learning German and spent a lot of time visiting family and friends there. This has helped me to understand and
appreciate that country’s way of life. I have realized that being able to speak German has enabled me to communicate
with a  range of people that are from a culture other than my own. 

I am passionate and enthusiastic about places and people. I have good social skills and I am disciplined and organized,
 striving to fulfill my potential in all areas of my life. 

If there are any mistakes please don’t tell me haha!! Because I can’t change them:P
But hopefully that gave you an idea of why I have applied for those particular courses and if you need ideas, hopefully that gave you some 🙂

The Secret Place.

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Acoustic Guitar, beauty, dance, education, encouragement, friends, German, God, growth, heart, Hope, jesus, Joy, Letter, life, long board, love, lyrics, music, Original song, Prayer, Rose, the secret place, worship, youth group

It all started at youth group a few weeks ago. There was worship playing in the background and we found a spot to just focus on God. Somewhere with no distractions. Naturally, I have to move far away from Rachael because we make each other laugh way too easily. No but, we are serious in these circumstances 🙂 I have a spot in the room where I always sit. Its quite near the front but in front of a kind of board thing so no one can see me and I can only see those in front of me and the band. That is why I like this spot, no one watching but I can watch the band. Anyway, I was just sitting there trying to focus, trying to hear, trying to listen. Trying to go to my secret place. It wasn’t working. I couldn’t hear Jesus in my secret place.. I don’t know what I was or wasn’t doing but I thought I was trying really hard to concentrate. After a while, I just lay there, tears streaming down my face because I didn’t know what to do. All I knew is that I wanted to hear God’s voice so SO badly. It still wasn’t working. Afterwards, my friend came up to me and gave me a note. A note that, again, made my cry. I keep it in the back of my phone so I always have it with me. It says:

‘Lisa, I got a picture of a rose bud which grew into a huge rose! There’s so much in that! Growth. Beautiful fragrance. Beauty. Precious. Delicate.
People are fascinated by you. You excite people. People love to look at you and the things you do.’

It just blessed me, you know? Its nice to feel encouraged and feel that people appreciate you. Because, it isn’t always easy. Life isn’t always easy but when someone writes you a letter of a picture God gives them for you it just melts my heart. It gave me hope. Hope that God hasn’t forgotten me, that I am precious, beautiful and delicate. That I am a rose bud that will grow into a HUGE rose;) I love roses. I love Jesus 🙂

So, on Tuesday lyrics kept popping into my head. You know how it is? Or maybe you don’t.. but lyrics kept coming and eventually I had to write them down before I forgot. That day, when I was home by myself, I started to play. I started to work out how this song would flow. So that’s it! I really hope it works.. if it doesn’t I’ll re post it at some point.

Thank you beautiful people!

Side note: I got 25 out of 25 in my German speaking test. Happy Girly!! Thats 25% of my final grade.. so its pretty important. I’m off to drink a hot mug of tea and watch Dance Academy now 🙂 Oh!! And.. my long board will be arriving at my house tonight! More on that later 😉