Happy Christmas

The Christmas Story
Originally uploaded by Roothie

I have not got round to Christmas cards this year and the review of 2008 is still to come! So this is my chance to wish everyone a happy Christmas and a blessed 2009.

Mystery...

Back in the summer I opened my mail box to find a copy of 'Just Walk With Me' and today I come home to find a copy of 'The Barbarian Way'. I have a mystery book donator! Not got round to reading the first book yet, but I've just looked up the second book and the reviews are far from positive...!!!

Germany - Day 4

Our intentions of getting up early today did not happen! Once we were all awake we headed into Breman. We took a detour via Breast for Joel to take some photos!! We looked round more christmas markets and shops. It is a pretty little town and I really enjoyed the 'christmassey' feel to it all. I have got used to being in Germany and I will be sad to leave tomorrow.

Words we learnt...
alles gute = all good/best wishes
alles klar = all clear/understand

Germany - Day 3

Today was a relaxing day. Tabea had to work so Joel and I chilled out a lot. It was nice to sleep in for a while! Joel and I ventured to the local playground and supermarket. Many funny pictures taken in both!!

We then went to join Tabea and her older youth group. We sat in on the end of a young kids group where tabea was doing a game that involved passing matches around! There is not the same level of health and safety here in Germany!! The phrase translated was 'I see a light, i have a light, i pass it on'. Joel and I had small testimonies translated that we shared with the group. I spoke about the move to n:flame and the gap year.

We then hung out with the group socially. It was fun trying to communicate across the language barrier.

• Words we taught Tabea and the youth...innuendo, thank-you-please, brap (!), mammories (!),'on me head son', 'you're havin a laugh'
  
• Words we learnt...heisse Schnitte = hot slice, heisse liebe = hot love
  

Germany - Day 2

Far too tired this morning from all of the walking we did yesterday! Today Tabea had the morning off so we went to a town called Stade. More beautiful shops and Christmas markets. Purchased myself a few little treats. The most exciting thing was the camembert stall. My once a month purchase from Tesco was freely (in exchange for euros!) available on a market stall. Happy days!!

Still no snow today, I do feel cheated. That or the BBC website lied! Maybe I should write a strongly worded email to the met office!

This afternoon involved some chill time followed by a visit to Tabea´s church. We got to sit in on her hour of youth club. It was different to what I would call a youth club as it was everyone sat round a table for the whole time. Language is not my strong point and I felt so ignorant not being able to communicate with these young people, their English was definately better than my German. All Joel and I could mainly do was sit and listen! The church out here is different, people will attend but not actually base their lives on it. Tabea shared a story involving Mary & Joseph, but then told us that many of the young people will not actually know who they are! The session ended by singing some songs in English, including `What If God Was One Of Us`by Joan Osborne!

We then went to a big supermarket and stocked up on a few treats for the rest of our time here, we couldn´t get too much as our hand luggage is limited, mine especially!! The rest of the evening was relaxing and I got the chance to meet with a guy who would like to follow Jan´s example of doing an n:flame gap year, but in 2010/11!

Words we learnt today....
arschkarte = loser!
tschuess = goodbye/see you

(Found out that Andy who was here previously had taught the youthgroup 'cow tipping' and 'skinny dipping'!!)

Germany - (full) Day 1

So Joel and I arrived safely in Germany last night. We are staying with Tabea in Ahlerstedt, North Germany. To save on costs we decided to take just hand luggage, and I some how coped with this!! The size of my case for 5 days is amazing!!

Tabea took us round Hamburg today. As it is my first trip to Germany everything was exciting for me. We saw lots of Christmas markets and wandered round lots of shops. The signs and langauge make for some amusement at times. I have taken quite a few photos, but sadly only brought my compact camera with me! (link to photos to follow, once I have uploaded them back in the UK!) We walked miles and miles around the city and it was so good to sit down in a bar at the end of the day and have a banana beer! We saw the harbour, the red light district, the football stadium, went up St Michael`s church tower, ate crepes and much much more.

It was supposed to snow today, but did not. We were quite sad about this! It has been so good to see Tabea again. I wish I had got to know her more when she lived in North London! She is being an awesome translator and tour guide.

Words we learnt today....
ausfarhrt = exit
weihnachts markt = christmas market

Loving the Asbo

I am a fan of the Asbo Jesus cartoons, this one especially inspired me.

Festive Gathering

Here a shot of me and everyone who is either on the GAP year in a full or part time capacity. I've really enjoyed working with them so far this year and look forward to all that 2009 has in store.

Film Review

Firstly I had to look up what Changeling meant, as there was no reference to it in the film. This is what Wikipedia had to say, and it makes sense! I did not read anything about this film, had only seen the trailer, so did not know what to expect really. The production of the film with the 1920s-30s setting was good, (I found Angelina Jolie's costumes amazing!). There was a gory element to the film that was totally unexpected, so I give a warning now. It seemed a very long film, and I kept expecting it to end on a few occasions and it didn't. As this film was based on a true story, I found it amazing how corrupt the LAPD was then. I would reccomend going to see this film if you have a spare 141 minutes!

Bible Versions

I was sent this BBC link earlier today. I am all for different translations of the bible if it helps people to grasp the gospel. What I am against is the gospel being changed or re-written by people 'watering' it down. I am interested to see this new production though.

(I can also use this article in Palmers Green High School tomorrow as the session is on the bible! Excellent timing!)

Quote of the Day

"Fruits of the spirit go out the window when I'm not feeling well!"

Ruth Barratt

(-in tesco with slow walking people getting in my way when all I want is chocolate and bread for toast to help ease my sniffles!!)

Photography Workshop

Tonight I was privileged enough to be asked to lead a workshop at a local course for young people called Rooted, led by Amanda and Lewis, for the youth of Enfield and Winchmore Hill Baptist Churches. The theme was 'Seeing God Through The Arts'. I really didn't know where to start as I could have spoken for ages, but I narrowed it down and produced an ok looking powerpoint!

The task I set the groups was to go away and create some images using the props I gave them. One group had my compact camera and one had my digital SLR. I was so impressed with the images that they produced. The b/w ones are from the compact camera and the colour ones from the DSLR:

'Good Old Days' Clearout

I have been having a major clear out of my clothes in preparation for my clothes swap fundraising event for my mission trip to Tanzania.

I am the kind of person who holds great sentimentality for things. Clothes is definitely one of those areas. I think about the time I purchased certain things and more than likely wore that item to death! A lot of the clothes I decided to part with were from university days. (Mainly as they do not fit so well anymore!!) As I looked at each thing it took me back to those days. I feel better for making room in my cupboard, but it took a lot for me to part with these things. The weirder thing will be if friends take these items and wear them around me!

Blackout

Blackout
Originally uploaded by Roothie

My side of Enfield was plunged into darkness last night. As nice as it was to feel part of a community with local friends ringing me to check if I was ok, it made me realise how much we rely on electricity. Everything I was doing was cut short; I had the lights, TV and computer on and was just about to have a bath. I have only really experienced local power cuts during the day. As soon as there was no light the sky seemed so bright, it was really odd. The only light around was from buses and cars passing on the main road. All you could see from houses was the flicker of candles. Everything just seemed a lot more peaceful.

Harsh Words

Originally uploaded by Roothie

I walk past this most days and it makes me laugh, mainly for the last line and closing statement!!

A Cake With Meaning

Originally uploaded by Roothie

At the GAP Year course this morning Wendy and Jade spoke on Holiness. At the very end of the session they used this cake as their final illustration. It was two sponge cakes covered in clotted cream, with M&Ms, strawberries and raspberries. They were basically saying that holiness doesn't have to be dull or boring, it is amazing and attractive. I wrote about Jade's main three points that have stayed with me, here.

Book Review

We met as a book group again last night and discussed 'The Last Battle'. The comparisons made between this and Revelation were interesting. The questions/discussion we had included whether Ape represented mankind, whether the dwarfs not seeing was representative of non-believers and whether Calormenes had a nationality link. We also discussed the fact that sin escalates sometimes, and how Shift got caught up in the situation and didn't know what he was letting himself in for. He was a pawn in the game. I found that it was a good and easy read and it didn't have to be read twice to be understood.

All About Me

Thanks to Alice for this, which I nabbed off her blog! A fun activity for me during my lunch break. :-)

I am: ginger, 27 and wearing lovely wrist warmers in my cold office

I think: too much about silly things

I know: that amazingly no matter what I do God loves me

I have: far too much on my work 'to do' list!

I wish: that money wasn't such an issue in life

I hate: that fatty food tastes so good!

I miss: working in central London (for the location and the people)

I fear: never getting married (now there's a v honest point!!)

I hear: my foot heater whirring and trucks rumbling past on Green Lanes

I smell: of Ghost Deep Night

I crave: a Greggs chicken bake

I search: on everyclick all the time and raise money for n:flame as I do it!!!!! ;-D

I wonder: how cold my legs will get as I walk to the bank later, as for some reason I decided to wear a skirt today!

I regret: putting my car in for a service last week. It cost too much money.

I love: all of my friends and family, like a lot!

I ache: for my lost friends

I am not: that skinny anymore!

I believe: in Father, Son & Holy Spirit

I dance: stupidly to cheesy music

I sing: not very well!

I cry: not as much as I should as I bottle things up! (another honest answer!)

I fight: for things when I believe I am right!!

I win: rummikub a lot!

I lose: when people are better than me at games!

I never: leave the flat on time when I have to be somewhere!

I confuse: people with my ramblings

I listen: to radio 1 all day when at work

I can usually be found: in the portacabin that is my office, in my cosy flat, or failing that...the pub!

I am scared: of not getting my biggest hearts desire

I need: to eat cheese, most days!

I am happy about: everything I have been blessed with

I imagine: stupid life stuff thanks to films and fairy tales! Grr.

Catch Up

I have been far too busy to blog recently, so I have decided to backdate some entries. Apologies to 'googlereader' users who will be inundated for a while!

Fund Raising

I am trying to get money together to go to Tanzania with some of our GAP Year team. I am hosting a girls Clothes Swap Party. It will be at Enfield Baptist Church on Wed 19th Nov and will cost £5. Basically it is a fancy jumble sale! But I am hoping to raise some money for my trip!

Horne & Corden

As a massive fan of James Corden, the chance to go and see his new joint comedy show with Mat Horne was very exciting for me. (for those who don't know who I am talking about they are the two guys from gavin & Stacey) Their new show is called Horne & Corden. Their stuff was quite funny. I was more excited by the fact that the Corden family were sat behind me. I was interviewed with some other people for the dvd, whether they'll use it or not is another matter!

One of the character sketches they did live was called YPC, aka Young Peoples Church. I wasn't sure if I would find it offensive but it was quite funny. The quirky things they picked up on were interesting from a Christian point of view. The characters were supposed to be young guys trying to be overly cool. The phrase 'J Chrissle' had me especially laughing. If you have an open sense of humour I would reccomend to watch it when the show is on BBC3 next year.

Tough Choices

My Grandma sent me some money today. Very out of the blue, but lovely of her. I had three choices, a - pay off the last bit of my overdraft, b - put the money towards my trip to Tanzania (that I currently have no money for!!) or c - treat myself to something I've wanted for ages...

...I had to go with money for my mission trip to Tanzania.

Reccomendations

I have had some friends join the world of blogging recently. Check them out. Sammy and Lara, we welcome you!

Publicity Stunt?!

Whilst in Coventry I found this display in Zavvi. If careers hadn't been tainted, I'd have said it was all about the money!!

(for those who cannot tell what it is; its a display with Jonathan Ross' book, Russell Brands book and Fawlty Towers boxsets!)

Construct London

Friends of mine in East London have set up a 20s & 30s Christian networking event. It is held in Starbucks Barbican once a month and is much fun. I would encourage any young Christians in London to come along.

Film Review

I have never seen a Coen Brother's film before, but I really enjoyed this one. It was good to see George Clooney and Brad Pitt in non-typical roles. It was very funny at times, but wasn't a comedy. It was quite dark mostly. Well worth seeing.

Film Review

I was hoping to not be disappointed as I loved the first film, but wasn't a fan of the second. I really liked this third one, it restored my faith in the cheesy trilogy!!

As the first two were made for tv, you could tell that they had stepped up on the quality for cinema. The sets, costumes and dance routines had improved a lot. Yes, there were some awful cheesy moments, but I did enjoy it none the less.

Assistance

I was writing the prayers for church this morning in MS Word. I started it 'Dear Lord'. The Word assistant popped up and asked if I needed help to 'write my letter'?! If only it could have written my intercessory prayers for me!

Oh Dear

I may be behind the times on this case, but it came up on my yahoo feed today....seriously?!?!?

Elbow

I was given the opportunity to go and see Elbow last night. There was a spare ticket going that I didn't have to pay for, bargain! My friend is a huge fan and had been counting down the days until the gig. For me they were one of those bands I had heard of, but didn't particularly know their stuff. I really enjoyed the concert, they were amazing. I came away a fan! The ticket goes happily into my 'tickets box', along with every other concert, gig, show and exhibition I've been to.

Gallery Trip

Took a trip to The Hayward Gallery today. Went to see the Warhol exhibition. I'd seen exhibits of his stuff before, but a lot of this was unseen, and a lot of it was video work. Sadly, my favourite part was the room of giant balloons!! So much fun!

There was also another exhibition by Robin Rhode. His stuff was so creative using hardly anything to make it effective.

Film Review

I rarely cry at films, but this got me blubbing!! I was warned by a friend of mine in advance! I think because this obviously was far from fiction that it made me quite distraught! It was quite scary how they portrayed the influence and propaganda used by the nazis and how this affected the whole nation, especially the young daughter of the Commander. I also liked the flip side being shown in the attitude of the Commander's mother, she did not agree with what was going on and would not support her son's job.

The innocence of the boy's view on the concentration camp was heartbreaking, along with his fear of the Lieutenant and the other soldiers. The actor playing the servant in the house set me off, the fear in his eyes as he worked for the household never quite knowing what was going to happen.

This film in my opinion was very well produced. All of the characters had an English accent, but then as my friend pointed out as we left the cinema, why would any German actors wish to be in a film such as this! My only gripe is that I could not find a film poster for this online, not even cinema sites have a poster for it, all very odd!! (found one and changed it on 20.7.09!)

Film Review

Having never seen any of the 1980s series I did not know what to expect or what it was about. It was a long film with no major events, but I quited liked that. It was a nice pace. As always I loved the costumes and the period setting. I struggled with the heavy emphasis on faith, but not living out a life that reflected the beliefs.

Book Review

Tonight at Book Group we discussed 'God On Mute'. I failed miserably and didn't complete the book! But I did like it and will aim to finish it ASAP. There is a good mix of examples and stories. Theories from all kinds of people had been looked at and researched.

We all agreed that it was simple and to the point. It would be a good recommendation to someone struggling with a major issue. We had a mix of views on the parallels with Gethsemane. The theological debates were touched on, but only really glossed over.

It is a good reference book. There are a lot of of helpful notes, meditations and prayers at the back.

Film Review

I really hoped that this wouldn't disappoint, but it did a little bit. I got to the end and wasn't really sure what the film was about/trying to say. It had some good names, but I don't know how proud they would be of this film.

It was clever in the fact that there were no men in this film at all. I don't know if I would have noticed if my friend did not point this out!

Too Cautious?

Originally uploaded by Roothie

This 'warning' was on a plastic bag that I got a printer part in. The bag in question was smaller than a doll's head, let alone a child or baby as pictured here. It did make me laugh out loud quite a lot.

Changes

Empty Office
Originally uploaded by Roothie

My work life is very crazy at the moment. I think the phrase I would choose is 'treading water, but not drowning'.

Roy has now officially left, it feels very strange in the office without him. His old office looks very bare and lifeless. Never did I think I would miss the annoying sounds of Billy Bragg coming through the wall!!

It is now time for me to officially take things on and make stuff my own. I still haven't decided yet if this excites me or scares me rigid! Our Trustees meeting this morning was not as horrid as I thought it was going to be. So I suppose that is a good thing, (although I am still to find out what they discussed about me when I was asked to step out of the meeting as I was being talked about!)

I think my issue is that sometimes I forget that I am a grown up! I have to take responsibility for my life and the decisions that I make. I don't look my age, let alone feel it most days!

n:flame GAP Year Students

Check out who I am partially responsible for this year!!

Om Nom Nom

Originally uploaded by Roothie

I had lunch today with my good friend Pip and her little girl Millie. Never have I seen such a little person eat such a big sandwich.

Books

I have just benefited from Roy’s big book give away. Picked up a couple of nice numbers. Thanks Roy.

and thanks Lewis!! ;-)

Sunshine

Originally uploaded by Roothie

I am loving this 'late summer'. Today I sat reading in the sun, awesome. Shame we didn't get more of this over the actual summer, as opposed to almost October!

Film Review

Yet another film that made me wish I'd lived in a different period of history. I loved the costumes and the fashion.

I enjoyed the film, it stirred up a variety of feelings as I watched it. Mainly it made me appreciate being free to live and do as I please. She was so trapped between her 'duty', family, and the man she really loved. Its quick a girlie film, so I would recommend this to all females out there.

Sweet Gifts

Sweet Gifts
Originally uploaded by Roothie

I have had a lovely girl called Jennie with me on work experience for the past three weeks. She does not know what a blessing she has been to me, no matter how much I told her! The thought of someone to look after for three weeks at the beginning of term, and alongside Roy leaving was too much to cope with! But she was awesome and really helped my ongoing battle with my workload! She brought us in a massive tin of sweets as a thank you, which I know will not last long with the team I work with!!

Film Review

Oh wow! This film is something else! I don't even know where to start with describing it!! It is a really interesting concept for a film, in a way with the stars mocking the Hollywood lifestyle. It pushes the boundaries at times, and there was some nervous and embarrassed laughter coming from me and my friend throughout it. There were genuinely funny moments which made seeing the film worth it. I personally couldn't stomach the fake gore at one point.

There was a good cast, including some sneaky cameos. Tom Cruise's character being the most surprising. I cannot obviously go without mentioning the transformation of Robert Downey Junior. His performance as a stereotypical 1960s African American man was amazing.

I personally did not feel that the film dragged. I didn't wonder when it would end, and didn't feel that scenes were too long. If you have a certain sense of humour, then go and see this film!

My Sunday

What a day I had today. A group called Face2face came to Church this morning to share testimonies. I have seen them before. They tour the UK and Russia spreading the gospel through their music, which is mainly covers, but stuff that gets you thinking about God. Certain lyrics from secular songs stand out like never before. The one that spoke to me was a few lines from a Phantom Of The Opera track, "anywhere you go, let me go too,that's all I ask of you".

For lunch I went to visit my cousin and his girlfriend at their flat in Hackney. I knew they would pick a very trendy area to live in, but a whole new side to Hackney was opened up to me. They live very close to Victoria Park, and the area there is slowly emerging into a 'village'. We walked around the park and along the canal for a few hours, rounding off the afternoon with ice creams! We had to make the most of the nice weather!

I then returned to Enfield for our youth service, Passion Fruit. As the next generation of our youth have gone to uni, it is nice to see the younger ones taking more of a responsibility in the service.

Break Away

Originally uploaded by Roothie

So we went to Butlins in Minehead. All the Christians I have spoken to asked, "wasn't it weird for it not to be Spring Harvest?!" Seeing as I have not been to S.H in 7 years my answer is no! We got a privately owned caravan at a bargain price of £14 each for 3 nights, so I wasn't going to pass it up, no matter what the Butlins connotations!

It was nice to get away for a few days as I have not really has a summer break this year. (lots of trips coming up to make up for this!) We had lovely weather, which was a shock for our current UK temperatures. Apart from our noisy neighbours we all enjoyed ourselves. We mixed coastal walks with shopping, partying and relaxing.

I've decided to share my photos a bit more on my blog, so from this photo you can link to a select few of my photos from the weekend.

Time Out & Paper Tests

I've just come back from two days away at 'The Barn' near Hitchin. We took our new gap year team away for a day and night, followed by the rest of the wider n:flame team joining us for our termly away day. Its always nice to hang out and spend time with people I don't always get to have quality time with. It was also a good time to bond with the new gap year team.

During a session yesterday morning on 'working in a team' we all took a Myers-Briggs test. I had not done this for a good few years and I found it quite hard as some of the either/or answers I couldn't decide on. But I was pleased that the ESFJ description sounded about right for me.

Then this afternoon we had a session on gifts of the spirit. Time for another round of questions and adding up the answers. I really enjoyed this. We had to rate ourselves from 1-5 on 52 questions. I have since googled this and there are many similar 'tests' out there. The highest you could score was 20 per category. My highest four from this test were Administration - 20 points, Pastoral - 19 points, Practical Help - 18 points and Leadership - 16 points. Scoring high on administration does bode well for my job!! 28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 1 Cor 12v28.

All-in-all it was a good couple of days away. I felt really blessed by the time. Now onto to my next time away with some uni friends this weekend.

It Gets Earlier!

Christmas stuff in the shops already! Why when September rolls around does it mean that stores can bring in merchandise three months early?!

Protecting Our Children

I attended a course today on how to fill out a CRB form! It was as tedious as it sounds, but it had to be done. The lovely people from CCPAS hosted the training session in Islington. They also talked to us about the new Vetting and Barring Scheme. I think this is an essential thing to enforce and will affect anyone working remotely anywhere near children or vulnerable adults. Roll on October next year when the whole scheme is launched.

Haircut Rant

Today I had a haircut. I am trying to grow my hair long again so haven't been to the hairdressers in a while. My usual trusted hairdresser/friend Janet has moved away, so I was very nervous about going somewhere new as I have had so many 'stylists' get it wrong with my hair. I had to wait around for my appointment, and the girl who cut my hair didn't even see my hair dry before she started on it, she may not have even known that my hair was as curly as it is! She cut too much off, which defeated the object of the style and growing it out. So now I am left with it all short-ish again. What do you do in this situation, its not as if they can stick it back on! (well, my budgets don't stretch to extensions!) I am a little miffed to say the least. I was too annoyed to complain at the time, so I may compose a strongly worded letter!

Gingers Rule!

I was sent this link on email today, along with this message from my friend, "as a race, your needs have long been neglected. now is your time to rise and prove your red headed powers to the WORLD!" Here here I say!!

A Year Review

Not that I can quite believe it, but one year ago today I started work at n:flame. The past 12 months have shot by. When I took the job I said that I would do it until the summer and then decide from there. I currently have no desire to go anywhere, so am going to see it out for another academic year.

Its been an interesting year. The biggest thing to overcome was getting used to the change of job. I moved from a very fast paced, highly demanding job with five staff and looking after over 70 companies to following God's call and working in a much quieter, relaxed environment. It took a while to get used to it, but knowing everyone at n:flame helped me to feel at home almost straightaway.

Roy was unfortunately ill for 5 weeks just after I started, so I had to get used to things very quickly. In that time our new office arrived and I got to make a mark on the new space and didn't feel like I was filling someone elses shoes. We were donated a fancy colour printer within the first month and this meant that all of our publications could be in colour, a nice coincidence to me taking over and looking like I'd brought in some bold changes!! ☺

The highlights from this year were getting involved with leading a school CU with Lewis; seeing our GAP year boys change, grow and mature in their faith; finding my knowledge of God deepening and finally, feeling I was in the place God had called me to.

I've made some really good friends within the team, people who support me in good and bad times. Of which there have been both this year. There are far too many good times to mention and the worst things are the failed relationship that I had higher hopes for and Roy being made redundant.

Following the change in staffing I have had to step up and take more responsibility. It is still not as much pressure as I used to have in my last job, but I think that I had got too comfy in my role and was shocked when the hierarchical carpet was pulled from under me. All we have done as a team is trust God during this time, even though we don't always understand the changes.

Things I hope for in the next year include...feeling personally more confident in my new role...feeling strong enough to stand up for things without Roy there to do it for me...successfully working alongside and mentoring the new GAP students...feeling that I am able to make a difference in the work that I do.

New Neighbours

So I met my new neighbour yesterday. He said hello first and introduced himself. He seemed very nice, and he informed me of his family etc. I asked about his garden office that I can see from my flat and he was very quick to say that it was for his job as a church pastor. I was very impressed with his speed to say he was a christian! Top holy points to him!! I then wondered if they has spotted I was a christian...although the only thing to give me away by sight is the fish on my car. I then just put it down to one of those locational Godincidences. (as opposed to coincidences!!) But as I soaked in the bath this evening singing along to worship songs on my ipod, I then wondered to myself how far does sound carry from my bathroom and did my very loud singing on Sunday evening give me away....?!?

Book Review

This evening the new book group met again. Most of us had read The Shack over the past month. It was received positively among us all.

I really enjoyed it. I don't often retain information for long periods of time, however some of the stuff from this book totally changed how I viewed God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and I don't think I will forget it in a hurry. I also gained a new appreciation for how the three work together. As I read it I decided to mark parts that really stood out to me, I ended up marking a lot of the pages! The way each of the characters interacted with Mack the main character was awesome. I found myself writing notes on certain pages thinking about how I interact with God following things I was reading.

Obviously this book is fiction, and I do not know how theologically sound it is. But I found myself envying Mack for being able to spend such a decent amount of time with each of the three 'God persons'. I would definitely recommend it to Christians, but also to non Christians as it helps to paint a lovely picture of God. A picture that is different to how most people would imagine.

As Promised...

Here we go, 'my' 'new' bike! (' My' = not so much as it is on long term loan. 'New' = haven't had a bike since I was about 11!)

I had a little companion this morning when I visited The Roper house.

Necessary?!

Originally uploaded by Roothie

I only discovered this local silliness yesterday during a cinema food break! This sign is up in front of the A10 and Southbury Road junction in Enfield. A very busy crossroads. Is this sign a little too over the top for pointing out the obvious?!

Film Reviews

So I spent a well needed day off in the cinema yesterday with a friend making the most of our unlimited cards.

Firstly I could find NO sole image for this film! I had to take the small thumbnail from the Cineworld page! This film was ok. We missed the beginning, but it was very easy to work out the plotline. Take 'Save The Last Dance', mix it with 'Coyote Ugly' and you have this synopsis. Its a predictable, life is not like that really kind of film!

It took a while for this film to get interesting. The friend I was with whispered that she was bored a lot, although at the end was glad she saw it, so it cannot have been that bad! Heath Ledgers performance was totally deserving of the praise it has been given. His performance as the joker was very un-nerving. I must admit I have not seen the last batman film, so I did go into this one slightly blind of what had happened before. It was all very clever in its plotline & twists and the effects were good. I liked the summary at the end when discussing how the Joker had brought out the bad side of Dent. The obvious use of his two faces was good. I would say to go and see this film as it is a must!

This was the sing along version!! Same as before but with the words on screen! Much fun to round off our day!

0808 Festival Fun

Originally uploaded by Roothie

Its all over...well the festival part anyway. The weekend went really well and I think everyone involved would agree. We were blessed with good weather. My flickr album of pictures from the weekend can be seen by clicking on this image. This week the mission projects are going on all across North London and the stories coming in so far are all positive.

Film Review

A feel good film. Not very realistic, but fun nevertheless. Its a very classic misunderstood bad girl turns good! It was a very slanted view of England, not a chain store or town in sight! But the boarding school attitude was fairly spot on, as I went with my best friend who attended one!

Of course the pretty American girl gets the handsome English boy. And of course the whole school turn against the jealous head girl. It was all very predictable, but I did enjoy it. I only found myself cringing once! I think the line was "every time I'm with you I have to catch my breath"! Oh come on!!

The soundtrack was good, many tunes to get the audience dancing in their seats!

The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of...

I was babysitting my friends two children last night. The eldest is just over three. She was having trouble getting to sleep. So I asked her what she liked to dream about. Her response very quickly and excitedly was "chocolate". I asked if there was anything else, with a big smile she said "flowers". So I got her to settle down and try to dream of these things, suggesting maybe chocolate flowers. She sat up very suddenly and said with a very serious look on her face "but Ruth if flowers were really made of chocolate and the sun came out they would all melt". Good point I thought! Be careful what you wish for!