Colour Your World 2006

(the music blares)

It's the final countdown...
The final countdown
Ooh oh

(guitars go mad...)

And it's time... Colour Your World 2006 kicks off tomorrow! (at 5am for some of us... ouch)
But I cannot wait to see lives transformed, mindsets changed, and strongholds broken!

So... sugar and spice and all things nice... that's what little girls are made of, but
Colour Your World... That's what Kingdom Princesses are made from!

Bring it on Ladies!

All Of You

So here we are, God. Just you and me.
All of you and all of me.
I wonder, did you plan this?
Did you know I would end up here?
I feel a bit like Job, asking why
yet never receiving an answer.
I have screamed until my voice is hoarse
and my throat parched
but still I run in circles-
running into myself at every turn.
Again I wonder: How did I get here?
Now I look for the first time beyond myself
and see a world I never knew-
a world I longed for in that secret place.
I see it through a murky window, dim and removed
yet somehow I know
that you will take me there, if I will let you.
Looking in your eyes I see myself
not as I am
but as I can be-
as You see me
and I know that your life is the life I want.
Will you take me there, Lord?
Will you open the door that I cannot?
Here we stand, just you and me.
All of you and all of me
and I know that you are enough.
That you are all.
That you are.
So I leave behind myself and all I was
as I step through the door and close it.
I am in your hands, I am at your mercy
and your mercies are new every day.

So here we are, God. Just you and me.
All of you and none of me.

Phoenix

Blue Like Jazz

This is the book I'm absolutely LOVING at the moment. This is from the book, about loneliness.

Loneliness is something that happens to us, but I think it is something we can move ourselves out of. I think a person who is lonely should dig into a community, give himself to a community, humble himself before his friends, initiate community, teach people to care for each other, love each other. Jesus does not want us floating through space or sitting in front of our televisions. Jesus wants us interacting, eating together, laughing together, praying together. Loneliness is something that came with the fall.
If loving other people is a bit of heaven then certainly isolation is a bit of hell, and to that degree, here on earth, we decide in which state we would like to live.

(from Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller)

Time... Never enough of it.

Well, it has been a busy few days. REALLY busy, but REALLY good as well. Sunday at church was once again an awe inspiring experience. Frank Damazzio spoke in the 1st 2 services, and Chris Caine in the evening. Let me tell you something: Lives were changed on Sunday! And I'm not just talking about people who found Jesus, though there were STAX of them too, I'm talking about everyone who was there to be a part of it. It was a defining week-end in our individual and corporate lives.

(now I'm really excited to see what will happen at Colour this week-end!)
(5 Days... and counting)



So after church on Sunday we went to Buckingham Palace to baptize Kim and a few other people in the fountains. It was the middle of the night but we didn't care, we were buzzing with God's presence. So we baptized 3 people, not in the big fountain as there was no water in the big fountain (go figure) but at a small fountain around the corner right next to the river. It was perfect. There was one streetlamp right above us giving us a beautiful glow and there was a sea of daffodils to one side to complete it. What more could you ask for?





Then last night we had a 'hair party' at our place, for a few of the ladies to get their hair cut before Colour. Great night. Not enough sleep. But really good company.

So that's the last few days summarised. I can see that my last 3 months are going to be ACTION PACKED and GO GO GO!
Not that I would have had it any other way.

Our Commission

We had a leadership conference in Leatherhead today with Chris Caine and Frank Damazzio. It was three sessions of pure gold. My mind is still reeling from all the amazing things that were said. I honestly love that we can be a part of a church that is so bent on seeing people grow and flourish in life and their walk with God. I also love how leadership in church completely turns the normal perspective of leadership on its head.

Look at the normal 'leadership pyramid'. You have a pyramid, divided into layers, and as you climb higher on the pyramid you have a higher position of leadeship and the very top, the peak of the pyramid would be the highest position attainable. Basically traditional leadership would have you believe that the higher you climb the more people you have to serve you. In church, however, you literally turn the pyramid upside down so that the higher you climb on the pyramid, the more you actually serve people. You are a leader not to be served but to serve.

Frank spoke about the church in Acts 2, how they were the first church, the benchmark if you will. The church of today has a responsibility to become the church again. For a very long time now church has completely lost its relevancy. It became all about rituals and religious traditions and forgot that we are Christ's bride set on earth to reach a lost and broken world. It is our responsibility to build God's house the way he intended it to be. Wow. That's big. Huge, in fact, but exciting at the same time. After us, it's the rapture. The end. Are we sharing Jesus with our world? Are we actually IN the world that we are trying to reach? Are we giving people the opportunity to experience life and freedom that comes from knowing Jesus as their saviour? If we aren't we are NOT really being the church because you cannot seperate Jesus from his church.

Well, there you have it. Our responsibility: The Great Commission: Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

It doesn't get any clearer than that, now does it?

I love to laugh!

Don't you just LOVE to laugh? I have just been laughing so hard that I was actually crying, and I tell you what, it's the most therapeutic thing in the world. I honestly think that we should laugh more, we would never need to worry about de-stressing again!

So come on, bring on the laughter!

And one of the best songs from Mary Poppins:
"We love to laugh (HA HA HA HA HA) loud and long and clear
We love to laugh (HA HA HA HA) so everybody can hear
The more we laugh, the more we fill with glee
And the more the glee, the more we're a merrier we."

I did it!

Well, yesterday I finally did it... I booked my flight to SA. One way. Yikes, talk about reality check! I knew that the time was coming, but it was like it really hit home that I'm leaving in three months. As excited as I am to be moving into the next season of my life, it is going to be the hardest thing to say goodbye to everything I have here. To everyONE I have here.

This week-end was a real highlight of that fact as well, and I got really emotional when I thought about how much my friends mean to me. This will be a season I will never forget.

Easter Bank Holiday Week-End

Well, Easter week-end is drawing to a close, and what a week-end! It has been four days of absolute bliss. Lots of junk food, lots of socializing and lots and lots of fun!

We kicked off with a movie and pizza night on Thursday, which turned into a pizza and conversation night as we only watched one film... Singin' in the Rain (great choice of film though!)... and then ended up chatting and listening to music until 3am.

On Friday I did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that required any physical energy. Loaded music onto my iPod and basically vegged out until about 7pm when I finally left the house to head over to Thamesmead to Frans and Susan's with Janet. I watched The Count of Monte Cristo for the first time. Great movie! I actually wasn't expecting it to be as good as that. Saturday we chilled most of the morning, went into Thamesmead to do some shopping for Janet's SA trip. We went for coffee at a little cafe called The Friends. They do real caff coffee. They type you can drink ten cups of without even realising it. It's just smooth and easy to drink. Saturday night we watched Ice Age 2 and if possible, it was even funnier than the first one.



Sunday was church. J John did the Easter special services and I laughed so hard I almost cried. It was a great day in the house, and SO many people made decisions to put Jesus first! It was VERY exciting! After church Kim and I headed over to her place and crashed there for the night. This morning we were going to head over to Hampton Court Palace to have a picnic in the gardens, but we ended up staying in Richmond in park and walking along the river. It was a really beautiful day, though a bit chilly when the sun disappeared behind the clouds. We had ice cream and more junk food and eventually headed back to her place. Watched the end of Shrek 2 for the hundredth time and then came home for the first time in 3 days. It's been a great week-end, but it's nice to be home. We're watching Ocean's Twelve now and then I'm goint to have an early night as tomorrow we have to drag ourselves out of bed early to go jogging again. Viva las Runners!

Just an update.

So Deb and I started jogging this morning. Yes, you heard me, JOGGING. And in the MORNING! We were out of the house at 6:30 this morning. It felt so good to walk back into the house after we had had a good run around the park. Now the test will be when we have to wake up again tomorrow morning and do the same thing again. Hmmm... I'm rooting for us to actually keep it up.

The days here are getting longer and longer, which is fabulous! But Summer is just not happening! It starts warming up just a little, and then the temperature dips back down again. On Sunday night on the way home from Wembley it was only 2 degrees outside. 2 DEGREES! I mean, really. It's the 11th of April, where is the HOT WEATHER?????? My skin is so pale at this point in time I have started going translucent. If I don't catch some rays soon I will disappear altogether. Not cool.

But one the lighter side, the longer days gives more photo opportunities around the city- YAY!

Check these out...

London On The Go

Putney Bridge

Dancing lights

Colour Your World

It's almost time to colour your world! Our annual Women's Conference is coming up in JUST 19 DAYS! YIPPEEEEE!!!! Colour is a conference about empowering women to break out and step into all tha God has for them. It also totally 'princessifies' every person who has the opportunity to be there. Now please, don't get me wrong, I do not mean we all become squirmy, giggling GIRLS! (heaven forbid I should ever be a giggling girl...) No, there are those who are the more girly girls who love being princesses, but then there are the rest of us. What colour does is makes you see what your role is as Princess... WARRIOR Princess. (Now THAT's more like it!) It is liberating to be in a conference centre with 2500 women from different backgrounds and races, all different ages and all there for one reason: God. There are mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers and friends all there to worship our creator. There is just something about women worshipping together. It is as though all of us are being woeed and strenghtened at the same time. You become so vulnerable yet you become more determined than ever to do what you are called to do: To stand. To fight the good fight. To defend the heart and breath of whatever we come alongside. But most of all, to LOVE. After all, that's what we are here for, isn't it?

Ephesians 6:13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

1 Timothy 6:11-12 Pursue a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for what we believe.

Matthew 22:36-39 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

Check out the website:
Colour Conference 2006

Frenzy Festival 2006

I am absolutely DYING to go to this!
I mean- with bands like David Crowder, Delirious?, Tree63, Tim Hughes etc, who wouldn't?

Frenzy festival 2006