22.3.05

Finals Week at Capernwray

It's not at all what one might expect a finals week to look like; normal lecures replaced with not exams or presentations but worship and sharing and O.T. reading. Study is replaced with long conversations, last minute rule breaking and packing. One thing remains the same: no sleep.
This really is a good week, though.

Good things yesterday:
Getting up 10 minutes before the breakfast bell (it's a record) and singing "Going to the Chappel" as the wake up call for the express reason of annoying Justin.
Frosties for breakfast.
Rob mentioning "Short Circut" in lectures.
Rob lecturing.
Final session of "Hinds Feet" spent on amazing limestone cliffs with friends and hot chocolate.
Erin letting me pack as much stuff as I wanted in her suitcase.
Only one evening lecture.
Tie Dye with Leslie!
Capernwray Unplugged cd arrival.

Good things today:
Sleeping in half an hour.
Family breakfast.
Year book signing (people signing mine, not me signing theirs).
Last trip to Lancaster.
£111 for peace of mind.
Plane tickets to Paris.
Friends.

17.3.05

Thankyou Jesus

We've had the director from Tauernhof, Hans Peter Royer, speaking to us this week on "Turning Truth into Experience". I can't explain any other way than to say it's been powerfuly simple and profound at the same time. One of the first things he spoke to us on was just the simple obediance of saying "thankyou" to God when ever *anything* happens. So this week, when stupid little things have gone wrong, I've tried to work on that. Haven't always been successful, naturally, but it has been pretty cool as far as seeing the results (my sanity).
Some of those cool little things that God's done this week:
Left extra weight in Erin and my suitacases so that I can send more with her and mail less.
Provided a hostel yesterday for Ester weekend (yeah I thought we were gona live on the street).
Gave a lot of people the inclination to be really nice and cool and helpful.

14.3.05

£52 Box

Hm. It's interesting how it's costing so much more to mail stuff to austria than it is to fly there. More even than flying to Italy, Spain and Austria combined. Hm. Yeah my laptop's worth more than me.
Well, it's good to be home. A little werid... for a number of reasons. Every few hours BJ and I find eachother cos we miss eachother, and every time I see Ashley or Becky I hug them. It's also a little weird because instead of lectures today each team is sharing about their experiences over the last 10 days. Some people think today is pretty much the most borring day we've ever had, but I so far have loved hearing about everyone's outreach and how God has been working and how amazing the church in Britain is. And then the whole issue of the fact that we're all so excited to be back and to see eachother and then we have to deal with the fact that in another 10 or so days we're leaving again. For good. Thank goodness for Tauernhof. All of us austria kids are so stokd to be going there. It's going to be amazing. But England and Capernwray are amazing, too. Sigh.
So, email and snail mail are cool. The mound of packages and stacks of mail were incredible to see on arrival in the Hall yesterday. Even more cool because one of each was for me. (Yes, I am a selfish being.) Mmm, and even cooler because my Pammy Wammy finally got mail.
Yes, the rambling must come to an end at some point, so I'll stop this unorganized flow of bits and pieces that flows from my fingers now.

7.3.05

Lemsip and Telly

[England is so Cool could be the title of my day]

Kiddies in uniforms,
St. James' isn't catholic.
Eyes closed in the car,
That or walking again.
Curry or traditional,
Tea, tea, and more tea.
Soaps and reality shows,
One uni vs another.
Can I say Really good accents.

6.3.05

*shrugs*

Having internet access for some reason makes me feel inclined to blog regularly even though I don't really have much to say.
How is it that Nottingham and Bolton have snow and Leyland doesn't?
Forgetting how to propperly chat online is something I never thought would happen.
The "Destinations" catagory on the Ryanair website is my favorite and least favorite thing - it gives you the information you need, but not what you want.
Warm showers, even if they involve strings, buttons and dials, rock my world.
Tonight was a night for experiencing a real communion service: 6 people (4 from Capers), a wonderful loaf of bread, a table, a guitar, honest sharing.
In England they call erasers "rubbers". And they don't say "crap".
At the end of this week my team will have the strongest right shoulders Capernwray has ever known.

5.3.05

Weekends Really Are for Relaxing

I hate to say "God is good" when I'm having a particularly good time, but why not say it - it's always true whether I feel inclined to say it or not.
Today is one of those days where I feel undeservedly blessed. At Capernwray we have this thing called 10 Day Outreach. Sounds terrifying at worst and stressful at best. But actually, contrary to what we all thought and (the staff Will say "told you so") I'm begining to think this is going to be one of the coolest weeks of Winter School.
In a list: faithful God, freakin rock star team, excited and friendly church, way cool Pastor Tony, wonnnderful host home (Phill and Carol... mmm love 'em) with internet, hilarious yet useful puppet shows, lots and lots of kids, food (need I say more?). Yeah. Obviously, we just got here and the "real" work hasn't started, but it's looking exciting. (Said whilst siting in a warm room with a full tummy and no plans for the evening, granted.)
I think I've used my 20 minutes, and Capernwray habbits are hard to excape.
Sleep tight everyone.