Daily Spiritual Habits :)

I have just got back from 'Youthwork Conference 2013,' a weekend of training for youth workers all across the United Kingdom, set in sunny Eastbourne (yes youth doesn't exactly come to mind when I think of Eastbourne either!) My next few blogposts will no doubt be heavily influenced by what I learnt over the weekend and one thing which was discussed in a seminar I went to, was the view of daily spiritual routines- elements to help you connect with God on a daily basis. In the seminar these were described at 'The Three Ss.' These three elements are - Simplicity -Surrender and -Solitude. In this Blogpost I will discuss what is meant by simplicity and how it can have a positive impact on our personal and spiritual lives.

Simplicity

Defined as the state or quality of being simple and can be used to imply beauty, purity or clarity. According to St Thomas Aquinas God is 'infinitely simple' and the Franciscan order of the Roman Catholics and Anglicans strive after simplicity in all areas, following the example of St Francis

So what does simplicity look like in a person?
I cannot think of an individual who represents this quality of simple spirit more than Mother Teresa. An individual who left home at 18 to become a nun, who often had to beg and go without food, shoes and shelter in order to serve those people in Calcutta that were at the very bottom of the heap pile. She gave up everything, thrusting herself into extreme poverty. She is also arguably the best example of Jesus there has ever been, apart from Jesus himself of course!

The life of a monk or nun has never appealed to me. Living in a secluded area, with no personal possessions and/or personal identity seems to me, an extroverted people person, like a complete nightmare. Though I think the life they lead is very admirable I've always thought, absolutely not my cup of tea! Whilst this remains true, perhaps these men and women who simplify their lives down to the barest essentials and live in communion with God and to serve others have something that can be passed onto all of our lives. We live in a period of history which just LOVES material possessions! How much 'stuff' do we own? I know personally I am a huge fan of clutter, and having posters and nicknacks all around my room makes me feel cozy and safe in my room. But if I think about that for a second...how ridiculous is that?! Do we have a tendency to place our emotions/self-worth/moods/feelings on our material possessions instead of trusting in God?
Does this also transfer into a less practical means but also our spiritual lives? What junk needs to be cleared out and does anything need to be simplified?

As it says in Matthews 18:4 when Jesus discovered the
 'Anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.'
What elements of simplicity does a child have which we as autonomous adults might be able to adopt into our daily lives?
-Being Thankful. 

In my opinion, children are always very appreciative and often the smallest present is like THE coolest thing in the world. I know often I begin to take for granted everything that is given to me by God. 
Yes, an individual prayer of mine hasn't been answered yet BUT do I thank God on a daily basis for the air I breathe or for my family or that I am healthy and happy?
In Psalm 92:2 it says: 'Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song,' but do we earnestly do that on a daily basis? Or does prayer tend to become a wishlist of what we would like to happen next? 

- A clear sense of purpose. 
Children are very goal focused. Teaching the trumpet has taught me this. If my pupils have a grade or a concert to aim towards their practise and commitment to the trumpet sky rockets. If they have no immediate reason to commit, they will often avoid the trumpet or go off and watch The Simpsons instead. 

Do we also have this ability to forget our purpose?
In Philippians 3:14 it  says: 
'I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.'

Do we always remember we need to keep running and not stop? Or do we sometimes see an interesting shop on the way and go and have a look? 

I know recently I have decided on clear manageable focuses in my relationship with God. Maybe I want to improve my knowledge of the Psalms or I want to pray for a situation until something changes. Either way,a clear purpose to my daily walk is so important.

-The need to be focused.
Now, I volunteer for a local primary school year 3 class and I know that in order for any of the children to do a good amount of work they NEED to be focused, much like with our walk

of faith. However, like adults these children will often find a few distractions to be able to focus on instead of their work. One of the children in chatting about seeing 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2' or one child is kicking their chair, whatever it is vying for their attention, if they do not focus work slowly slips down on their agenda. 
Do we also have the ability to be distracted in our daily lives?
What vyes for our attention?
It says in Psalm 121, 
'I lift my eyes up to the mountains, where does my help come from? My help comes from you maker of heaven, creator of the earth.'
Are our eyes fixed on the mountains or do they look around us and get distracted by what's going on around us?

I have found when I have started each day with a small prayer asking God to help me focus on him through the day this has kept me focused on his plan and purposes for my day and life. 

Hopefully this has helped you explore the aspect of simplicity and given you a few practical ideas to keep your focus on God and not on what's around us. I know I am the worst for being distracted by what's around me and I continue to try and zone in and listen to the divine not the world.
Peace out. :) <3 

What Happens When You are Flung Out of Your Comfort Zone..

This is taken from a talk I did about my time in China at a International China Concern information evening last week :)

In April 2012, my boyfriend Gaz and I stepped out of the airport and into Hongkong to start our new adventure with ICC. We were both very anxious  as we had never done anything like it before and I remember telling the team of all ages,from me being the youngest at 19 to Christine who was 67 that I was very scared about the prospect of having a human being solely dependent on me. I also told Gaz that I was particularly worried about having a heavy, large child who I couldn’t lift or one who was unresponsive, so we prayed that night that we would both receive the child that God had in mind for us and that he would help us to be able to know what to do. On the first day in the welfare centre, I was handed an absolutely beautiful, small girl called Junjun who loved nothing more than being cuddled and being sung

too. All the team commented on a special bond that we appeared to have from the beginning and the whole experience of looking after her was a complete joy. My favourite memory is one day when we went outside. We had a lovely time feeling the grass, going for walks in the fresh air and even meeting a local pet dog- all very new and exciting. Suddenly, it started to rain and I mean torrential downpour. So I quickly bundled her in the buggy and started to run back inside whilst we both were getting soaked! As I was running along I could hear screaming from Junjun so I stopped to reassure her but as I looked I could see she was squealing and laughing her head off at this brand new sensation of wind and rain, a very special moment.

So how was I impacted by my trip to China?

When we arrived in the Welfare Centre there was a big sign on the wall declaring, ‘we have potential too.’ Getting to know a disabled child on such a personal level really opened my eyes to how cherished they are by God and how we cannot say what potential they have. This really made me cherish the sanctity of life and the fact that God looks after and values each abandoned child, though the state may have given up on the them. When Gaz and I left the welfare centre for the last time, I felt an overwhelming feeling of peace, that Junjun was in the best of hands and that God had got her. This made me evaluate that I should treat every individual I meet on the daily basis with the same idea in mind, that God values them all and so should I regardless of status or disability.

 It is amazing that I have heard about abandoned children in China for many years but it wasn’t until I got to know one individual abandoned and disabled child that I realised what this means. Each child abandoned has a personality, likes and dislikes and most importantly is cherished and loved by a saviour who gave his life for each one of them. If Jesus were in China today, I have no doubt he would be cuddling and spending time with these children which society has apparently given up on. As Jesus is no longer physically on the earth, I was heavily challenged about the fact that God needs us, it falls to these broken clay jars, you and me to be his hands and feet in this world. Gaz and I are hoping once we finish training and when we are specifically called by God, that we can go out to China for a longer period of time and try

Even 18 months later, my background on my computer is a photo of me and Junjun, to help me remember that all are cherished and loved by Jesus but also to challenge me to strive to practically show this love to those who many need it. So I would encourage you, if you are thinking about going to China- just go for it and embrace the transformation! If you aren’t thinking about going to China, start thinking about it!

Here is the website of the charity I went with International China Concern who do amazing, continued work with abandoned, disabled Children in central, urban China.

 http://www.chinaconcern.org/

Neither Male or Female for we are all One in Christ

“Sometimes the hardest part of the journey is believing you're worthy of the trip.” 

(Glenn Beck)

This Youtube clip is currently the newest video to go viral with many of my friends on Facebook sharing it around. The video deals with the idea of female self worth including a man telling all women who watch that they are cherished and smart. It is of course a great video and obviously will speak truth and light to many situations but I have to ask myself this question.

How did it get to the point that cheesy, wonderfully American videos have become the form of self-worth for women across the globe? Is this honestly helping the problem?

I am not a negative individual and I am the last person to discourage anyone- but there are aspects of this video which I not only disagree with but which really annoy me! Whilst the sentiments this gentlemen shares are obviously from the heart and are the truth- he is essentially a good looking guy telling women their great qualities starting with 'you are beautiful' (why women's best qualities seem to always be seen as their outward appearence baffles me) I know from experience that whilst growing up, I would often gain my self worth from being loved and cherished by boys, thriving on any compliment or positive thing they said about me. Whilst encouragement is SO important, encouragement from human sources should not replace the self worth you can gain in Jesus and filling that hole with human entities is going to end in disaster. I certainly worry that the fact this is a good looking guy telling women they are cherished is treading on thin ice. Why not a female? Why not an older gentlemen who could play the role as a grandfather or father figure? Why an aesthetically pleasing young and attractive male whom many young girls watching these videos would want to gain approval from? You should not look to others to build your confidence but look inside you to see the treasure within.

But that is enough of moaning! I believe that simply the nature of the person of Jesus and many aspects of the bible are sufficient for all women to gain complete self-worth!
Many people would argue that the bible, Christianity and subsequently Jesus are degrading of women. At face value, women do seem misrepresented in the bible, with the 12 disciples being male and Paul saying some interesting comments about women in the church (Many of which I and many others would argue is due to specific churches and not as the 'church' as a whole but unfortunately that is a completely different rabbit hole to go down and would take far too much time to debate on this blog post- watch this space if it interests you!!) However, I would argue that if you read into the nature of Jesus, you can see an individual who deeply cared for and cherished women as a gender.

This is a separate post from one about feminism, which I am incredibly passionate about, but more emphasis on female self worth. Whenever I feel particularly down trodden simply due to my gender I go back to my namesake, 'Lydia' seller of purple cloth which was one of the first leaders of a the early church and she was....dun dun duuuunnnn... FEMALE. Or the pure epicness that is Deborah in the bible who heard directly from God and lead the most awesome battle against some pretty nasty people leading the entire of Israel to victory boldly proclaiming,' ' By the glory of God Sisera (nasty man) will fall at the hands of a woman!' Or Esther who saved the entire Jewish race through bravery or Rahab, a prostitute who helped Hebrew spies and thus became part of the lineage of Jesus.

The fact that some women were Jesus' most loyal followers and never deserted him when his disciples, being the last to leave him whilst he was dying on the cross. A group of women were also the first individual's Jesus revealed himself to after his resurrection, with Mary Magdalene having an incredibly touching and personal encounter. The woman at the well was the first individual Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah to and Jesus would take a lot of time to teach women such as Mary (Martha's sister) and later Martha on a personal level, which in the day in the times Jewish men would daily pray, 'Thank You God I am not a gentile, not a slave and not a woman,' is incredibly powerful.

Jesus used stories about women to explain theological concepts such as the woman with the lost coin and even describes himself like a mother hen wanting to gather together her chicks. In general, women  have a very special place in the bible and are treasured by God by the fact they are used and pinnacle to the plan of Jesus. But most exciting of all is that most women in the bible are treasured for their bravery, intellect, confidence NOT just outward appearences which so annoys me about self worth videos like this today.
Fundamentally, Jesus, the perfect son of God, died on the cross for all women across the globe and that is something to grab hold of and treasure.

I will no doubt come to this topic again and again as I believe it is so important, but in regards to this video- ladies- look within yourself, at the person of Jesus and in the bible and that is where your self worth inhabits NOT random American boys telling you are beautiful!

Peace out :) <3