Just a friendly post to say....

Hello :)

If you're reading this blog I'd love to get to know you a little. Most of my writing thus far has been to get the words out of my head and maybe, hopefully help someone. I would like it to be more interactive though, to start getting to know people in the blogging world and those that read here.

People are so important, so if you're a person, obviously that means that you are important :)

Why? Simply because God created you, and I know that my God doesn't make useless things.

So, feel free to read, comment, send me a message if you have a question or just need a friend. I'm going to try and reach out to other bloggers, read and learn from them and interact, cause thus far I've mostly been a consumer of other blogs, not interacting at all, but we, as a people, a community, are stronger. There is so much that we can all learn from each other and encouragement is also always great!

I think that is something people in general just need though, people to encourage, push, and love them.

That's what we're all craving isn't it? Love in one form or another. Love is awesome, and should push us to pursue the one that is love!

So let's encourage each other. Let's all push each other to be loving and in love with God.

The memory verse for Junior Youth last week was:

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17 (I had to look up the reference. Whoops. Still got some memory work to do).

I think that is a great description of what I am wanting to get across in this post and create around this blog.

Let me know what you think!

Shendl

Vulnerability

4/11/16

I have realised something recently. I don't like vulnerability, I find it hard to share my problems with others. Whether it is because they have previously stared blankly at me or muttered some sort of "It'll be fine" in response, or have seemed disinterested in helping me, I don't understand the point of sharing a part of your life with someone when they don't care.
Yet over and over I hear that a team should be unified, should be able to help each other; we should have accountability partners who can help us with forward momentum; we should be transparent with our lives.

It is sometimes easier to put those emotions into a story or dance where they just need to be felt instead of put into words. But I was thinking that there are people in the bible that have experienced the same emotions that we do. David is one of my favourite bible characters lives. He makes mistakes, has hard times to go through, he is depressed at times, yet he is still called a man after God's own heart. A man that wasn't always happy, a man that took another's wife and had him positioned to be killed, yet God still saw his heart and that it was devoted after him.

 I think David's story can show us that we don't need to be perfect. We don't need to appear perfect in front of others. And that is hard. It is so much easier to hide my problems and deal with them myself than be vulnerable, but it is such a sweet place I want to get to. To be assured that whatever happens, whatever mistakes you make, whatever your emotions, that doesn't change your worth in God's eyes, So why does it matter so much what others think? I want to get to that place where my eyes are starry gazed, fixed on Jesus, that it is easy to admit how chipped and messed up I am. Where it doesn't matter how others see me, because I know how he sees me and if I don't have the support of others, that is actually okay.

20/5/17

Six months later and I am thinking these same thoughts. I guess some thought patterns take a while to get through. I still have the same desire though, to be humble enough to be open about my problems and failures. To not care that others see me as imperfect, because that is what I am. 

I am imperfect. 

And so are you, so what is the big deal about sharing that? Why don't we try and skip this awkward phase of not wanting to admit where we have or are going wrong. I do think with some topics you need sensitivity on who to share what with, but I don't want to be ashamed of the fact that I am not perfect anymore, because that is a silly thing to aspire to. 

Tagged

As this is a year of firsts I guess it makes sense that I have been challenged to do my first tag. It's called the Liebster Award, and as far as I can tell, is for the purpose of recognising and promoting blogs that are of a good standard but have few followers. I am quite honoured that Bonnie of Bonnie's Blessings tagged me. I recommend that you check out her blog. It is honestly an awesome place with many interesting articles ranging from faith, to a sky diving experience, to fun Awkward & Awesome posts. Besides, Bonnie is a lovely person and I am happy to know her even though we have never met in person.

So on to the tag. I have a series of 11 questions to answer and then I shall (attempt to) tag 11 (I honestly don't even know 11) bloggers to continue this challenge.

Alright, let's go!

1. What is the scariest thing you have ever done?

It may sound strange, but I think the scariest thing I have ever done was a performance. I have been involved in a number of dancing shows; whether studio shows, shows that incorporated dance, shows at festivals, etc. This one was a youth ballet and had auditions for the various parts. I didn't audition for it as I was writing my first academic exams ever during the auditions and first rehearsals. After a few months of rehearsals and people dropping out for various reasons, they decided they needed an understudy for some of the parts. To try and explain which parts and the details is too complicated for here, but I basically had to learn 6 dances in four different people's places in 6 weeks. That was hectic, but wasn't the scariest part. On the morning of a performance day one of the girls that I hadn't understudied for was sick. I had to learn her parts and placings in an hour or two before the performance without a run through and without the rest of the cast. I think waiting to go on stage that night was the most nervous I have ever been for a show, or anything! But it was exhilarating to be on stage dancing a part that I had just learnt, and I did it! I managed to do a whole performance in a position I had only learnt that day and not make too many mistakes. I honestly wouldn't have thought I was capable of that!

2. If someone asked you to give them a random piece of advice, what advice would you give them?

Something I have been reminded a lot of lately is that doing anything without love is just doing a good deed. God doesn't want us to do things begrudgingly but with love as this is what others will see and will bring Him glory. So I guess my advice would be to remember what is important and why you are doing it. 

3. Who are some famous people (currently alive) that you would like to meet someday?

Hmm, I think it would be interesting to meet Richard Dean Anderson from MacGyver (my favourite series) although I know that meeting people in person might not be as you expect. As it says some, Anthem Lights and the performing arts group Enra. 

4. Do you like to plan things out in detail or be spontaneous?

This depends on what it is and the mood that I am in. If it is an event or trip or something important, plan it. However it is also fun just to do things sometimes. 

5. What is your favourite joke?

My favourite joke is probably one about people discussing going into space and to the moon and someone says that they will be the first to go to the sun and that they won't burn up because they will go at night. I also really like the jokes that appear between friends that you can laugh about for years and sometimes don't even make sense. 

6. Who or what in your life has influenced you the most?

What: Dancing. I still want to do a post on the many things that dancing has taught me. Who: Jesus. I can't imagine my life without Him and I know that He will always have an influence on my life. I always want to keep growing and with that comes new challenges that will influence me and will put my life on a completlely different path to that which it would be if I were to blindly choose it. 

7. Do you like spicy food?

I do, although not extremely spicy. 

8. If you could try out any job for a day, which job would you pick?

I think it would be fun to see what an actress's day is like. I think it is one of those jobs that aren't normal and also will be different each day and expose you to many new experiences and views of life. 

9. If you could learn one random skill, which skill would it be?

How to pick a lock. Somehow that seems like a fun skill to have. I'm not sure how useful, but interesting. 

10. What is the biggest personal change you have ever made?

Wow. What a question. I guess deciding to do a missions program this year was a change. It was definitely different from what I thought I would be doing and has exposed me to many new things that I haven't done before. I'm not sure if that answers the question specifically but I can't think of any very personal change that was significantly large.

11. If someone were to make a movie about your life so far, what would that movie be called?

I can't think of a suitable title so I'll just choose my favourite word: Nefelibata. It kinda fits because I sometimes feel like I spend to much time in my imagination and I don't think I fit a cultural norm. 

Okay! Done! 

So now for those tagged below, these are the rules:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you

2. Answer all the questions

3. Tag 11 bloggers (if you know that many) that have less than 1000 readers

4. Ask them 11 questions

5. Let them know that you have tagged them

The people I would like to challenge are:

1. Amy from Aimzpaiges

2. Cari fom Dance In The Rain

Feel free to go look at their blogs! Amy has a lovely way of writing and using it as a form of expression with beautiful imagery and symbolism.

Cari is a lovely person that I had the pleasure to meet at a Dance Intensive. She has a bright smile, lovely heart, and though I haven't read a lot of her blog posts, she has some very interesting topics to discuss. 

And now the awkward part where I realise that I really don't know many people with a blog that has less than 1000 readers, or has the time to complete this...

Questions: 

1. What makes you feel most alive?

2. If you were to live in another place for a year, where would you choose?

3. Why is your favourite book your favourite?

4. What is the biggest change you would make to the world if you knew it would work?
5. What is your favourite way to travel?
6. Are you loud or fairly reserved?
7. What is one food that you could almost not live without?
8. What are you looking forward to?
9. What is the strangest place you have been?
10. Tea or coffee?
11. What makes you happy?

Enjoy :)

A challenge to myself

This year I am a part of a team that works in the church and in the city. It's been great and also challenging. One of the things I have for some reason been struggling with the past few weeks is having a consistent quiet time. 

It's not that I doubt the importance of it or think that I don't need to spend alone time with God, but it has been difficult to do it every day. 

Over the past few years I have had my quiet times at different times of the day. I would have it in the morning so that I could think about what I read throughout the day, I would have it at night because that's when I prefer to have it, I would have it at night and recap in the morning, I would have it at random times of the day, or I would neglect to have it at all. Recently we had a lecture on time management and one of the points was about giving God your first fruits. This also applies to your time and doesn't necessarily mean that because it says first fruits you must spend quality time with your Father in the morning the moment you open your eyes, but to give Him your best time, when you are most alert. As a night owl this is definitely at night for me. I also much prefer night time as it is quiet, there are less distractions as there probably won't be anybody coming to talk to me (just in writing this post I have been interrupted four times) or anyone running through the house. This comes with other distractions though as this is also my most creative time, the time when I want to paint or write or create. This is also the part of the day when if I have had a busy day and am tired I just want to watch a movie or simply sleep. 

Somebody brought up the fact today that in ministry you can feel like you are spending the whole day talking about, thinking about or serving God, yet these can't replace your time alone with God. Even though these are all good things and I think that they can help you to abide in God and be mindful of Him, your relationship with Him comes first before the service. You can do good things but it is hard to do them out of love without spending time with God. I thought it was interesting to compare that to human relationships. You can spend time with someone in a group of people and get to know them, and enjoy spending that time, but it won't be as meaningful, or as special, and won't develop as deep a relationship as if you were to spend time with that one person. Groups just have a different dynamic, and preparing lessons, having lectures, talking or teaching about God are like that group time. I think they will teach us more about Him and can help us to fall more in love with Him, but not without that deep relationship which comes from focusing on Him alone. 

So that is my challenge to myself at the moment, not to get so busy and distracted by everything else I want to (or need to) do and set aside time each day to have alone time with God.