A New Year and New Beginnings

It's been so many months since my last post that I am definitely feeling pretty rusty! All initial good intentions of continuing with my weekly blog seemed to go out of the window as soon as I returned and quickly slipped back into home comforts.

It is so difficult for me to sum up the events of the past 5 months as succinctly as possible. There have been highs and many, many lows. Frustratingly when I returned from Togo the search for a temporary job was unfruitful. There were a good 2 months of searching, waiting and hoping, all to no avail. As someone who has been used to working (both paid and voluntary) for several years this bought me low both spiritually and emotionally. Then God stepped in and took control. The day after prayer from a group of friends I got a part time cleaning job at church, was sent a large tax rebate and was given a financial gift from some friends. The amount raised pretty much exactly covered what I needed to pay for my Gateway course fees and my flight to America. After experiencing Gods provision in Togo I should not have been surprised. But my faith is as small as a mustard seed. God never ceases to surprise me, amaze me and have me on my knees in thankfulness. He turned what to me seemed like a hopeless situation into a story of his glory. How incredible!

So now I am here in East Texas at Mercy Ships HQ for the next month learning to draw closer to God in preparation for the year ahead in Sierra Leone. It is at times exhausting trying to keep up with the endless flow of information and new people and I know there will be many times over the next 4 weeks where I will wonder what I am doing. But for now I am committing my life to his hands, letting him take control as I know that is all I can do.

On a slightly different note, we experienced SNOW on Sunday. When packing for Texas it's not the sort of thing you expect to encounter (especially at the thought of a year in Africa) so I came woefully unprepared and under dressed! However it has spread a Narnia-esque quality over the campus, settling mostly on the trees and making for a magical sight.

One of the two lakes on Mercy Ships land

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support, it means so much to me.