I love being a student !!!

Most people think we're vile parasites, a pimple on the bum of humanity. With nothing better to do all day than watch day time T.V. whilst eating baked beans straight from the can.
Well this may be true of a lot a students ! It depends on which course you do.
Students like my younger brother who are doing courses that do not lead to a job afterwards (he's doing an English Language Degree), and who whinge about doing less than nine hours a week in uni actually give students like me a bad name !!!
I persoannly do twice as many hours in uni and a school placement every tuesday ! (I also hold a part time job)

Now, please understand that I am not complaining about my timetable. This is because I LOVE being a student. I love being at uni.
I'm on a teacher training course and it is so much fun ! My group at uni is also a lot of fun, we all get on really well and have a laugh and really help each other out with our course.

We've been back a week after the Christmas holidays, and it was so interesting to see how many of them disliked being back at home. Most of them couldn't wait to come back to uni, and gain their independence back away from their parents again.
I myself have lived away from home for over a year before starting uni, so didn't have this problem over xmas. But having visited my parents for short periods of time could see where they were coming from with that.

So are we going to work harder now that we are SO glad to be back ???
I'd like to say yes straight away, but in fairness we've only been back a week, give us a chance ! lol.
I shall keep you posted on our progress.

O.M.G !!! Narnia !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well what can I say ! The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is just a sensational piece of cinema !!!! That film will go down in history.
Everything about it was amazing. The characters, the scenery, the script, the acting, the story line (especially in its relation to the Gospel !).

I know I shouldn't because she's evil and therefore probably represents the devil or some evil demon, but I loved the White Witch. Not because she's evil, but because she has such a presence on the screen, and she's the sort of character that you just LOVE to HATE !
She does actually remind us how powerful evil can be. Evil can be manipulative ie, take the scene where she tricks Edmund into believing how he could one day be king on Narnia if he only did what she told him.

Having said that... Good will always triumph eventually ! Hurrah !!
Aslan and his followers (or as Dan and I put it, 'Believers'), triumphed over the witch, because they believed. They believed in what they were fighting for. For their freedom, and more importantly, their right to Love !!
God is Love ! And if we believe in love then we believe in Him. To me that is such a simple but massive statement.

I got chatting to a woman on a train once, and though i cannot remember the conversation we were having, one sentence she said really stuck with me:
"It doesn't matter who we are, what we do, or even who we love, but God put us on this earth to love each other".

That to me is amazing !
And though many might see all that as airy fairy statements that are not exactly going to change the world, I personally couldn't go through my life without love, especially my love for God.

That's why Narnia meant so much to me. As a fairly new christian I need these reminders that God is real. He is the living God. And I got so emotional when Peter cried "For Aslan, For Narnia". Thats all God wants, our love and our desire to fight for His Son's church.
And i fully intend to ! Anyone with me ?

The Grace of God Upon My Life

'The Grace of God Upon My Life' is my favourite worship song. It's actually a very simple song in itself, but it has tremendous meaning, especially for me personally.
I first heard the song on the live worship album, 'The Passion of God's Son', which is the live worship from the 2004 NFI Leaders Conference in Brighton. I just absolutely fell in love with the song.
It tells that His Grace is nothing to do with what we have done, or even that we deserve it, but that it's given simply because He loves us.
It's unending, unfailing, unmerited, unlimited (as the song goes).

I sang this song at the very same conference in 2005, the year in which I let God into my heart.

I attended this conference, not because I have any designs on going into church leadership, but just simply because I was asked by my very good friend Dan (Baxter's Boy). I went because I wanted to meet with God, and I knew that here was a very good chance to try and do so.
Well the worship was exceptional and so inspiring. you could just feel the presence of God in the room, as over 3000 people sang their praises to Him.

The 3 years prior to the conference I had been coming to know God more and more, as I was introduced to Him by Dan. I come from a non religious background, but I always wondered about God and what He was about. This was my chance.

About 3 days into the conference, a Pastor friend of Dan's who was one of the people we attended the conference with, had a word for me. He felt that I was holding back from giving myself fully to God. This was very spooky, as 5 minutes before hand I had said the same thing to Dan !!!
Well during the worship following this incident, we sang my song, 'The Grace of God Upon My Life'. And I was blown away. I told God that I wanted to let Him into my heart. And He was there; I felt this cool breeze on the back of my neck, it was like he was standing behind me, and had I fell he'd have caught me. It was amazing.

Things didn't quite end there for that day. After the evening session, the people I was at the conference with, including Dan, all prayed for me. Sat on the floor of our accomodation, they laid hands on me, praying and giving words of prophecy. And I became a Christian, I saw in one awesome moment, a picture of a great and glorious God on a throne, and me just looking up at Him in complete awe.

Being at that conference gave me a wonderful spirit filled feeling, and I pray to God that it never leaves me. The Grace He has shown me is wonderful. There is nothing like having God's love for you.
That's why that song is so special to me.