Cycling Gear Joy

So tomorrow I leave on my big cycling adventure to get the ferry to the Netherlands.

So today what have I done??!

I don't know why everything is so white in this photo! Where did my elbow go?!

That's right...I've put on all my cycling gear (which is surprisingly comfortable!) and taken a load of timed photos.

Just for fun?

Well there's that...

But there's also the fact that I want to encourage as many of you to sponsor me as possible. 

Pictured you will see the fancy road bike I have hired to help me through Friday-Monday. You will also see some incredibly attractive cycling glasses! My snazzy blue helmet which is going to protect my brain from all potential damage. Some hot cycling shorts, gloves and shirt...which all have the potential of attracting European guys who I might whizz past and dazzle with my obvious good looks and unique fashion style. 

All I can say is that this weekend is going to be an adventure and seeing as I love adventures it should be very fun, if a little painful. 

For all you pray-ers out there please pray for safety/no injuries as I really don't want to hurt myself long term doing this. 

THANKS

Youth Prayer Journey

You might not know that I have taken on a leadership role with the youth at my Church here in London. For the last few months we've been meeting once a month after Church for lunch, teaching and worship. It's been really fun and a great way to get to know the teens in the Church.

On Sunday we had the September meeting and this month I decided it would be cool to encourage the youth to go on a little prayer journey; to engage with God on a personal level. A lot of them have been at a Christian youth festival called Newday over the summer and have come back really fired up and passionate about spending time with God. So this was a little exercise to help them to keep that alive.

We had 8 different stations with different activities and Bible verses which ranged from praising God to confessing sin, affirming our identity in Christ to praying for the persecuted Church. 

The stations were:
#1. Praise God (by listening to worship music, reading Psalms, writing own Psalm)
#2. Confess Sin (by reflecting on our failures and how we want to change, taking a stone and dropping it in water to signify sins being taken away)
#3. Affirm Identity in Christ (by looking in the mirror and assessing what is seen. Reading post-its with truths from Freedom in Christ book on - taking any that are particularly meaningful)
#4. Give worries to God (by writing worries on post-it and then screwing up and throwing in the bin as an act of giving them to God)
#5. Thank God (by having a wall of thanks that people could write on)
#6. Prayer wall for friends/family (by having a "wall" that people could write in the bricks for people)
#7. Pray for persecuted Church (by having an Open Doors booklet which youth could read and then pray for countries)
#8. Pray for Lewisham/London (by having a big map of Lewisham and some prompts to pray for: Police, Mayor, Councillors etc)

We ended the session by sharing communion together. It's so interesting being able to be a part of the spiritual journey of these young people! Like the questions they come out with are so unpredictable and yet are really key in building solid foundations. 

I think I took a lot away from the session too - I think sometimes giving space to really engage with God is what I need. There are so many distractions in everyday life and having some prompts and time to commit to spending with God is always really beneficial for me. 

If you are a youth worker or want to use this prayer journey let me know and I'll send you the full resources I've created.