Indian Summer

Portsmouth is currently experiencing some amazing weather. We are talking 25+ degrees, clear blue sky, dress wearing, ice cream melting weather. So for all of you who told me that England is freezing, and I should only pack wool and flannel - you're wrong! In all fairness, this is incredibly uncommon, but it is such a blessing.

This week was really mental in terms of work, although it went by incredibly quickly.

Monday: Nothing exciting. I did laundry. I took pictures of my laundry - you'll see why! Absolutely no room to move in my room when the clothes are drying.

Tuesday: Work was normal. Daisy left!! She is officially gone. She is embarking on an incredible nine month trip. She flew to New Zealand (her luggage got lost!). She will be going from New Zealand to Australia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia... she is going to have an amazing time. Please pray for her safety, health, and a quick return of her luggage.
I also went to Bible study on Tuesday night. The speaker from the Sunday evening service, Charlie, came and talked a bit more about vocation. We asked her questions about her work, her life, her faith and her vision for the church. She is a very soft-spoken woman, but she just draws you in. Everything she says is very intentional, and knowledgeable. We were very lucky to have her!

Wednesday: Work was normal. Just busy with Open Day prep. But my evening was absolutely lovely. I got to skype with my dearest Sarah Eng, whom I miss dreadfully. It was so lovely to see her face. Sarah, I miss you! Pray that the Lord will bless her in her schooling, and all of her work at church (Team, Youth Min, Connect groups etc). After a lovely skype date, I went down to the Bold Forester pub (love the names!) with Ashley, and we had wine and a 'chin-wag' (as they say over here).

Thursday: A ridiculously long day, but it ended wonderfully. I worked for the usual 9 hours, and then I volunteered to man a table at Careers Evening for the girls. I don't really have a career (clearly) so I wasn't sure how well it would go, but it was wonderful. Girls just came up to my table, and we talked about university, theatre, taking a year off etc. The English school system works in such a way that these girls have to start thinking about university, and their pre-reqs at age 14. Some of these girls were at my table really stressed out. It broke my heart - I fully approve of the Canadian school system for high school education, compared with the one here. The two things that I told every single girl was that they a) need to love what they are taking. If they are taking a bunch of classes for a Science degree, but are hating the material, they will not do well. b) Be open to the fact that you will mostly change your mind between now and the end of their degrees. These girls are 13/14 and trying to decide what they want to do with the rest of their lives. I really emphasized that, and made sure they realized that it isn't a bad thing. It was bit stressful with Mum and Dad sitting there as I told their daughter to not bow to pressure to take certain classes etc. But most of the parents were on the same page as me. It was so much fun to talk to these girls, and learn about their passions and hobbies. One girl asked me if women could play hockey in Canada, because she loves the sport, but doesn't get a chance to play. I went into that evening at 5pm, right when my work day ended and I was beat. But those two hours flew by so quickly.

Friday: Work was awful. And I don't really know why. I think I was just at the point where I was mentally exhausted, and a bit discouraged. We were working late that day, but only until about 6. But I spent the last half hour ducking into bathrooms to stop myself from dissolving into tears. I wasn't given clear instructions, so I was sort of wandering around aimlessly, but I couldn't really leave. It was just a weird day. However, we finally did get out of there around 6 which meant.... Barn Dance time!!! And that was absolutely hysterical. The lovely Sarah Spender picked me up, and we arrived after the first dance had started. With the exception of 3 or 4 people, no one knew what they were doing. It was great! We did big group dances, and square dances. We twirled and promenaded and skipped and 'basket-turned'. I left at about 10pm, since I had to go back to school in the morning for Open Day. But when I arrived home, Judy and Andrew were having a dinner party with their brothers and sisters. So I ended up sitting with their family (who are absolutely hysterical!) drinking wine and eating chocolate, and cheese. So much for healthy eating!

Saturday: Open Day. As far as I was concerned, everything went very smoothly. We arrived at 8:30, and started tying up big pink balloons. I spent about half my morning manning the gate with Lisa Dale, the new Welfare Officer and Fleur Emery, part-time receptionist. Lisa is going to be my official boss in the next couple of weeks, and she is just the most lovely woman. I could not be more blessed to have her as my boss. We had a really nice talk about the school, what our working styles are, what kind of supervision we both need etc. I am really glad we got that opportunity. I also got to talk with Fleur about her life. She is such a cool woman. She has her own business with her sister, runs marathons, works part time at school, is about to open a second business, has an adorable puppy... she is loads of fun. Some members of staff thought the day was a resounding success, while some were quite disappointed.
At 1pm, I was on my way home. I got changed and then headed down to the seafront with Ashley. Such a glorious day. Perfect weather! We got walked all along the seafront to Old Portsmouth. We went to a fort built by Henry VIII, and went into a teeny tea room called Sallyport (Sarah Eng, you would have LOVED it) for cream teas. I took so many pictures. Around four, we had back to Ashley's. Tahnee, Ashley and I made dinner together (I really love cooking, I've realized). Then at 8pm, Ashley and I went to church to hear a guest speaker from a neighbouring church. His name is Gareth Benton, and it was just a really powerful worship service. I really think some lives were changed.

Today (Sunday): Funday Sunday! The church puts on a big breakfast/church service that is really family-oriented, and lots of non-churchgoing members of the community come because it is a great service for kids. I arrived at 10am to help do coffee/tea and breakfast for everyone. I really like doing that, because then I can meet people without standing around awkwardly. After church, the pastor's wife, Rachel, invited Ashley and I over for lunch. I have gone to this church 3 weekends in a row, and have had lunch at a different persons house each time. They are so hospitable here. We had a lovely barbecue in the amazing summer sun. It was really nice to get to know Mike (the vicar) and his family better. They have a girl named Katie living with them who goes to PHS (for my Belfry babes, she looks exactly like Jen Swan. It's scary!). Her parents are in Africa, doing missions work. It was great to connect with her.
Again, I had a lovely week.

Some random things:
1) Zoe (a year 10 girl) brought her mom to Open Day. Normally not exciting, except for the fact that 3 weeks ago, her mom had a catastrophic stroke which should have killed her. And here she was at school, in a wheelchair, responding to voices and sounds directed towards her. The doctors are saying that every single day of her recovery is unprecedented because she should have died. PTL, much?
2) Prayer request: At the Barn Dance, I was approached by a woman named Rosie Fry. She somehow knew who I was and that I was working at PHS. Apparently her 15 year old daughter has been out of school for the past 2 years, due to a serious illness. She would really like me to come over and meet her one day. I don't know what her illness is, but some prayer for the Fry family would be greatly appreciated, I'm sure.

I love you all. Someday I'll fall into an actual routine with this whole blogging thing! xo