Karen's blog

Happy new year!!!

2006-01-02T15:19:00.001Z

Well it has been officially 'a long time' since I last blogged. And as I read rosi's blog it got me thinking about what it is that has stopped me writing on this. And I guess its got to be that my blogs have been suffering as much as my Quiet times have. And that is so hard to admit but its true. As some of you know there have been a few things going on over the last month or so which i have been helped through by great friends but i have let them become such a distraction in my life when they should not be. SO i guess the thing I hope for in 2006 is that even when there will be hard things happening in my life i wouldnt let them distract me from Christ but instead bring me closer to Him.

Happy new year!!!

2006-01-02T15:19:00.000Z

Brace yourselves

2005-11-26T14:21:00.000Z

Ok take a deep breath and maybe have a few tissues beside you. Fred my beloved fiesta is no more. Well he still exists but not as my car. I got a new car today - the working thing finally paid off. So i now have a car without a name and to keep up tradition I think someone should think of a name for my Corsa. Is there anything wrong woth calling this one Fred too?

And on a side note of anyone is wanting to immortalise fred and keep him for themselves he will be making a brief appearence at Carryduff Auctions.

Blog again soon

kaz

MAd Weekend

2005-10-31T16:04:00.000Z

Hi all

well I have had a few hours sleep and still feel wrecked. I blame mad7 but i am also so pleased to have gone. Im not sure how anyone else felt about the whole experience. boardmills ones had a massive introduction to the typical raffrey mob so i hope that hasnt put them off us altogether. But i guess i will find out. A hint would be if they didnt answer my messages etc. Come to think of it they havent replied today. lol.

I loved Mad this year. It was really chanllenging, and so much of the dave h talks rang true. He mentioned the need to be accountable to a group of fellow Christians and it is so true that we need to have people around us who we can tell our worst or most troubling problems too, those things which are holding us back from God and the relationship we should and need to have with Him. Although when it comes to that itd be better to do as i say and not as I do, maybe someday ill take that risk and just open up more.

On a different topic but linked in a way my cuz cheryl - the first lovely- got engaged on Saturday to a great guy called Gordon. Well done Cherry. I got home from mad7 and received a card from her asking me to be bridesmaid and of course rushed straight round to bawn lane to say yes, ever since she was wee she always said Id be a bridesmaid and i am so pleased that she wants me beside her on the big day. Though Im kinda feared. the rest of the wedding party will all be stunners. And she is so beautiful, and will be even more so on her big day.

Although either it hasnt fully hit me yet that she is getting married or i knew it was coming as it wasnt as big a shock for me as it was for her and her mum. She is so happy and so he should be. Congrats again cherry.

Friday night

2005-10-21T20:05:00.000+01:00

hi all

It is official. I am a very very very sad person. Its 8pm on a friday night and I am still sitting at the computer having just finished working on school stuff for the night. The even sadder thing is that I have been having a great time looking for and making resources for the classroom. I really and truely pray that this job will be a long term thing (even though the chances are miniscule). I love working on stuff for MY CLASS, MY CHILDREN etc. I was away from them for 2 days on a course and they missed me. Even more than that I missed them. I love it when 'A' rubs my back when he thinks i am 'working too hard' because I know personalsocial contact is a hard thing for him and he can find communication difficult and it shows real trust in me.

I loved it today when C gave me the finger, simply because we have been trying to get her to use her fingers to count and the sum was 6-6=1 and she got the right answer, she just happened to have held an inappropriate finger up, but she was so chuffed and i was so happy that she got the answer that it didnt matter.

I love it when a beautiful little girl came up to me and whispers in my ear that she is as tall as me. Despite her being 6 and very short.

I love it when i mess things up and the kids just let me away with it. They laugh and i laugh and we move on. It scares me so much that they trust me completely to tell them what is right and wrong etc. but at the same time i love that feeling.

i just thought i would take this opportunity to blog when i am having a positive feeling about things.

And guys please give me something to read for those times when all is not so rosey.

See you soon.
kaz

2005-09-19T19:05:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys

Can i just start by thanking you all for a great weekend. In fact a great week (apart from the bits thant involved me teaching). I have spent practically every day with at last one of you and it has been great to have quality time with Friends in Christ.

Since the last blog i have been up to many things. Im going to try a summing up session but it may go very wrong so bear with me.

Tuesday was another adventure night across the fields. I cannot remember which one of you was saying about the amazingness of creation but i totally agree. Ive loved te last few sessions of tree climbing and firld rambles. But the last one we went on results in quite a few gate jumps (0r vaults) to avoid cattle, several army style manoevers under at least four or five barbed wire fences and a jaunt across three pr four fields. Only for me to make the boys look for my phone which i 'lost' in one for the fields - not remembering which one - then finding it in cheryls living room. But it was all good in the end as cheryl and I got to sample some of callums amazing muffins.

Thursday night involved a practice for the youth choir in preparation for fridays concert at Raffrey. And then back to the stewerts for some hot choccie - rosi is extremely jealous at this point. Friday saw the concert come and go and apparently the youth were brilliant. We have already been booked to p[erform in other places and possibly the ulster hall. Definitly by the grace of God you know!!! Even my dad was tapping his toe apparently. Then it was back to the stewerts again. (i know i may as well move in with my sleeping bag and video socks).

Saturday was the element which ill be going back to again. Some powerful ministry in song and through the speaker. It all seemed to be pointing to the fact our time here is so short and we need to be prepared! Then again back to the stewerts with rosi etc. The hardest job on earth is now officially keeping rosi awake past ten on a saturday night. LOL

And then there was yesterday at delamont, I had a great time out walking on what started to be the long walk until the rest of the crowd (rosi, alex, justy, barney, david Ir and Jonny Ir) started to moan about all the walking and somehow managed to divert us back to the mid length walk. Despite their complaints im sure they had a great time. I know i did. I loved it. Just what i needed.

However after all the fun off the weekend i had to go back to work today. Just being off for the weekend made me feel like i had completely forgotton everything about teaching P3. The day starts with spellings on a monday. One of the words being clap. C L A P. how hard is that. I check the spellings just to find a lot of L's changed to R. So C*ap. then they all ask what they have written thats different to clap. Maybe you had to be there.

I also had my first almost crying moment. It was however for a good reason this time. One boy who just hasnt a clue about numbers above 20 got everything right today. fair enough with a little help from the brilliant assistant in my class but when he showed me i went all high pitched and teary. i was soooooo excited and everyone knew it. i have a feeling that may have put him off though so i think he will just avoid getting stuff right in the future. But i dont care i know he learnt something from me and nothing can take that away.

sorry im so slow

2005-09-06T21:44:00.000+01:00

Hey all

sorry it has been so long since the last post. been a bit mad lately with all the work in school as well as bring marking home. cannot believe im one of those teachers who does marking at home, not good. This week is flying so far. I was given a pebble as a pressie and I filled in my first incident form today (a bookcase fell on a poor child). To destress from it all i went for another tree climb/walk with justy and cal. lots of fun i must say. And they have tonnes of photos whoch im sure will be blogged sooner or later. Did u know slugs can be orange. Which just adds to my fear of the slimy and surprisingly fast moving things.

Ill try and get back to blogging more often but for now its goodbye

love ya

New Job

2005-08-29T19:38:00.000+01:00

Well its been a few days since i last blooged, so, sorry about that. And sorry about the dodgy punctuation.

Started at the new and first ever teaching job today. Basically im quite scared and stressed about it so prayers would be great!!! Just because i feel like ive no clue how to start and ive no idea what to teach really. Hopefully there will be more hope for me tomorrow.

Ill take this opportunity to thank justy for cheering me up today. We went for a mini ramble over the fields and climbed a big ol tree named joseph, or jacob, think its joseph though.

Sorry if im depressing you, ill try and find a cheery topic for next time.

love kaz

At the Port

2005-08-26T12:26:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we (as in Raffrey Youth) had a visit to Coleraine and Portrush ans it was great. It meant getting up at 6am and trying to get the bro out of his bed on time but it was worth it.

In total we had about 55 there. Probably 35 to 40 kids. There was even an unexpected, but really appreciated and welcomed appearence, from one or two reachout kids who wouldnt normally attend church based activities. Despite the trip allowing the teenagers to do what they wanted for the day with regular meet ups in between God really shone through as there were no injuries, we came home with all the kids in one peice, no one was left on the train to dublin etc. And most encouraging of all in was a major day of bonding for everyone. And you cant beat a good bonding session.

Ill give you a basic run down of the day, mini disaters and all. Maybe there will be a few funny bits if i can remember them.

Started at the train station for 7.45 and being the raffrey lot we decided to work out the cheapest way of travelling. which turned out to be unlimited family travel passes. This in turn ended up being a 20min fighting match between all the over 18s as to claim family pass you need 2 adults and up to 4 children. Pity help you if you couldnt get a 'partner' and four kids as you had to pay loads more. (Well it is loads more if you dont recieve your first pay check until the middle of october and the last student loan installment was at easter and you recently quit your part time job of 8years ok!!). Anyway I ended up 'married' to Gavin and adopting 4 teenagers for the day, and anyone who suggested they look like their mother got a mighty teacher glare.

Once we figured out where the train left from we htought it would be plain sailing, until 48 people get on the train and 7 are seen standing on the platform as wee trundle out of the station. But hey disastors help make memories. Luckily it was mainly leaders and 17yr olds left behind and between them they worked out how to get to coleraine to meet us via bus.

Once in coleraine we had a couple hours to shop, but my wee group of justy callum and me couldnt quite figure out where the shops we see on tv were and managed to get stuck in a massive downpour with only one brolly. Once we made it to the Port the rain still stayed and justys super long trousers were wet to the knees. Which i dont think he appreciated. And 4 of the youth seemed to be in the same portrush phone box hiding from the rain every time we passed. Personally i thought the rain added to the whole day, disasters make memories.

Due to the rain the only thing we could really do was visit the amusements all day. the Freak Out looked super scary and super fun, but i couldnt get up the courage to go on it. The dodgems were the highlight for the guys. They couldnt get enough, I however had to get over my ehiplash and watch from the sidelines. No head on collisions means NO HEAD ON COLLISIONS!!!! ( thats for my bro - who i can understand wanting the hurt me, and the random guy who i dont know at all who thought it was hilarious to try and wreck me. How could he possibly have known i deserved it?)

The cannonball machines where you shoot at the target and get 100 200 500 800 points was a real hit with the guys. And i came out of it quite well as i collected up all their tokens. Gavin won me a teggy key ring and callum andy and david got me a biggish Donkey from shrek. Although later in another amusement my face was put on a boxing photo thing and many many token seemed to be won as the guys hit it hard. But we came out of Phils with 48 little polystyrene airplanes (which all the kids and grownups alike recieved as gifts from the guys much to the Great Victoria St train staffs delight when Stuart Robinson and i kind of started flying competitions in the station whilst waiting for the connection to arrive. Apparently i looked 17 and not 22 for a breif while).

Ok so im just realising that ive spent way too long writing this and im meant to be stressing about school planners etc. So i will just sum up the day as Wet, Cold, Action Packed and heaps of fun. hopefully it will have forged new and deeper friendships as we enter a new term of YF and bible class.

Eeek!

2005-08-24T19:05:00.000+01:00

Well ive had my first school related meeting and it hasnt really eased the fears. i start teaching next thursday and so far i still have no clue what to teach. It all very well having the teacher voice when needed and the occassional teacher glare but that doesnt meet the requirements of the curriculum. Oh well as always there is a plan for this whole thing. I just hope i learn the lesson from it all.

On another note dont you just hate it when you meet someone who you know whilst you are out and about and you cant remember their name. That happened to me today whilst at my meeting/lunch i met this person (who i wont name so as to save more embarrassment for myself) and could not remember their name to introduce them. then i couldnt figure out whether to call them by their first name or Mr/Mrs... or what. So after a massive gap off the ''Id like you to meet (pants whats their name, Whats their name?) it turned out i neednt have bothered with the intro as they knew each other already.

2005-08-23T23:08:00.000+01:00

Just a quick blog before bed to say that im just back from a meeting with the rev about youth fellowship for the year. Many things came from this which i have been praying for.

1. that connections with reach out / reachout (i know i suggested the name but can someone PLEASE tell me how we are spelling it???) would continue in the church and links between trinity and raffrey would thrive. Rosi all the stuff we talked about on the journey from dublin is definitly leading places and the rest of you guys please remind me to tell you about the plans. i have dates etc to check with you for youth services etc.

2. This is random and maybe you wont think much of it but i got to have an open and honest bonding session with the rev. Really encouraging to for us both i think

3. That there would be opportunities for me to be taught not teach. Random since teaching is now my profession but hey!

Now to see if i can get my mind to settle and go to sleep, ive got my first meeting tomorrow about the new teaching post in downpatrick. scary stuff, please pray for ros and myself as we start pour career and are left in charge of 30 odd kids, and pray for the kids too.

God Bless
Kaz

Why worry

2005-08-23T19:16:00.000+01:00

Amazing. Amazing how God has so many ways to tell us something, Amazing how we spend so much time being shocked by this.

Over the last week and a bit we, Rosi Kath and I, spent a much needed time to rest in sunny sunny majorca. Even rosi got something that resembled a tan. And do you no what, despite only being on the bus to dublin airport about 5 minutes all i could think was how much i was going to miss church. Miss the teachings, miss the gang etc. Yet God used the holiday to minister to me on 2 main points, even whilst lying on a lilo and giving rosi a score for her olympic standard diving. (i think her top score was 4.3 who can beat that)

1. We need to take the time to rest, get away from our hectic lifestyles and pressures of school, work, family, friends, whatever. and be still in His prescense (oooops spelling)
2. We need to be free of the opinions of others (see todays word for today as well) and stop criticising them. A hard one for me but im trying.

Both of these points have been reaffirmed when i finally made it out to church again on sunday, and in text discussion with justy (well point 1 in text chat with justy). so think about what it is that distracts your from fulfilling your destiny in Christ. Criticism stops us from fulfilling our destiny and a lack of rest wears us out both physically mentally and spiritually which is never going to be good.

Love Kaz

P.s how am i doing with the wise words Karalyn

Finally caught onto the craze

2005-08-23T11:03:00.000+01:00

Well I have finally caught onto the blogging craze, courtesy of a very late night message from Rosi telling me to create one so you can blame her. I am not sure how many of the Reachout team are left waiting to join up to this but hopefully it wont be too long before they are all on here.

Im hoping to use this sight to record the goings on in my life and journey with God, Im sure there will be lots of highs and lows and prayer requests.

God Bless

Kaz