recovery

i'm better! hurrah. It is amazing to feel like myself again. Just wanted to say :D

allergy day three. I didn't go into uni today because i was so irritated and sore. It sucks! ive been to the pharmacist, but they sent me to the doctors. Ive got a prescription and been told to stay away from witch hazel, which is what caused it. This means that for the rest of my life i can write down something on the health section of forms that ive always had to leave blank before! here is me, feeling sad with cream on my face.

bleurgh.

I feel awful. I used a new face wash yesterday and my face swelled up and went all blotchy. However, it went down over the day and by the time i went to bed i felt better. But during the night, it got worse again, and ive had a day of totally discomfort :( the only thing that feels good is ice on my face, so alan and me have been raiding the freezers at halls today. It not being a sunday, i cant even go to the chemist and get anything. BIG SIGH. It could be worse! x

< that was two and a half years ago!

but to move on! I'm really happy. Tomorrow I will have been in Glasgow five weeks, but it feels like a lifetime. Of course there are good days and bad days, life wouldnt be life without them, but overall I just feel like this is where I belong :D

Last night was especially good, I went to christian union, and then to pizza hut with my hall group. It was just a great time. I really feel like the christian union is going somewhere, there is such a sense of mission and connecting on campus, and of wanting to follow God. And God is so good! And then pizza hut was right in the middle of town, so as it went dark all the lights were up and it was so beautiful. Yep, Glasgow is beautiful. Suz and alicia added to the wonderfullness of it all by dancing to every song that came on - the SAME dance each time, which apparently works to everything - but even that couldnt take away my grin.

I'm in love with Glasgow. And alan. And God. And LIFE! (no particular order!)

good morning, good afternoon, good evening. I am writing while also playing a vital part in a precarious balancing act involving a bowl of shreddies and glass of orange juice; something i like to call, "extreme blogging".

Last night i was at the Christian Union meeting and also at my hall group, normally held on a thursday evening, but for one time only immediately after C.U. The Christian Union is basically the one time in the week when all christian students who want to can get together to worship, get some biblical teaching, have discussions and hang out (the new phrase for "fellowship"...). There is normally around 100 of us, which, while obviously not the entire christian population on campus, is a TINY proportion of the TWENTY-THOUSAND students (that's under-grad and post-grad) The University of Glasgow has on its books. In fact, its actually only 1/200, which means that from my first year sociology class (in which there are 300 of us) only me and half of one other person would be in attendance, ie, C.U membership is 0.5% of the student population as a whole. And people say that Christianity is the major religion of the UK.

But to move on, C.U was great last night. We discussed grace in small groups - what grace is, what impact it has on us, and how do we show grace in a graceless world. It brought to mind many of the times when i have been shown grace, and reminded me of the times when i have failed to show it. Ouch. Doubly painful to recount when i remember just how blessed i have been on the many occasions when i have been shown grace. I mean, not only does being undeservedly forgiven set you free, but Jesus becomes ever more undeniably real; for how else could another human being act with such love, a love that runs in absolute opposition to the standards of this world, which would sooner see you hung out to dry when you mess up than unconditionally pardon you in love? Thus i conclude, there is no stronger witness than grace.

And then there was hall group. Each first year university residence runs one of these for its own, mine being for cairncross house, which potentially has 250 members, but currently is operating closer to the "10" marker. It was our third meeting, and we continued to work from 1 Peter, which is proving good food for thought - well d'uh, it IS the bible! I'm very much looking forward to next week.

Well, for now i better get going, i have lectures to get to, and a very long day ahead of me. chiao. x

Glasgow3

Im fed up with the monotony of my titles ("Glasgow", "Glasgow2", "Glasgow3"), but they'll have to do for now, as my mental capacities are wholly engaged in lecture survival. Perhaps when i hit double figures with the Glasgow posts i'll force myself to be slightly more inventive, but until then, repetitive and uniform they shalt be. Sorry.

As i was walking home from lectures today, i was pondering on what my "best bring" to Glasgow has so far proved to be (for the sake of my reputation, can i point out that all other potential topics for deliberation HAD already been exhausted; i am not by nature one who gravitates towards such mundanity :P ). But to continue; my instincts said umbrella, as, akin to the wellies, it provides neccessary protection from the unnatural and frequentious showers that spill over this city like they do over no other. So yes, it is true - my umbrella has become my essential item. Indeed, if someone had been to ask me the infamous, "if your house was on fire, what one thing would you save?" question this morning, as i observed the torrents outside from the warmth of the lecture theatre, i would have needed not one moment for consideration.

Oh my goodness, i've reached new depths on the british-weather-obsession.

On a totally different note, i've volunteered to be one of four representatives for first year sociology and anthropology, which means that if i'm elected I'll be responsible for good communication between the teaching staff and the 300 students on my course for the rest of this year. Depending on how many people volunteer, there will either be an automatic selection, or a class vote. Yikes! not sure quite WHY ive decided to put myself through this, apart from the fact that it seemed like a really good idea at the time; going to meetings and then reporting back to a lecture theatre (of what i'm sure will appear to be millions) doesnt sound like my type of thing - i get incredibly nervous about public speaking. But at the same time, i get such an adrenaline rush out of it. And (to continue positively) not only will it look good on my CV, but i'll get all the information before everyone else does. HA!

Right, well i better get going. I have notes to condense down, neighbours to watch, tea to eat, the union to go to, and then from midnight till 3.30am i'm giving out cake and toasties to people after their big nights out with the christian union. Will then hopefully snatch a few hours sleep before getting the bus home to my beloved NEWCASTLE! x

Glasgow 2

Well hellooo. It's approaching midday,
and i'm still not up. It's fantastic. Today, being wednesday, is basically empty - my lectures being crammed into monday, tuesday, thursday and friday, or so i have discovered. I like this set-up! me and suz didnt even get out of bed till about half an hour ago...sooo nice compared to the early starts we've been having - well ok, SUZ is the one with the 9am lectures, but i get up when she does, honest....


So what do you think of the wellies? i saw them as a suitable investment in scottish life, given that the rain here is like no other...if anyone is a bill bailey fan, or is attached to one, you may well remember him talking at some point about rain taking on a more, well, apocalyptic mantle? I would suggest that a weekend in Glasgow was the true inspiration behind this comic masterpiece. I wore these wellies pretty much solidly for the day or so following purchase, until they got stuck on my feet, at which point they became a little less loved. Kari, leana and helena actually had to remove them from my feet, as seen here ------->

Anyway, time for something a little more philosophical. Having been in Glasgow for nearly three weeks now, it seems as good a time as any to review what has happened in the story so far. So, what HAS happened? i've met countless new people, stayed up ridiculously late, been forced out into the rain for at least five unneccessary fire alarms (some drills, others cases of over-enthusiastic but under-skilled first year chefs), begun to study sociology, anthropology, russian language, and eastern and central european studies, been to four new churches, used glasgow public transport, walked lots, dressed up as a school girl, accompanied people to accident and emergency and the local doctors, cooked lots, joined the christian union....the list goes on.

But most importantly (and yes people, here comes the cheese), i've started the next chapter of my life. I have been waiting such a long time to get here; two years, in fact. Left school june 2004, went to kosova october 2004, returned to the UK april 2005, declined my place at Sheffield Uni june 2005, got engaged to Alan july 2005, watched everyone leave for uni/start college/go to far off places october 2005, worked two cruddy jobs december 2005 - september 2006.....and now i am HERE! at last. Before i came to uni, i wondered whether i would feel older than a lot of people here, many of whom are still 17 or newly 18. As it turns out, i'm rarely conscious of the difference (does that reflect on their maturity, or my lack of it?!), but occasionally someone will comment on getting their A level results this summer gone, and i realise what a long road i have been on in comparison.

But - and heres the amazing thing - it was all in God's hands. So many times throughout the last twenty-four months i have been unbelievably angry with God, with people around me, but most of all with myself, as i have struggled to understand my life and what has been happening in it. But i can say now that God knew it all, every single step. When i was fifteen, someone gave me the word of proverbs 16:9, which is

"a person can make plans, but the Lord determines their steps".

At the time, this seemed very general, and i didnt really take notice - afterall, it could be applied to us all. But over the last five years, i have been reminded again and again of this verse - and that the path and events of my life are never coincidental. It says in psalm 139,

"you saw me before i was born, every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed".

So to conclude. Ive reached a very exciting point in my life! I've moved away from home, from everything i know, to build a new life, in a new place, with new people, in a new church. And it's not just my life, it's our life - me and alan have less than ten months now until we get married. That is INCREDIBLE, and exciting, and petrifying, and amazing. Rubbish adjectives. But the challenge for this year is to grow, in everything that we do, in preparation for our future. We need God more than ever before!

Man, that came a long way from wellies....