Forgiveness Again

Sunday 4th October
Wow, there’s nothing like a roast on Sunday!! Suffice to say the food has been up to its usual wonderful standards – thanks Ellen!
Anyway, church was interesting – Ian (Dead of Students) was speaking and he managed to give a talk that I heard last month on the 18-30’s holiday. But it was about forgiveness; it was a good talk then and thankfully nothing has changed.

I especially like the story from Brazil about a young girl who ran away from her shanty town home with dreams of a better life. Her mother, knowing what life on the streets could be like for a pretty, lonely girl went after her. Before she went, she took all her money and went to the drug store and took as many pictures of herself as she could afford. When she got to Rio de Janeiro, she put a picture in every nightclub, bar & hotel that she could find. Eventually the pictures and the money ran out and weeping, the mother had to return home and wait and pray.
One day, the young girl was walking down the stairs of a hotel, her eyes dulled, her face older and wishing that she could go back to the safe, secure pallet she used to sleep on when she saw a familiar face out of the corner of her eye. Going over to the picture of her mother, she took it down and looked on the back where her mother had written: ‘Whatever you have done, whatever you have become; it doesn’t matter. Please come home.’ And that’s the forgiveness God offers us through the cross.

After lunch, two of the American students from Jordan (missionary kids growing up in Jordan) offered Swing dancing lessons, and of course, I went along. I did a little bit of swing dancing because one of the guys at the ceilidh asked me if I wanted to and he gave me a tiny crash course. This was a proper lesson though – well, as proper as you could have in the sports hall with that many people! It definitely helps if you’ve got a partner who knows what they’re doing because it does wonders for your technique. I asked Mary Ann and she said that they’re going to be doing it again next Sunday. So I’m loving this!!

Spent the rest of the afternoon trying to download the video for my interactive group. And it finally worked!! Then I caught up on my Bible reading. I am now officially up to date! (At least until tomorrowJ)

Evening service: one girl gave her testimony and it was an incredible picture of trusting God. I won’t write it because it’s her story and I don’t know that I could do it justice. Then we had a sermon from Paul Keeys who’s doing the Walks Through the Old & New Testaments (we’re getting the OT one on Monday & Tuesday). His sermon was about the Christian’s number one priority which is to love God, which Jesus said was the greatest commandment. I never realised this before, but the first 5 of the Ten Commandments are about loving God and the next 5 are about loving everyone else. Paul commented that as churches, we tend to get those the wrong way round; having loving others as our priority before loving God. But if we love God and show our love for God in all that we do, then we can basically do what we want because if we have a love for God at the heart of all we do, how can we go wrong? NB The message was not: you can do what you want.

Had a good natter over hot chocolate about films and food with Brooke (Australian roommate). Stayed up too late again trying to learn Dutch and being laughed at then getting even by teaching the Dutch girls some very colloquial English. It’s all good fun!