It has been two weeks since I last posted, and I find myself just about to begin week 9 and the half term holidays here. I think I say it most weeks, but it really has astounded me quite how fast this is all going. In the past couple of weeks, lots of really awesome and encouraging things have happened, and I thank God daily for the wonderful experiences that I get to be a part of here in Stepney, they give me so much hope for what He has in store for us and they make me very excited for these young people's futures.
Last week was Eid-ul-Adha, a feast which celebrates the story of Ibrahim (Abraham) and Ishmael (Isaac) and we had used our prayer time at Church to pray for the Muslim people who are a part of our programmes and our communities and also to make Eid cards for them with the Lord's prayer in Arabic on the front. I dropped mine around to our neighbour, and he popped over on Tuesday to wish us a happy Eid, give us a platter of sweets and invite us over for food. Whoever said community was dead in London, ay? Another beautiful moment to behold was our Smarties session this week where they explored the last few chapters of the story of Esther through Veggie-Tales, song writing, a clue hunt and potato experiments, and we also talked about human-trafficking. At the end, one of the little boys prayed aloud for "anti-transporting" and another wrote a song which read "I love you God, I love you God, I love you more than cake!" - our kids really are the best!
Psalm 27:13-14 (NIV) reads 'Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord' and this verse has really spoken into my heart this week. I have felt my calling being challenged in so many different ways in the past few weeks, through things that I have had the chance to be involved in, though all the amazing things I see and also through things that have happened to me. At times, I have caught myself just wish I had a hotline to God, to just ask him if it's all going to work out, or ask for some kind of instruction, and at times, I have wondered "why me, Lord?" Studying the story of Esther this past half term with the kids has really challenged me to think more about how I live out my faith. The story tells us how we can be brave with God, that with faith anything is possible, and although sometimes things that we are going through might seem tough, they are all an important part of God's plan - that we are all an important part of God's plan. Seeing the Bible through the eyes of a child really made me wish that I could experience God like them, to have a love as pure and as faithful as that little boy who wrote "I love you God, I love you God, I love you more than cake!" Oh, how marvelous that would be!
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