Good Morning 2011

I'm typing this blog after 11pm on December 31st 2010, and will publish after midnight so that it becomes my first entry of 2011 and will be published on my 23rd bday. Hooray!

So I'm gonna do a little bit of looking forwards and a little looking backwards here.

Some happy memories of 2010:

O Spending the weekend in London with Ruth for her 21st where we were also attending...

O Tom's Baptism!! Where Sarah and I were sponsors and got to read a verse that we'd chosen. It was Proverbs 3:1-12 from The Message.

O Spent the day in Camden - some of it was just shopping but I was actually there for an interview/info session. Fell in love with Camden on that day.

O Started at Helenswood as an invigilator, which I already mentioned, but one of the good things is that I've been able to put my previous experience to good use. I was in sole charge of my first big exam last month and in the New Year round of exams, I'm with withdrawn candidates throughout - another sign of trust!

O Not a memory as such, but got a Christmas card from Joan Tumblety (my old tutor from uni) who told me to definately keep in touch! Good news for her, she's getting published by Oxford Uni Press in the New Year. She's a brill lady.

O My 22nd celebrations are a definate happy memory :-) Going to see We Will Rock You in London and seeing Tom and Sarah really enjoy themselves was awesome. Especially when Sarah then took her parents to see and they enjoyed it too. We ate out beforehand at a fab restaurant on the Strand called Salieri.

O Decorating my room and then being able to go in and see the finished item and sleep in there and spend time in there with it just as I planned it! Cooool.

So that was looking back to 2 0 1 0, now as for 2 0 1 1... what am I hoping to achieve or rectify etc?

O Must learn to drive again!! No good having a car and a license and not being able to use them (except the license when I want alcohol!)

O Must continue with the home improvements and sorting/chucking out of superfluous stuff so we have a house that is nice enough to have people round and maybe even get some money for all the stuff we got rid of...?

O Must look after myself more. Now this may be not eating so much junk food, it may be getting more active; I don't know, but its important.

Now on to the biggest, most important and life significant stuff:

O Truly important is to get a job. A real, full-time, properly paid, fulfilling, rewarding, graduate-worthy job. Hastings has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, but it is possible and can be done. Watch this space...

O Once I have a proper job, I'll have my Sunday's free and be able to commit to a church. To have a real church family here in Hastings would be awesome, but while I can't drive and don't have Sundays free, its been a no-go. Tsk tsk.

Thus, things can only get better next year. Its all to play for in 2011 (20 mins to go!)

I'LL LEAVE THIS BLOG WITH SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT SUCCESS

FIRST, ONE I FOUND ON FACEBOOK THAT MADDY HAD POSTED:

The road to success is not straight.

There is a curve called FAILURE, a loop called CONFUSION, speed bumps called FRIENDS, red lights called ENEMIES, caution lights called FAMILY and flat tyres called JOBS.

BUT, if you have a spare called DETERMINATION, an engine called PERSEVERANCE, insurance called FAITH, and a driver called JESUS, you will make it to a place called SUCCESS.

SECOND, FROM THE BIBLE, FROM MATTHEW 6 & 7:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also... 6:19-21

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 6: 24-25

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. 6: 33-34

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 7: 7-8

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. 7: 13-14

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. 7: 24-27

Happy New Year to one and all. What will 2011 bring to each of us...? Well here it comes, let's see!

:-D