KingsleyP

Today I attended my line manager and creative mentor, And O'Donnell's funeral. And died suddenly on the staurday before last. Please pray for his 3 year old daughter and his wife. Please pray for strength and guidance.

Although this is a very sad time for everyone who was touched by And'd life I want to give thanks for him. To me And was an inspiration, his creative mind was second to known. He has helped develope me into a more confident and creative person, for that I want to thank God for bringing him into my life. At times I will admit that he tested me and pushed me more than I thought neccessary, but now he is gone I realise how much I drew on his opinions and talent to inform my work. It is very rare that you meet a man like this, he will be deeply missed.

...where do dinosaurs fit into the whole Christian thing?

A couple of weekends ago I went away on our pastorate weekend retreat. This year we went to a place called Molsanger in basingstoke. The intention of the weekend was to get the whole pastorate out of london for some God time and some good old 'back to basics' bonding. The weekend was made up mainly of chilling, a couple of brilliant talks and some time with each other. The biggest thing for me this weekend was a small chat I had with a close friend of mine. This friend of mine is a very talented artist. She is someone who I truley look up to. She is your classic artist type; dead creative in all manners of speaking, very intouch with her feelings and, as most arstists, always looking for a free meal. This friend of mine is someone who I feel has a very strong relationship with God and someone who I feel I can learn alot from. With this in mind when she sat next to me in front of the fire on the weekend I proceeded to pick her brains about some things. The main thing for me recently has been this strong feeling of a distance between me and the Big Guy upstairs. Im my eyes I have been trying to be the best person I can be for Him. I even got to the point where I was outright asking for Him to break me, that I would take whatever he had to throw at me if it meant I could be a stronger preson and the person He wanted me to be. For weeks I continued to ask, but there was nothing, no floods of tears, no overwhelming pains of the heart, no revelations, nothing. I wanted to be this brilliant christain that was shining for him, but nothing was happening. So instead I started to focus on the gifts I felt I was being blessed with, how could I use those to the best of my abilities, the gifts in my everyday life, how could I use those for his glory? But still I had this sense that nothing was changing. So I spilled this all out to my red headed friend. She was very understanding and pretty much explained that as creatives we always try and get the best from something and that we can sometimes loose sight of what the whole thing is all about. After a while of talking, whether she realised it or not, she pretty much hit the nail on the head with what I was doing wrong. It sounds so obvious and I feel like a bit of a fool for missing it, but she basically pointed out that I was focusing on the wrong thing completely. I was focusing on the wanting to be broken so I can grow, wanting to the best I can be, wanting what I thought was the best way to grow as a Christian, instead of focusing on Him. Again, its sounds stupid, but all I need do is learn about Him, grow hungry to know Him, pray and read the bible, all the rest, all the bits I was focusing will follow.

Yesturday I found out that a friend of mine had passed away. Brian left this world on monday. He left behind his dear wife Peggy and their family. Can I please ask anyone who reads this to pray for strength and love for Peggy and the family.
Brian was an amazing man. I met him on my first alpha course along with Peggy about 2 years ago. We all went onto a second group together, and ended up in the same pastorate. Brian and Peggy's relationship was a real inspiration to me. They would turn up each weds with each other full of the joys of life. I will always remember how at the begining of each term, while introducing themselves, they would relate themselves immediately to the other, describing themselves as if they were only a half. Listening to both of their stories was always a complete joy.

Since my return from Ghana 2 years ago, I have been truely blessed by people's generosity. I have had over 1500 books donated and I would like to say a massive thank you for everyones support. Though the organistaion I volunteered with I have been able to set up the necessary links for collection of the books in ghana.

For me Ribena represents alot more than a blackcurrent concerntrate.It represnts my childhood, and carries with it alot of old memories and emotions. As children both my sister and I used to drink alot of Ribena. I had a blue beaker, Alanna had a yellow beaker, both had chewed rims. We would always have it warm sitting in my parents bed. It took me about 6 years to get used to drinking Ribena cold. At university I did a project on Ribena, titling it 'my security'. The project consisted of a series of plaster cast Ribena bottles, with the graphics and body copy describing my childhood. Now-a-days I drink just as much Ribena as I did as child. AND I don't have a single filling!

In march 2004 I went to Ghana. I went to ghana with an organisation callled CCS (Cross Cultural Solutions) for 3 months as a volunteer. At this time I wasn't a Christian, I had some questions, but I wasn't really too bothered either way. My initial intention on going to Ghana was to use my advertising skills to help out with the Aids awareness campaigns, but due to my lack of understanding about the culture I was setting my sights too high. Instead I worked in a schools and with the local children, helping them to think creatively and enjoy their creative skills. We did this for 4 days a week, then we were given the rest of the week to travel and see parts of Ghana. 

I suppose being my first blog I should put up some things that people don't really know about me. I am 25 (26 in sept) I live in a flat in Richmond with 2 old school mates. I attend HTB, but have only been there for about 6 months. I joined HTB through the alpha group. When I first moved to Richmond I attended Hillsong, although I have some close friends at Hillsong, it wasn't the church for me. I have been a Christain for only about 2 years.