GRANNYS GAP YEAR..(2)

Well....its the end of my first week as an official member of The Kerith Academy and what a week it has been.!! I started last Sunday serving at both morning meetings with Konstruction Krew (5-11s) over in K2...arriving at 8.15 am and because we had a Team Lunch I got home around 3pm.

Talk about being thrown in at the deep end....it was the end of the summer programme and to my eyes it was organised chaos...I had absolutely no idea how to play Bible Cricket so just made up the rules as I went along...had fun but not sure if we actually played it correctly. The noise in K2 with children playing games all around me was actually quite scary ...definitely not used to 50 plus children in such a small space playing games I didn't know but hey... "comfort zone"....be gone in Jesus name !!!

The team lunch was great...just hanging out and eating together ....building community with folks I knew perhaps by sight but not well....so really looking forward to getting to know them better as the year progresses.

Monday evening was spent sorting out my "stuff" it kinda felt like a school child's checklist.

Pens tick
Bag  tick
Packed lunch  tick
Notebook..tick

etc etc and of course the obligatory early night....

All being well as I slept like a babe but woke at 3.30 am for a drink....and as I bent to get the orange from the fridge I felt really light headed...the next thing I knew I was flat out on the floor between the kitchen and hall...hitting my chin..fingers and left hand side of my chest...obviously low blood sugar and a faint.!!  
I crawled on hands and knees into living room and lay on sofa till I felt able to get back to bed. I was in agony and didn't sleep well at all despite taking painkillers .....BUT..I was determined to make it to Academy the next day ...NOTHING was going to stop me.....

Tuesday was the first day in the office....this was a full on information day as I was introduced to the others in the Team....there are 15 of us of whom 6 are  from either Lithuania or Estonia...(apologies as no idea who is from where at the the moment ) and Heidi from Devon and the rest home grown Berkshire . We had a tour of the church buildings...thought might have been a bit of a bore as I had been around when the jolly church was built but in actual fact it was great to see the changes made over the years as we have grown in numbers and developed so many different ministries. We were also introduced to the staff members and which ministry they were part of...mind boggling numbers of different people and areas....loved The West Wing..!! But mainly we filled in forms and took in dates and times and job descriptions and mercifully escaped early at 3pm....I couldn't wait to get home to lay flat and take more painkillers.

I say mercifully .... as I also was hosting a Kore Team Meeting at my home for the Konstruction Krew gang to come and talk about the term ahead so a quick whizz around with vacuum and sort out of our dinner and set chairs out and wham...back into meeting mode with people I knew by sight but not well...I can see a theme developing here. Painkillers and sleep were becoming my friends. I knew early in the morning when I woke that there was something more than just a knock going on so I headed to Frimley Hospital....only one other person there...hurrah...so got seen really quick....had x ray and it seems I have two very small fractures at the tip of my left top rib and boy do I know it.....coughing....bending....walking...driving....all incredibly painful but got some major drugs on board so will get through it...4-6 weeks they said before fully healed but I know that God can heal a lot quicker than that. I rested most of Wednesday and was determined to get to Academy for the Teaching Class on Thursday.

So glad I made it.....had an amazing time....hanging out with 14 other people who will become my friends and family over the next year ( I think I am old enough to be every ones mother if not Granny )...on a gorgeous sunny day ...in a great venue...and getting to listen to some quality speakers all rolled into a 6 hour slot more than made up for the fact I was popping pills and moving very slowly. The prayers for healing that they prayed hasn't made a great deal of difference YET  but I am believing that God can heal quicker than 4-6 weeks so watch this space .

So ....Granny's Gap year has well and truly begun...I am excited...overwhelmed...(cried all over several people )..and ready to be changed ...challenged...prodded....and definitely moved way out of my comfort zone.