I'm still alive!

Sorry for the lack of blogging recently- life has been so busy! It has been a really good few weeks though.
In my last blog I wrote about an upcoming meeting in the town hall. It was an amazing hall! Lots of people came and it was an exciting time. I can still learn a few practical things but I felt the music went well and I feel like God had his hand over us. That week I had a lot of bits and pieces to organise and the days were completely full. I was really tired at the end of it.
Then last week was quite taken over by the next wisdom teeth op. It was terrible! Never get it done if you can avoid it. It was awful, I'm sure the anaesthetic hadn't worked! So I spend most of the week looking like a hamster and eating no solids. People were really sweet though, delivering me warm meals as well as banana and yoghurt concoctions.
Kids group last Wednesday was amazing!!! Thanks so much for praying. It was different to usual. There was a really peaceful atmosphere and for the first time the kids themselves were just asking genuine questions about why we like the Bible so much and why we want to pray so much. This does not usually happen! A guy who is here with us on a month's placement helped me out and he was great with the kids. I am really looking forward to this week again. I know some of you think it's crazy that I would want to hang out with these sort of kids, but this is the exact reason why I love it: when they begin to enjoy the life that they have been given, and recognise that there is a God who loves them and is fully interested in each of them.
At the weekend I went to a conference where I attended seminars about different themes relevant to kids and youth work, and I took a load of practical stuff away.
Through all the challenges recently, and through chats and encouragement from others, I have been really inspired and excited. At this stage in life the classic questions are always about what I'm hoping to do next. I used to worry but lately I have had a lot of peace about the fact I have no idea what's on for me after uni finishes and really excited- I really feel like God has good stuff in store.
If you pray, I would love it if you would pray for my time management. I really should have done a lot for my uni project by now, but I have done very little. It's a lot of work and a big dilemma, because when I have extra time here I want to use it to develop relationships here! If you're not into praying, maybe think about giving it a go?
A load of love to you in England, and specially for my sisters' sake-Wales, and Scotland too :)

I took my coat off because it was too warm today!

Yes today the sun was shining- it was a beautiful day! Everything's wet because all the ice has melted. I'm glad because I fell over on it this week- though I'm pretty proud I lasted this long with shoes that are sort of useless in snow!

It has been a really busy week time since I got back. Had a lot of fun with the teenies at the New Years party, and they really enjoyed it too. It has been exciting to be planning for starting up all the kids clubs next week- I'm looking forward to getting stuck in again. Next week in Kassel there is a special week of prayer which lots of churches are doing together, and there will be a meeting every night as part of it. For this I've been doing lots of organisation, like getting hold of different people for various stuff and typing! I've felt like a PA or something which has been quite fun, though also sort of stressful. I'm also arranging 2 Powerpoints as intros to meetings. I'm not exactly amazing at IT though so I hope they turn out well.
On Wednesday the meeting is going to be at the Rathaus- town hall. This is what it looks like:


Pretty impressive building and an important venue! The mayor lady is going to be there, because we are praying for our town, looking at the challenges it faces. I find it pretty cool that Christians are uniting to pray about these things. At the meeting I'm going to be leading music. Slightly scared! I have a guy playing with me whose voice is velvety amazing so I am glad to have him to help me!

This morning I had a lovely time with my friend catching up over breakfast. I've had quite a relaxing day because I couldn't face doing worky things earlier when I got back. Also, there was noone in so I went for lunch at our favourite Turkish restaurant alone! It probably looked quite sad but I enjoyed the food and tea! It was sort of sad/weird not sharing it with someone but I enjoy being among people at least.

Also on a quick language note- would be great if you could pray for my improvement- though it has come on a lot, I feel like it's slow progress at the moment.

I always love to hear from you lot in England so keep the messages, letters, emails etc coming :)

Loads of love, Ruth x