Outside is a winter wonderland, about a foot fell on Tuesday and it's sticking about. The ice becoming treacherous as the snowfall stops and the ground freezes. I leave the flat shortly, today it's for lunch with a friend and a final farewell. It's a week of farewells I suppose, but there is joy in the departure knowing that it's not forever. My mind spins with experiences and sights I've seen over the past year and dreams of the next. To leave the land I first found in snow as the great white blanket has descended again. The great birthday celebration this time next week will see me at home and surrounded by the family and friends who know me so well and will soon be bored of serbish stories and talk of Željko. My weekly blog will probably sit silent as the air echo's with angel song and the smell of mincemeat wafts gently. I've not yet sung a Christmas carol or tasted a mince pie, I've hung no decorations and wrapped no presents, but I am by no means unprepared. For the shepherds had no warning and the stable no decoration, and the wise-men journeyed through dust and sand to become humble not look grand. I journey to celebrate, to marvel in wonder and be freshly astounded at the smallness of one so mighty. I journey to see the faces of family and tell of new arrivals. I journey to worship in the exchange of grace and gift and generosity. For those Serbian readers this is a farewell, for those English readers this is a note to say... I can't wait, soon I shall run into your arms in excitement for I shall be home!
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I got my laptop back from a friend this evening. it's been wiped of almost all the information that previously sat cluttering it's bites and now runs with the smoothness of windows 7 and the freshness of a new start. it's not new, lots of the hardware bits are showing their age and refusing to work but it feels new. i really feel similar as i find myself biding farewell to this time in serbia and welcoming in the excitment of marriage and all thatit will bring in 2010. the days here are slowly resolving and feeling almost complete in their parts, a feeling i was so in need of back in August when i left in such a rush. Serbia will be home again if plans are followed before this time next year. For now i can rush with the excitment of the angels back home to sing the anthum that will resound for christmas, for something has ended but something bigger has begun!
Mission is a blessing. It takes people from the closeted bubble of a world where normal is so well defined and places them outside their comfort zone. It takes our rules, our conventions and starts to twist and skew them. It challenges us to serve and to give ourselves to the need we find, it takes us by surprise, it changes who we are and life will never be the same again. The potters hand reshapes the clay, painfully, unexpectedly and deeply. Some of the people encountered, the sights seen, and the actions taken part in will forever shape the future. This mission trip for me has been full of characters and encounters, some bring smiles to mind, others don't, some I feel I have served as God called me, others I fear I may have failed in my task. I walk in just a few short weeks away from this mission trip, from the title of missionary and the experience exchange programs placement, but I carry with me the indelible memories. I don't walk away from Serbia. The potters hand has also blessed me with a companion, a person to love and commit to and hopefully next year I shall wear white, walk him into my church and confirm the engagement as I make my wedding vows. For the English speakers. My fiancé's name is Željko. Or in cyrilic Жељко He is usually called simply Ž (Ж) as in vision or measure or beige The other non English character in his name is Lj (Љ)– that is one letter pronounced as in million Hence : Ž as in vision e as in egg lj as in million k as in sky o as in open His Latin script name can be typed by holding 'alt' and pressing the number combination '0142' to produce a capital Ž. |
The other siteWho is GfeefGfeef is the name that my writings have been under for some years. As far as I know it's unique to me. Originally from the UK, I now live in Serbia but continue to have a passion for childrens and youth ministry. Archives
October 2014
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