December, the last month of the year and one of the busiest (in my eyes). With Christmas around the corner and the church office has kinda into overdrive to finish off the last minute jobs of 2016 as well as prepare for the new year.
Various Christmas activities are being prepared, like a ladies tea morning on December 10, and present wrapping on the same day for a charity that works in Amsterdam. The service on Christmas Day is also in the works. I'm not going to be with my family this year so I'm glad that we're going to be busy on December 25. It's the second Christmas I won't be with my family... I was in Brazil over Christmas of 2012 and flew out just days beforehand... (last year I was with Hannah in Paris; she's in South Africa now). Thankfully there's such a thing as Whatsapp and Skype, so at least I'll get to talk to my awesome family over the holidays. Since I'm not going to be in South Africa, I've got nothing planned for my time off... except packing for the January impact training block and a visit to the hairdresser's (don't fear; I won't do anything crazy).
The Weekend
On Saturday, we had a workshop for the people who have been working with the Sunday School groups. It was really good, but very long (it started at midday and ended just before 6pm). It was great meeting a number of people who are involved in the various Sunday School groups). Then on Sunday, after church, we had the youth group's Sinterklaas game. Everyone brought presents and then we used a dice to dictate what action needed to be taken. In the end everyone had at least one if not two presents, which had were unwrapped during the process of the game... it was a lot of fun. We've got one more meeting before the end of the year.
My brother, Caleb, is arriving this evening for two weeks in the Netherlands. He's going to be working for most of the two weeks but we're planning to meet a few times whilst he's in the country. It's going to be a lot of fun. It's been a long time since the two of us were able to do stuff together. We're very alike, Caleb and me. He's eighteen now and is a good foot taller. I'll be sure to put a few photos up here as well as on Instagram whilst we're together (if I remember to take any photos whilst he's here).
New Year's Challenge
As we approach the end of 2016 (believe it or not, we've got less than a month to go!), I would like to take this opportunty to suggest a New Year's Resolution to you. If you love photography and want to challenge yourself during 2017, why not create an account with Blipfoto? I've written quite a lot about Blipfoto and my love for this amazing community over the last few months. Since I joined in January 2014 my photography skills have improved a lot, despite mainly using a smartphone to capture and upload my daily photos, and these skills continue to improve. I really hope that you'd join me by taking up this 365 challenge. It won't hurt to give it a try. If you decide to take up the challenge, you can find me by searching for the_nomadic_one. Once you've created an account Blipfoto has designed Android and IOS compatible apps to provide easy uploading straight from your smart phone. I hope to see you there!
Survey
I must say a huge thank you to the people who filled in the survey I made last week (you know who you are). I'm going to leave it open for responses for another week or two, so if you'd still like to help me out by quickly filling it out, just click here and you'll be redirected to the survey. It shouldn't take more than between five or ten minutes of your time.
I'm planning to write the next post over the next week or so... stay tuned for more news on how life as an Intern. Its hard to believe I've been at Redeemer for about three months now! Time is flying past!
As I sign off, I wanted to just say thanks for taking the time to read this post and I want to wish you a happy holiday season. May God really bless you in this time!