Alone In The Crowds

I'm sitting in London Heathrow's Terminal 5. I'm waiting for my flight back to Amsterdam to be announced. I'm alone in the crowds who, like me, are waiting for their onward flights. I'm exhausted, emotionally, mentally, physically. Tomorrow marks the end of impact and I start a new season in my life. A season I've been dreaming of since July 2015. Moving back to England. I've been praying for the opportunity to move back to England, for two years now and god hasn't opened the doors, until now. I've wanted to come back but never had the right connections to make the move until Andy came into my life. We talked a lot about dates and what to do. Then last night I decided to take the risk of trusting Jesus by stepping out of the boat. I booked a one way bus ticket from Rotterdam Central Station to London Victoria for July 14.

I've got a lot to do between now and when I leave but I've got peace inside that my decision to move is the right one. God has really been opening the doors in the town I'm moving to. He has shown me how deep his love for me goes.

By my posting this blog the decision from the survey was unanimous. The blog will stay up, but there were so many different opinions on what I should write that I'm still at a loss at what to write. I'm not sure how often I'll be writing over the next few months. My life is predominantly made up of boredom or stuff I don't want to write about here. We'll see what the summer holds.

Now I smell my cream of chicken soup so I'm off to start eating that.

Should I? Should I Not?

Life has been crazy over the last few weeks. I've been meaning to sit down and write something here but I've honestly been in a place where writing anything down is challenging. A lot of my favourite writing outlets are suffering as I've not picked up a pen to write a long journal entry in quite a while and I haven't written any good poems in months. It's a case of writers block, tiredness and extreme busyness. I love writing but I'm stuck. I don't know what to write here either.

I know that there are probably questions that you might want to ask. Topics you might want me to cover in my blogs so, despite my misgivings I've put another survey together (but I'll get to that in a moment) as that seems like the only way to get some answers in regards to what I should write about and what some of my readers think about my blog. The only problem I've really had over the last six months or so is this, people didn't just really respond to my surveys. It's a case of having the same handful of people answering the questions on all the surveys and I know more than five people read my blogs on a regular basis, because they've told me they really enjoy what I write.

So the question I've been contemplating over the last few weeks is wether or not I should shut my blog down all together. Delete the whole thing and remove it from the web, not take a break of a few months. I love writing here, but since I don't know what to write, or what my audience would like to read, I'm stuck. That's why I need your help... I've made another survey (the link is below), hopefully my last one for a while. It should only take you a few minutes, but I would really like to know what you think about my blog, as my audience and my readers. And I hope to have made a decision about my blog by the time I next post.

I'd strongly encourage you to take the survey and to do that just click here (the survey will close on Friday 30 June 2017).

Many Blessings

Blipfoto; My Photo A Day Journal

Blipped on 2 June 2017

On January 22, 2014 I started a journey of adventure, discovery and learning. I had only just turned 21, and was living in South Africa with my parents... when I discovered a platform called blipfoto.com/. This website is one that allows the user to post one photo a day, with along with a description, a title, tags and a location. It's a simplified version of blogging on here, but on a daily basis. In a way its a bit like having Instagram or Flickr, where you can't post the text without the photo to go with it.

I found Blipfoto through a friend of a friend who had an account that she'd kinda stopped using. I loved the idea and once I started Blipping (as we call it) I never stopped. It takes a lot of commitment as you have to choose to take a photo every day, without fail, for as long as you possibly can. I've also come under a lot of criticism for doing it; due a case of legalism in those around me as they didn't think I should be in bondage (or something along those lines) to posting daily (or to coffee, but that's another story). For me and for many others, Blipfoto has become an addiction, its something we truly love to do, partly to experience the world through the eyes of others and to document our ordinary or not so ordinary lives as we journey through each day. I've learned so much from those I follow and who's lives I've seen change in so many different ways since I started following them. Some of whom I've been following since I joined the platform, whilst others I've started following over the last few months.

Personally, I've seen my photography improve over the years as this journal marks a day by day expedition across countless borders and into new countries and cities, as I turn new leaves and start new adventures. I love looking back and seeing where I've been over the years, as I remember the situations behind my sometimes cryptic descriptions. Generally because I've wanted to protect people who were giving me a hard time, or because I wanted to keep something quiet as I wanted to pray into it more.

I've had a profile on Blipfoto for nearly three and a half years and have posted very day since I began. I'm planning to stay for as long as I'm alive and Blipfoto exists. If you're the type who likes a good challenge and enjoys photography, I would strongly recommend joining Blipfoto then, just click here and follow the steps to creating a profile. I hope you're up for the challenge!

Internship Checking Out!!!

The Sunset A Few Weeks Ago

Believe it or not, it has been almost ten months since I moved from Epe to The Hague Den Haag to join Redeemer International Church as an intern with NewGround's Impact Year. Its been an incredible season in my life. A season full of surprises and blessings, a season of growth that has been full of obstacles and hurdles to overcome. I'm extremely glad that I did do Impact in the end (even though I didn't want to do it when I first applied). So I'd like to take this opportunity to look back on the last nine and a half months before I start rambling on about the next step; something that I'm gonna dedicate a whole post to what I'm planning to do next, which will probably be posted  at some point over the next two or three weeks, I'll probably post the link through to Facebook, as I usually do.

My Biking Companion

Looking back, I'm glad that I've done Impact. Its been a challenging year in many areas and in many ways. One of the biggest things that has changed in the last year, other than my relationship status, is that my relationship with God has deepened greatly. One thing God has really been showing me is how important it is to love people, even if I don't feel like loving them. Its easy to love people who are loveable, like our partner, friends, family and those who we care about. Its a whole different matter when it comes to those who irate us, or get on our nerves. There are a few people like this who I've come into contact since I started impact. Choosing to love these people, and not let them get under my skin, has been a challenge. Its something I'm still learning to do... having to choose to love these people rather than make their lives miserable (which is something I could so easily do).

I've learned that working outside my comfort zone is something that I shouldn't be scared of, but something that I step into every now and then. I've been given I used to hate stepping outside of my comfort zone because bad things usually would happen when I did. Now, I actually enjoy rising to the challenges I've faced when I've stepped out of my comfort zone. In a way, my comfort zone has gotten larger and more flexible. I don't feel like I'm hiding so much anymore. I used to hide a lot behind a wall I erected around myself, because I didn't want people to get too close to me. This has generally been through the heavy use of my iPhone and iPad. I'm still quite particular about who I trust, but I've had to teach myself not to shut the whole world out and try to figure things out on my own. Its still a work in progress and probably will be over the next few years.

Until next time... goodbye.