Living It

You know there is a whole facebook page that says "You know you are a YWAMer  when..." The strangest thing however is that there is so much diversity within YWAM that we almost pride ourself in being different..  We often prefer the term movement rather than an organisation. The reality however that we are still an organisation.... even if you want to call it a movement. We can play around with words a lot and make things sound spiritual but I like to call a spade a spade. It is like some political correctness, you can replace words all you like, you still have to use another word for it. YWAM likes being decentralised. The is a lot of freedom in that but depending on your personality type it may be perceived as a chaos theory lol. Although a spirit led one at that. No matter how hard you try you still need an organisational structure. One facebook comment is that I saw was you know you are a ywamer if a certain US airline has you in their airmiles club.. Really...

Sometimes its only when you look back and see where you have been, that you see what you have achieved. In September I clocked 10 years of being in ministry. That number is the longest that I have been in a job ever. I will be honest too and say that when I went back to long term mission, I did not think it would be for 10 years. I would love to say that I thrive at it, some people seem to buzz and bloom. That is not always the case for me. In fact it has been quite an uneven road. Have you ever heard of a round hole, square pin scenario? That would be how I would sum up how I feel a lot of the time. I don't seem to tick the boxes. The way I do mission tends to challenge Church and mission orgs. (Infact I have been told I would not be accepted if I had applied elsewhere .... just as well my call is where it is then) I have thought of a sabbatical.... but being a home based missionary with family responsibilities how does that really work? Home based missionaries don...

Today I took a stall at a coffee morning. Selling my goods. My name is Ochiltrinkets on such occasions. Selling candles, some of my jewellery I male or photos that I have taken and put into cards. Someone asked me when do you have time... The truth is I don't. The fact is that my stuff is very often under the stair and certainly in the last year or so I have had very little time for it. I would love a wee room where it would be easily accessible. I sold a few items today, not many. If truth be told I enjoyed seeing the buzz and listening to the hub of a community supporting a community run venture. ( I made my table and a little more ) Again it was a God thing a few years ago. God told me the name to use. I thought foolishly perhaps that I would do this and make enough to do ministry but these days the market is flooded with people doing this kind of stuff, But never the less I do the odd table  at a fayre and the local shop sells my stuff for a small percentage of taking...

I will let you into a secret... I enjoy prayer. I would love to say that it is the first thing I do....but often its not. I would love to say that I see miracles happen as part of my norm... but seeing legs grow before me or miraculous healing is not part of my norm. I  have seen it though. On my first Overseas mission trip when I was 19, I was in the atlas mountains and one of our team fell and gashed his arm (trying to chase a sheep herder that had just nabbed the team members sleeping bag) We were 3 days walk from a hospital, we prayed and were all stunned as we saw this gash dry up infront of us. within 20 minutes it had closed over, clotted and was small enough for a dressing. When we started praying, we had not expected that. You don't forget that type of thing. I have however had the disappointment of my prayer not being answered in the way that I wanted. As I have grown with experience, I have learnt to hear and tune into God's voice. On a few occasions in my ...

I like wood. I like the natural and tactile feel to wood. (Maybe I get that from my late dad, who was an apprentice cabinet maker at one time in his life.) I have been known to get a bit of wood, whittle and sand it and make it into a jewellery display or something. I bought some driftwood candle holders but they were a bit rough, so the other day I bought some sand paper, sat on the the step and sanded them down to look better.  It was just so good to do. As I was in the shop, I got a sense of  "Try it yourself" "Look for wood and get a tool, you will enjoy that. So I did. I came back from the DIY store with a bit of varnish and a drill bit....hubby never said a word...he has still not asked..... after 16.5 years of marriage, he probably just knew it would not make sense even if he asked. So I plan to look for wood I can work on. Sometimes its best not to ask with me.... Like I said in part one of this, I tend not to be conventional. You see all I can do...

I have not written for a while... That is what I usually start with isn't it? Well today is no different. Some of you may have never seen this blog before but for those who have you will know its my way of honestly living it. What exactly? Life. I am a mum doing mission and for much of my life I have never taken the conventional path.... so people don't get it... most of the time.... no matter who you are or what field you are in. So I am crafting a path less ordinary....not because I want to be different (Oh my goodness no - sometimes I scream for a regular job with a regular wage) You see I never really meant to do this.....but its what I have been called to do. For nearly 10 years now I have been a missionary. That was never really the plan. Infact I have sometimes joked that I must be one of the most reluctant missionaries on the planet. (Although one friend did laugh at that comment and retorted, "Well I don't know Tricia, I think Jonah may have bea...

It has been a while since I last posted here and if I am honest I am pondering what to write. Do I give you a catch up of the last 18 months and an apology of why I have not written? No. Not really. Those of you that know me know the personal journey I have been on....or at least you may think you know it. It is getting to that time of year where I think about doing my Christmas card letter, and even for me summing up this year is going to be hard. Personal bereavement at the beginning of the Spring hit me a curve ball out of the blue and the impact, impression and devastation will be around for some time. Ministry wise, programmes we expected to run did not get off the ground. And the community run swimming pool and leisure centre that I have been a part of for 3 years (I resigned my directorship in October)  is about to be handed back to the council as the organisation can not recover after an electrical fire in the control panel. I do not have high hopes in the council...