WE DID IT! We completed race for life in 1 hour 5 minutes. Well done girls!

Blessings throughout the week

This week has just been full of blessings.

My cousin gave birth to her first child,
I finished College
I received an achievers award
Got to hold the Olympic Torch and meet Sharon Davies
Spent substantial amount of time with my little sister
Spent quality time with my Dad and his girlfriend before Dad goes away
Found out I achieved better than expected at college and got the best grade I could've hoped for
and finally tonight I get to celebrate with my Mumma over a glass of Rose

I see that list infront of me and think wow, I have finally got that big break that I've been praying for. For the past few weeks I've been asking myself the question where is God? Why on earth does everything seem so dark and scary and intimidating? He answers my prayers with the week above. What a fantastic God. He has helped me see the light in what has been a dark month. 

The t-shirts!!

So ladies and gentlemen the race for life t-shirts have arrived!

we are all very excited about our "team tops" and would like to say a HUGE thankyou to Matt and Lindsay, for designing them and sorting out all the printing and organisation of them!

If anyone see's any of us walking around with them please come and say hey!!

Training Day!

Tuesday saw our first day of walking with our hula hoops! We walked around a beautiful lake!

 

 I think it's fair to say we all found it much more challenging than expected, however the giggles made up for it. 





 
Our next training session is Sunday at the look out so if you see a few people with hoops wondering along the look out please say hey!!

Some of the hooping girls!

Firstly for a quick update, we have raised over £200 so far which is fantastic! We are SUPER greatfull to everyone who has donated so far!

Now I thought I would introduce you to some of the girls who will be hooping the race this year!

Top Left Is Lindsay, a lovely lady who hates the word "Freestyle"

Top Middle is Dianne, another lovely lady who is determined to keep her hoop up for the whole race!

Top Right is myself, I am DETERMINED to be able to pick the hoop up from the back

Bottom Left is Jo, who is a master at leg hooping!

Bottom Right is Andie our instructor and i don't think there's anything she won't try once with a hoop!

I'm very privileged to be able to hoop race for life with these lovely ladies! There are also 7 others who I haven't met yet, however once I have I will update you on them and what's going on. 

Also training starts tonight EEEK!

Get donating if you can! http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/hooplarious-hoopers  

Hooping day 1

The Hoops That Will Be Taking Me Through The Race!

Last night saw the first week back at Hula Hooping woohooo!
So far 7/8 of us will be doing the race which is extremely exciting!

This is Andie!

This lovely lady is not only our hoop instructor, but she will also be seeing us through our training. She has been hula hooping for 2 years and runs multiple classes throughout the week. 

I'll be updating throughout the classes and training and begin to introduce to you the people we'll be running the race with.

The place to be on a Friday Night

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS4vOzS7ScU&list=UUhW4il1XOwxEOYWa-qMJ-nQ

SPONSOR US!

http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/hooplarious-hoopers

There is the link to the sponsors page for race for life.
Please sponsor us if you can!

I've Seen this flying around facebook take a read if you can

Professor : You are a Christian, aren’t you, son ?

Student : Yes, sir.

Professor: So, you believe in GOD ?

Student : Absolutely, sir.

Professor : Is GOD good ?

Student : Sure.

Professor: Is GOD all powerful ?

Student : Yes.

Professor: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to GOD to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But GOD didn’t. How is this GOD good then? Hmm?

(Student was silent.)

Professor: You can’t answer, can you ? Let’s start again, young fella. Is GOD good?

Student : Yes.

Professor: Is satan good ?

Student : No.

Professor: Where does satan come from ?

Student : From … GOD …

Professor: That’s right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student : Yes.

Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn’t it ? And GOD did make everything. Correct?

Student : Yes.

Professor: So who created evil ?

(Student did not answer.)

Professor: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don’t they?

Student : Yes, sir.

Professor: So, who created them ?

(Student had no answer.)

Professor: Science says you have 5 Senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son, have you ever seen GOD?

Student : No, sir.

Professor: Tell us if you have ever heard your GOD?

Student : No , sir.

Professor: Have you ever felt your GOD, tasted your GOD, smelt your GOD? Have you ever had any sensory perception of GOD for that matter?

Student : No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t.

Professor: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student : Yes.

Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says your GOD doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student : Nothing. I only have my faith.

Professor: Yes, faith. And that is the problem Science has.

Student : Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Professor: Yes.

Student : And is there such a thing as cold?

Professor: Yes.

Student : No, sir. There isn’t.

(The lecture theater became very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don’t have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There was pin-drop silence in the lecture theater.)

Student : What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Professor: Yes. What is night if there isn’t darkness?

Student : You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light. But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn’t it? In reality, darkness isn’t. If it is, well you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?

Professor: So what is the point you are making, young man ?

Student : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Professor: Flawed ? Can you explain how?

Student : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good GOD and a bad GOD. You are viewing the concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, Science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.

Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Professor: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student : Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shook his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument was going.)

Student : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor. Are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

(The class was in uproar.)

Student : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor’s brain?

(The class broke out into laughter. )

Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor’s brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable.)

Professor: I guess you’ll have to take them on faith, son.

Student : That is it sir … Exactly ! The link between man & GOD is FAITH. That is all that keeps things alive and moving.

P.S.

I believe you have enjoyed the conversation. And if so, you’ll probably want your friends / colleagues to enjoy the same, won’t you?

Forward this to increase their knowledge … or FAITH.

By the way, that student was EINSTEIN

The big race!

As you may recall I told you my hoop group will be hula hooping race for life. The date has been confirmed, we will be hula hooping through Reading on the 22nd July

Let the training commence!

Race for Life

This year, my hooping instructor, our group, and other hula hooping groups will be hooping race for life this year. 

I'm going to photograph the whole process from training, to picking what to wear, to the actual race. 

I'm going to use this blog as an update of our journey for this race. 

Watch this space!

Procrastinating against God.

The past couple of months I've felt God say to me " SIAN! I want you start honoring people more" At first I was like pfft that's easy, all I have to do is thank them for what they're doing, or give them an encouraging word. But as I sit here watching trashy Saturday TV (which, in all complete honesty is the same episode of Friends I've seen over and over again). I thought to myself, you know what, that's not enough. For me that's just a candid way of honoring someone, actually, I want to be able to do it in my own unique way. 

A while ago you may recall me beginning a series called "Active In The Community" and I haven't taken any more pictures since, I've been making stupid excuses like "Oh I've got too much college work" "Oh actually I don't know how to go about asking people" etc. No It's time to stop with excuses, God didn't ask me to do something just for me to procrastinate! Whilst honoring the people in Church, I want to be able to extend that into the Bracknell community, the big issue man, the guy who sells hot dogs or those amazingly yummy diddy doughnuts! 

It's time for me to stop procrastinating and get on and honour people. So if you know anyone who you think deserves to be honored for their hard work, please let me know!

Roller coaster of a couple of weeks

I haven't blogged properly in so so long! It has been a very interesting few weeks. 

• I failed my second driving test
• I went to see Skrillex
• I had my first and only Uni interview and didn't get in
• I preached at my Church
• I went to see my Cousin play Hockey for the first time in years
• I managed to start getting the grades I want in college.

Although a lot of them sound positive, and it has been, the biggest thing of all has been the Uni thing. It's been a massive confidence knock for me to not get into my top choice. It was very difficult for me to see that it was all in God's plan for me not to get in just yet. It set me up for my preach on Sunday which went fantastic! 

Now all that's over I've had the chance to sit back and reflect on what's been happening and putting plans in place for the future. Although at the time I couldn't see it, not getting into Falmouth is the best thing to happen. I feel him calling me to try again. I think he wanted me to remember that although I have ambitions I have to put HIM at the center of it. I need to remember that through all the highs and lows I need to keep thanking and seeking him. 

Although it's been both a disappointing and really good week, it's made me realise so much about my faith. 

This post is abit rambly. I do apologize. 

Good Morning Rambles

I haven't blogged for a while but this issue has really made me think, how much do I truly know on the biblical view on such matters and how on earth do I approach the issue when someone asks me without offending them? 

I find it really difficult to approach such subjects without someone out side of Christianity flaring up with their views on how we're wrong with our beliefs and how we're judgmental/ homophobic. 

I don't want to be a Christian that hides away from such topics. 

Somebody help?

Active In The Community

Look To The Skies Hope Arise, See His Majesty Reveal

Active In The Community

I've decided to start a "Active In The Community Portrait Series" of Photos. 
So if you can think of someone who deserves to be recognized as someone who contributes to the community please let me know!

Active People In The Community

Like most people my age everyone is applying for University and starting to get their offers! However, as I'm a photography student I have to send off an online portfolio before I even get an interview. One particular Uni asked me to send them 8 pictures of how I view my town (Bracknell) four of which have to be portraits of people who are active in the community.

Admittedly the first people I thought of was loads of different people from the Church who help out our community more than you could think of. However, when I stopped and thought about it, there are lots of others outside the church who help out to. For instance the community support officers who keep our streets safe to the big issue guy whose struggling to earn a living.

 I think it's important that we take notice of the people who we see everyday. From the bin men who clear out our fortnightly rubbish and recycling, to the post-man delivering us those awful letters we dread. I think we need to take a moment out and appreciate the people we take advantage of. Let me ask you, how many people can you think of whose active in our community? Or more importantly how can you be an active community member?