the last France update (for this year anyway)

So, I'm back chez moi and as much as it has been great to see everyone again I would love to be back in Biarritz.

It was incredible how I went out there just with the aim of trying to be a blessing but in turn I was also totally blessed by my stay there- God is incredible!

I feel like I learnt loads about God's provision too. When I was thinking about going to France for the summer I had several reservations...

1) My food allergy ( coeliac, very gluten intolerant)

2) as a penniless student not being able to afford to go

3) not being very much help

4) the language

5) being on my own

and for every one of these things God really stepped in and none of it was a problem...

1) I got TOTALLLLYY HEALED!!!! like completely and utterly. from going from someone who would get ill at even traces of flour in something really small, to being able to eat baguettes, pasta, pizza, the lot. Praise God!

2) In the weeks before me going away, without even asking, I received above and beyond what I even needed- like significantly more. So much so, that I am now in the position where all the money that I didn't need I am being able to give to the new church plant out there that really needs it to get started. Praise God!

3) I was a help. In a different way than I thought was even possible, but I really felt like it was right place right time for me this summer- something that was totally God knowing how the people I was with needed help and knowing that I had free time to do it. If you ask God to use you he will, and in the most incredible ways.

4) God provided loads of people around me who were patient, willing to teach me, or just spoke great English!

5) yea now the being on my own thing was hard sometimes, I did feel isolated now and then but in these times my dependence on God was really important, someone to chat things through with and just generally to spent time with. It was awesome! and actually God really provided some amazing people for me to get to know and hang out with. I made some really great friends and had a heck of a lot of fun too.

Sorry that this is long, I hate long blog entries, but I thought that it was really important to mention all of this stuff. It just really shows how much God really really cares about everything that matters to us, how he seriously answers prayers, and how when he tells us to do something he's not going to leave us to struggle on with it ourselves. Even if we feel like we are out of our depth God is our armbands our rubber ring and the lifeguard holding his hand out. we need never to worry.

:)

France: the flipflop and the stereotype

I guess that a lot of you will have already seen this pic, but for those who haven't I was chatting to one of my french friends one day explaining what the English stereotype of the french was, he found it so funny that we ended up gathering lots of bits together to be able to take a photo of what I said was 'french' (minus garlic and onions).

OK, so one night I hear the ominous high pitched buzz of a mosquito so I turn my lamp on only to realise that it has landed on the ceiling and isn't showing any signs of coming down anytime soon. Now, this being a very old house the ceiling was ridiculously high so I couldn't reach to get it... so I thought I would throw my flip flop up to get it to move but, as you can see, It somehow (???) got stuck.

:)

France update no.7

So my last week is here, which is so sad as I would more than happily stay here another couple of months. Especially as I have just about got used to the french keyboard.

I have spent the last 2 days in an apron and rubber gloves helping to totally clean the hostel as it was the end of the season. As for what Im up to now, I am staying here until monday as Im going to be helping out with the kids a bit more. Then tuesday and wednesday I am going to stay at a french lady's house, who goes to the church here.

I would love prayer that...
- God would really continue to use me in my last week
- I would be an encouragement to the lady I am staying with
- prayer for the 2 guys that I have been working with ( who have now left) that they will go away thinking about God and that they would know that life with God is life to the full, and the only thing that can satisfy.

see you all soon!
:)

france update no.6 FINALLY

So I have been here just over 3 weeks now, Its going by so fast! Sorry for lack of updates, everytime I start writing someone else needs the internet so I give up.

Im still here working at the surf hostel, Im now helping with breakfast every other day and doing the daily clean all the time. Its actually been really good because its meant that I have had more time to chat with the people staying here. Yesterday was my day off, and sure enough it rained most of the day. Today Im really busy and guess what, its sunny.
I have been having loads of fun though, from chasing bats around the upstairs of the hostel to having my hair hoovered.

Im still learning loads about the church here and in france as a whole, Im asking billions of questions whenever I can, and praying with some of the missionaries here weekly has been really amazing.

I feel exceptionally ordinary here, just like a passer-by who cant really do much. I really feel that God wants me to be here this summer though, I wouldnt be here if I didnt think that, but its just that I cant see why. Sure Im busy and doing loads but for me its grappling with whether what Im doing makes any difference at all. It doesnt feel particularly radical, Im not standing up in public and preaching the gospel, I dont feel like Im 'out there' . But yet, at the same time, I dont think the way that I live my life has ever been so watched and scruntinized. The guys I work with have a lifestyle that is totally different to my own, I get on really well with them but they say that they are fascinated by the choices I make and the things I do, and bizarely how happy I am. Not drinking excessively, not sleeping around etc seems the radical thing. And some of the conversations I have had with people have been great about why Im here. It has really made me think, is what I believe matched up by the way that I live and am I really showing God's love to people through everything I do- even first thing in the morning doing breakfast having had very little sleep. :)

There is a verse that really stands out to me at the moment, it is



Phillippians 2 vs14-15

"In everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing. So that no one can speak a word of blame against you. You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of Gopd in a dark world full of crooked and perverse people. Let your lives shine brightly before them."

thank you to all of you who have been praying for me
:)

france update no.5- Mostly the beach

So, I thought Id upload a few pics of me just to prove im still alive.

Will update properly soonish

:)

france update no.4- Icecream, toucans and troublesome sounds

Bonjour! I have some free time to update this, sorry its taken me so long!

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, I did successfully manage to ask for a waffle flavoured icecream the other day.

So this week has been pretty busy, the australian family who own the surf hostel have 5 young children and their dad has gone away for the week. So this week I am babysitter/ extra pair of hands and eyes. I help with breakfast then babysit the two youngest for a bit then help with some afternoons and most evenings. Im usually so shattered by the time I get to crawl into bed.

Been off bodyboarding with some frenchies when I can, they have been really lovely and lent me loads of stuff like flippers etc. I gonna start learning to surf when the waves get a bit better. Im very much covered in bruises and cuts now though after several run ins with rocks, my board and tripping over my flippers. yes flippers and me is not a good mix.

I dont have to use my french at the hostel at all, its a nice change to actually be able to understand whats going on :)
there is a game called 'toucan' that I have been playing alot with the frenchies although this presents a problem as the word 'toucan' is virtually impossible for me to say, they spent ages with me practicing the 'ou' and the 'a' sound and I can hear the difference but I physically cannot make the right french sound, it doesnt exist in english. In turn for this pronunciation help I have been teaching them the 'th' sound .

right so Im going to get back to my dried apple crisps so here are some things I'd love prayer for...

- a big thanks to God that Im properly settled in, have now got the correct adapter plug and have been really well.
- please pray that the time I have to spend with people is really great and that am able to be a friend to the people Im around, trying to show something of God's love to them even when Im exhausted and dont feel like it.
- for opportunities to share the completely amazing good news about Jesus with those Im around.

thank youuuuuuuuuuuuu
:)

france update no.3

Bonjour! I apologise in advance for any typos, im seriously not used to using a french keyboard and also that this might be a little long.

Today I managed to whilst asking for a waffle flavoured icecream actually end up with strawberry... they are in no way similar words I have no idea how I managed it, so I settled for strawberry anyway.

It all seems to have been a bit of a blur since I last updated, Im now staying at a "surf hostel" helping clean in the mornings and helping to look after the kids of the people who run it ( who love to try and copy my accent as they find it hilarious). Because im going to be really busy with it all next week they have given me today and tomorrow off. wahey!! so today I spent all day on the beach in the beautiful sunshine.
The australian guy who runs the place says he'll give me surf lessons- which i think is asking for trouble because I dont think I can even stand up on a board on solid ground without falling off.

In terms of what I have come out here to do I think its really been teaching me a lot about having a servants heart and also the power that prayer has. That having the time and the space to pray for France, especially this region and the work thats going on here through the missionaries, is still helping LOADS. in fact its fundamental. Im learning loads about the culture here too , its pretty spiritually dry, nobody wants anything to do with God or the church I dont think I really realised quite how much more open people back home are, in general its a much more closed society here.

things you lot can pray for:
-that God would open up opportunities for me to chat about Jesus and what I believe with those who are staying in the hostel ( especially the guys i work with)
-that in whatever ways im working or socialising that I would show God's love and be a witness for him

:)

France update no.2

hey Im here and this is just a very quick update.

I feel very pasty white and english. everyone else here seems incredibly tanned.
So far I have had a few quite easy days just settling in adn meeting people but it hasnt felt so easy as Im surrounded by french and I dont understand much and cant really speak anything so its pretty hard to be me and also to settle in because of the language barrier.

please pray that
I get my electric transformer sockety thing sorted ( as I cant use any of my electrical stuff cos my transformer thing wont work)
My french drastically improves
I settle in here and see what I can do to help

thank you
:)

France Update no.1

So apparently this is the easiest way to keep in touch with you lot whilst I’m away for a bit. It has worked pretty well over the last year. Not sure how often I will be able to get on the Internet (im hoping like once a week) so I will try and update this with what I have been up to and provide some things that Id love you to pray for me about if you want to.

So I leave here tomorrow for Biarritz which is on the coast of the South West of France nearish the Spanish boarder. I have been placed with a missionary out there by an organisation called world horizons, exciting stuff n’est-ce pas?

The fact that it’s a heck of a lot warmer there than it is here is a definite plus point, but I am having to hold back my Englishness and not pack all my jumpers.

I have been trying to think of some small English gifts to take over with me, my brother and I even Wikipediaed England to see what was truly English… all we came up with was rain, disappointment and queuing. None of which I really want to take with me. Any suggestions??

Please pray that

-I stay nice n healthy
- That I would be able to be a help and an encouragement to the church that Im about to go and help and especially for the missionary Im being placed with (Helen)
- for my French, that what I know I will remember and what I don’t I will learn fast
- for confidence

:)

Tan and type

I'm good at free time.
(I was oblivious to this being taken)
Toshiba should sponsor me
:)

No words, just joy...

:)

Well, If I must revise...

let it be outside in the sunshine. although I am still grumpy as anything.
I KNOW that as soon as I get this last exam done the sun will go away :(. call me a pessimist but its going to be that way.
I do not enjoy revision. Actually I think the fault is with exams, if there were no exams the world would be a better place.
working my socks off is not how I want to spend sunny days, no- hold that, any day. I am averaging 12 hours a day.... thats more than I did combined Im sure for any of my other exams ever.
I am beginning to look a little worse for wear with black rings making an appearance under my eyes, and my mind doesnt seem to enjoy the 9am-11pm work.
This time tomorrow I will be freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
but I just have to get passed the exam first.
GRUMP.
:)

passer et mes examens and all that and SVP a bit of réussite.

Another day, another exam down. After yesterdays history issue with the ambiguous wording of a question, its amazing how many ways the word 'or' can be taken!! meaning that I have made a superb point in my essay but it was potentially the wrong point.

I felt slightly better walking into my french exam although it being french anything could come up and the only way that you could be prepared is if you actually woke up french, (not that I didn't pray that last night)

ahhh well that's the end of year one french.... errr bring on year two??! *gulp*

:)

I was trying to find a picture to illustrate my point... but apparently the world, i.e. google ,isn't that fond of the french, who knew??

If I were a vegetarian it would not be due to my love of animals but my dislike of plants...

opening my windows or indeed looking out of my windows is increasingly becoming a difficult task where I battle against the shrubs outside. (the stupid plant usually wins)
:)

There is a bit of insanity in dancing that does everybody a great deal of good.

and somehow I have pulled a muscle in my stomach. from dancing yes. (this is me and one of my lovely friends whom Im living with next year)

This is last night at a charity ball, it was great! although faaar too hot... I felt like I was melting away. But I was very impressed with how smart students can look when they want to. (says me sat in my pjs and wearing leg warmers. aaaaa comfort)

:)

le weekend

So I had a pretty groovy weekend one way or another, I went on an away day with some of CU small group and we went to the newforest, eating icecream, far too many sweets, sitting in the sunshine, ultimate Frisbee, funny games, good company and worshipping God made for a amazing day out from Uni-life.
church that we went to and as of this morning I have done my french speaking exam!!! and hoping it didn't hit the lines of 'barely comprehensible'. I felt that it actually went really well, possibly the easiest spoken exam in all my years of french.
:)

When it rains it pours

on thursday it rained alllllllllllllllllllllll day. not just little bits of rain HUGE chunks of it. but all is lovely and sunny again now.
and the rain made me stay indoors and do my essay- one down one to go this for this week. then I will be a free-er girl WAHEYYY.
:)

Taking reading in the bathroom to a whole new level...

It had got to the point where I just had to ask "err does anybody know why there is writing on our toilet seat?" I just wasn't expecting the reply I got.

One of my flatmates confessed to having written some notes quickly on his hand at the end of his music lecture to try and remember to look those things up when he got back. He says that the toilet seat is always so cold so he sat on his hands and then the notes on his hand printed onto the toilet seat... and I kid you not, a week on and you can still read them. They came off of his hand pretty sharpish, but it definitely won't be coming off the toilet seat any time soon.

:)

Things I love

beautiful days that are really unexpected, sitting on my window sill

windows wide open and a laptop in hand.

:)

I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.

So the weather has been pretty good this last week, has meant that virtually no work has been done whatsoever, and I haven't yet managed to do my usual trick of burning my legs whilst wearing footless tights and then looking like I have been dipped in something for the rest of the summer.

(for those who are wondering, I am wearing my larry T-shirt)

and I managed to do a whole hour of french speaking today without wanting to be swallowed up by the ground at any point. well okay, maybe a couple of times. I think I managed to convey that as I was a studying history and french that for my year out I would be going back in time in France. possibly an error.

:)

Victory of a Vaseline kind

I had resigned myself to the fact that I, a mere mortal, would never possess such wonders of the vaseline world... but lo and behold I discovered one in tesco sitting alone on a rack of vaselines of lesser colour.

(yes it is actually pink)

p.s sorry I haven't posted in a while with any real 'news', to give you a flavour of my holiday I spent this afternoon doing footnotes and listening to classical music. WILD I know.

:)

This is not just a birthday cake...

We are a cake loving family, so when It came to my mum's birthday we weren't sure what type of cake to make... so me a my brother made them all.

What we have here is a chocolate cake, carrot cake, coffee and walnut cake, cherry and coconut cake and then a little lemon cake on top. It is possibly the best cake in the world.

:)

Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest

So my birthday this year was pretty different to my previous 18, I had never given it less thought and feel that 19 is getting towards sounding a little bit too old for my liking. All the same I had such a lovely day, my mum took the day off work and we went shopping and amongst other things I brought a rather expensive smart dress and some dortothy-esq red shoes. Then I had a great meal with my family with a lot of cake and spent the evening chatting and then watching 3 year old me on a very old video. I think I found it funny rather than humiliating... but I was a very confident three year old and didn't hold back for the camera!
It was just so good to relax and spend time with my family and I got a very exciting package from kenya and a phone call too from the lovely Zoe :D
before I left Uni on the Friday night from my CU friends I was presented with a lovely chocolate cake that tasted soooo good as it had no flour in so was pretty much just chocolate, then very early on saturday morning my flat mates gave me a load of presents which were lovely, we sat in the corridor with dressing gowns on and bleary eyes at 9am before we had to pack and go home.

yes that is my cake that I had at home and yes, it has got socks on it.

:)

How to celebrate getting older? Do something that makes you feel younger... a lot younger.

So its been a busy week one way or another. The last week of term is always madness due to work deadlines but this week has been an extra special form of crazy with a lot of people's birthdays.

Sadly with all that was going on there wasn't time to celebrate mine at uni what with essays and stuff :( but it was still a lot of fun celebrating everyone else's!

Last night I went to playzone in Portsmouth which is a giant softplay that they hire out to big (supposedly grown up) people in the evenings. It was so much fun but incredibly tiring and I think we all have rather a lot of bruises today... we got to play for half of our time and the other half we played lazer quest in there which was amazing. the girls woooped the boys by like 2000 points and there were less of us too. So a pretty good night out really.

Im pretty sure that the legs with the white socks is me.

Oh and I think my jeans didnt really enjoy the evening,

:)

Goodbye weekend, hello essay-that-I'd-really-rather-not-have-to-do...

:)

Birds, bananas and being bonkers

So I haven't blogged much recently because not a lot of things blog-worthy have been happening this past week. It has been very chilled with not a lot of work which has been great.

I think the only news that I have is that I saw a bird die outside my window and then a big bird ate it (apparently it was a sparrowhawk for all you bird watchers) ewwwww

and I discovered that left over bananas can be handily used in cake to great effect and tastiness

The only thing I have done that is vaguely interesting is on Saturday I went on a CU 'girls day' which was so much fun... although sadly lacking in chocolate. We had a great time in the afternoon split up into teams and given about 15 captions that we had to go into town and take the best picture to fit the captions. The team I was in won, mainly due to extreme competitiveness and complete madness, including a photo of us all trying on bridal dresses and a photo of us all running down the highstreet with underwear on our heads.

*(I don't particularly want to include photos of this)*

yea I think that's pretty much it

:)

Pretty much my week in pictures

:)

A little more life and times of me

hellooo. I do realise that I haven't managed to update for ages. I have no real excuse so shall not attempt to make one.

This term is going so impossibly fast that I have no idea where all my time has gone-- probably spread between my four main activities eating, reading, socialising and facebook. errrm well I will attempt to give a quick run through of the most important things in life chez chloe
- I have a house for next year which is soooo amazing and right by the Uni
- CU events week went really well
- I went to Soul Survivor on Tour here and it was great
- all my work is distinctly average in terms of interestingness
- I have a replacement ladybird umbrella
- I have a new pot of peanut butter

Today has been a beautiful sunny day but sadly I haven't managed to get out as I have got an awful cold so have been sat in bed today surrounded by damp tissues, coughing all over the place and generally being coldy. I have so much of a cold that it hurts when I move my eyes, my nose is bright red and I have run out of strepsils. But it has meant that I can justify doing very little work today so I'm happy :)

Wahey we have... rain.oh.

Yesterday my day was as good as the weather, in some parts of the country they may have got a foot of snow- we received a foot of rain, and gale force winds and a severe weather warning.

I had to be up early and on campus to pick up the university housing list and get ringing people up so we could view a load, after this I was in the 24/7 prayer tent for an hour which although great was sooo soggy and sooo cold. (Its the CU events week here) I had five minutes for lunch after a history meeting and then off to look at houses. So for about 3 hours I traipsed around in the freezing cold, with the peeing it down sort of rain. I had broken wellies, a broken kagool and a broken umbrella. We eventually decided upon a second viewing of a house so that the rest of our flatmates could see it as we kinda liked it and desperately needed a house. Just as we left we received a call to say that it had just been let.

Sadly this did not mean the end of walking around in the rain, one of our flatmates who finished her lectures at 6 was going to meet us down there and we had no way of contacting her because her phone battery had died. So, of course we had to walk down anyway to tell her...

... An hour later I did get back to my room, bedraggled, cold, having not eaten and with irrational thoughts of homelessness in my second year.

and no this is not the end of me walking around in the rain because at night (well early mornings) between midnight and 8am the CU allocates hall groups to do 24/7 prayer slots. I was particularly grateful to have been given a session between 12 and 2.30 to organise, but even so the prospect of sitting in that soggy and freezing tent again- which by this point was mostly underwater- was not that welcome. After having put on EVERYTHING that I own (including a hot water bottle stuffed up my hoody) we ventured down to the tent only to discover that is was so flooded that we had to go and pray in the chaplaincy instead. This was great... except the fact that I was wearing a billion layers fully prepared to freeze, not burn up in a heated building.

Sadly in the last few days, due to my insane busyness/ trying to dry out wet clothes on the radiator this has happened to my room...:)

Theres no business like snow business...

Walking back from lectures this morning I got absolutely drenched in snow... I'm frantically trying to dry everything off on my radiator before I have to go to my afternoon seminars. The problem is that my stuff got snowed on, the snow melted and then in turned to ice, so my scarf was so stiff!

the little snowman...

snow angels...

my snow angel....

me after the snow angel. also how much snow has Bristol got cos on the radio this morn they said it was still snowing heavilly in the west?

:)

You lot in hot countries are seriously missing out...

this morning I happened to wake up at 7 and immediately could tell that something was different because of the colour of the light that was coming through my window...

I discovered this...

and have had such a groovy morning playing in the snow. who needs hot weather? :)

You know you're English when...

...you go to the beach no matter what the weather is like.

Sadly I don't bring you all stories of rainforests and tropical islands, nothing nearly as exotic as that. Small things like receiving post, having a full fridge and maybe even finding another pair of underwear so you can put off laundry are all thrilling things when you are a student.

Sometimes when this kind of excitement gets too much a voyage of some sort is needed, to break out from the student bubble and explore the world. So of course the most obvious thing to do at the end on January is to go to the beach for the day and a trip to the sun soaked paradise of Bournemouth was planned.

It was far from warm and quickly the feeling was lost in my feet, possibly not helped by the fact that I did paddle a bit, but was very good fun making sandcastles and having long jump competitions.

Wading through the New Forest... another 'bright idea'

So yesterday I went walking in the New Forest. Possibly not one of my best ideas ever seeing as it was raining and was foggy all day... but even so I went, I saw, I conquered and waded through countless boggy fields. We managed to get a return for £3.70 (woop) to this tiny train station in the New Forest, it was so small that we had to be in the front carriage of the train because the platform was so tiny and the driver was so surprised that anyone was getting off at that particular stop! We had planned to walk from this station to the station further up and get the train home from there and it should have only been about 5 miles but as it was we got somewhat lost in woods that all looked exactly the same. After 2 hours of walking we did eventually work out where we were but had got no closer to the point where we needed to be than when we had got off the train. In fact we had gone further away. Anyway to cut a very long story short after a pretty epic walk we did eventually make it to the other station... only to miss our train and have to wait an hour for the next one.
Things that were learnt from this...
1) the paths in January are non-existent, if there appears to be a way it will be a foot deep in mud. pond or wild animal excrement
2) there are very little signs telling you where you are in the New Forest.
3) pick a shorter route


I did actually enjoy most of it. but just not all of it. and I was very very glad to get home and have a shower. :)

My mind not only wanders, sometimes it leaves completely...

I can't think of a title and I can't find a picture but I am DONE. I have a whole week to do absolutely nothing and to do it well. now that I'm brilliant at.
:)

Head hits desk moment

I HATE KING STEPHEN. I'm sure he was a very lovely person really but essays about him are the worst of the worst. Yesterday was the first time since being here I have regretted taking history... right now I would much rather be learning a book full of science than writing about the antics of the medieval monarchy, actually right now I would rather be do anything. Im having to consume a lot of chocolate to get me through this one.
:)

I got pajamas in the post today...

ooo so exciting. they are uber comfy too.
:)

A lecturer is a man who tells you a simple thing in a confused way in such a fashion as to make you think the confusion is your own fault.

Where: history seminar 9am
Who: welsh guy with a posh accent: corduroy trousers and nondescript woolly top.
What: king Stephen- medieval history...

him- asks difficult question
class- awkwardly long silence as if in a vortex where time itself stands still
one person- answers
him- "yes ermmmm well alriiiiiigggghhhht. no."

times this by about 8 or 9
:)

Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.

Exciting stuff, we are house hunting!!!!! all we need is 6 bedrooms and a tree house (apparently).
Things are busy as usual and I have plenty of essays, presentations and revision to do over the next couple of weeks that are all really important, so understandably procrastination has gone up a level.
Dont really know what other news I have, apart from we just found some disgusting gunk stuff clogging up our sink. ewwww.
:)

Back in the South.

This morning I awoke and thought yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaa I'm back at Uni, life is good, fun times ahead, friends to see, an amazing shower, powerful central heating and Internet that works all the time. Then I remembered I had a french speaking class to go to, groaned, pulled my duvet over my head and went back to sleep.
:)