Moving On and Looking Back

Next Wednesday i finally (after a long leaving process) finish my time working at ALOVE UK. I have been there for just over 18 months and feel like such a length of time deserves mention.





During the largest chunk of my time at ALOVE, I have been the training and programme co-ordinator. Working with the team who run the Essential1 and Essential2 programmes, and I have been really priviledged to learn from some wise and experienced people in that team. I have also had some amazingly fun times at Essential training and retreats. I stood back during September training as I watched the Essentials making a giant banana split in some guttering (It was a Grinner thing...for those of you who know him, this will come as no suprise) and suddenly realised just how lucky I've been that for the last year and a half, thats been my JOB!!!





I've also had the priviledge of spending loads of time travelling round the UK visiting the various Essential1 and 2 placements, doing assessments and appraisals, and sometimes just hanging out. It is exciting to see some of the stuff that is going on at various Sally Army Centres around the country, and how passionate the people who work in our placements are about God and people.



At one of my leaving lunches (there have been 3, and then I didnt even leave, but I am going this time) I was asked to share my favourite moment, and quite franlkly it was impossible, so here are a few highlights. some serious, some...not so much



1) My relationship with Carrie...that encapsulates a whole load of favourite moments in itself. Carrie was my line manager in the training team and was a total inspiration to me. We developed a brilliant relationship whereby we could function really well together and travel together without driving each other mad (I hope). I cant really explain the friendship we have, except to say that she is something like a big sister to me, and we have had lots of laughs together. Carrie and I have similar blonde moments, so they have provided much hilarity...special moments include the 2 of us trying to build a set of drawers, which took a whole afternoon and one of the drawers wouldn't even close LOL. Also, todays moment where Carrie thought Singapore was a city in the country of TOKYO!!! lol there've been lots of laughs, and I like Carrie alot



2) Being part of the wider Alove team...They are an awesome bunch of people. Alot of them I had known of before I worked with them, through Roots and various other youthy events, so it has honestly been a huge privilege to have lunch with them and hear about their weekends and see that they're even more amazing than I thought in most cases. People like Russell Rook book up their diary months in advance yet have had time to sit and chat with me about my plans for the future and my fears and concerns and my heart about stuff. That's been pretty amazing and I've felt honoured. There have also been some really fun times as a team, including recording our own version of "do they know it's Christmas?" for our Christmas party, playing laser quest in the forest on the isle of wight, and the various stages of hysteria that Roots brings.

3) Actually roots probably deserves a mention...Being involved in Roots has probably been the hardest and most rewarding thing I've done since being at ALOVE. It really is the most intense experience, especially for the core Alove team who are working at it for months before the event. And then being there, no sleep, and doing something totally out of yoour comfort zone is hard work. But so much fun, and some of my best memories and most important friendships have happened at or because of roots.

4)The Essentials. Last but not least. These guys (E1's and E2's from all the years i've been involved) have been amazing and I feel honoured to have been part of the training. I have had some awesome fun with them, but also have been able to be part of their spiritual development and see them grow and develop. So the memory I eventually picked as my favourite was this one...at the E1 debrief this year (July) one of the mornings we shared "holy space" together. It was the morning that the announcement was made about the new director of Alove, and the whole team were with the Essentials for prayers which was awesome. During that time, we were asked to write an "I have a dream..." speech, to share our dreams for the future. The things shared both by the Essentials and the Alove team were so special, and I genuinely felt I was standing on holy ground as Jesus came very close to share his dreams for the futures of those people.

So as I leave, and Im terrified. My prayer is that those dreams shared that day will become a reailty in those lives

"All Change Please"

So, lots more changes in the life of Rebecca. This is both good and exciting, but is also scary and frustrating.

So due to some financial stuff and some decisions made by me, Uni is not happening this year as planned. Instead, on January 27th I am moving to Australia...yep...crazy and rash as that may seem, yesterday I got my visa and today I booked flights so Im going. Not totally alone as I have a couple of friends in Melbourne (which is where Im going) and a friend that I plan to stay with. However, Im going on an adventure that is just mine and Im gonna be away from all the people I love and sometimes rely on, and I am soooooo excited, and scared LOL.

This Saturday, my good friend Meghan is getting married to my even better friend (!!long standing joke!!) Michael Owen. Megs doesn't cope well with change and by the time she returns not only will I have left (the most traumatic change), but also, Russ, her boss and our director at Alove will have gone on to his new adventure, and she will be Mrs Meghan Owen and will be living with Mr Michael Owen (Who I believe is keeping his name)...all of this change has been alot for poor Megs to cope with and she's been struggling not to be extremely freaked out by it (let it be here noted that she loves Mike very much and is very excited about being his wife...theres just alot of stuff happening at the same time).

So Megs and I have had a fair old few chats about change. I like change more than she does...in fact I have an opposite problem to her...I like change too much and struggle more with things staying the same for too long...that makes me get antsy (or ancy if you're Carrie) and do silly/rash things just to spice things up a little. I suspect neither Meghan or I have the balance quite right to be honest, but I do wish I was a little more stable at times.

However, then Dave shared some thoughts with us in Alove prayers last week about how God wants to see change happen in the world, and how if we're christians we have to want that too. We have to want to see Gods kingdom come, and that means massive change! Dave challenged us to think about what Gods kingdom coming to earth would look like...its a pretty exciting picture.

But that brings me to my next current challenge. ON holiday a few weeks ago, I read Shane Claibournes "Irresistible revolution" for the second, and in some ways the first time. It challenged me more than I could possibly record here, and gave me a tiny glimpse of what Gods Kingdom could look like. Shane has seen Gods heart, Im sure of that, and so he loves people in a way I've never seen in anyone (and I've seen some pretty awesome, loving christians) and he sees how Christians should be bringing about change.

Today is Blog action day, and the theme is Poverty (see www.magicmusings.com for a much better blog than mine). Shane Claibournes challenge is that as Christians we should be eradicating poverty. Not just with campaigns and food parcels, but with life altering generosity and total commitment to the poor. In Shane's words "True generosity is measured not by how much we give away but by how much we have left". He also says "The early christians said that if a child starves while a christian has extra food then the christian is guilty of murder"

Challenging words...especially for someone who just spent the best part of a grand on a plane ticket to Aus. But I am sure that I want to see change, but not just change for change's sake, and not even just change that makes me feel better. I want to see the kind of change that Jesus brings, and I want to find a way to be a part of that