As life would have it i am now living in Manchester. Well 'Greater Manchester' i'm actually in Salford (pronounced Sulford) which i'm told is a city in it's own right, and was here before Manchester....
But Manchester is more famous so i'll stick with that.
How did i get here you ask?
Well God really. But that's a cop out answer so I shall elaborate...
Having decided to rethink my life plan and not go down the root of Drama School, and not being able to decide on a course for uni, the second gap year was inevitable. I kinda got the sense at the end of summer last year (2010) that God wanted me to do an internship at a church or a similar course as a second gap year anyway, so i'm not too surprised to find myself here. But how come Manchester?... well children, if you're sitting comfortably i will begin.
Long ago in the summer of 2010, i was at New Wine once again, the camping event that hosts 10000 christians, all teaching, learning, worshipping, praying, playing, and fellowshipping with each other, and was helping to lead the 10-11 year olds. It just so happened one day that i was walking through the bookstore in the marketplace when i saw a book that caught my eye.
It caught my eye for several reasons. 1 - the whole way up to Somerset i was playing a song on my CD which was Israel Houghton's 'I am not forgotten', which also contains the lyrics 'God knows my name' (ba na na na na na). Secondly I like Beth Redman. And thirdly i like the cover.
But these arent usually the reasons i buy a book. God was like 'Hey Jess, buy the book' and i was like 'nah'. So i walked away from the bit i was in and looked at another shelf, where lo and behold someone had left a copy of the book right in my eyeline, and i was like 'Alright fine i'll get the book'. So i got the book and really enjoyed it. When i finished I saw an ad at the back of the book for another book which was about 'Equipping Females in Worship Leading'. That same week at New Wine, a complete stranger at a meeting had a picture for me about music being the way that God will use me to make heaven touch earth. i think that was the general gist anyway. And so in the back of my mind i had the whole 'worship leading' 'year out' thing ticking over.
A couple of months later i got a magazine sent to me in the post. I dont remember ever signing up for it, but there you go. I guess God signed up for it on my behalf or something lol. Any how, in the middle of the magazine was an advert for a year out doing youthwork and worship leading with no other than Matt and Beth Redman. So i looked into it, and from what i could gather it looked like quite a good course (both practical and fun), and you even get a qualification at the end of it which is handy. With nothing else really to go on, and all signs thus far pointing to this year out, i applied for it...
and got in!
So here i am, living in a house in Salford above a youth centre, on the eve before i begin my course with two of my housemates and an additional 19 people spread out across Greater Manchester.
I will save a more detailed explanation of the course on another blog, as i'll probably have a better idea of what i'm doing, once i've actually started doing it.
At the moment it hasnt really sunk in that i'm living away from home. And will be living away from home for the next 10 months. It still kinda feels like i'm just on holiday. I will however definitely miss a lot of people. I managed to get an impressive six 'goodbye' meals with my mates, 2x Carverys, 3x italians, and 1x wagamamas - which was actually supposed to be a nandos but there you go. Pictures to follow soon :)
but for now i shall say goodnight and try to get a good night's sleep before beginning the fun tomorrow.
xx
