2009

2010 is almost here so I thought I would actually write something before this year ends. And what a year!!
So many things happened that I barely had time to breathe... as you might have noticed by the lack of blog posts.

There are so many things I'm grateful for and so many people I need to thank for the way they've let God use them to bless me with their example, words of encouragement, by telling me off, etc.

So this last blog post of the year is a small attempt to say thank you. By no means I'm gonna pretend I'll be able to list here everything and everyone. I'm sorry for that but I'm gonna do my best.

So, I thank God for:

- For my amazing family and friends.

- For giving me a great boyfriend.

- getting me through second year without going totally mad (and note the 'totally'...)

- passing all my coursework and exams (and what a miracle that was!!)

- all the summer camps. This was a big thing in my year. It was so challenging but so good. I keep saying that, as a leader, you learn way more than the kids. Besides learning the stories and biblical principles taught (and believe me, you get a lot from them), you learn how to interact and get to kids with different personalities and different needs, how to work with a team of people that have very different ideas from you but still be united because of the Gospel, submit to the authority of the directors and at the same time be a leader for the kids, rely on God to overcome tiredness, the importance of praying for the kids that are not saved and realise that really it's God that does it all. And in every single camp I left feeling I was totally hopeless without God. Every wednesday or thursday of camp (they run saturday to saturday) we would feel that everything was falling apart and we could do nothing about it because we were so tired. And then God would show that He is God. He is Sovereign. He provides. Decisions for Christ would happen or that kid that was driving us crazy would 'suddently' behave in meetings. And we'd leave being 100% convinced that it was all God. Not the old "To God be the glory" coming out of our mouths but still thinking deep inside "Well done, Ana. You actually dealt with the situation pretty well." It was really all for Him and through Him.

- For the godly leaders and directors I had the priviledge of serving with. They taught me so much.

- For the nicest, sweetest campers that would put a smile on our faces and for the toughest campers that drove us crazy and tested our patience to the limit... only for me to end up realising that my limit wasn't actually high enough and to humble me looking at Christ's example of patience.

- For giving me a project in uni that I'm loving.

- For getting me through the first semestre of 3rd year.


and I thank people for being there for me (in no particular order):

- Mum, dad, my brothers and the rest of my family.

- David

- Cath, Rach, Jo, Becca and Lisa - my wonderful housemates that I love dearly :)

- Gabalfa crew that have been just amazing

- Home church people that always welcome me back

- Sofia

- Laura

- David & Susana

- Pedro & Lena

- All the amazing, fun, friendly, godly, hilarious, gifted,..., leaders from camp

- All my friends in Cardiff

- My teachers (esp. my tutor and supervisor. because they are legends)

and all the others that I have had the privilege of having in my life in 2009. To all, thank you very much.

And for everyone that is reading - have a wonderful 2010!

God bless you all
ASG