I'm online!!!

Wow! I have my own internet connection! Yes, it has been nearly 4 months since I had my computer plugged into the internet. I've been using other people's computers and at work as well, but you can't just sit down and write a few paragraphs for your blog in those circumstances... well I didn't feel I could anyway.

So, what's happened since June? I've moved house twice, had a wonderful holiday in Canada and got a boyfriend as well :-)

House stuff first: I'm living with someone I met at church now. There's just the two of us which is really good. She's tidier than I am, but that might be a good thing.

Holiday in Canada: AMAZING!!!
That country is so big, so friendly and so like England, but then in so many way so unlike England. I went for two weeks to stay with a friend. We went to Toronto, up to Haliburton where a lot of Canadians have holiday homes on lakes, to Hamilton where she went to university and to Niagara and Niagara Falls - WOW! It was great and you can see all my photos on my facebook profile.

My boyfriend:
We knew each other for 7 months before we got together and decided to time it 5 days before I went to Canada. That was painful, but we've been together for about 7 weeks now. It's wonderful and totally different to a non-Christian relationship. For a start God is in the centre which gives it a whole new depth which I never had before. We both share the most important thing in our lives: JESUS CHRIST and it's an amazing feeling to know God is there through it all.
There are 3 people in this relationship and I couldn't be happier about it. A Christian relationship isn't easy, but it is amazing.

So that's my news. Hopefully there'll be more on this now I'm back on the net!

Church launches building project

I wrote a wonderful story yesterday. Well, the subject was wonderful, I don't know about the story! But anyway, it was about the church I go to, Holy Trinity in Aylesbury. About 7 years ago everyone thought it would have to be knocked down, but after a lot of prayer the Diocese decided to keep it and now it is planning to undergo a £1.3million building project to cater for its expanding congregation!
That picture is a bit older than 7 years ago - I'm sure there are a lot of people who wish Aylesbury had that many fields around it! Here's a more up to date pic...
The church, which, incidentally, is where I'm being baptised and Confirmed on Tuesday 3rd July. The congregation has doubled in the past 3 years and it's still growing. In April they added an evening service to their Sunday schedule and in May they added a second morning service. I wrote a story about it a couple of months ago.

The congregation has already raised £510,000, but that's just over a third to the target. Please pray and hopefully we'll be on schedule to start the project in Spring 2008!

The big day approaches...

Ok, that may be a bit of a dramatic intro, but my Confirmation is going to be a pretty big day for me. It's on Tuesday, 3rd July and I can't wait. It'll be the first real chance I've had to declare my faith to my family and friends in public. They obviously know I'm a Christian and what that means to me, but they haven't heard me state it deliberately yet.

So, why, you might ask, am I doing this?!?
What I have found in my whole life so far is that when you are searching for 'the answers' or 'the meaning of life' I have been brought back again and again to Christianity. This is way before I became a Christian. All paths and questions led to Christianity. That's where I found my answers - the answers that made sense as well! It wasn't until later that I read the Biblical text which backs this up...

Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

Even now, when I have doubts I always come back to the same answer: Jesus is the way. In Christianity you are not bound by rules and we are 'allowed' to ask questions and discuss what The Bible says. In fact God loves it when we ask questions! If you've ever heard the story of doubting Thomas, you'll know what I mean. When the disciples were telling him Jesus was risen from the dead he said 'I won't believe until I put my finger in the wounds in his hands and side.' This might seem like a sceptic's response, but he wanted to know because he wanted to know the truth. In The Bible we find he did put his hand in Jesus's wounds and believed. Doubting encourages discussion and thought and it's from that point we find answers.

I have never been happier either. When I became a Christian on Easter Day 2006 my life changed. I might not seem too different to people around me but I feel different. I am calmer, less erratic, less stressed and my life is full of purpose. I am living for something and for someone who is worth living for.

I know this must sound crazy to you all, but I am one of billions of Christians around the world who believe the same - Jesus is God's Son, who died for our sins, was raised to life again and now reigns in Heaven until he returns to judge the world. Millions of people took part in the Global Day of Prayer last Sunday. The West Ham football ground was packed with Christians praying to God! If I'm brainwashed, then there are a lot of brainwashed people on this planet. I praise God that I'm among them and I pray more and more will join us!

Amen

Quick update...

... well it'll probably take ages if I tell you everything that's happened since I last signed in, but I'll stick to the main bits!
After Easter I had a party to celebrate me being a Christian for a year. It was so cool. I did loads of food and about 20 people came round for drinks and stuff. The guys even managed to play hockey(!) in my excuse for a back garden! I shared my testimony with everyone - told them how I became a Christian, we ate lots of food and had fun!

I went to see Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra last week which was really cool. I met him at my step-sister's wedding, but I've never heard him play. I was annoyed at myself at how I didn't know how good he was when I met him about 7 years ago, but then how many 17-year-olds appreciate Jazz properly?

The job is going fine. Still haven't passed my shorthand, but we're getting there... I've been doing a lot of community, people stories recently. Here's a selection:
Tackling the problem of truancy
New Dawn Youth and Community Event
Why we're running Race for Life
Double yellow lines idea for Fairford Leys

It's all good! I'll leave it to my next post to tell you the best thing that's happening in my life in the near future, but I'm moving out of the house-share I'm in at the minute. I've just got fed up of cleaning up after people, spending more than I need to on rent and want to be able to relax when I get in from work, so I decided to move into a 2-bed flat. I'm moving in a month and I can't wait! (Text me when you need my new address).

An Easter challenge...

In the past year, my life has been the best ever and you all know why I think that is... because I've become a Christian.
I was talking to someone at work the other day who said "I know it sounds stupid, but when I was on the flight back from Tenerife I sort-of prayed asking for God to make me calm on the plane" (she's not a believer). Well I said that's not stupid, God listens to everyone whether they believe in Him or not. There are prayers being answered all over the place going unnoticed. I'm sure I've missed quite a few answered prayers.
Well, anyway, if there's one thing you can do for me this Easter time it's to pray: "Please God show me your presence in my life". You've got nothing to lose.

There are a couple of outcomes:
a) God isn't there and nothing will come of it
b) God is there and he will answer and your life will change to something better than you could ever imagine.

If I'm wrong about all this stuff then there's no point of course, but if I'm right, I know from just the past year, it makes a difference to my life. Just try it, please. If I'm wrong there's nothing to be scared of!

Also, if you want me to pray for you about anything (apart form the stuff I already pray about you...) then just let me know :o)

Easter... there's more to it than chocolate!

Wow... Easter is great! Not for the chocolate or even the cute chicks and Easter bunnies. All these things we immediately associate with Easter symbolise a new start. Not just a physical new start but a spiritual new start - the day when Jesus rose from the dead showing he was the Saviour of all.

God came to earth as a man to show us who he was so we could learn how to know Him. This was not good enough for us - he wasn't the king we thought we had been waiting for... We expected a majestic, regal king who would fight battles and overturn the Roman rule, so we put him to death on a cross mocking him cruelly as we did it.

Jesus wasn't the king they expected, but that doesn't mean he wasn't the king God planned for us. What we didn't realise was that this was God's plan. Jesus fulfilled prophecy when he was put to death by humans and it all happened so we can be reunited with God. He took the punishment we deserve, so if we believe in Him we don't have to be judged by God when we die.
Then... just when we thought it was over, he returns, risen! He conquered death, which means we will as well if we believe in what God did for us. It is amazing.

It might all sound really far-fetched, but when you believe you realise there is no other option. You feel God working in your life. It can't be put down to co-incidence or fate or any other thing. It is God. When I became a Christian on Easter Sunday last year, I stopped swearing overnight - and I mean overnight. That couldn't be controlled by me, that was a habit ingrained on me since my teens. I stopped saying "oh God" in curse as well. That was a habit too.
We cannot life a fully happy life without God - it has no purpose. He fills it in more ways than you'll ever imagine. You get an amazing happiness when you believe and see Him working in your life. I challenge you to just try it.

Pray: 'Please God, I cannot see how Anna believe anything she is saying, but if it is true then show me clearly'. Amen

If I'm wrong you haven't lost anything. If I'm right you've gained more than you know! He answers prayer - maybe not immediately, but He does.

Happy Easter!

I'm a 'Journalist of the Year'!

Yep, I've won the first award of my career. I'm the National Society for Epilepsy regional Journalist of the Year 2006 for writing responsibly about epilepsy! I couldn't believe it when they rang. I was actually speechless and for those who know me, you'll know that's an achievement!
The charity has a competition every year open to anyone writing about epilepsy. The whole point is to promote responsible reporting of it i.e. not enforcing myths or stereotypes, but telling the truth and not sensationalising it. I thought I'd enter and never hear anything back. Four months later they ring!

Here is the one I wrote: Bear us in mind Oxford Mail, Nov 17, 2006

They said they liked the fact I included my own experiences of having the condition. They thought it was a brave thing to put it in print. I've just thought, when I click the publish button at the bottom of this page I'm going to be telling the whole world I have epilepsy! Well, it's nothing to be ashamed of and I really want to send out that message to anyone reading this who has epilepsy or has friends/family with epilepsy.
If you're in that position then please read my article. I'm not saying it's the best, but it's the testimony of two people who are leading a normal life despite having epilepsy for a long time. I hope it helps you!