Justy's blog

Back on earth

2005-11-11T14:47:00.000Z

Sorry for the long time with no blogging, I've just been returned back on earth by the aliens, they got sick of me so they had no choice but to return me.

Anyway, not so much has been happening lately, just been involved playing alot of guitar at various places, was away to Ballygauley last sunday with the youth choir and we played 6 six songs which went pretty darn good, also I was asked to lead worship at Down High's S.U. on Tuesday so that was pretty nice, I've now been asked to play every week which will be good experience for me. I also performed my first song to the young bible class a few weeks ago and i got a good response, hope I can keep it up and get a few more songs put together. We've also got a charity event on Saturday night 7.30 at Raffrey, with guests Qalvery Quartet and Focus Quartet from Norway so come along if you can. And finally our youth service on Sunday with some people from Boarmills, heard the're a rough crowd so watch them.

So thats me, hopfully I'll be able to update the blog more often.

Keep on rolling!!

2005-09-20T13:27:00.000+01:00

Ok so last night was just another wee drive around the roads with David Murdock, just cruising around having a wee chat, called round at Dessies patrol station and got some fruit pastilles and marshmallows (for my hot chocco), all very normal. Well lets fast forward 20 minutes later and it gets much more exciting.

I was in the car with David, and Callum was in another car with Andrew Gibson. Andy was driving in front and leading us to some place, don't ask me where, think we were somewhere outside Killinchy. The ground was soaking from the heavy rain and David had no idea of the corners and bends on the road.....that isn't good!! Meanwhile me and David were just randomly talking about people we know who have crashed their cars into hedges and flipped their cars over sideways...heres the ironic bit - literally two minutes after talking about this we had the crazyiest rollercoaster ride of our life (in a car). We were going round a tight corner which David didn't know about and we knew we wern't going to make it round, we landed sideways of a 3 foot cliff side and rolled twice I think and ended up in a marsh. The passenders side (my side lol) looks pretty rough and all the windscreen glass is shattered. None of us were hurt surprisingly but it could have been much worse, we landed in a marsh but if it was a few hours later it would be covered in water, the tide was still out so we were very fortunate.

Pretty scary and sureal experience, really makes you think about things and how easy it is for something to go wrong. Hopfully this will be a wake-up call for David to take it easy now, it's been a major wake-up call for me....I'm not getting in a car with David again!! lol! Also to make things worse I left my marshmallows in the car!!

Think it's mabye a sign to me from God to obey him more, I havn't been spending much time with him lately and quiet times seems to be non-existant at the mo. I've gotten so distracted with everyday life that I've pushed God to the side. I pray he will keep focused and on the road with him.

Not in the mood...

2005-09-11T23:14:00.000+01:00

Ok it was one of those nights when I just wasn't in the mood for anything. Tonight I came home from church and youth choir practise feeling pretty down and depressed, normally I'm bussing and on a spiritual high but nothing was happening with me tonight. First there was community singing and I was totally not prepared for it, I was debating with myself during the day weather to go to the odyssey or to go church and get a good pratice before the music night on Friday. Well to start off I arrived kind of late and I left my music at home so dad had to drive back and get my music, also the fellow guitarist didn't know community was on so I was left with only the fluteist's, then to make it even worse I left my capo (a wee device which makes your guitar a key higher) in my other guitar bag which was outside down in the bottom car park and most of the songs needed the use of the capo, so I was basically standing there trying to make some attempt to change the keys...which I find very hard!!

So with community singing over and most of the hymms out of the way I got a wee break during the sermon to catch a wee breather. Well I wasn't so much in the mood to listen to Rev Small so I decided to read the book of revalations which I was studying earlier, and what a book I must say, infact I was left quite scared by the time I finished it, I never knew all that stuff with the dragon and 8-headed beast was in the bible, sounds like something out of Harry Potter! Ok so when church finished it was time for the good stuff, as I've said before there's nothing I love more than playing with my own youth choir...not the case tonight!! To begin with our painoist wasn't there so it was basically up to me and David to lead the songs, we were missing a good crowd tonight so we wern't sounding as good, I wasn't feeling the love of the songs and nothing was clicking with me, I just wasn't in the mood to praise God which I havn't felt in a long time. Then to make matters worse the last song 'Prince of peace' had to be changed slightly and not to many people knew how to sing it right...not good at this late stage. We've have practised that song so many times now and I hate to say it but I'm gettin kinda sick of it!!

Overall I felt tonight was a huge shambles, nothing seemed to be going right for me and minor things were bugging me so much. I didn't seek God and I was shown what happens when I drift from him. I've realised I need to pray to God before I do things, I need him through everything I do and I musn't forget he is my creator and he gave me everything.

Hope you all had a good night!! LOL!

The pressures of school and college

2005-09-05T16:41:00.000+01:00

Ok so I've just started back to tech on Friday and I must say I am rather glad to get back (Mainly because 2 months worked nearly left me eternally fatigued). But anyway having spent most of my summer with the Boardmills and Raffrey crew it has proved a tad bit difficult getting settled back into the same old routine. One of the main struggles I am finding is the company around me. I am the only protestant in the class and last year I felt a bit awkward lets say, quite a few of the guys in the class would wear their Celtic tops and Gealic tops and basically show that they were Catholic. I hang around with 3 guys who have been great since I've been their, they respect me and don't think of me less as I'm protestant, but the one thing thats been bugging is they don't believe in God. They've clearly stated on several occasions that they really don't care about God or anything to do with him. Being around them can prove difficult, they use bad language and would oftenly take God's name in vain and last year especially I found myself picking up these bad habbits.

Now after spending an amazing 2 months with only christians and having the life changing 'Reachout' I'm determinded not to go back to what I was doing last year. I recently bought a 'WWJD' bracelet and I've had some of my friends asking what it means, I basically told them what it is and they really didn't give much expression...not sure if that's a good or bad thing but it's been a good way to show people I'm a christian without having to stand up and shout it out to them. For this term I want to go away leaving some sort of impression on my friends, whether it's a dramatic change or a minor influence I want people to see that having God is really the greatest thing you could have in your life.

All this has been on my mind ever since after 'Reachout' and I haven't stopped praying that God would use me in some way in the Tech to influence others. Also I've been praying for resources in the Tech, there is no SU or christian things I can go to and I really would love something to happen for christians.

Anyways thats me done, I'd just like to thank everyone who was at the social on Friday, I absolutly loved it and I must have lost like a stone in weight from sweating so much! LOL! It was great seeing you all there and it'll be a memorable 18th birthday party.

P.S. got some great photos of Kara-lyn, I'll show you them all soon! :)

2005-08-29T13:58:00.000+01:00

Me in a happy mood. I was messing around with Callum's camera and managed to take a picture of me looking slightly crazy, can you see up my nose?!!

My template

2005-08-28T23:18:00.000+01:00

Oh my template seems to have changed and I've lost all my bloggers and links columns, I didn't change the template myself. Anyone know what happened?

Rediscovering the Bible

2005-08-28T23:02:00.000+01:00

Recently I've been reading alot, some brill books on my shelf like 'In the grip of grace' by Max Lucado and another book called 'Undescoved' about peoples lives being changed by finding Christ, but I never realised that the Bible was such a good read. When I was young I always described the Bible as being a big bunch of boring pages with boring stories. Was I wrong or what?! I've only been reading the Bible properly sice after 'Reachout' and it's been such a challenge to me, I purchased the Youth Bible 2 weeks ago and it's been my best purchase for a long time. In my quiet times I've had a great opportunity to have a good sit down and read many passages, one book in particular which has challenged me is 2 Corinthians, it really relates to me and answers questions which I'm having as a new christian. One passage which really caught me while I was reading it in church is 2 corinthians 5v11-15, its quite long so I'll not write it down.

Now as a commited christian I know how important it is to have the Bible in our lives, it is a chance for us to discover amazing things about our God and a place to go where we need answers for basically anything we do in our lives. It's definately on the top of the list of the books I read now.

Oh yeah and it's been 5 days since I posted my last post, I'm slipping!!

Born to be different!

2005-08-23T23:20:00.000+01:00

Emily
A girl of 5 who suffers from Spineadifa. She had surgery on her spine at only the age of 2 hours. Because of the surgery she has a bladder problem and has to have surgery every 6 months.

Shelbie
A girl of 5 who was born with a rare chromozone, and with a hole in her heart. She is physically disabled and cannot stand or do most things a normal 5 year can do.

William
A boy of 5 who was born with a brain problem. He has ADHD and can be very hyperactive and tends to break or destroy things, sometimes would harm himself. He requires a wheelcahir alot of the time.

Nathan
A boy of 5 born with down syndrome, has a tounge defect and finds it hard to speak.

Zoe
A girl of 5, born with Arthrogrythosis, has problems with her limbs, she has trouble walking and holding things. She has had surgery, physio and has had to wear casts all her life. Currently she will need to use a wheelchair.

Hamish
A boy of 5, was born with Airconclesia (Dwarfism). Doctors say he will grow to a height of 4' but he can get surgery to increase his height about another 11" but it will be very painful.

All these children are born with disabilities, something that makes them different from other kids. While watching all the children and jotting down all thier disabilities I seen all the smiles and laughter that went on in their lives. These kids are 5 years old and don't know they are different, they are living their lives the way they always have and don't know what it's like to have a normal life like other children. While running all these thoughts through my head I instantly thought of Jesus' life. He was born to be different. Jesus was pointed out as being different and frowned upon just like these children just because people didn't believe he was the son of God. Jesus lived a life just like us but his life was perfect, and because of this he was slain on the cross.

I just want to say to anyone out there (including me) that if they feel they are having it bad just think of these kids who daily find life a struggle, and just remember what Jesus went through on the cross just for us, us sinners who find it easy to point out, judge and frown upon others.

God touched me while watching that programme and he made me realise how blessed I really am.

Blessed be his name!

2005-08-21T17:55:00.000+01:00

Recently I've been having a lot of thoughts going through my head, thoughts such as 'Where is my life going?' or 'What can I do to please to God?'. These questions have been running over and over in my head the past few weeks and I feel it's God speaking to me saying 'Use your talents which I have given you to bless others.' Last night I got a text mesage (or txt msg) from a person who has been a total blessing to me recently saying that God has been speaking to her to tell me that I am going to do great things in my life. Now, I have never recieved a message like that before and to hear that has really got me thinking about what I can do to please the Lord.

Just two nights before I recieved that message I wrote and composed my first song. I was simply lying on my bed with my guitar and within about 10 minutes I had a complete song. The lyrics describe how I've longed for a love, an eternal love that would never fade. the first verse goes;

'I've waited a long time for an answer,
I stood in the darkness of the night.
I longed for peace to reign in my heart,
But I never knew it was so close.'

The chorus then sings out my joy to have the Lord in my life and how much he has blessed me;

'And you lift me up and now you take control,
You gave me life and blessed me with these robes.
And I'll forever bow to your throne,
Your my King, your my life, your my all.'

I feel God is speaking to me through his music and crying out for me to use it to his glory. I feel this is the beginning of the Lord taking control of my life and using it to his name.

I just want to say to anyone out there who feels they have no talents just let the Lord take control of your life and he will show you them.

Congrats!

2005-08-19T19:47:00.000+01:00

Hey I'd just like to post a big 'Congraluations' to all those who got their A/As Levels yesterday, I know alot of people who done very well and I just say well done and your grades are well deserved.

Also another personal congrats to my mate Jonny who passed his driving theory on Wednesday!! And also to Ash who had a test yesterday, she sacraficed alot of her time studying for these exams, especially taking time out of 'Reach Out'. My heart goes out to her and I pray she will be rewarded with the grades shes deserves.

I recommnend reading proverbs 2 v1-10 for anyone who feels they didnt get they grades they wanted.

My prayers go out for all those who got good and not so good grades, just remember it's God that controls your life and his way is good!

Reach Out!!

2005-08-18T08:41:00.000+01:00

What can I say, Reach Out has been a complete life changing experience for me and has brought me closer to Jesus than I could ever have imagined!

For those who don't know what 'Reach out' is, it was a week for children from 1st year to upper 6th to reach out into their local community and touch the lives of others. We done litter picking, carwash, made hampers and delivered to the elderly and people who we feel needed them, made bracelets for children in Africa and put alot of smiles on childrens faces. In between of all the community work we worked on the children with their relationship with God. We had dramas, powerpoints, bible readings and heart touching talks, but the main way we got through to the children was with 'Small groups'. Each leader took a group of about 4 or 5 kids and worked on a one to one level and got to know where each child was with God (mainly my group prefered talking about other unnecessary stuff and in the end I had to bribe them with fruit pastilles to keep them quiet).

So much effort, enthuasium and love went in to making this incredible week, all my thanks and gratitude goes out to all the leaders, each and every one of them has touched me it is so clear to see God working through their lives. Also a major thanks to all those people that donated money, food and items for the hampers (especially Nessey, that Jam looked B_E_A_utiful) and all the poeple who worked behind the scenes to make the week complete.

Just a personal thank you to Alex Evans, it was from her head where all this came from and she has been a great role-model for young christians.

My faith has been renewed in the mighty saviour and i thank the Lord for blessing me with Reach out.

Welcome

2005-08-17T19:30:00.000+01:00

Hey to all those reading, I have just started a new blog. I want this to be a place where I can write down things that have gone on in my life....all the ups and all the downs, and how God has impacted me through his work.

Like to say a 'Thank you' to Colin Foreman who introduced me to this, he has been a great inspiration to me. Please visit his site and see how God has impacted his life! www.colinforeman.blogspot.com