Lazy Martha

For those of you who don't know my family calls me Martha because I love to cook and bake, but since I've been in England I've been slacking. After two weeks here I finally cooked! Simple spaghetti and garlic bread but hey it's a start...

Next stop...BAKING :)

Christ's Ambassadors

Tonight was our first event, 7UP! It's a laid back youth service on the 2nd and 4th Sunday nights of the month. Ste and I decided to talk about ministry for the term, taking us up until Christmas. Tonight it was a basic introduction. We got the kids to start thinking about what ministry is, who ministers to them, who they minister to, etc. We looked at several verses, the two that stuck out the most to me were:

"So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." 

- Ephesians 4:11-16

" Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." 

-Colossians 3:12-17

It was just a great reminder to them and to to myself that all of us are called to be a part of God's ministry despite our age, occupation, etc. God has a place in His ministry for us all!

Also I had to share this video Ste shared with me off Harvest's Facebook page. Makes one step back and think. Such a good message!

In the jungle, the mighty jungle

So this morning I went in the kitchen to make a cuppa and I noticed a furry visitor in the garden or as I like to call it the jungle.

I got him to look at me and then apparently he is scared of Americans 

or maybe it was my camera...

and he fled. 

Design Time!

Lately, Ste and I have been doing a lot of planning for all the groups which start up in the next couple of weeks. Part of this has been doing all the programs and postcards we hand out to the youth in the church and in the schools. Give me a project where I get to design and write and I am one happy camper! So for the last couple of days I have been designing postcards for our clubs. 

These are some of what I have been working on:

Front 

Back

 Front

Back

Front (back is just a general description of all our youth programs)

My beloved is mine, and I am His.

My friend posted this on Twitter not that long ago and I couldn't resist sharing it. Such an awesome reminder and blessing to know He is always there. 

Tea for Two

Yesterday morning we slept in and then headed into town (Middlesbrough) to meet Emillie, a friend and one of the girls in the youth groups, for lunch and shopping. It was so much fun. We took the bus (something new because last time I took the train) and ate at this fun place called Starters. They serve all kinds of yummy appetizers as meals. I had a delicious juicy burger and chips (fries). Then me and Emillie went shopping and Ste went off shopping on his own. She took me around to some really cute vintage and charity shops. I got a scarf and a silver tray to put my jewelry on. And then we went to the most adorable tea house. They have all kinds of herbal teas and yummy treats. We had this yummy berry tea that was pink and a slice of chocolate Rolo cake. It was so quaint and I loved it!

Harvest

First off this is the view I wake up to every morning... 

Not bad eh?

Anyways on to what I have been doing lately:

Last Wednesday we headed off to Harvest, a Christian festival for youth in Northern England. It was a lot of fun despite me freezing to death (we slept in tents for four nights) in the rainy and cold English weather. Needless to say I was beyond thrilled to return home Sunday afternoon to a nice warm bed.

I couldn't complain about much else though about the time we spent at the event. The festival is hosted on a farm about 15 minutes down the road from us. The farm is owned by a Christian who lets his fields and barn be used for the event. The scenery was beautiful. The landscape here is just breathtaking.

We attended seminars on topics like Media and God and had morning bible studies with a awesome guy named Jamie Hill. At night we would meet again and have a speaker (my housemate Ben Jack was one of them) and worship. I was curious to see how worship here compared to worship back home and surprisingly it was pretty much the same. The worship band was awesome and God definitely did some stuff through them and the speakers.

My favorite lyrics from the week were:

"Love came down and rescued me 

I thank you, I thank you" 

Ste getting ready to set up his tent.

Mine was up when I got there thanks to the lovely Emillie :)

And yes I awoke to this flying over one of the campsites one morning!

I'm in love

So I made it in last night and I am still in awe that I am here. Feeling so blessed and lucky! Woke up around half past noon and just been hanging out and going over things with Ste. On my second cup of tea for the day and enjoying a slice of pizza from the shop down the street. Also doing a little browsing...I fell in love with a phone cover by Cath Kidston in the Apple store before I left and I discovered she makes purses. Thus creating my love for this...

England is a dangerous, dangerous place ladies...

While I am away...

So thank goodness for all the crazy technology we have now! While I am in England here is how you can communicate with me:

Address: 15 Ripon Rd
                     Nunthorpe
                     Middlesbrough
                     Teeside
                     TS7 0HX

Email: lm_piercey@yahoo.com

Skype: Lauren Piercey

Twitter: lmpiercey

Text Now: 774-993-4689 (if you have an iPhone get this app and we can text for free!)

TWO MORE DAYS!!!!! :)

Blessed

Last night I went over to my friend Rebecca's (we've been friends since the 2nd grade and I am coming back for her wedding in October) for dinner with her and her fiance, Cody. It was so much fun! They cooked for me and we just hung out. I feel so blessed to have such awesome friends to send me off to England with love. She made me the cutest cakes and so I just had to share some pictures. I'm going to miss her! 

Teacup Cake 

Delicious appetizers!

Yummy cookie dough dip!

Tea Pot Cake