META-NOIA, TGIF?!

So...what´s all this about then?! Well...Meta-noia is the name of the youth group we started in September and last week we met as usual on Friday night...though this time for some good ol´fashioned fun at the bowling rink! We had two new kids along and quite a fun packed two hours complete with an American meal of burgers, fries and a soda to top it off! I was actually surprised that the place wasn´t packed as the bowling alley in Stoke usually is....for the first hour we were pretty much the only customers there! By the time we left though, around 10pm it was getting pretty full, but it meant we had the best service I have experienced yet on the island! I was so impressed, I even left the employees a tip!

Now anyone who´s ever played bowling with me will know that I am far from being good at it....I can hardly distinguish myself from the first-timers and starters luck normally, but amazingly enough, I won! I know, I know....as the leader, I should have let the young people win...but some of them play fairly regularly ...and in further defence: I did help Donata out and bowled for her a few times to help her sore wrists and improve her average! Anyway...it was a good night out and I´d like to ask you to join us in praying for the youth here....as far as we can tell, we are the only such youth group in the south, with exception of the state run youth centre mainly for the local youth in Spanish. The youth group is sponsered by the church but held in English as there are many expatriates living here with their families. There are four private schools on the island: a German one in the north and a Spanish one and two British ones here in the south. We have flyers in the two British schools and in the local community centre and on the church´s website and some local papers. At the moment we have a core group of four girls every Friday but several others have expressed interest and come along to special events. I´d also appreciate your prayers as Jonathan hasn´t been able to get off work for Friday nights yet, due to a special buffett the hotel offers every Friday and they seem to need all the hands they can get for it, so I´ve been doing most of the preparation and the running of it with some help of the pastor and his wife and ALL THE STRENGTH, WISDOM AND SUPPORT FROM THE LORD!!!! I´ve also found some useful websites and we are roughly going through the book Christianity Explored which our church in Stoke used and found helpful, too! This week we´re having a break as the pastor and his family are away in Germany for some business and as we usually meet in their basement, and I´ve got a bit more on my plate with helping a visiting speaker to the church run the two prayer meetings and Sunday´s worship service while they are away we thought it best to resume it again in two weeks and we´ll be showing the film Les Miserables as we´re looking at the topic of grace. Thank you everyone who has been praying for us sofar....and with the two girls getting baptised last Saturday (see today´s post on jonandmoni.blogspot.com) we´ve been very encouraged and excited about what God is doing in their lives!

Two new jobs in one week!

Who would´ve guessed God´s great timing in blessing me with not only a new job as a nanny starting tomorrow morning at nine, but also a part time job nursing people at home that I started last weekend! Since Saturday I´ve been putting in around two hours a day looking after an elderly British man (used to own a night club here with his wife and have an entertainment act, old Frank Sinatra style!) in his apartment only fifteen minutes walk away from 'our place'! The good news is that his wife is with him 24/7 and as they are retired, are quite flexible with their time, so I can keep this job along side the nanny job! They pay quite a bit more the hour and pay me on a weekly basis, so I´ve got my grocery money coming in more regularly now, too! My main passion as a nurse has always been to get my patients well enough to go back home and be independant as soon as possible! This was greatly supported in the hospital setting, but in my current position it means I´m working my way out of a job quite fast! Oh well....if he was my Grandpa, I´d want him back on his own feet as soon as possible, too, so......

I´ll keep going!

The Nanny Diaries start soon!

Well, I had a good trial day today and the mother said I could start on the first of October! Yay! I'm so happy and I'm really looking forward to it! The girls names are...Katarina (4), Sophia (2) and Lisa (8mos) and are quite easy to get on with. Sophia reminds me of Annika (my sister) at that age...quite cheeky and at the moment in the middle of 'weaning off the nappy'. Lisa is quite a happy and content little one with beautiful blond curls (all on top of her head!) and gorgeous blue eyes. Katarina is quite shy but I won´'t be seeing much of her as she's in preschool all morning! The pay is a bit more than we were expecting and the hours (9am-2pm) are great as this means ´'ll still have time for MY afternoon nap and plenty of time to prepare for the youth group, Sunday school and everything else that's started growing on my plate!

I thought I´d share a few stories of my day with you from time to time, though today's top story from my time with the kids mostly revolves around Sophia winning my heart over with her beautiful big brown eyes and happy-go-lucky outlook on life, Lisa letting me carry her around after only being there an hour (apparently she doesn´t take very well to strangers) and their mother offering me the job! People have commented throughout my life on my quiet or calm, sometimes soothing voice. After I had read three books to Sophia this morning she turned to her mother and said," Can I go to bed now? I´m sleepy."....and it was only 10:30am! Her mother said she hardly ever takes a nap and it´s difficult to get her to even go to bed for an hours rest in the afternoon! Anyway.....I´ve now got just one more week and a half left before I start after my six month break, and I´ve got so many ideas how to fill it, let's see.......swimming, relaxing, reading, exporing more beaches around here, more swimming... ;-)

Jonathan´s work

Seven hours a day, six days a week and 15 hours a week on the bus to get there....Jonathan gets to spend a lot of time this year overlooking Tenerife´s most beautiful (my opinion) beach! His official title is 'Apprentice Waiter' but most of the time he´s in charge of the bar/café area serving meals and drinks and keeping everything clean and tidy! In fact today he only had one customer all day, so those tables and counters were nice and shiny by the end of his shift! The hotel owner is German and has a small dog that 'lives' in the hotel, too! As Jonney is missing our dogs(me too!) he´s delighted that there´s at least one furry friend around who enjoys a scratch behind the ears now and then!

Supernanny?!

So the question in everyone´s mind is........When are you starting work again, Moni? And why be THE NANNY again? Well.....after my six month break from work (recovering from viral bronchitis) I now feel strong and well enough to do a half day job (not 100% just yet). As many of you might remember, I had an interview here in April with a German doctor to apply for a job as a receptionist/assistant. On Monday I had a second chat with him and his wife where they stated that they did not want to hire anyone this year as they have modernised their office equiptment and would try to handle things in the office without help for the moment. I was a bit dissapointed, but as many of you know my way of thinking, I was expecting the worst already, so it wasn´t that big of a blow. He then went on to say that they were unhappy with their current nanny and as they saw from my CV, I had experience with children in the past and would I consider working for them as a nanny, same hours and pay as they had origionally promised me for the reception job! They have three young children, though the oldest is in pre-school in the mornings and I might be called upon to babysit a couple of evenings a month. So...I said yes! Actually, I was hoping for an easy and fun job this year, something different from the last four years in hospitals and nursing homes and this seems a perfect fit! The doctor and his wife said they would think it over (she seemed uneasy about confronting their present nanny and the timing of the take-over) and let me know what their decision was. That was yesterday noon-time and I haven´t heard anything yet......appreciate your prayers!

Tender mercies through a fiery summer!

This is what the LORD says: 
"Let not the wise man boast of his  
wisdom 
or the strong man boast of his 
strength 
or the rich man boast of his riches,  
but let him who boasts boast about this: 
that he understands and knows me, 
that I am the LORD, who exercises 
kindness, justice and righteousness 
on earth, for in these I delight," 
declares the LORD. 
Jeremiah 9:23-24  

Greetings again from sunny Tenerife,
where we are so thankful
to the Lord for His mercies! You might
have heard of the recent forest fires
in southern Europe due to the dry heat
and strong  wind...and a couple of guys 
who started them for whatever reasons!
The nearest one to us was about 25km
away which was a bit frightening but
other than clearing away black  ash and
burnt pine droppings from the terraces...
and watching amazing sunsets, we are
alright. Many local families have lost
everything they owned except the clothes
on their backs and much of the beautiful
mountainous forrest area has been burned.


Our neighbour island Gran Canaria has
suffered much worse, where more than 2000
people have had to evacuate their homes
and a third of the trees on the island
have been burned. The fires are still going
but now are under control.  In times like
this I´m reminded of God´s promise to us 
that He is in control and He is WITH us
through it all. These last few months of
not having much strength due to my viral
infection and not knowing what God has 
planned for us around the corner (job wise,
health wise, ministry....) I have been so
blessed by friends like David Short (former
OM Ships office colleague) who sends such 
helpful verses and news-bits to inform,
encourage, strengthen and motivate us in
our daily walk with Him and in our
intercessory prayers.  Though I haven´t been
able to physically do much, prayer is
something Ihave had much time for and have
been blessed by seeing some  of them answered
already! Praise the Lord for His faithfulness
and strength!

A wedding, a house and a treasure!

Hello world!
Yeah, it sure has been a long time since I've let you know my happenings...I do appologize with deepest regrets! Though maybe you will forgive me when I tell you what I've been up to.....I got married! Actually I should say, "WE got married!" Yep, on a sunny Saturday morning in Kansas City, Kansas (actually Overland Park if that says anything!) we said the 'I do's' and 'I will's' and lit the candle, swapped the rings and stuffed each other's mouths with delicious tasting carrot wedding cake! It was such an amazing experience to have so many friends and family from all over the world (well... maybe just Europe and America) come together, we heard a great message from my father-in-law and enjoyed a beautiful aftewrnoon eating MORE cake and food and trying to catch up with people before those glasses started clinging and we got to humiliate ourselves in front of everyone yet another time (someone said it was tradition....)!
Anyway....after a romantic honeymoon in San Antonio, and Corpus Christi, and Mexico, and Oklahoma City....basically a roadtrip covering over 2700 miles, we found ourselves back in sunny Stoke-On-Trent, England in our new house! Looking around we were overwhelmed by how much God has blessed us over the last year and month! Yes, we were also blessed by so many gifts from friends and family (and a mountain of Thank you cards to write!) and amazed at how all but one (though we are grateful for it as well!)were so perfectly chosen according to our tastes and needs!
Now...what about the treasure you're wondering? Well....stopping by my parents-in-laws place after returning I noticed the following sticker on the back of my brother-in-law Mark's car (though it is officially Alastair's car...but THAT'S a whole new story!). It read something like this: Don't be distracted by the car, my treasure is in heaven! How true it is! Not just that Mark's car is...well...best not to say anything here, but we can get so caught up in the world and the beauties, pleasures , but also sorrows and complaints that we forget all about our real treasure! People! Let's wake up and realise what lies ahead and what we're aiming for! Hey! We've got the greatest thing comming soon! Let's keep that gaze on our magnificent and glorious treasure.......and if we've got time, shed a glance on the world.

A praise point, a prayerpoint and a correction...

Yes, He got in!
Well...it looks like God definately has a spot for my beloved fiance' Jonathan to be a TEFL teacher...or at least to do the course! After two interviews he got in and will be doing a four week intensive course on teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) starting the second week in March! Please pray for him as it can be a stressful time with this new course, his other two night classes at college in German and Spanish, preparing the house for our marriage (he's got this week off to prepare and get as many things done as possible) and all the little wedding related things I come up with to ask his opinion on...we do know that girls LOVE this part and guys...well, they'd rather just get married and have it all over and done with rather than spending hours, weeks and months discussing and planning every possible detail and move ever imagined remotely linked with the glorious day of a wedding....or is it just another one hour and fifteen minute church service just with some girl wearing a white ball gown and some other people getting to stand up front for a change with the pastor? Except when you come home from church that afternoon or evening the words you repeated that Sunday had some kind of life-changing effect as you suddenly have another person not only living in your house too but also demanding equal say in the decisions and equal pay out of your account! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh
.............................................................................................................................................
O.K.....don't worry. It's not cold feet. The wedding is still on and my Jonney said everything will be just fine.

Now to the REAL prayerpoint: As some of you know already...I happen to be a nurse. As in most cases... I also work with sick people. Sometimes very sick people. And sometimes I tend to get a bit too caring...and SHARE their burdens ...of sickness with them.....and then ...to any one else that is near me....willing or unwilling......Down to the point, I took a bad case of vomitting and diarhea home with me on Friday after work, shared it around unknowingly with friends at a farewell party that night and finally infected two others (to this present moment) in our household: one which was unwillingly my future brother in law, the Korea and unicycling crazy but friendly Mark, and the other willingly supportive Jonathan who is now quarentined with Mark so that he doesn't infect his flatmate and current visiting speaker and friend from Albania! So plaese...do pray for us...and stay away from us for another five days if possible!

Now to the correction: As I was reading through my last published item I realised that the phrase I used at the end could cause some to wonder if I wanted my future bro. Peter in yet another world when I mentioned I hoped he would be living on the outskirts of heaven. PLEASE....do not misinterpret this as I do love and respect him and wish to see him in the land of Glory! Maybe just in an aura of +5c (as I think this is his preferred temp.) and I hope to be surrounded by an aura of at least +25c. But I do expect more heavenly matters to be occupying our thoughts and time once we meet our glorious Lord! Can't wait for that day to come! Do check out his blogspot at fatpie. blogspot to get to know this friendly person I hope you will also meet in heaven someday! And if you do have any questions, comments or outbursts of emotions that you would like to share, please put them down on the comments section and I will read them as soon as I can.
I promise.