Blog's are like Buses

Hi All,

I was sitting there thinking that blogs are like buses.  You wait and wait for them and then three come along at the same time.  My work is raised to frantic worry proportions; in my mind; now and therefore there is no way I will get round to doing a blog tomorrow.  So here is tomorrows blog today.

I think that makes Blog output from the Fawkes household topped out.  I really do wonder what all those people who've finished exams are really doing with their time.  lol.  I feel I cannot let Joe's comment about age pass without mention.  Thank you kindly Joe for reminding me that I'm old enough to be a Dad.  I think that you will find you have huge connections with Jake on the trip if you continue along this line of discussion.

Ok to Thailand prep.  50% packed, laminated passport done, consent forms drafted and left with Jane to complete all the allergies I certainly couldn't be trusted to remember.  Joe's comments again were helpful here, must sort out those medicines required in foreign parts.  I'm sure Jane will be fully sorted for the second two weeks, but the first week on my own, I think I'll need to be more prepared.

Practically in terms of reflections I really have not had much time to think.  I am excited to be going away with the group and have been looking forward to experiencing the culture of Thailand.  Not really nervous so much this week.  I think there come a point when you can't do any more planning and you just have to get on and do some more doing.  It was great to see Jill at the BBQ and amazing that so many miles away we can be in such close contact.

Anyway thought for the day "Packing", it's never too early to start and a list is always better than ending up without something vital when you are in Thailand.  That being said you are certain to forget something.  Your attitude to that should be, it can't have been that important otherwise I would have remembered it.  Obviously this doesn't apply to passports!!!!!!!

All the best

Pete

Emma's Group Blog by Ellie:)

Hi Everyone
Im really looking forward to riding on elephants and going up to the mountain villages. It's going to be exciting as I've never ridden an elephant or been to a mountain village before.  I'll miss two weeks of school but its only the end of term weeks, so it doesn't matter because I get a good experience.

I'm nervous about sleeping in the mountain villages and building toilets. I'm worried I might get it wrong when I'm helping build, and I don't know what it will be like to sleep in a mountain village. I'm also worried about the food and Im not sure what it will taste like. But Alice told me there is a Subway in Thailand so I might get some sandwiches from there every now and again.

I think its going to be a really good experience and a really beautiful place. I hope I'll enjoy it and have a great time. I'm happy because I know lots of the people going and I can have a really good time with them. I'm also looking forward to seeing the Bird family with their dogs and cats.

Ellie Aged 8 but nearly 9!

Blog post by Joe!

Hey! I know this is a blog, not a text but I have no real idea as to how to write a blog. :/ But that doesn’t really matter because if I were you I probably wouldn’t notice :) anyway today I packed my bag… sort of – I gathered all the clothes I’m taking, bought about 6 types of pills for diarrhoea and then bundled everything in piles whilst moving it around the house. I’m literally about to move it all again from my parents room to the spare one … longggg tinggggg. (If by this point there aren’t any spelling mistakes Andrew has probably fixed them <3 )* Its all very exciting finally putting it all together, finding bits and bobs, trying to steal the best towels and attain the only working bag but it isn’t half hard work! In fact probably the hardest point in the trip tbh – or maybe this blog; what do you even do in a blog anyway? Is it like facebook? Do you just write what your doing?? “im on my blog, LOL” someone help?

I have to admit I have found it difficult to pack during the heat today – what with tempers running high and what not, so decided to go and play tennis with my girl friend – she beat me 8 games to 0… I don’t know what to say…

This is random.

I’m a little worried about going to Thailand but I’m sure we’ll all pull through – I can pretty much guarantee that at least one of us, will survive :)

Also if you haven’t already, play with the fish thing at the bottom of the page! :)

Anyway if you are having any doubts or complaints then don’t hesitate to comment – I’m guarantied neither to read them nor care <3 xxxxxxxxx

THE ENDDDDDDDDDDD!!!

*However, as we all know, Josh is the one with dyslexia. I could easily turn this into a rant about that but its so hot today that I really cba :/ also I don’t really care/understand it.

KEY: (for old people… like Pete)
Tbh – to be honest
Cba – Can’t be asked
LOL – laughing out loud

Sunlight

Wow!! What a day....beautiful hot weather, gorgeous sunlight....the kind that just makes you feel good. To-day was the last time we will all be together before going to Thailand on Friday, and we even had the weather to prepare us for how hot it will be out there.

So, we all did church this morning,  and it was really good to have everyone's prayers before we set out. It was lovely to see everyone together again as well, and it all suddenly did seem real that Thailand is nearly here.
It was great to see Simon and Jill on skype, and hear again about what we are going to be doing. For me to-day the nerves were replaced with excitement, it will be soooo good to see Simon and Jill and their family and do all that is planned.
This morning we talked about change, and that God is with us through all the changes that we go through. I think there will be moments when we are away when we will need to know this. I thought I'd try and link to the video I wanted to show you this morning, its only 3.5 minutes long- go and spend the time and have a look.
God is sending us out- and he is with us and mighty to save, as well as surrounding us with his love.



The verse from Zephaniah is at the end. Have good weeks everyone, we are on countdown....

la-korn:)

Getting in Early

Hi All,

OK I'm next on the assigned list to Blog so officially I shouldn't be doing this until tomorrow, but ever keen and enthusiastic and extremely short of time tomorrow here I go.

I am now officially on countdown to Thailand last night I did my second triathlon and somehow in my head that was always the watershed point between just getting stuff sorted out and the trip proper. I did fine thanks for asking, and felt it went much better than the last one. I guess there is something in doing something for the first time which is always uneasy, the second time I think you feel more confident in what you'll encounter. That was certainly the case for me yesterday and I think that is perhaps something we should all remember on our trip to Thailand. I have never been there before as most of us haven't so we should all remember that an uneasy feelings therefore is really normal. In that way we are all lucky to have Jill and Simon and a number of others who have had the experience of Thailand in particular or trip travel in general to help us along the way.

I have a question. Is intending to pack packing or not? We have our cases out at home and my floor is filled with a stuff that I pulled out from my wardrobe on Friday night last week. But that is as far as I've got. That must count for something eh! I think the emotional energy that goes with having those sorts of things hanging around should definitely be credited as packing!

I met with my boss from work today, he has just come back from 3 weeks helping Wateraid in Bangladesh and really enjoyed the experience. I met with him specifically to get his perspective on what he saw out there and him being also a person of generous years I wanted to get some advice on how he approached it. I was really glad I did and as he spoke it was amazing how the things he said resonated so much with the stuff Alice and Rosie talked about when they returned 3 years ago. He described a shock at the state of living and yet a recognition that despite the circumstance some of the joy and happiness he observed far exceeded that that he had generally seem amongst people young and old in the west. It made me reflect that despite all our comforts do we sometimes miss the human contact and interaction with one another for which God designed us. Something of what I had hoped to get from this trip was a resetting of my priorities / perspectives.

The final bit of advice he gave I also thought was worth passing along. He said so into it with a truly open mind, don't go there trying to save the world and don't carry too much guilt about circumstance. He said that he had come back with great feelings of waste and disillusionment with how we lived, but having had time to reflect that too much of that would prevent you encountering the true experience of the trip. Anyway I found those to be good pieces of advice so I thought I'd pass them along.

Examinees, good luck, soon be over now. Finishees well done, best feeling in the world. Life changees I pray for you every day, I'm sure you'll both do great. So 8 days!! Exciting huh!

The List.

So I’ve got this headache bouncing around behind my eyes, singing horrendous, repetitive pop songs and seeing how hard it has to push before my brain dribbles out my ears. It’s slightly distracting, and the normal stream-of-consciousness-onto-paper dance that words do for me isn’t really happening today. So. Nothing too complicated. You’re getting a to-do list. That’s right, I’m sharing this little in-my-head checklist of things I need to do before next Friday finishes its hundred metre dash and smacks into me so you can all look at it and despair in the likelihood of me ever getting it done. Pain shared is pain halved, right?

I should add ‘Stop abusing metaphors’ onto my list.

1.      Tidy. Everything.

As in tidy away. In boxes, in the loft, to Oxfam. Chris is getting my room in a weird going away present; though I’m sure it’s meant to be the other way around. Still, while getting the room itself is fine he doesn’t want all the assorted junk of mine currently in it. Like the books (Not that books are junk, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise), of which I had enough to seriously consider starting my own small personal library. Even in getting rid of half of them I’ve can still fill two boxes; one turkey sized (Size reference not a coincidence. It actually held a roast turkey once. It’s got a sticker on it to prove it) and one big enough to fit in a 5 year old child with wriggle room (This box, unfortunately, did not at any point contain a small child. I know you’re all severely disappointed). You’ve got to go up a pretty steep ladder to get into our loft, so I employed those manipulative skills all women are born with to get my brother to hulk up the larger box; the tried and true method of ‘I am puny, you are not, do this heavy lifting to show how not puny you are.’ I sometimes wonder if you indulge us with this. You know, a subtle ‘I’m going to let you think you are cleverer than me by pretending I am manipulated into showing off my non-puny status.’ Or something.

I don’t suppose it matters. It’s kind of a win-win really.

2.      Get visa sorted.

Hah hah! I can tick this off the list! And perhaps put a big smiley sticker next to it. Because it’s done. My passport came back in the post today, now with a big red stamp in it looking all complicated and official. So you don’t have to totally despair. I’ve done something. Hah.

3.      Collaborate with Jane to organise the BBQ in a non-chaotic fashion.

I’m looking forward to this actually. I’m planning to make as much potato salad as humanly possible without collapsing into a puddle on the kitchen floor. While considering fridge space, of course. Can you store potato salad in a garage? I’ll find out. But that will be before I meet up with Jane. With Jane there will be cups of tea, and perhaps biscuits, and the sharing of miniature panic attacks resulting from trying to organise a reasonably large and complicated event in an unfortunately decreasing space of time. As well as the hiding of breakables. Just in case.

Before you say anything, yes, trying to do a BBQ for more than 10 people is kind of complicated. You have to prepare food, cook food, decide what to do with the mountains of leftovers (‘Who brought so much hummus?’) and with the BBQ itself maintain that fine line between food poisoning and catastrophically ashen. Of course, it will be a collection of men manning the BBQ. I think outdoor cooking just brings out the barbarian in them all or something.

And everyone better be praying it doesn’t rain. You can’t have a BBQ indoors.

4.      Stop abusing metaphors.

I’ll try.

Emma.

Emotion

Emotion. Not something I normally talk about - especially not my own emotions! Probably for this reason, I've been challenged to talk about how I'm feeling in this blog... So here goes.

I've been massively excited about Thailand for a long time now. I suppose it's partly just because I love travel - the sights, the sounds, the smells, trying everything new and being so far away from home recognising things that seem completely different but which are actually intrinsically the same when you really think about it.

Writing this leads me to think of the passage from 1 Corinthians 12 (especially verses 14 - 24) which can be found here. This is a passage I've come back to time and time again, because for me it's a massive encouragement that all of us are part of a body in Christ, and though we are all unique and different we all matter. So though there's an inevitable bit of nervousness for me about this trip, in some senses it just feels very natural from us in the UK, all part of different churches in Reading, to be joining another part of the church body in Thailand. Verses 25 & 26 surely just shout to us that God is always and 100% with us and encouraging us - he "designed" us to be of one body, just as we will be in Thailand.

So, like everyone else I'm feeling stressed and under pressure to 'get everything done' before we leave... But equally, there's so much we're going to journey through with God just in the three weeks we're away that my excitement is helping me through. I've done my best to talk about how I'm feeling - maybe it's something I need to work on!

Hope everyone reading this is well,


Andrew

Tuesday 21 June 2011

So, it's my turn....

I don't know about you all but as ever I feel like time is running away from me.....there is not enough time to fit in everything I need to do at work or home in the next couple of weeks...and as ever I get frustrated and grumpy!! (Poor Pete)

I want to go to Thailand being prepared and open to what God is saying to me and wants to do with us all....not to miss out on hearing his voice because I just needed to fit one more thing in...

Everyone has said in their blogs about being nervous about what we are going to do, what it will be like and its reassuring that we all feel the same.

I read this bible verse yesterday from Isaiah 58 v 6-7 'I'll tell you what it means to worship the Lord. Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly. Free those of us who are abused, share your food with everyone who is hungry, share your home with the poor and homeless. '

We might not literally be freeing prisoners in Thailand, but it is so exciting to have a really practical way such as building toilets where we can really live out our faith, and through this worship God. In yet as I write this I already think whilst we are going to be doing things for others when we read this back in a month we will have learnt so much more...

So back to where we started....lets all try and make sure we find the space to be open to what God wants to do in our lives over the next few weeks and understand more how we can use our time for him.

See you on Sunday

Jane x

Count down from 10.

So then, 10 days left. Where is the time gone?

2 weeks time we will be 3 days into our trip. Excited? Scared? Packed? Stressed maybe? Well however your feeling your not the only one.

What are you most looking forward too?

Don't forget that on Sunday we have the BBQ round pete and Janes. Lets hope that the weather will be better than recently. And if you thought you were getting away from the rain then think again as it rains pretty much every day in Thailand. But at least it will be warm!

And how exciting is this new project that Jill and Simon have come up with for us to do? I'm really excited about it and hope that you are too.

Well thats all from me too. Look out in your inboxes for the millions of emails that I am sending to you. Any queries get back to me. For those of you in exam hell, then good luck, and I hope that they all go well. For those of you not then have a restful 10 days and make the most of English meals before we go!

Take care, have good weeks and see you Sunday
Kenny

Count down from 11.

I really enjoyed Emma's blog yesterday. I find when I think about the Thailand trip delivering a sermon translated into Thai that is the thing that generates the nervousness then Emma raised. It's not that I feel I got nothing to say or that I don't know God speaks to me. It is just that Thailand seems such a different country.

Anyway to matters less lofty. Although I'm really keen on Thailand I still have a whole load of stuff to do before we go away. First a meeting Tuesday then I have a triathlon on Wednesday night. I have a church awayday on Saturday and then our Service and BBQ on Sunday. Jane and I are hoping to sell our old house on the 30th and there is still cleaning to be done there. Oh yes and there is that little matter of sorting 5 weeks worth of work cover in the next 11 days!!

Wow 11 days now that brings things into focus. We have been planning and discussing this trip for over a year. Despite the fact that Will and Ali are constantly ribbing for even going to Thailand (I was very vocal about the previous trip so that ribbing is entirely appropriate). I am looking forward to the trip, but not without some trepidation.

Basically though I think it will be great. Jill new project idea to build toilets and washrooms in an orphanage seems like a good addition to the time out there and it fits really well with the 'practical helping' we discussed at our time together. I hope that all the elements of the program work really well together. We have certainly have tried our best to arrange a good trip, but I have been really surprised at the amount of work that it has needed. But then as I read once nothing that is really worth something doesn't need some amount of effort.

Anyway I have gone on long enough. My thoughts and prayers to all the people still finishing off their exams. I hope you get all the best questions and do really well.

See you all later

Pete

Things I have most definately not done today.

Anyone else feeling a slightly stomach crushing nervousness about this? No? Just me then...

Still, I am excited too. I love travelling. Love that odd and out of place feeling you get when you’re within a new culture, trying to remember how to ask those basic questions like where the nearest loo is (Always important. Last time there were several instances of “Tao ri...tao rie...ti na... Oh for the love of – who’s got that phrase book?”) I’m also going to try my best to find a foodstuff that can squick out the most people, with bonus points if it wriggles on the way down.

Not so excited about the sun though. I’m not built for sunny time zones. I’m built for rain and mist and the dreary British climes. My skin is so pathetically pasty that even my scalp burns, and who puts sun cream on their scalp? Makes everything horribly sticky. So, sun cream. A lot. Probably to the extent where you will all have to be careful to keep at least a one metre distance so you don’t suddenly find yourself stuck to me.

Just remembered this blog is meant to be some kind of informative what-we’re-doing-today thing, not an outlet for my complaints. Right. Does doing my jabs count? I know they were done ages ago... right, no, don’t count. Pete says he’s packed. Saying “I’m not packed” doesn’t quite seem to do things justice. Before I pack I’ve got to clean my room, so I can actually find those things that need packing. Before that I’ve got to find a place to clean things to. Not the floor. I’ve run out of floor.

I’ll find a cardboard box.

Next. Getting one of those lovely this-is-Thai-culture handbooks that Andrew has; honestly, that thing could train you to be a native. Pretty sure that permanently borrowing his is not an option. WHSmiths? Waterstones? Bah, I’ll find one. This is turning more into a list of things I haven't done...

Visa! Done that! You know, that thing that’s going to let me stay in Thailand for another year in a pleasingly legal manner (Not sure I’m cut out to be an illegal immigrant)? It’s all sent off with too many bits of paper, and should be back within the week. Ignore the rest of this post, just concentrate on this paragraph. Then I shall appear as if I have properly used this blog.

Don’t know the weather in Thailand at the moment. Probably too hot. But with lots of cloud cover. It's weird like that.

Emma

2 weeks to go!!

Hello everyone,

As there's only two weeks left before we leave for Thailand we're going to start the blog up again... This is so we can get in the swing of things and so that people who are interested can find it etc.

While we're in Thailand we'll be using the blog to share what we're doing with everyone back home - until then, I'll upset everyone who is fed up with the weather this weekend by pointing out that it's currently 32 degrees c out in Chiang Mai (http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/1251).

That's all for now,


Andrew