December Update: A final update of 2011 Aims!

Well what a year that was! I'm sure that you've had a fair amount of retrospectivia and nostalgia and so this post will be short on it (after all my stand post is usually heavy laden.) However I will say that this year has been a great year for me, I really feel like I have lived it very fully indeed. I really like the position I find myself in this year.

1.I will give at least a 10% tithe in addition to any other giving I will do.

Already done! This goal has become so much easier as the year has gone on and it's been so great to really purposefully pursue this. Strangely enough I am doing much better with my money this year than I did in previous years and I have still somehow ended up buying a few little gadgets which I didn't really need. I haven't been a perfect steward of God's money but I have been a better one.

2. Making Prayer a stronger habit. 

Certainly seen some real growth here. Only this morning I was discussing prayer with my girlfriend and working out some applications to do. 

3.Use Skype more to chat to people back home/Britain

I have certainly used Skype more since setting this aim and since I started to go out with Charlotte this has not really been an issue at all. However in more recent times I have slightly neglected staying in touch with some friends in favour of a few I stay in contact with more. 

4.  I will improve as an EFL teacher.

I can certainly say that I have improved as a teacher it no longer takes me as long to plan a basic lesson, I can identify areas to work on after lessons. I have taken part in some webinars, I have started taking part in a few eltchats and I have formed a teachers blog.

5. I will improve my Russian.

I have again definitely improved as I recently looked at a university "intermediate" exam and could easily do all but one of the exercises. This is despite several periods of poor efforts in studying. 

6. I will write more songs.

This goal failed amazingly! In the whole year I only actually really wrote one song. I should regret writing this goal down however I really learnt from having it. Sometimes being creative is hard, sometimes goals fail, and it's okay for that. If I hadn't set this goal then I would have chosen something I wanted to do less..and I might have done it but it wouldn't have been what I really wanted. 

7. Host a weekly meal at my flat.

There have certainly been high points and low points with this aim. I am overall please with some of the gatherings I hosted. I think I would have tried similarly had I not set this as a goal but It did prompt me at a time when I was feeling really down to take that step of imitative and organise something and that really did make all the difference on that occasion. 

8. Regular and higher quality blogging.

Well I personally I believe I have grown a lot as a blogger this year, I've set up a second blog for teaching and reached a few landmarks I have also taken part in a free online blogging course from Jeff Goains and i'm preparing a few changes for next year. 

9. I will get involved with some form of charitable work in the Ukraine.

The first few months saw a few visits to an orphanage in Ukraine but after a while unfortunately things stopped. More recently I visited another orphanage and hopefully I will be able to visit the kids there a bit more this year. 

10. I will make a Public video each month.

Well I didn't make a video for every month, mainly due to lack of responses to challenges I set. However I did enjoy editing them together. Would you like some more next year?

Light

I was recently chatting to a friend, who isn't a Christian and she came out with this statement.

"It isn't an accident that all these different faiths celebrate light and bright holidays at this time of year, when it is at it's darkest. It reminds us that even though times in life are bad, even though things seam dark gloomy and hopeless, there is still light."

I Couldn't help but be reminded of a few verses.

“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
   the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
   Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶ the people living in darkness
   have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
   a light has dawned.”^[a]

 ¹⁷ From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome^[a] it.

 ⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

 ¹³ The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

   “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Christmas update

This weekend see the arrival of 20 odd members of staff from Donetsk for our School Christmas party. Last years was a great part of the year and I really enjoyed the spend time with the people from Donetsk, go Christmas shopping and sample the delights of Pig Trotter Curry!

However this morning I am attending a free Webinar by the International Teachers Development Institute. Which I am very excited about.

This is of course my last weekend here in the Ukraine before I get to return home to England for Christmas. I am of course very excited about going home and seeing everyone, and some people in particular.

If you are based in England and would like to meet over Christmas please send me a message and I'll do my best.

Why I'm having cold showers for a week

Don't worry my boiler isn't broken, although last winter there was a period when it wouldn't produce hot water on the coldest mornings! No it's something completely different from that.

I've started reading "The Flinch" by Julien Smith. 

It's all about why we've been programmed to not take risks or opportunities because we might "Harm ourselves" in doing so, when really it's all very safe!

As a Homework assignment he set the task of Jumping into a Cold shower for a week [there's no harm to anyone and according to him your body will acclimatise.] I've just done it for the first time and I can safely say it was the quickest shower I've ever had! I did try to stay in longer to see if I would acclimatise and by the end it wasn't as bad as the start but it still hurt!

I guess there are 6 more days to go so we'll have to see how it goes.

The really interesting thing will be whether this will help me take more risks in other areas.  

My Aims for 2012

In all honesty I have had a hard time pinning down my Aims for this year, This isn't because I haven't know what I've wanted to do in fact there have been some goals that I have been certain that I wanted to do. Unfortunately I fell in to the trap of planning.

It is without doubt easier to plan what you should do than to start doing it. In fact the longer you plan the better excuse you have for it not happening "well the plans aren't ready yet."

However:

 A good plan violently executed is better than the perfect plan.

Inspired by a post this morning which has helped refine my thinking I decided to drop some of my many many aims and instead focus on a few constant aim. A few mile posts for the year and also to have an experimental aim each month. Something to give a go at.

Thus I'll be open to any options during the year and yet committed to the long haul too.

So without further ado here are my mileposts.

1. To write an ebook 
2. To write another album of 12 songs, 1 a month
3. Complete a half marathon in the Summer
4. Change job
5. To buy only 10 new things this year*

*this doesn't include replacing broken things, or expendables such as food or toiletries. It is luxury things such as a new guitar/computer etc all the things I don't need but want. In some ways the exceptions should make this very easy, however I like the number 10

These are my long term goals.
Each month I will:

1. Improve my Russian via completing my Russian course book, attending a Russian discussion club once a week and spending an hour studying a week.
2. Improve my Teaching Via completing my two IH courses, continuing blogging and the 30 goals challenges.
3. Improve my writing via continuing the two blogs, writing an ebook on teaching dyslexic students English as a foreign language. 
4. Write 2 songs a month
5. Follow my Asics training schedule. [so I can complete my half marathon aim]
6. Fast 1 a week [starting with a once a month, then twice etc]
7. Complete daily bible in a year readings via YouVersion. 
8. Host a party [and find a reason for hosting a party.]
9. [This space is open in case there is a goal I wish to add later. Perhaps an experimental goal.

So finally all I have is my experiment for the month.

I will meditate [Using some guidelines set out in celebration of disciplines] each morning. 


So in total I have 9 goals for each month (one changing each month) and some long term achievements to aim for.

note: I will add more details on how I will complete my goals soon. 

Ukrainian Orphanages

I recently visited an orphanage just outside a town in Ukraine called Zelenodolsk. It was a great experience and so amazing that despite giving so little the kids seamed so grateful. What was especially powerful was the obvious history the people I went with had with the kids and the difference I could see that it made.

On our car journey I learnt a bit more about the difficulties that Orphans in Ukraine face. 

Whilst I had been aware that there were a lot of orphans in Ukraine and that many of them were there not just because their parents had died but also for reasons such as abuse at home and that there were a far greater number of orphans in Ukraine than in Britain. However I hadn't realised the challenges they face whilst they are in the Orphanages or once they've left. 

The first thing I heard was a story about how a director of an orphanage who would sell on the gifts that the kids were given. It didn't just happen once, this occurred on regular occasions. This is not to say it is a universal thing and the guys commented that since they have come more regularly they have noticed this has stopped [and a change of director didn't harm either.]

This reflected another point they made that orphans can be treated by many people as inferior just because they don't have parents. 

The final point was that at age 16, having had poor education, few possessions often having no family and few friends they are "kicked out" of the orphanages and left to it. No support, no help and usually no job. As such many of them "sink to the bottom" as one person put it. They turn to crime, drink, prostitution and that's just if they are lucky! I even heard of Orphans who were taken to Turkey, killed and then harvested for their organs.

Fortunately there are people who are at work helping these Children out here. I'll tell you more about some of them in the future.  

2011 Aims: November update

Well here we are. One month left of the 2011 aims and when I actually publish that It will be after the end of the year and the start of 2012! 


As such next month I am going to start reassessing my goals for next year. I'm going to start with a complete clear plate not even looking at my aims for this year to see whether the same things come up or if anything else comes up instead.


If you want to see a review of my previous months goals then click the link here.

1.I will give at least a 10% tithe in addition to any other giving I will do.

The habit of setting aside my tithe at the start of the month before any other money has well and truly been entrenched! In addition I have noticed that I really am in better control of the money I have. I am very please here. 

2. Making Prayer a stronger habit. 

This month I have actually started reading the chapter on Prayer in the book Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. So far I can certainly say that I really needed the kick up the back side that it provided. It is truly worrying how many things I wasn't doing. 

3.Use skype more to chat to people back home/Britain

I managed to have my first long chat with my family this past weekend and I also caught up with a very good friend. So overall very good!

4.  I will improve as an EFL teacher.

Definitely true this month. My new blog is well on it's way and I have taken part in the first International House on-line workshop, Joined in with many more #EltChat meetings and started some new reflective practices! All in all a lot of new things that I can really see have helped improve me even more. 

5. I will improve my Russian.

I have managed to get more speaking practice this month and it would again appear that I am currently pushing beyond my plateau of last month. However, despite this I am not really taking structured approaches to improving my Russian. It's actually only writing this I have truly realised how true this has been and as such have no immediate ideas about what I should do to solve this. On the plus side I have noticed my pronunciation has improved and become less apparent. 

6. I will write more songs. [this goal isn't being pursued, instead I tried to write an e-book...and failed! BUT I did try.]

7. Host a weekly meal at my flat.

I managed to host one meal this month... This new school year certainly seams to have seen me be worse at inviting people round but also people accepting invitations. I guess I should follow the parable of the banquet and invite those who have nothing round...However that seams really scary, especially across the language barrier!

8. Regular and higher quality blogging.

Well apart from the start of the month where a strong cold knocked me for 6 and blogging went down bellow 1 a week I have somehow managed to get over halfway through my series on Top 10 TEFL tips and keep this blog going, I have also used images more and focused more on my layout. In addition I have also been following Jeff Goins intentional blogging course which has certainly given me food for thought.

9. I will get involved with some form of charitable work in the Ukraine.

Still a big no here :(

10. I will make a Public video each month.

Again it would appear I haven't made a video for this month. I could blame the illness and increased workload but their just excuses. 

Superhero films of 2011 reviews

This year was frankly a great year for my love of Superheroes. In  the cinema there really have been loads of great superhero films and so I've decided to compile them here, look at the good the bad and the ugly with the best coming first.

Captain America.


Best superhero of the year in my opinion! Captain America has always been an interesting character due to his superpowers basically being that he is the perfect human, quicker, faster, stronger, more reactive etc but other than that he doesn't have any powers, he can't make lazer beams from his eyes for example.
However it's quickly brought into the storyline that really Captain America's power is his self-sacrifice, bravery, and spirit.

The characteristics of Captain America aren't just "Woo America" which I was worried it might be but instead appeal to more than national ideas.

In my opinion this was the best of the year.

X men first class
An interesting film about the origins of the X men set against the Cuban missile crisis. It covers the backstories of some very important characters brilliantly and really sets up the different positions of the different groups who come to blows.

There are a few messages in there about being true to yourself, accepting yourself as you are.

All in all it was a great film however I can't really think of too many reasons why!

Thor
The Thor comic book series has always been interesting as it contrasted the mythology of Norse times and science. In this movie the reckless Thor is...er...reckless, stripped of his powers, goes to earth, falls in love, changes and then becomes the responsible Thor [though I suspect he is still a little reckless]. Some great acting with Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Tom Hiddleston as Loki.

The film clearly sets up for the avengers movie coming out next year and so perhaps races through some plot lines that might have been nice in a second movie [for example, why not make Thor's transformation and growing up take longer and be more realistic for that reason.]

There is also the great message of responsibility, giving up what you love for a greater good and self sacrifice including a messianic like resurrection.

Green lantern.
Over all the biggest dissappointment of all the superhero films, mainly due to the awful computer graphics for the suit, in all honesty just having a green lycra suit would have been better.

Despite this the film deals with the ideas of fear and will power [courage?] and the fight for will power to overcome fear. The main protaganist although strong willed goes weaker when he gains superpowers which is an interesting contrast. Ultimately he saves the day [sorry for spoiling it] however there is the question left of what will happen of the "ring made of fear" [sequel!]

You win some you lose some

I love setting challenges.

It's great when people engage in them take part and do something they may never have done. 

However there are two things that aren't great about challenges.

The first is when people don't really take up your challenge. You can have a great idea, set it out in nice format but for some reason people don't take it on. There can be a whole host of reasons and there are certainly ways to get an idea to stick more but for sometimes even good challenges fail.

The second is when you accept a challenge and fail it. It can really hit hard and take the wind out of you. Sometimes you may not want to try another challenge again because the risk of failure can seam too greate and not worth the energy to try it. 

This has happened to me, I have completely failed the writing an E-book in a month challenge. 

To be fair I only decided really to go for it a few nights before and then didn't properly plan when I would actually write anything. Not the best way to start or plan to go on. I did somehow actually manage to start writing and at a fair pace. I really enjoyed the experience. 

However then I came down with a cold. A silly stupid little cold. Well that was it. My energy went and every evening when I wasn't spending hours struggling to plan lessons I was asleep or simply blowing my nose. After about 2 weeks of this I realised how far behind I was...and I left it at that relisation. I took no action as I had other things I needed to do. 

And so now there are under 7 days left in the month and to write some 10,000 words, edit them and publish them [and do my day job] would be neigh on impossible. [unless i find a way to not need sleep]. Am I upset about this? Yes However I'm still glad I accepted the challenge. I would never have thought about writing an e-book and what I needed to do if I hadn't.

I would never have learnt these lessons for next time. And I will now know how much effort is involved and more critically approach such a challenge next time. 

One of the biggest lies we tell ourselves is "I'll probably fail/do a half attempt so why bother?" when really it stops us doing anything. Sure it may be very poor but everyone need to produce poor things to produce something good. 

So you can expect a new challenge from me soon and I do hope you accept it, suggest it to other people and aren't afraid to give it a go, possibly fail, But Possible Succeed! 

Christmas Lights

Christmas lights are starting to pop up all over Dnipropetrovsk as we prepare to light up the city for Novie God. New year.

This was from last year

You see, in Ukraine the order of holidays is slightly different from western countries which celebrate the birth of christ Christmas on the 25th and then New Year on the 1st of January. Here New Year is also on the 1st of January but Christmas is on the 7th of January (following the old calendar).

Matters then become slightly more interesting with Starey Novie God, [old new year]. This is the date of New Year under the old Gregorian calendar.

For me these lights are a great reminder of the coming of the winter holidays, (which is further reinforced by the ever creping date on my pace charts that show Christmas is coming and get's closer ever time I fill in a completed lesson) the joy of seeing family and [girl]friend[s] and most importantly the reminder of the light of the world, who entered it.

That is what these lights originally symbolised and as such the choice to replace the winter pagan festivals with a celebration of Jesus Birth is no accident. Light seams even brighter in the darkness. What a great reminder these are.

p.s. It also means my Years Aims are almost at an end! I guess this means I'll have to come up with some new ones for next year.

Snow flakes

Today was significant, the first snowflakes of the winter.

I say it is significant because the highlight the end of weather that is getting cold and the start of the cold weather.

In all honesty this point was actually reached earlier in the year when the fountains were drained and turned off, or when people started wearing coats all the time. Or even last week when I switched from my summer, thinner coat, to my thicker winter coat. However the presence of Snow really hits home the fact that Winter is here.

Soon the murky slush will cover the floor and make walking to work in anything but walking boots (or the thick lined and rough soled shoes that somehow remain highly stylish that are common here in the Ukraine) near impossible. When we have the little element of snow on the floor it really does pick up on every step that is pressed against it. However, when it really comes down, no blemish can be seen on it's surface.

I love snow. I guess growing up in the UK and until the last 5 years or so of my life, where suddenly we started having Snow storms in the UK too, I had lived with only a smattering of snow flakes that would fall each year. Instead now I am in a country where there will be at least a couple of heavy snow falls a year.

Snow brightens up the dark winter and it is amazing how people can be complaining of the cold one moment and then giddily running around in the snow the next.

Here's to the first snow ball fight of the year.

Teaching observation and life 2

I have already mentioned about how useful it can be to observe other teachers [Christians] as a CELTA teacher [follower of Christ] but the reverse is also true.

Being observed is very useful in our teaching and Christian life.

As a teacher it can be hard to see our faults from within our own perspective. After all during a lesson you can focus on one group and not another, we can be focusing on one problem and not notice another or other factors. When you add in lack of experience there are many reasons why having a set of wiser, more experienced eyes [or just a fellow teacher] over your shoulder can really help.

Peter also felt the benefit of having some peer observation. When a group of Jewish followers can to see him he reverted to the old covenant despite clearly deciding that he was no longer bound by it. Paul was on hand and gave him a professional reminder of his mistake and set him on his way.

Richard Foster, in his book celebration of discipline, talks about the discipline of confession and how this form of observation is a spiritual discipline and one that brings us closer to each other and to God.

It also isn’t just about being observed but having someone tell you what these problems are and encourage you to sort them out.

Who is observing your life? Who are you having professional feedback session with?

2011 Aims: October update

Here it is! the latest instalment of my 2011 aims! You can see the page with the previous months here.

1.I will give at least a 10% tithe in addition to any other giving I will do.
Confession time, I forgot to bring it to church on Sunday! But I have the money set aside I'm going to give it on Sunday. Another thought that I've been struck by recently is that it should be our "First fruits". I get paid in two sets, it would be easier to pray this money from the second lot but God want's the First fruits of my labour. So he's going to get my best. 

2. Making Prayer a stronger habit. 

Prayer has been an interesting issue this month, there have been moments when it has been great and moments when it hasn't. However thankfully the trend at the moment is on the up! I've added to the side bar a resource from the Joshua project to pray for unreached people groups and on a personal level I have started using a memo pad on my tablet to keep track of prayer requests. I have already seen some of them answered!
I'd love to prayer for you. So please leave a comment with a prayer request and let's see God answer them. 

3.Use skype more to chat to people back home/Britain

Again I have been using Skype lots this month, the only downside has been that certain people [aka family] have somehow missed speaking to me this month [with the exception of a couple of minute chat] as such this is my priority for skype! A family catch up!

4.  I will improve as an EFL teacher.

Well my three courses are going well. I prepared a seminar for the Lviv conference [but couldn't visit in the end] I did however get to lead a trial version at the school. I have prepared to run my language awareness course tomorrow. I have been teaching a full work load with no repeat classes and I have even managed to continue reading some of Scott Thornbury's how to teach speaking and teaching unplugged [by Luke Meddings and Scott Thornbury]. PLUS I have made early progress with "A Noobs guide to TEFL" and a few online progressions.
Best of all I've noticed changes in my lessons and I have remembered a few basic principles which have really improved the quality of them. All in all a great month.

5. I will improve my Russian.

Unfortunately I can't say the same here. I have certainly had some great speaking experiences and agreed to start a Russian conversation club with some other teachers but finding time to sit down and study [especially using on line resources when I have so little free time. However the slightly more worrying point is that I have probably spent more concious effort working on Spanish. I guess this is partially down to having Spanish language CD's and reaching a plateau in Russian. Hopefully when this conversation club becomes more regular things will pick up but otherwise I will just have to organise something at the weekends to make the most of my time then.

6. I will write more songs.

As stated before this aim is no longer being pursued. HOWEVER this month I am trying something new to do with creativity which is to write an ebook! More on that at the end of the month. 

7. Host a weekly meal at my flat.

This really has failed this month. I've attended two meals I feel but I haven't really had people round. As such I'm inviting people round this weekend to change that!

8. Regular and higher quality blogging.

This has definitely picked up. The second blog is up and running and I'm quite happy with it so far. I've also had the second largest number of views this month. 

9. I will get involved with some form of charitable work in the Ukraine.

Still searching for a new charity to be involved in. To be honest with everything else on my plate I haven't actively pursued this. 

10. I will make a Public video each month.

I posted my Video challenge 3 which hasn't really been taken on by anyone [and had very few views!] mainly due to lack of publicity. SO this is your time to shine! Let's invite people to contribute meals and to make this challenge take off!

Well that was last month. I'm quite excited about a few things I'm planning for this month but Time management is becoming an increasing issues. At some point I may have to reassess these goals again. In addition there are only two more updates before the year is over and next year will have to start with it's new goals. 

Challenge Write an EBook in November

There are actually a couple of Ebook writing challenges for November.

From http://comerecommended.com

One fiction [Thank you Mr Copy blogger]

One non fiction 

It's up to you which you choose but I'm currently thinking of at least giving it a shot! I may fail but hey there is no loss there is there! It starts tomorrow so you don't have long to weigh up your options.

So who is with me.

Teaching Observations and Life

During my CELTA [training to become an English as a foreignlanguage teacher] one of the very first things we did was to take part in a sample lesson where we could see the methodology we would eventually teach with being done on us. The next thing was to watch a lesson on some students fromour course supervisor.

These initial observations were very useful as sometimes words can only go some far and it can be a lot simpler to just show how to do something than explain it.

I think the apostle Paul understood this, he didn’t just preach [Although he certainly did that! Remember the in Athens or what about when he bored a boy to sleep who then fell to his death after he had beenpreaching for “some time”] but he also demonstrated with his actions.

In fact he even goes as to say that he shared his entire life with the church in Thessalonica. And that they became imitators of him whilst he was there.

Now whilst I certainly haven’t observed as many teachers since finishing my CELTA I still continue to do this.

These observations are still good.

Sometimes there is a revelation about teaching that I hadn’t thought of until I saw another teacher do it.

In the same way as Christian we should continue to observe the lives of other Christians. We should continue to be challenged by their example, and become imitators of them and ultimately God.

So who are you imitating? 

Music from Ukraine: Okean Elzie

This is a band I was introduced to early on during my time here there name is Okean Elzie and they are probably the biggest Ukrainian rock band around. Not only that but they sing...In Ukrainian!!! Not Russian.

I've been listening to them for a while and really like them. In fact I've posted some of their music on the blog before in some of my reviews of the month. The track bellow is probably my favourite song of theirs.





It might [is] be hyperbole but I would actually dare to suggest that Okean Elzie are probably the modern inequivalent of Taras Shevchenko [no not the footballer] in terms of promoting the Language via artistic means.

Jesus and present simple sentences

After introductions and basic questions about themselves we usually move on to teaching students present simple sentences [starting with affirmative, positive statements and then moving on to negatives and interrogative (or question) forms] Jesus seams to follow this pattern.

The Beatitudes

2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sonst of God.

10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you
 

The beatitudes in Matthew five are full of present simple sentences. Blessed are....

For those of you who don't know present simple is used for stating repeated actions [with varied frequency] and facts. Here Jesus is stating facts and repeated actions. When you are persecuted (this isn't a single offense) you are blessed [you may not my choice of a zero conditional there, to exaggerate the nature of this being a fact.]

Let's look at the grammar a bit deeper, these are actually all passive voice sentences. They don't state who does the blessing. We use passive voice when we don't need to state who is doing an action as the result is more important OR we know who is doing the action.

So which is it in this case? Well it is certainly possible that Jesus wants to focus on the positive outcomes of these blessings and the nature of the blessings. However if we look at the end of the section we can see that actually there is the assumed knowledge there ("for your reward is great in heaven")

So Jesus's first sermon started with a load of facts in the present simple passive voice. They were all about how God blesses the unlikely and people who appear to be losers (in the fullest sense of the word)

How am I blessing people?

One of the things I've been contemplating over the last few days is "How can I bless the people around me?"

The reason for this pondering comes down to a few things. 

The first is that I have been very blessed and I am very thankful for that. So I should pass on this blessing.

Secondly I believe that Christians should be agents in bringing in the Kingdom of God on Earth. The Kingdom of God is complete fullness of life for people both here on Earth and In the age to come. If this is true then I certainly should be blessing the people closest to me. After all the closer you are to a light, the brighter it is for you and the greater effect it has.

Thirdly I do want to bless the people around me. It's not always an active thought in my mind but I want to turn this desire into more actions.

Fourthly my girlfriend asked the question of how we can bless people together back in England?

So How can I bless people around me?

The first step is not really a blessing but merely doing my part. If I am making a mess and leaving it to others around me to tidy up then I can't really be a blessing to these people.

The second would be to work out what things are burdening the people around me. How can I help easy these Burdens?

The final is what token gestures can I do to bless these people? What little extra nice touches can I do.

Take for example fellow teachers, the first step would be to make sure I am doing my work well and not forcing my DOS to chase me up over missing paperwork or other teachers reguarding what I taught. The next step would be to work out if I can help other teachers by making lesson material or providing lesson plans on day's when they are very busy. And the final might be bring in some chocolates to the staff room.

Overall I think the second step is the most important of these, Helping people when they feel burdened really does make a difference and really blesses them.

These thoughts were inspired by Galatians 6: 1-8 and my girlfriend.

Video Challenge 3!

Okay here is your next challenge, 

there are two parts, one easy one not so easy.

Number one: write down your favourite meal to cook preferably with a link to a recipe for this meal.

Number two: Invite at least one person round and cook it for them.

Previous Video Challenges.
Challenge 1. What makes you feel like yourself?
Reward: Picnic video

Challenge 2: Draw a Self-portrait. 

Canadian Thanksgiving

Today I'm going round to my fellow teachers house for Canadian thanksgiving. Whilst my initial reaction is to think of all the wonderful food that I am sure I will soon be thankfully for eating (I'm very interested in trying pumpkin pie!) it has made me think of some more things to be thankful for.

1. I am of course thankful for my girlfriend who continues to amaze me everyday.
2. My great friends who have been such a help and great companions, especially during hard times.
3. My parents for all they have done and all the help they gave when I was growing up.
4. Being born in a very affluent area where I have had more than I need all my life.
5. The opportunity to go to university and study a subject I really enjoyed.
6. My great job that I love, even if it can be hard work.
7. And last but not least for Jesus's sacrifice. I don't think there is anything I can be more thankful for. 

What are you thankful for?

Dnipro Day 2011

Dnipro day has been a slight highlight for me after my amazing experience last year. Being the first Ukrainian Public holiday I experienced I was taken aback last year by the difference between the UK and here.

As such I was looking forward to Dnipro's "day of the city" [the actually name of the day rather than my haphazard renaming of the day.] and yet this year I actually missed the day itself. Instead I was relaxing at a Dacha just outside the city. 

However the day before still shared some of the celebrations so I shall share my experience from then.

Waking up early things immediately seamed different. Even from my flat I could hear more noise outside from the nearby globa park where celebrations were in full flow.

Globa Park

The Children's train had been redecorated, the fountains were belting water out full power, the central area was a mass of people writing messages in chalk about the city and there were many marketing symbols wondering around handing out free things. 

I didn't hang around there too long however I did end up bumping into several friends whilst I was there which was a nice surprise especially as many of them I hadn't seen since I arrived back.

Fireworks

In the evening I made my way down to the embankment and witnessed the amazing firework display that I had seen last year. Bellow I have included a video.

I wish I could write more but unfortunately I missed all the concerts in the centre of town [mainly due to being too tired, being away at the Dacha and having been warned of the vast amounts of Alcohol that some would be drinking. ]

How does a writer seek inspiration?

I recently wrote about the importance of seeking inspiration for overcoming writers block and I thought perhaps it was time to write a bit about how we should seek this inspiration, and specifically how I seek this inspiration. Of course depending on what you write about [fiction/non-fiction] will determine how useful these things are.

There is a quote I often read online from Stephen King which goes

"There are two things a great writer does, write and read."

 It's true, exposing yourself to different writers will have an impact on you and helps you encounter ideas. Within this there is a two fold element.

The first is to look at what topics they are writing about, is this something you could write about? what topics do they deal with? What perspective do they offer on this? What do you think about this? [Note: don't commit plagiarism. You know where the boundary is I don't need to say anything else.]

The second is language analysis and taking good elements of writing from other writers. Look at what tricks they are using in writing, are they sticking to the grammar rules? How are they breaking them? What Lexis do they use? Are there any words you don't know? How often do you encounter them? Can you work them out from context? How often do they use adjectives and adverbs? etc.

Next look beyond books.

What can you take out of songs, pictures, experiences, dreams?

For me personally I write about my faith, my life in the Ukraine and teaching.

For my faith the biggest sources are prayer and reading the bible. Whenever I am doing these two things I notice that it is much easier to blog. [That is not to say that If i'm not blogging then I'm not praying/reading the bible, though it is quite possible, sometimes I just don't have time.]

My life in the Ukraine is pretty obvious how it is a source of inspiration.

As for teaching sometimes inspiration comes from teaching a lesson and learning something from that, sometimes from a training session, reading a book, reading a blog or just a conversation with a friend. What I've noticed is that teaching seams to inspire me in other areas too. Sometimes I think about how this can be applied to my faith or to my other hobbies.

2011 aims: September update

Well the end of another month and another update on my Aims for 2011 and a reminder that I've been in the Ukraine for over a month!

1.I will give at least a 10% tithe in addition to any other giving I will do.

This year there has been a change In our payment method, meaning we now get half our salary in advance and the rest later. As such this has greatly helped with giving as it's much easier to give 10% of a smaller amount.

2. Making Prayer a stronger habit. 

I have definitely noticed an increase in my prayer life which has been great and exciting. However this prayer has been quite self centered so the next step is to increase my prayer for other people. One thing I am going to do for this is to put prayer request and thoughts about the ukraine/dnipro/other countries and people. If you would like me to put something up about you then send me a message.

3.Use skype more to chat to people back home/Britain
Again there has been a definitely increase due to my girlfriend back in the UK. Having said that I have also been able to chat to my brother who has just gone to university and my very good friend ollie (who has finally got round to getting skype!)

4.  I will improve as an EFL teacher.

I am now well underway of my two IH courses and I can see how the reading I did over the summer has helped me grow. In addition I have already published two posts on my new tefl blog and I have a couple of more thoughts on posts to do. I've also added some new TEFL blogs to my personal reading list. I'll post an article linking some of them soon.

5. I will improve my Russian.

Russian has been a real struggle recently, I've had a couple of incidents which have dented ny confidence recently and I have slacked off studying recently. This is mainly due to the fact that I have reached a point where it's become a lot harder. Still I'm determined to push through. I have thus set aside 30 mins at the start of the day to study.

6. I will write more songs.
[this aim is no longer being pursued]

7. Host a weekly meal at my flat.

I have once again started to host meals at my flat with the first of the year happening last week. I hope to do some more soon, I am just weighing up when is best to do them this year, during the week or weekend?

8. Regular and higher quality blogging.

This month I had my third highest amount of page views ever, I set up a second blog and, despite spending a couple of weeks at the start not really blogging, I published 13 posts [there was a period of over a week with no posts!] in addition I redesigned the blog. Came up with some new ideas for series to do, improved the format of my blog posts and have updated the recommend on facebook button and follow on twitter button [why not try them out on the left!]

9. I will get involved with some form of charitable work in the Ukraine.

I'm afraid that this goal has been on hold whilst I look at whether I can go back to the orphanage or not. If I can't then I'll have to look at doing something else.

10. I will make a Public video each month.
No video as of yet. I had a few difficulties with having no USB cable to connect the camera...then I discovered that I could use another one! As such the new challenge video should be coming out very soon.

So that's this month!

Overall some pretty good progress but still some areas to improve upon and keep up the effort in. If you have any suggestions for how I can keep my aims please write them.

My Reflections on 1 Timothy

I've been going through 1 Timothy with my wonderful girlfriend recently and I thought now would be a good time to post some of my reflections on it.

There were two things that really hit me about 1 timothy this time. The first was:


The fact that desiring the position of overseer is a noble task. 

I really felt that this is something I should pursue for myself, and as such the characteristics that Paul lists.

• above reproach
• the husband of only one wife
• sober-minder
• self-controlled
• respectable
• hospitable
• able to teach
• not a drunkard
• not violent but gentle
• not quarrelsome
• not a lover of money
• manage his household well
• keep his children disciplined
• moreover he must be well thought of by outsiders

These are the criteria I want to be judged on. 

In some of these they don't directly apply (I don't have any wives...yet, though obviously this would mean 1 girlfriend and to be committed to that relationship and I don't have any children!) however, others are areas which I can judge myself on right now.

Am I a lover of money? This has been an area which I have really been challenging myself on this year and I am certainly improving and trusting god more over money. Am I there yet? Have I defeated the god of money? I hope so but I do still greed in my life so I can't honestly say i'm there yet.

The other are is Paul's charge to Timothy.

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

 It's a call to be the best person he can be, to not waste time but to live the good life. Sometimes it can be really easy to excuse wasting time on the basis of needing a rest or having done enough good for this week but this can't be the case. I'm not saying that we have to be slaving away all the time [and we definitely need to be able to say no to certain requests] but rather it's when people just expect things to fall into place.

I know this because I can be guilty of it, I can just say that I'm living a good life, not doing anything too bad, that's good enough right? However I'm not really pursing anything. That's the important thing, Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

So those are my two things from 1 Timothy.

 Why not read it and share your thoughts? How are you doing at these things?