Finally! After a delay I've finished my July Aims update. Over half way through the year now and it's starting to get hard, plus not being in the country where I designed these routines for hasn't exactly helped. Still here is the update. To see the original page click here.
1.I will give at least a 10% tithe in addition to any other giving I will do.
Having left the Ukraine for the moment I found myself in the odd position of being without a regular church to go to again. On top of this moving to Oxford and frequently working on Sunday due to commitments has meant I haven't really given my current tithe yet. I have been pondering where would be best to give the moment I'm earning here in the UK [seeing as it is a larger sum than in the Ukraine] and I was reminded of something that someone said to me at university. Your money is where your heart is and your hear is where your money is. As such giving to a cause or group makes you think/care about them more and likewise if you look at what you spend your money on you can see what you care about the most. As such I've decided to give some of money to The Well in addition to Nadezda in the Ukraine.
2. Making Prayer a stronger habit.
Prayer has been a struggle this month. It's so worrying how having slightly less time can lead to me reducing the amount of prayer that has gone on. I think it is partially due to a change in routine but it probably is more than just that
3.Use skype more to chat to people back home/Britain
being back in the UK has reduced the need for Skype however I have certainly had more phone, skype and face to face chats.
4. I will improve as an EFL teacher.
Coming to Oxford has certainly been an interesting experience for a few reasons. Firstly Multi-lingual class rooms have provided a few interesting challenges with having to cope with different student difficulties. In addition I had observations from the staff here which helped identify a couple of other areas that I need to work on as a teacher [including teacher talking time]. However one of the greatest moments was receiving the feedback that I was grading my language correctly for the level and yet still maintaining natural language. I think this is a great sign of how I have improved.
5. I will improve my Russian.
I haven't had much time to practice as I have avoided using Russian around students. However I have been working my way through this course book.
7. Host a weekly meal at my flat.
I haven't had a flat this month but I have been trying to meet up with people when I can. So not really possible but still trying to do something.
8. Regular and higher quality blogging.
Blogging this month has been very limited. I haven't really had time and I haven't wanted to just publish rubbish.
9. I will get involved with some form of charitable work in the Ukraine.
Again not in the Ukraine so it's not really been possible to do this.
10. I will make a Public video each month.
I'm still waiting for my last challenge to be complete before I post another one...
