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First off, congrats to all of you going off to uni this month!! A-Levels must of been stressful at times, but you got through them 🙂

Whether you did, or did not, get onto the course you wanted or into your preferred uni is not the point. Literally, it’s so not the point. Whatever has happened as a result of your grades has specific purpose in your life. Let me elaborate on this. Here’s my little anecdote.

When my a-level results came, I was genuinely upset. I was confused. To be honest I had pride. I used to think ‘I can’t do bad, even my bad is someone’s exceptional so I’m fine’… I know I was a right douche :D!
Anyways so these results came and I logged into ucas and I did not get into my first choice. My jaw dropped. I had already envisioned life on that campus, had sorted the accommodation, in my mind I was so set.
It was a little hurtful.
However, there was always this feeling within, I believe now as an inner witness from the Holy Spirit, that told me I was meant to be at Kent University which was my insurance. I just chose to ignore it throughout year 13.
Don’t expect me to go : ‘Yeah I moved in and everything went swimmingly well’.
Nope. Everything was uncomfortable. Settling into uni took the longest time. I can honestly say I didn’t feel comfortable until after January. My emotions were all over the place, I didn’t know how to process this big change. BUT GOD… Seriously, God knew I would have trouble. So He placed beautiful people around me, favoured me in all assignments (testimony soon come!), and gave me a place where I felt secure and where I experienced His love. This was Christian Union. I swear when I say I loved everyone that came into the room I did. God had placed me in a foreign environment to allow me to see how through all the motions He remained so faithful.
I would ask God, why have we come here? What am I meant to do here?….
Now I can actually say, I have experienced a glimpse of the prosperous journey He wants to take me on. University will be the making of me because God only has plans to prosper me! x

God will turn any disappointment into joy and laughter. Always hold on to that, wherever this journey called life takes you.

But back to my original message… I’m posing a question to all of you: What are you going to university with? Now, you could answer this in different ways but I’m talking about the practical things you should think about before going to university. Here are the most important things that have come up in terms of preparation.

1. To all those on courses where you need to read a lot – BUY YOUR BOOKS.
   I understand the whole ‘I can borrow them from the library’. Trust me, I had like 16 books on loan just because I could ( I only used about 3). When the time came that I actually needed most of them I had to return them because someone else had reserved them. Receiving those emails made me sigh so loudly.
   I also have a forgetful mind, so I forgot to renew them. Remember I had like 16 books, and each day overdue is 50p per book…..
   So you see where my loan money went then:)
   Yes, buy your books ladies and gents, even used ones come out quite cheap. Just get’em.
2. LEARN HOW TO COOK (or find friends that can)
   Specifically for my fellow African’s it is not everyday rice and stew. I beg we need variety in this life guys. Try new and different foods to fill your body with all the good stuff. Cook in bulk too! Saves time in the kitchen. I did two big dishes on a Sunday afternoon and then packed them, one for each day, switching it up as I went along. Plus, I had days where a friend would bless my tummy, We thank God. I’m a person who doesn’t particularly enjoy cooking so I would either cook with someone or blast music whilst doing it alone. Find what works for you 🙂
3. PLAN EACH DAY
   I understand, some days there will be unexpected events that will throw you off course but if you have a solid plan for each day, you will have such clarity on the way the day would go. You’d be focused and motivated to tick stuff off the list. When you get your timetable, plan in societies and clubs. Most importantly, plan in study time. Think about your most productive hours in the day and do most of your independent work during that period of time.
4. FIGURE OUT HOW YOUR GOING TO TAKE NOTES
   This one is a must!. Will you type them, write them rough then type them, write them rough and then write them out neatly? Figure this one out and your half way there. Once you have a strategy in place you can create a routine around it so you get all your notes done in time. My first year there was one lecture I grabbed scrap from the back of my friends book…crumpled paper for an hour’s lecture. Don’t be like me, don’t be a mess lol x

All in all folks, prepare! Get yourself ready for an amazing journey where you’ll explore your independence, find out things about yourselves and meet life-long friends. Preparation is key to release yourself from stress. Start as you mean to go on.

Defo don’t do all nighters in the first year. To be honest I came with the mentality that I want to do them for the bants which is not healthy , but I did want to see if I could stay up for the whole night.
Basically, older years would look at us first years in disgust. To be honest I understand why now. If we were on it from day one, we would not have been in those situations. But if you want to do all nighters be my guest. Snacking all night was the best bit. Just get some good sleep afterwards yeah? 😉

Of course I couldn’t leave you without telling you that God has made us efficient. I know it’s hard to believe. Even getting out of bed can be a struggle so how can we be doing so many things at one time. Well ladies and gents, I like to think about it this way. God is so diligent in His work. The world made in 6 days and He even rested and saw it was good? Wow. We can be this efficient too! Holy Spirit is the one who will help us. Holy Spirit strengthens us and it’s good when we realise areas in which we need to improve. Pray about it! It’s amazing when we acknowledge that God can take our weaknesses and strengthen us to tackle them.

Our God is a God of order, so we should aim to please and honour Him in all areas in our lives.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1 ‘To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven’

Use your time wisely!

Blossom Into,

Prepared Individuals,

Gina 🙂 x

P.S. I know I address first years, but I am learning from my own list. Go Holy Spirit! x

I lost my uncle a few weeks ago; a pretty sombre note to start off with, I know.
When anyone passes away,  there is an initial sadness, I understand that. However, I’m doing just fine. Amidst the tears that surround me, I smile. Why?

Death is only upsetting for those left behind. We are the ones who are left with the thoughts: ‘ we never got to see that person do this’ or ‘we would of loved for them to be here to see this…’. Of course, we are not at fault for having these thoughts, but allow me to share with you a different perspective God has given me lately on death.
Throughout my life, I feel like I have had a masterclass in death and funerals. Before I was 10, at least 5 of my close relatives had passed away. And every single time, I would cry my little eyes out.

This time though, I didn’t. My dad received a phone call around 8:00am on Wednesday 8th July. Just by the huge sigh he let out, I knew what had happened. At this point, I expected myself to cry, because that has always been default setting for me.

Yet, there was a feeling of stability that fell over me; I felt secure.

I immediately stepped into ‘mother mode’, making sure my dad was cared for, before leaving for work and carrying as normal – like nothing had happened.
Not one tear to this day.

I kept thinking ‘is there something wrong with me?’ I was genuinely confused. In my time of contemplation, I asked God if I was alright. Just then I grabbed my phone and began to text my cousin. It was then that I realised why I had not cried, why I smiled at work and no one suspected a thing and why there was this feeling of stability within me.

God had enlightened my heart to see a glimpse of His viewpoint. His kingdom is something we should not be upset about. God had ended my uncle’s suffering and had taken him to a place of pure peace, love and joy; with all the good stuff you can imagine.

He had prepared a place at His banquet, with my uncle in a prime spot. He had called him home.

The beauty of this story is that I will see him again; when we are all united with Our Maker and called to take our place in paradise.

Until then, I know God has got my family and I wrapped in His arms. We’re going to be just fine x

The answers to all my questions came in the 1st reading I read during the ceremony:

But the righteous, though they die early, will be at rest.
For old age is not honored for length of time, or measured by number of years; but understanding is gray hair for anyone, and a blameless life is ripe old age. There were some who pleased God and were loved by him, and while living among sinners were taken up. They were caught up so that evil might not change their understanding or guile deceive their souls. For the fascination of wickedness obscures what is good, and roving desire perverts the innocent mind. Being perfected in a short time, they fulfilled long years; for their souls were pleasing to the Lord, therefore he took them quickly from the midst of wickedness. Yet the people’s saw and did not understand, or take such a thing to heart, that God’s grace and mercy are with his elect, and that he watches over his holy ones.

I hope this can encourage anyone who has lost anyone recently or anyone coming to terms with the loss of a loved one x

Love you and miss you so Uncle Fifi,
Went Home: 08.07.15 x

The title of my blog was  inspired by a very talented friend of mine who has a very sophisticated way of articulating her ideas. Follow and be made to wonder on the philosophies of life, I present Kalina Tomova : @MsKTCG

I write today though because over the last two months (It’s been that long *sigh*) I have been very busy. In the midst of rushing around, I have had moments to stop and re-evaluate my priorities.

Here are the conclusions that I have come to. I hope you can take something from this:

1. You get what you ask for.

I remember declaring out loud: ‘ I do not want to sit around doing nothing productive during the summer’. O, how God hears every word. So far I have been on placement whilst working…two jobs. Don’t ask me how I’ve done it, just give glory to God.
Be careful what you ask for ladies and gentlemen. I’m not saying I’m not grateful for the opportunities God has brought my way, of course not. I’m just saying that God has a funny way of giving you what you have asked for and making you realise that maybe that thing you wanted so bad wasn’t what you needed. I have realised during my busy time that I’m lacking some spiritual nourishment. I wanted to be busy. I am. So what’s my problem? Being busy has come at a price. Which leads nicely on to my next point.

2. God wants us to slow down sometimes

This basically comes down to the fight I have been fighting my whole life. TIME MANAGEMENT. Anyone who knows me personally, knows that Gina has problems with timing. It’s pretty serious. Now here’s the cheekiness God possesses. He gave me what I asked for, to open my eyes and realise that 1. I was rubbish trying to juggle all of these things at once, I needed His strength, 2. I lacked the discipline to be able to keep to time requirements and 3. The most important being, I left no time with Him.

3. You have to consistently run to your quiet place.

I left no time to sit down and have a conversation with my Father. I’m going to liken how I feel to a car that runs on petrol/diesel. Now my tank felt full (ish) before coming home for summer. Gradually, actually very slowly so I didn’t even realise, the tank started to leak. I didn’t maintain my time. It’s all about being regular with God.
So my car started to slow down and of course I felt it. As you spend more and more time with God you’ll be able to tell the difference between your tank full, half-full and kinda empty. It’s because being in consistent fellowship with God keeps you on a level where you are surrounded, all the time by His presence. God presence is significant, so when that ‘fades’ you just feel it (I’m trying to pick my language very carefully, God never leaves, we just put up barriers that block out the beauty).

4. God will knock any barriers down eventually…

By this I mean when we are too in our own heads and  trying to control life. We have those barriers up blocking us from hearing and feeling the great sound waves of the Holy Spirit. God can be tolerant, the intensity of those sound waves may increase a tad, shaking the barriers until we realise we are blocking something. Or God could just be like ‘ I’m going to knock all these barriers down’. Now, my barriers have been shaking. (If you haven’t noticed, I am totally an analogy person, I will be using weird and wonderful processes to explain things, so if you get drowned in jargon, I do apologise, I usually have a summary paragraph at the end xxx)
Now what to do when you’ve slowed down and you notice barriers shaking….

Back to basis for the next few weeks:

1. Try something new.
If you ever feel your heart is not in your usual routine with your Father, do something different. I might try and go for walks or just sit in pure silence. That’s a good calming environment after a busy day.
2. Set alarms.
Discipline! Back to being harder on myself – Life Goals I is a message I wrote a while back – recap timee ( https://blossominginto.wordpress.com/?s=life+goals )
3. Ask God to guide you back to Him.
Simple as that. Prayer is key

I would love to hear how you guys spend your own time with the Lord. Whether a praise or worship session or writing a letter, God allows us to be so creative and unique when we come to Him!
Share below, your sister’s running an a half tank over here, help needed 🙂 xxx

P.S – It’s ok to feel a bit ‘off’! We are not perfect and we can’t get it right the whole time. God teaches us lessons through every experience. Take a bird’s eye view and glance at the bigger picture. God sees your every effort and you will be rewarded!

Through it all, there is a positive. Find the beauty in the chaos x

 Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. Matthew 11: 28 (AMP)

Blossom Into,

Having aligned priorities,,,

Gina 🙂 x