FAR FAR FAR too long!!

Dear Folks,
I'm so bad at keeping up with this. I really need to do this every few days, honestly. I'm really sorry for not updating this as often as I should.

Christmas was enjoyable. I was here at Yeldall Manor. Christmas Eve was a bit of a normal day...well, more like half of a normal day. We started off doing some work, but then the staff kind of stopped working and we ended up sitting around talking about Christmas, what our plans were, traditions, exchanging Christmas stories, etc. In the evening, we watched a few movies and called it a night. No big.
Christmas Day was a big deal. We started the day off with gifts. There was a HUGE tree that was put in the Fellowship Room (gorgeous), and gifts that some of the staff had bought the residents were placed underneath. One of the residents dressed as Santa (yes, Santa...not Father Christmas). When a resident's name was called (or a staff, or a volunteer), he/she sat in Santa's lap, had a photo taken, and then collected the gift. It was fun. :-)

Then there was the food. There were two large dining room tables full of food. Everything from stuffing (not the same as what Americans consider stuffing, by the way), carrots, broccoli, brussel sprouts (yuck), pigs in blankets, cabbage (funny how I stuck the pork in with the vegitables), lamb, roast beef, yorkshire puddings, gravy, bread, prawns (or shrimp), and a few other yummies. Dear Lord...it was wonderful. OH, and potatoes (mashed and roasted) and parsnips. Have you ever had a parsnip? They're delightful.

The rest of the Christmas holiday went nicely. I had a good time, watching movies, talked to the family via Skype, and relaxed.

A few days later, I left for Edinburgh, Scotland, for Hogmanay (that is, New Years). I met my friend James (or Baby Jamos as he is called by the Americans who know him best). Hogmanay, if you have never been, is an experience that one must have. I recommend Edinburgh as your city for Hogmanay because I love Edinburgh, and because the street party is incredible. Glasgow, Inverness, and Aberdeen (I think Aberdeen...) all have incredible parties as well. Book your flight plans and purchase your tickets NOW! And take plenty of photos, and be ready for a crowd...and lots of alcohol...and maybe even drugs (I saw two guys snorting Cocaine in the porta-johns!).

I was sick for the five days after I got back from Hogmanay. Cold or something like that. I was afraid that I might have contracted the Swine Flu...but I didn't turn into a pig, so all was well.

Since then, I've been doing a fair amount of work in Admissions and Referrals. I help the department staff process applications, send out information to refferrers and potential clients, and I collect information about potential clients...updating the database with new information, etc. This is a lot of office-y, administrative work, which I LOVE. I have known for a while that I want to do administrative duties for a non-profit, and I know that I want to do non-profit work with a Christian organization that works between the Church (universal) and marginalized people doing social justice work. If you had asked me two years ago if I would ever think about doing something like that, I would have given you a hearty NO for an answer. I'm realizing that there is a need, and I want to be a part of a movement that challenges the Church's and society's views on certain issues, and pushes the Church and society to make changes, to practice what they preach, and to love and to serve the individual and the group because every individual human is a person of worth, capable of more than what he or she is currently doing, loved by God...worthwhile...and accepted by God just as they are. One does not have to become something before running to God; RUN TO GOD first, and God will do the rest!

That said, I'm struggling at the moment with a number of things. What do I really believe? Where am I supposed to go? What is the purpose of this and that? How do I get to where I need to be? How did I get to where I am now? When? What? Who?

So many questions, so many concerns....

I continue to miss a lot of people...chances are if YOU are reading this, I miss you. I miss my friends, family.... Last week I realized that I miss Atlanta.

To be crypic (which I apparently am really good at being), I don't know what I'm supposed to do after this year is finished. I'm keeping my options open, and I'll see what happens. I'm going to leave all of this in God's capable hands. Whatever happens after this year is finished, I won't be disappointed. God's will be done....

It's tea break, and then after that is Fellowship. I need to straighten up the training room where I've been making massive amounts of copies.

Love to you all, and I'll be updating more often. Send a e-mail or post a comment!!

Billy Xx