If you asked twenty good men what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply ‘Unselfishness’. But if you asked almost any of the great Christians of old he would have replied, ‘Love’. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philosophical importance. The negative ideal of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love.
C.S. Lewis – The Weight Of Glory
As I’m about to enter my last week of employment, I’m thinking about finances over the next three years (at least). Here are a few useful links to basic financial advice for students which may be helpful (all from the Student section of MSN Money).
- Five ways to make your student loan last
- Saving money on your bills
- Simple ways to cut your living costs
- The cheapest ways to get around
If you are a budgeting genius (hi Nicci!) get in touch, or if you just have a few basic financial tips to share, please leave them in the comments below.
I had always intended to have a final pre-Uni splurge on T-shirts from Threadless, and their latest $10 sale came at exactly the right time! So here are the new t-shirts (also now featured on my Threadless page).
Let this be not of our hands, but by Your Spirit
Not by power, not by strength
But through Your Spirit and by Your grace
If it’s on our hearts, we’ll be on our face
As hinted at earlier I’ve been feeding my incessant t-shirt addiction. I restrained myself and only purchased five t-shirts this time. Well, actually the restraint was forced upon me by low stocks due to the $10 sale, but that meant I was saving money twice when you think about it.
I’ve updated the Threadless page to include my recent acquisitions to ensure that everyone knows which shirts I have so they can avoid ordering duplicates. If you do decide to risk dabbling on the precipice of my addiction, please use the links on the Threadless page to order your illicit wares and I’ll receive a small contribution towards my next fix.
I’ve been in the fortunate position of being a youth leader to the same group of young people from the age of 10 to 20-somethings. Obviously the group membership has changed along the way, but the core of the group has remained. In the last two years, the core of the group has moved on to University and the task of supporting them has become much more challenging.
In the current academic year alone I’ve found myself supporting Uni students in the following situations:
- homesickness
- clinical depression
- agonising over a change our course and career-path
- traumatic family situation
It’s difficult enough dealing with those situations in person, but doing so at a distance adds an extra challenge. I definitely have a long way to go, and I’m learning all the time, but I just wanted to share some of the methods/tools/approaches I’ve used so far, and some which I’m considering for the future. I make no apology for the ones which simply seem to be common sense – isn’t that the best approach?
email them every month or two
- find out how they’re getting on
- share news from back home
- share the students’ news with the current members/fellowship
check in with their parents/friends
- get a different perspective on how things are going
make the most of home visits
- keep informed of their visits back home
- invite them to meetings/events whilst they’re around
- do lunch/dinner, hang out
drop in on them
- if you’re nearby, or simply passing by, call in to see them
- just a coffee or snack and a good chat, doesn’t have to be a whole day
online discussion forum/group blog
- provides some continuity for those at Uni and at home
- enables a form of community to continue
youth group website
- regularly update the group website with news and reports on activities
- enables them to see what’s going on in their absence
be available and approachable
- make it clear that although you’re not close by, you’re still available to chat/listen/pray/etc
local Church & Christian Union
- encourage them to get involved in their CU
- encourage them to find a good local Church
- will encourage them to worship/study/grow whilst away
- will also act as another support mechanism
- offer to find suitable contacts if required
distance learning Bible study
- encourage them to join a Bible study whilst away
- instead of face-to-face discussions share comments using some of the tools above
instant messaging
- a great way to have a quick chat at (almost) any time of the day/night
- most of them are online well into the early hours – but ignoring email
- also, it’s possible to judge their mood/state-of-mind by reading their MSN name
I hope that they will help those who find themselves in similar situations, and that you’ll add suggestions so we can learn together. Many of you will have much more experience of doing this than me, and I look forward to your comments/contributions.
[ originally posted at Reluctant Souls - reposted here to encourage further discussion ]
I have a confession to make: I’m addicted to buying t-shirts from Threadless. This won’t come as a surprise to my friends and colleagues, but I felt it was worth sharing with my [two] readers ;o)
Some of the t-shirt designs are simply bizarre, some reflect elements of my faith, others are just selected because I like the colours or the design. I’ve found the excellent t-shirt designs to be fantastic conversation starters. Mostly people believe the t-shirt I’m wearing is a reflection of my current mood – mostly when I’m wearing this one.
I haven’t yet used one of my t-shirts as a prop for a youth work talk, but I have a couple of ideas percolating…
I’ve added a page which features all the Threadless t-shirts I have purchased, and I’ll do my best to keep it updated when the addiction kicks in again. Meanwhile, here are some of my current favourites:
I’ve very bad at reading. I don’t mean as a skill – I can read perfectly well – it’s just “not my thing”. But reading isn’t something I’m passionate about, and in fact I really have to work myself up to doing it at all (not a great situation when embarking on a course of study). The biggest problem I have is that, however engaging a book may be, reading has the effect of sending me to sleep. It doesn’t matter where I am or how comfortable (or not), I can almost guarantee that within a couple of chapters my eyes will start to close and my head will fall forward. If anyone has any tips on how to avoid this I’d be very pleased to hear them.
Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them in: but as a rule the purchase of books is mistaken for the appropriation of their contents. – Arthur Schopenhauer
Anyway, with all that said, I’ve added a page which lists the books I’m currently reading, and which ones are currently gathering dust. If you’d like to recommend a few more, please get in touch.
I can’t believe it’s two years to the day since I heard about the death of Mike Yaconelli. I remember reading about it during my lunchbreak at work and it stopped me in my tracks. I never met him, never even heard him speak, but had been inspired by him through the books I’d read.
Purely coincidentally, this morning I was reading an article by Mike over at Youth Specialties and the following quote jumped out at me:
“Jesus’ program of discipleship was simple: hang out with the disciples; let them see you at your best and worst; spend lots of time alone; teach truths none of your disciples can grasp at the moment; avoid crowds; go slowly; spend hours in solitude; don’t worry about opposition; ignore criticism; and don’t expect immediate results.” – Mike Yaconelli – Hurried Discipleship
I’ve been reflecting on my aim and objectives in Youth Work/Ministry for the first module of the Engage Course at CYM, and this hit me like a sledgehammer. I’m off to re-evaluate my scribblings…
Meanwhile, take a look at the following books by “Yac” which I’ve found particularly useful:
