Hosea

Lately the book of Hosea has really been on my heart. 

My friend Jillian Edwards' CD came out a few weeks ago and one of the songs she wrote is called "Hosea". I copied down the lyrics so I thought I would share them with you guys!

"Hosea"

By: Jillian Edwards

There’s an open road ahead of me

An empty sea beside me

Waiting on the sunshine to make me happy

Or the rain to let me break down and cry out to you

 

And I wonder

Why do I ever leave you and turn the other way?

You call me out to the desert come home it’s not too late, it’s not too late

 

Wondering why I ever leave you

Chasing other lovers that don’t compare to you

And by the time I say I’m sorry so

You’ve forgotten my mistakes

 

And I wonder

Why do I ever leave you and the turn the other way?

You call me out to the desert come home it’s not too late, it’s not too late

 

Lately I’ve been wondering where I'm going 

Lately I’ve been listening to your voice within

Take me out to the desert speak to me tenderly

Take me out to the desert speak to me tenderly

 

Why do I ever leave you?

You call me out from the desert come home, it’s not too late

It’s not too late 

These lyrics have just pulled at my heart in so many ways. At surface level when you read the book of Hosea you see that God tells one of his faithful servants to go and marry a prostitute named Gomer. Time and time again Gomer leaves Hosea to go back to her old lifestyle. Hosea goes after his wife and gets her back and reminds her of his love. 

However, God is actually symbolizing the relationship between himself and Israel. Israel had been unfaithful to God time and time again through following other God's and breaking the commandments. So, in this book Israel is depicted by a harlot who violates the promises she made to her husband.

This is absolutely one of my favorite books of The Bible. We as humans turn our attention away from God time and time again and he's always there to pick us back up when we fall. Like Jillian's song said by the time we're actually ready to apologize the Lord has already forgiven us and forgotten our mistakes. How amazing is that? To serve a God who is never changing and always loves us right where we are. 

I encourage all of you to read the book "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers. It's a fiction novel based on the book of Hosea. It's wonderful, I'm actually about to start rereading it. 

But yeah I just thought I would share what's been on my heart for the past day or two!

Happy Friday!

Love, 

Kelsey

Exciting things in Tees Valley!

So, I figured that I owed everyone a more meaningful blog. I mean my last one basically just gave you a run down of my busy schedule for the next few weeks. Boring? A little bit. 

Nicole and I had coffee earlier today with a lady called Amy Burns. She runs the girls ministry for Tees Valley YFC, the girls ministry project is called G:em (Girls empowered). In June G:em is having an event called "Sugar and Spice". It's going to be a day filled with workshops that will discuss what girls are made of. I know you've all heard of the rhyme "Sugar and spice and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of". Well, that's kind of what the day will revolve around. In the morning we'll have the "sweet" workshops which will consist of cheerleading, baking, and girly stuff like that. The afternoon workshops focus on the "spice" and the girls can try salsa dancing, photography, and maybe some tech stuff. Since Nicole and I kind of lack expertise in any of those workshops we're just going to be around to encourage the girls and help wherever we're needed. I am truly so excited about this event! As I've said before girls ministry is one of my passions, and I've kind of been struggling with getting it kicked off in my area of Stokesley/Great Ayton. I mean I love investing in my girls whenever possible, but right now they're just all so busy revising for exams. So, I am looking forward to being a part of a girls outreach event like this! 

I don't think I'm called to me a girl's minister or anything like that, but I think I am meant to do something in terms of working with girls. I just have such a heart for girls and what they're going through on a daily basis. I was so blessed with strong Godly women that mentored me and invested so much of their time into me. I really can't even begin to name all of the women who have made an impact on my life. 

Haha, I got a little deep there. But oh well!

Love,

Kelsey

May

Seriously? It's May already? I can honestly say that I'm shocked at how quickly this year is going by. I mean I come home in 53 days, what on earth is that? 

May will definitely fly by seeing as it's going to be a very busy month. So, I'll give you all the rundown.

I'm not really doing that much today seeing as it's a bank holiday. I have a feeling this week is going to go by pretty slowly seeing as I'm anxious for Thursday to get here! On Thursday I will FINALLY get to pick out my dorm room! Ah! I seriously cannot wait! I already found my roommate too, her name is Bethany. She's from Kansas City, MO and I can tell we're going to have a lot of fun together next year! It will be marvelous.

On Saturday I'm going with Ste and Nicole and their youth to Alton Towers (an amusement park). I have seriously been roller-coaster deprived all year long so this will be fantastic. Although, I'm going to Disney World with the family in approximately 89 days! It's basically going the be the highlight of my summer. 

Next Tuesday the American team from Mary-Hardin Baylor will be arriving in the Northeast. They're quite a large group so we're splitting them up over the different Youth for Christ projects in the area. My area of Stokesley/Great Ayton is getting some and I know Nunthorpe is getting some. Nicole will be moving out that week to be a host in someone else's home and George the chaplain will be staying here with Ste and I. It's going to be a busy week and a half. They come on the 12th and leave on the 21st. I'm really looking forward to venturing up to Edinburgh with the team though! Nicole and I have yet to go to Scotland since being here so I think we're both really looking forward to that!

On Friday, May 22 it's going to be the day of all days! Nicole and I are going to see BEYONCE in concert!! Oh my cow, it's going to be spectacular! I'm pretty sure neither one of us was expecting to see Beyonce when we came to England, but nevertheless we are both thrilled!

That next week is May half-term and I'm going to go spend the week in Oxford with my good friend, Tom Spicer. Oxford is his hometown so I think it will be fun to be shown around by someone who knows the city pretty well. Our friends Si and Jess should be coming to join us for a few days so it will be splendid. :)

I was going to just report on May, but I haven't been blogging very much so why not update you on what June looks like for me as well? 

The first weekend of June I'm going to make my way down to Nottingham to visit my beautiful American friend, Erin! She's from Ohio! Don't hold it against her that she's an Ohio State fan.....haha. But, it will be good to see her before I go home! She's returning to the states next year too, and hopefully she'll be attending college in Kansas! I'm keeping my fingers crossed, because Kansas and Arkansas aren't too far apart! 

After that I'm not really doing anything exiting. June is going to have a lot of "lasts" for me if you will. My last youth groups, last time to teach on Sunday morning, last S1, last full team meeting, last wider team meeting, last missions committee update, last day of work, and finally my last day in England. It's going to be a really difficult month for me. I'm also not looking forward to packing away my life for the past 10 months in 2 suitcases that each have to weigh less than 50 pounds. Nicole will probably have to help me out there. 

Even though I really am looking forward to coming home and spending time with my family and friends, I'm also incredibly sad. England has been my home for the past year and it's going to be really tough to leave it behind. I'm just taking in as much of it as I can before I go home. 

Happy May!

Love, 

Kelsey