Mission Statement

September. It is a strange time of year; the end of the summer and the start of something new. The end of a heady, happy few months and the beginning of a sober minded school/college/uni year. Some years the transition is simply one of school year, but other times like GCSE or post a-levels, it is a time of huge change and adjustment. For me this September is very different to every other one. Last year I was heading off to a brand new place, 4 hours away from home and I was terrified. This year I am heading back to that place, which I learnt to call a home and no longer seems alien and scary. But I am also experiencing the joys of being in a proper house, with new house mates and a new year at uni. I think at this point in life, most people get asked the question "what do you want to do?" or "what is your aim?". My answer is simply that I do not know.

However, in terms of our relationship with God, wherever he sends us and wherever he calls us to (even if you don't know that yet) He calls us all to a common thing: to live out the gospel in our lives. That is our ultimate goal as Christians, to be perfect imitations of Christ. Of course we know none of us are perfect, but this is where we humble ourselves and allow God to make up our weakness with his strength.

As a "woman of God" I believe an important part of my mission, is to change society's perception of beauty. Someone wrote for me once, that I am called to "rest in the beauty that God has given me, and to redefine beauty," so it can be that which God sees: beauty which is seen in the very heart of worship and the very knowledge of the Truth and the confidence which comes with that. It is so easy to overlook the heart, and become obsessed with outward appearances, and outward measures of who we are in Christ. When in fact, God can see into our very souls and he delights in us. He calls us his children, and has so much more love for us than we can ever know. As a people of God, we are chosen and called to not just "know" this truth, but to delight in it, and live with the confidence it brings. After all, God's "Perfect love casts out fear." 1John 4:18. And that is what our society's obsession with measures of appearance and success are rooted in: fear of rejection, fear of failure, and fear of being unloved. If we could live out the truth we know, then we would be a stark contrast to the harsh measures that society imposes, and real beacons for God.

So, in short, my ultimate aim is to live out the truth that saved me, every day for the rest of my life.I am aiming high, but I know with my God anything is possible. After all, with Jesus, every day is an adventure filled with infinite possibilities!

Measures

In life, it’s so easy to lose sight of what matters,

Objects, pleasure, jewels and treasure,

They are offered up on a silver platter,

Their accumulation, worth and weight,

These all become our measures.

Objects measure our strength,

Cast onto our shoulders as loads for a donkey,

Then pushed onwards but not upwards, and to what ends?

To gain more, but why? When it will only make us fall.

We hit the dirt and the silver is tarnished.

Pleasure measures our loyalty,

It calls out to us like a siren in a storm,

And from the dirt we respond as if it’s royalty,

Bowing to its captivating beauty, but never seeing its true form,

For pleasure, once sought, quickly becomes pain,

And we are only loyal while we have something to gain.

Jewels measure our beauty,

And in their rich colours and perfect lines,

We catch a glimpse of perfection,

And we feel it our duty to chase that beauty,

But when the colours fade and we bend, then break,

We are reduced to flesh, and once more abandoned to the earth.

But love measures our heart,

It sees its depths and reaches far beyond its dreams,

It chases the truth and is patient right from the start,

Love fills oceans, and flows through the streams,

Which wash the dirt from our clothes and unite us in peace,

With our Lord and maker, our God the creator.

Helen Rambaut

4.09.2012