As part of my job as a Mission Apprentice we have to write 100 word summaries of what we have been up to each month. I wrote my first one on the train but then discovered that it was way over 100 words! so I truncated it but I didn't want my train journey to be a waste so I thought I would put the unabridged version here:

I arrived at the Mission Apprentice training residential in June excited but a little anxious about meeting my fellow mission apprentices. My anxiety was quickly put to rest once I met everyone and the laughter began. I thoroughly enjoyed being stretched at the residential and I tried many new things: sharing testimonies, modern worship seasons with a guitar accompaniment and ribena! (of all things). All of which put me slightly out of my comfort zone (the ribena was a bit of a joke but it was the first time I had had it though!). I was really inspired by everyones stories and I was struck by how even though some were very different to my own I found that everyone completely respected and took seriously each others experiences. I think that, that taking seriously and deep listening is one of the big things I took away from the few days we spent together and I hope to carry it on through my missional work in Rubery.

 The last couple of months since the residential have been an interesting mix of being very busy and having deep periods of good rest. I moved in to Rubery and met a few of the parishioners who came to help me decorate my new flat, I have began to get to know the area before I begin work in September, going to a couple of local cafés and an ice cream parlor. I also attended a couple of services at St Chad's and was sung happy birthday at the end of one which was lovely. The parishioners have been extremely warm and welcoming and I am really excited to work with them in our mission to the local area.

I have a lot of ideas for projects that I would like to initiate but I want to get to know my parish context a little better before I jump right in, I like the idea of starting a breakfast club for parents and children. I would also like to start a community garden at St Chad's and I was excited to learn that one of our parishioners has her own allotment so she may be keen to help! Also I might put the idea of running an art festival in conjunction with the return of the some art works to the front of the church building. On top of this I am hoping that some ideas will come to me organically as I better get to know my area.

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I hope that wasn't to dull for some of you, I will be back later on with a blog about moving in and decorating with some nice before and after pictures!

lots of love
Jodie

Well it's happened! Last week I graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science. I have spent three very formative years studying, laughing, crying and growing in the capital. I can confidently get from Kings Cross to Covent Garden with no need for the assistance of a tube train. I attended my first march, fell in love and co wrote and presented a comedy radio show. I grew in confidence about speaking about politics and I now (provided I am in a safe public space) sometimes yell back at street harassers.

I went to New York and ate bagels and I have been to Hampstead heath and swam in a pond. I wrote to my MP and I voted in a general election. I have been to see live comedy and theatre and music and actually feel like I am legitimately a little bit cool.

I have done a lot, but I wouldn't have done it without the we and us and they that helped me. My partner, my housemates,  my friends my classmates, my teachers, my counselors my academic advisors my family my chaplain my priests at home and in London, my lecturers (note that this are not mutually exclusive categories). I have been supported, challenged, and comforted over these last three years and I feel truly blessed to have come through it all with the people who I came through it with.

So as a new chapter begins I am sure I will still be adding footnotes to the last one. I think the narratives we tell about ourselves are rarely as clear cut as they seem, little experiences stay with us without us necessarily noticing until something else makes sense of them in a new way for is. The main take home I think I have from the last three years is that life is complicated, we do things that please others and we do things that let them down and others do things that please us and then they let us down, this doesn't mean that the nice things we do are any less nice and we can get hung up in the fantasy that we can make everyone happy all the time and that we should feel happy about others all the time. But in practice I think the human spirit can withstand an awful lot of breaking and pain, we are tougher than we give ourselves credit for and there is always space and opportunity for forgiveness and reconciliation.

And now I am left with a piece of paper, a plush beaver, shed loads of memories and a photograph of myself on an elephant. I get nostalgic and a little bit sad every time I walk anywhere between Euston and Waterloo but that doesn't mean I am going to stop walking there.

Lots of love, till next time x

Well, hello and welcome to my blog! This is something that I am very new to so any advice or feedback would be welcome.

I know that most of the time the things we present of yourself on social media tend to accentuate the positive aspects of our life's whilst brushing over some of the harder parts. I am going to try my best on this blog to avoid that, I anticipate that some of the ideas that I have here may not make total sense or they may change later on or be a bit mixed.  But, so long as everyone is aware of that it gives me permission to be a bit free with what I write which should be fun.

So what exactly am I going to write about? Well I have just finished an undergraduate degree at the London School of Economics and Political Science, I'm not an economist I did social policy and sociology which makes me an "and political scientist" and now I am about to begin a job as a Mission Apprentice with the Church of England Birmingham, consequently expect some "God stuff" and updates and reflections on all the exciting things I will be doing in that role.
I am also an avid member of Girlguideing UK and I am hoping to complete my queen's guide award so this blog will also be a way for me to record my progress with that as well.

So that is a short but sweet introduction to what I am all about.
Till next time!