Stepping Out
My first week of work has been very very different from anything I have ever done before! In between having play dough stuck on my face and being presented with earthworms in the playground, there has actually been some time for philosophical reflection. (And I did have a brief think about the worldview behind "The Elves and the Shoemaker", but that doesn't count.) (Did you know they still sing Old MacDonald and If You're Happy and You Know It and Row Row Row your Boat - feel like I'm in a time warp, and it should be me sitting on the mat!)
Anyway, I have been thinking a lot about educational theory and policy, and am waking up to the fact that this is a latent passion of mine, after all that grumbling last year! And being thrown into a prime example of a secular, constructivist - "child centred" environment has really stimulated and frustrated me. But the children are absolutely lovely, with their wee Scottish accents, and they are slowly getting used to me.
The Demystification of Motherhood is a good thing, for better and for worse.
One of the biggest challenges is getting to know the other staff. I have been the Staffroom Mute thus far, thinking about how I would join in this conversation if (i) I knew what the heck they were talking about, and (ii) I wasn't so aware that I must sound really posh the way that I actually pronouce my t's and ing's, and other endings of words. Do I like the way I speak? Yes. Would I become all things to all men and lay it down? Something to think about.
I have been living with two Northern Irish girls and a Scottish girl from Destiny Church this week. I found a home that is a kindred spirit of Beaufort Street! (Incidentally, two of them are even called Kary and Jenny!) They have been so welcoming and loving. It has been a challenge to answer some of their questions about the church plant, as I realise the need to be diplomatic, and to express positivity about the churches already established in Edinburgh. I have also been feeling so tired and disorientated and jumbly jumbly it's hard to remember why I came and to express it properly. I keep saying "God called me here". I think that's all I need to know right now. Thank you Lord.
This Beaufort St II has been a relief in other ways. It is a blessing to be surrounded by like minded people and British culture. I find American culture hard to keep up with. My clothes and my make up feel really blah next to theirs. I feel like, in appearance, and confidence, and speech, and sharp ideas, and devil-stomping faith - a faded wild flower next to flashing neon lights. I am beginning to mistakenly associate Every Nation people with ritz and glamour and I feel odd. Actually, so many things feel odd with so many people from so many church backgrounds (even though we are all Every Nation) - there are just little attitudes and little beliefs which have the potential to clash.
It all makes me very homesick! I really battle on Sundays with missing G'town, especially as the praise and worship is... well, you know G'town p+w is unmatchable!
PS. I read the most hysterical article in the newspaper about this village in North England which has 17 men to every woman and they have launched this big campaign to get women to move there. It was tempting! We have been joking about the lopsided number of women on this church plant. I have aunts who never married SIMPLY due to the scarcity of men after WWII, and I begin to wonder if we have a similar phenomenon developing in the Church. Oh dear.
Anyway, I have been thinking a lot about educational theory and policy, and am waking up to the fact that this is a latent passion of mine, after all that grumbling last year! And being thrown into a prime example of a secular, constructivist - "child centred" environment has really stimulated and frustrated me. But the children are absolutely lovely, with their wee Scottish accents, and they are slowly getting used to me.
The Demystification of Motherhood is a good thing, for better and for worse.
One of the biggest challenges is getting to know the other staff. I have been the Staffroom Mute thus far, thinking about how I would join in this conversation if (i) I knew what the heck they were talking about, and (ii) I wasn't so aware that I must sound really posh the way that I actually pronouce my t's and ing's, and other endings of words. Do I like the way I speak? Yes. Would I become all things to all men and lay it down? Something to think about.
I have been living with two Northern Irish girls and a Scottish girl from Destiny Church this week. I found a home that is a kindred spirit of Beaufort Street! (Incidentally, two of them are even called Kary and Jenny!) They have been so welcoming and loving. It has been a challenge to answer some of their questions about the church plant, as I realise the need to be diplomatic, and to express positivity about the churches already established in Edinburgh. I have also been feeling so tired and disorientated and jumbly jumbly it's hard to remember why I came and to express it properly. I keep saying "God called me here". I think that's all I need to know right now. Thank you Lord.
This Beaufort St II has been a relief in other ways. It is a blessing to be surrounded by like minded people and British culture. I find American culture hard to keep up with. My clothes and my make up feel really blah next to theirs. I feel like, in appearance, and confidence, and speech, and sharp ideas, and devil-stomping faith - a faded wild flower next to flashing neon lights. I am beginning to mistakenly associate Every Nation people with ritz and glamour and I feel odd. Actually, so many things feel odd with so many people from so many church backgrounds (even though we are all Every Nation) - there are just little attitudes and little beliefs which have the potential to clash.
It all makes me very homesick! I really battle on Sundays with missing G'town, especially as the praise and worship is... well, you know G'town p+w is unmatchable!
PS. I read the most hysterical article in the newspaper about this village in North England which has 17 men to every woman and they have launched this big campaign to get women to move there. It was tempting! We have been joking about the lopsided number of women on this church plant. I have aunts who never married SIMPLY due to the scarcity of men after WWII, and I begin to wonder if we have a similar phenomenon developing in the Church. Oh dear.
posted by Unknown @ 4:15 pm
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