Well with a week to go before college starts for those of us on the theology church based course it really is time to settle to some work!

My brain seems rather squished after a week of prayer. Minimum of 4 hours a day does focus the mind, but also kills the fingers if you're playing the guitar for most of the time! I think I played nearly half the songs in the song books we have... well more actually played several songs several times. Perhaps my voice will also return before the Sunday morning service! It seems that there is no guitar at the college so think I'll have to bring a tatty one to leave over. So just to warn you if you're travelling to London next Monday and you see a slightly odd looking middle aged man carrying a laptop and an old guitar, it could be me!

Three months ago when my mum suggested that I tentatively push some doors and see what happens, I hadn't anticipated the result. But just last week God gave me clear leading on where I'm headed with my learning ... even if I'm still in the dark as to why!

I've not been able to study as regularly as I would like over the Summer months but last Wednesday evening (the day before my eldest two started back in school) I was feeling lonely. Church house group had been cancelled, my husband was working an evening shift, I felt like I couldn't ring my sister or my mum so I wasn't feeling very happy. After having checked my email for something like the third time in an hour and reaslising that no, there really wasn't anything Give A Brick related that I could be doing, the thought popped into my head that maybe I should knuckle down and do some study.

So I did and it was really enjoyable and with God's help, as soon as I've typed up my learning journal, I can start my a ...

Well, I am trying hard to get through the access module before college starts on the 21st! However, there have been the usual one or two distractions including; my mum's 80th, my eldest daughter having her 21st, then going off to America to study at a worship school, my middle child's 18th and getting her ready for Uni later this month, my 50th, my father in laws 80th... oh and of course work!

Well as regards the module I am sure it'll be really useful once I get my head around it!

Hello all

Finally took the plunge and registered.

I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship and the realisation of a call i felt two years ago to move in the way of ministry.

It's been several weeks since I started this adventure. I'm really enjoying the study but was struggling to get much work done once the school holidays began.

I've found a new way (well, new for me!) to study which has helped me so much, I wanted to share it. Apologies if this is really obvious but until this month, I'd failed to appreciate the value of the printable versions of the units.

But a couple of weeks ago, I took my laptop to my parents house and took advantage of their lovely fast printer to print out the units I hadn't studied yet. Prior to this, I was dependant upon being at the PC in order to study but now, I can study anyway, even whilst my son is playing in the bath!!

I understand that this wouldn't work for everyone but I've gotten very good at working with sound around me so the noise isn't a problem. God is being very, very good because as a kid, I was hopeless at working in anything less than absolute silence!

I really should be working on the third unit of this first module but instead I got distracted by Facebook. Note to self: turn off email when studying. I had a whole two hours after house group and now it's gone and I feel so cross because I will never get that time back.

Time is a precious commodity, especially in our house with our three little ones under foot. They're lovely but 'me' time and 'God' time have to be carved out as precious. This is not time to be wasted - hence my crossness with myself. And now, having told myself off, what am I doing writing this when I should be studying?!

OK, point taken ...