We're Moving

Change is in the air and the site for this blog is going to change also!

I will no longer be updating this blog but heres the address to the new one!

breathelifeintostone.wordpress.com

Look forward to seeing you there :)

Vikki

Why I love my little brother.

Sometimes I like to share little things in my life that make me laugh. Meet my little brother George. He's 16 and my Dad recently told me this story.

My brother works in a small local shop near our house. My Dad picked him up one day and noticed that he had an apple tart with him (my Dad's favorite dessert). Anyway, my brother got in the car and he said to my Dad "Dad... what would you say if I saved a life?". My Dad, unsure of what George was TRULY asking, asked again what my brother meant. George merely repeated the question "Dad, what would you say if I saved a life?". Dad then replied saying "well I'd be proud of you, thats a great thing to spare something from death". Then my brother let loose what this all meant. George explained how a man had come into the shop that day telling George how he was going to shoot his dog since it was no good. This is when my brother told my Dad "so... his dog is arriving at 12 o'clock tomorrow...here's an apple tart".

SO we welcome Bailey the cocker spaniel and labrador mix to our family!!!!

You never know whats going to happen next in our household. I am incredibly blessed.

We keep the Streets Safe.

God blessed me a bunch with these people. They taught me so much, and I was so encouraged to work alongside people with such a ministry mindset. 

They were also the best fun ever. Team VATA lived up to their name at Redneck night. 

My team thought they were hilarious. "We <3 her leprechaun people"

Camp fun.

 At our first camp we would play water kickball everyday with the campers. The first day it was super hot and we got popsicles as a snack, so it was pretty beautiful.

We did the same thing the next day. It was not so hot, so not so beautiful. Cold water, popsicles and paddling pools...

The next week our campers were faculty at a Junior high camp... they remade this picture... note the shirts.

LOVE.

Long Time No See

This summer I got to travel with these three amazing people that you see above which I now consider as some of my best friends. I learned so so much. I watched God work on a daily basis, transforming kids lives. I got to talk about the school I love all summer. And I learned so much about myself too. I would write a blog post about this summer but it would be far too long for you to care and the words would never do it justice. You'll probably hear some stories randomly through the next year. But there are things which I have taken from this summer which will travel into how I live and want to live post-summer.

1. Love, and love genuinely. Love speaks where sometimes words can't.
2. Calm yourself, things happen. All you can do is make sure you do everything in joy and with confidence in Christ.
3. Be intentional, with people, conversations, activities etc You never have any idea where roads lead, where the ripple effect goes or how many dominos you can knock down in one push.
4. Believe in yourself. If you don't, how do you expect anyone else to?
5. Be disciplined. Discipline develops focus and drive.
6. That whole trying to do it yourself thing? Yea... it wont work. You need God and you need people.
7. Be centered in prayer. It changes things.
8. Remember that the battle is the Lords and that your first priority is being a kingdom worker. Its about Him and the glorification of His name. Him first, others second, you last.
9. Do things which make you come alive and inspire you. The world needs people who are passionate.
10. Life is short, make it a masterpiece if nothing else. Be making the stories to tell the kids.

So thats probably not what you wanted. But after summer I am ready to get stuck into life again. Im back with more passion and drive than I have ever had before. And right now Im more concerned with what my next adventure is, what next blog post to write, book to read, person to meet. I really hope to take you on a crazy journey with me over this time.

Lets see where He leads,

Vikki x

20. Wow.

Two decades. I made it farther than I thought. As a young girl growing up in Northern Ireland, my grandparents watched the news a lot, I was utterly convinced I would be killed by terrorists before my 18th since that was all that was ever publicized. I really had no clue then. Ignorance wasn't something that would disappear with age though. If you told me at 15 that I would go to college in the states I would have laughed you out of the place. And yet I have enough hindsight and wisdom to know that I have no idea where the next few years will take me. I may write a blogpost on my thirtieth birthday were I reflect upon this one; laughing at my past ignorance, sympathetic of the fact that I had no idea of direction. But I pray that I will not look back with regret.

I have done it all; new years resolutions, year bucket lists, "19 before 20". I created all these lists because I thought that at the end of completing these that I would feel so accomplished. I thought that I would know who I truly was, and that my life after this period of time would have underwent a quick-fix and all would be beautiful on the other side. I would be thinner, or more confident, or have one FINE looking man on my arm, or be a spiritual giant, the list went on. I have regrets about these lists I made; the lists I could never keep up with and then felt crushed that they didn't happen (notice I still hold onto the 20 pounds I wanted to lose before my 20th haha). Even if I had completed these lists, I doubt they would've made an impact. So what are aims for my 20th year?

While I was reading today I came across this article that Erma Bombeck had written entitled "If I Had to Live Over Again":

"I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded. I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains. I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime. When my child kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now get washed up for dinner." There would have been more I love yous, more I'm sorrys, but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute, look at it and really see it, live it and never give it back."

So I will not be making lists this year. I'll be too busy. Because it all comes down to what we want to be known and remembered for, and I want Vikki Smyth to be known for seizing every minute, really seeing it, living it to the full and never giving it back.

Along with this, I want to remember and pray the prayer that the rabbi, Joshua Abraham Heschel prayed:

"Dear Lord, grant me the grace of wonder. Surprise me, amaze me, awe me in every crevice of Your universe. Delight me to see how Your Christ plays in ten thousand places, lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not His, to the Father through the features of men's faces. Each day enrapture me with Your marvelous things without number. I do not ask to see the reason for it all; I ask only to share the wonder of it all"