Saturday, May 1, 2004

From: Dan Lucking
To: Tony Palmer ; Stuart Smith ; Steph Stone ; Solo ; Sarah Sheratt ; Sara Jean ; Rob Cates ; Rebecca Molyneux ; Rachel Humphreys ; Pete McKenzie ; Norvan ; Nishan ; nikki ; Nigel DiCas ; Natalie Fee ; Mo ; Melanie ; Luckings ; Lizzie Thomas ; Liz Crofts ; Kiri ; Keele C.U. ; Jane Elizabeth Howell ; Iris ; Haz ; Ginny Lyn ; Fiona Minol ; Dave ; Colin Roberts ; Chris Clowes ; Chris Anthony ; Chaz ; Adam Ovens ; Abi
Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2004 12:42 AM
Subject: I'm ALIVE!!!!! And I have news


It's been a loooooooong time since I've sent you guys an e-mail, hasn't it?

I wonder if I was missed.. :p

I really can't be bothered to go into elaborate details to do with how TT is going on, purely because it'd just take far too long. The general overview is that it's been fantastic for two main reasons- the first is to get away from "home" (in inverted commas because Stoke is now my original home, but not the home where I live) and start taking responsibility for myself. I don't think I've ever been put so far into the deep end before in my life- and for the first month or so, it was just plain scary. For the first week or so I just plain didn't know what to do (someone I passed in the supermarket saw my overwhelmed-looking face and thought a relative had died or something!..). Anyone who's heard Lloyd cookes teachings on people from Stoke will know that we don't exactly move very far away from home very much (I remember moving home to another part of Stoke when I was 17, and my friends in the area said they'd never see me again... the worse part is that they never did..), so the move to Sheffield was a lot bigger for me than some of the other guys.

But hey- I lived in the end and now I'm moving out again at the end of TT, into Daniel (my accountability partner)'s new house, which is 15 minutes walk away from here. So basically, I'm staying up here, rather than going back to Stoke at the end of the year.

The second thing that's been great about this year is TT and the teaching, mission, and socialising therein. It's been incredible to grow so much in just a year, and I find that these days when I talk to people about things spiritual I actually know a lot more of what I'm on about rather than rambling on towards what I hope to be a conclusion. And for that reason I'm staying here too- because for some reason when I go back home I feel a bit like a spiritual baby still.. I "grew up" at St. Mary's.. but at the same time, I didn't really grow up anywhere near as far as this last year has taken me (don't get me wrong- the first year of input from there was vital), so when I return it feels a little bit like when you meet a long-unseen relative who reminisces about when you were yay-tall (about 2 feet) at the moment.

I kind of have my own patch up here at the moment, or so it feels. Maybe I'll end up going back to Stoke one day to live- but first I think I need firmly to come to terms with who I am how I've grown in the last year. Identity has been a vital part of this year's teaching, and I've learned all sorts of things, such as that I'm pastoral in ministry, introvert in nature, and more recently that I have a gifting in discernment of spirits (until recently I'd heard of that but didn't even know what it really meant...). Some people don't think it's a particularly good idea to classify people in such a way, but I actually find that it is incredibly useful to know your identity in terms such as this, because then you can understand more of your shortcomings, how to defeat them, and how to nourish yourself to grow as who God made you to be.

I've some way to go in this area still, and I think that St Tom's is the best church to be going in this journey with, for me personally at the moment.

Anyway- back to next year- I'm staying around here, as I've already said. I'm most likely going to work full time or 4 days a week (after working 3 days a week I really don't know if I want to do full time, so I'm pushing for at least a day off in the week, as hard as I can :p) at Northern Map Distributors, my current employer, and the year after that (2005-2006) I'm considering going into Teacher Training at Sheffield Hallam University.

It's a toss up at the moment between Primary School Level (because I work very well with that age in the Sunday mornings when I do kid's work) and Science/Maths at Secondary School Level (because I have one year in a Physics degree, I'm naturally maths-minded, and I'd only have to do two years according to the Hallam site). And then of course, there's the possibility that I might end up not going for that at all and taking a completely different direction next year. But it's always good to have a primary plan which you can fall away from..

So yeah.. that's my first update in yonks.

Another good reason to stay in Sheffield is best said by Chris Lewis (a TiM2 student- kind of a 2nd year TT)- "One of the main reasons I don't want to leave Sheffield next year (he applied to do medicine somewhere else) is the sheer number of young, Christian women"...

But we TTs are all super-spiritual and the fact that lots of us are staying around (that weren't originally) has nothing to do with that at all.. nope..

Best wishes and God's grace to all recipients

-Dan
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