cycle chic

Today I cycled into Covent Garden from Hackney, parked my bike at Leicester Square to do a bit of shopping and then headed back to cycle to Oxford Circus to meet a friend…When I reached my bike I text my friend to say there would be a delay to my arrival as my bike had been vandalized.  The lock had been totally ripped off, and was gone.  My front tyre was flat, the gears had been messed up and there was a new wire connecting the rear tyre to the bike stand, securing it in place…I couldn’t believe it, my bike was three weeks old, I loved cycling around London and discovering wee nooks and crannies in London town. 

So I went to the underground staff at Leicester Square and asked for the local police.  They recommended I head to Charing Cross Police Station.  Access from Agar Street, should you ever need to know.  I queued and waited and got a bit emotional as I told the friendly policewoman that my bike had been abused.  She asked me to take a seat while she tried to locate the Safer Neighbourhood Team.  I met a man who’d just been released from prison after 14 years inside.  A group of people on the street were singing anti Mugabe songs.  Whilst I waited I tried to speak sense to myself, it’s just a bike, no one was hurt, but why had they beaten my bike? Why had they locked it up again? What was the procedure with insurance, reporting the crime?

So I waited and listened to the newly free man rant.  Then I was ushered forward, no one on the Safer Neighbourhood Team was free to help at that time, so I was advised to go back to the underground staff, ask the Transport Police to break through the wire attaching my bike to the stand, retrieve my bike, and bring it home.

So I got back and approached my bike, only to realize that they had in fact also stolen my bike rack, and changed the tyres.  Aghast I raised my eyes a fraction, and looked straight at my bike!…I had spent the best part of an hour reporting and mourning for a bike that was not mine.

Things learnt today, there is more than one maroon bike in London.  Thieves do not steal tyres and replace them with other ones.  If you ever need to report a crime visit www.met.police.uk

60+ homes in 12 months...

Well it would seem it's nearly a year since I last wrote on this...can't believe how this blog started and now look, isn't life just a fantastic journey.

Currently writing from my home in NI and am meant to be sorting my driving licence and tax return - no surprise then that I decided to update this! It will be an epic update probably the length of the bible or at least the length of January - no it better not be otherwise I would get a £100 fine and no one wants that - especially when without work. Yes presently I am without employment. I've spent the past year working for Riding Lights and what a phenomenal blessing that has been. Touring all over the UK on 2 different shows staying with wonderful strangers who are now great friends. One day when I grow up I owe the world about 6million hot dinners!

Today I stopped my holidays and decided to do all that admin stuff like sorting out where I should live and work. Please pray for guidance as I attempt to make work and living decisions. It is a bit unsettling finishing the touring lifestyle because suddenly I'm not altogether sure where I belong, but praise God there appears to be an opportunity to move to London for a bit which means I can return to my church there and reconnect with people there. So I am praying for job opportunities in that massive city. Praise God for the generosity of my friends in London who are going to house me for a bit. And opportunities to act again would be amazing. I have been so blessed to have worked non stop in acting for over a year - amazing. Thank you God.

Anyway if you my friend are reading this then I hope that you are well.

Until next time

Rach x

roughshod begins...

Hi,

Tis been a rather long time since my last entry and it's all go...what is next? Well next weekend (beg of March) we head off on the first leg of our UK tour to Sittingbourne, Kent which is very exciting but before that we have a few prison visits, schools workshops and our preview performance coming up this Wednesday 25th Feb in York...please pray for the show as it goes out across the UK that it would be a clear message of the brilliance of God and that He would be glorified in all our work as we run workshops in secondary schools, perform in prisons and perform in churches and other venues in many areas around the UK.

My fellow shoddies are an amazing bunch of talents and comic genius - Ali, J, Jamie and Leah...they are all real treasures and really great at pointing me back to God when things get stressful and we all get tired!

I am so thankful for this amazing opportunity to serve in this way and the way I have been looked after has been phenomenal. My host family are still the same family from the Christmas tour - so when I leave on Friday I will have been with the Grays for 4 months - praise the Lord for them!

Dates for the Shoddies on tour - Reality Cheques

1st - 14th March - Sittingbourne Kent

15th -28th March - Felixstowe

29th March - 11th April - Bristol

10th - 23rd May - Liverpool

24th May - 6th June - London

7th - 20th June - Glasgow

21st June - 4th July - Dundee

5th - 18th July - Newcastle

So if you live near any of these places keep your eyes open for any confirmation of venues because it would be ace to see you there.

Praise the Lord for his steadfast love and his faithfulness.

x Rach

physio and phlute surgery!

Hello,

Things are going well although today was a tough day with a few tense moments involving reversing vans and brick walls! Cast are great and its amazing working and travelling and acting with the same people day in day out - amazing and I'm learning lots! Not least how to drive a white van that is bigger than I can ever remember - although I am proud to announce that I have not an inkling how to park the monster as the first time I drove it I scraped paint off a gate onto the van and most recently parked it ON a school garden with photographic evidence to prove it!

Host family continue to be amazing and so loving and I am excited because this weekend its the first public performance and hopefully mummy will be flying over to see it - if the snow allows her!

Praise the Lord for health, host family, the way in which I have been looked after the past couple of months and for this work.

It's been an emotional few weeks as my friend Fi left to go back to Oz and the flat that once was K, Fi and Rach is now at an end and I miss those girls lots.

Please pray for focus when studying the bible and people to study the bible with - and for godly relationships with the cast.

Hope to see you all very soon,

Rach x

oh and I had my first ever physio treatment this week with an amazing physio called Ed who fixed my shoulder and gave me the treatment for free as I work for Riding Lights - praise the Lord.

And the flute playing I thought had nearly come to an end but alas no! My flute is having surgery this week as its keys were sticking - probably due to amazing flute playing so I have a replacement which I don't love nearly as much but boy does the sound still sound as dreadful as ever! God bless those Yorkshire children!

x

since the last time...

Hello,

So I have now left Cheshire - and what a fun time I had and what a blessing to be away from the city and to walk dogs as part of my job. My friends in Cheshire held a leaving party for me and they were such pets to me and I really wouldn't have remained sane without them - yes folks I did say sane...I am sane!

Last week was a tad scary but God answered prayer as always by providing amazing friends who offered to help store/transport my belongings to York. I threw out 5 bin bags of stuff AND gave 6 black bin bags to charity - seriously how did I have that much stuff to give away! And throw away! Madness and sickening really - too much money spent on things I don't need nor like! There's definitely a lesson there but no doubt the rubbish collection will start again soon when I am living elsewhere...but for now I am living out of 2 suitcases - it should be one - I know- but I still have household stuff in there plus I had to bring my stupid tax stuff up!

Two days into rehearsal for Melchiors Magical Mystery Quest and I am loving it - its daunting - a show will be performed with 5 actors in about 13 days and there are moments where the old flute will be getting an airing except the old flute player ain't too sure if she can play the thing anymore - hmmmmmmmm methinks the kids of York are in for an interesting time!

Have laughed alot over the past few days - hysterically at times but all with good reason. Riding Lights are an amazing company and I am delighted to be working with them. And tomorrow we have a wee prayer and breakfast morning before rehearsals - how ace is that! Always reminding ourselves why the co. exists and why we exist! And I have been blessed with an amazing host family while I am here - Rachel and Andrew Gray are SO generous. I come home from rehearsals and they have dinner on a plate for me!!!!!!!!!! And their kids are great - Emily (13) and Peter (10) - and get this, Andrew is an inventor and Rachel is a professional cellist - obviously I have NOT brought the flute out yet to break their ears - I actually left it in the theatre tonight.

Very thankful to God for this work, for my host family and their kids, for working with a Christian theatre co with some of my closest friends from uni,

Would appreciate prayer for what to do this weekend, sense of direction when in York!!! (every time I walk I seem to get lost!) and energy for the rehearsals as the performance dates get closer and for friends at St Mikes church where my host family go

Methinks that is it for now!

Hope that you are all well

x rach

seriously...

I started this blog and I could not foresee where it might end up and I still do not!

This evening I got a call from Riding Lights offering me a place on their voluntary 8 month tour of the UK with 'Roughshod' a co. that tours prisons, schools and communities performing and running workshops. I was also offered one of their Christmas shows starting beg of Nov which is a few days after I finish in Cheshire!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you Lord...I am awe struck and amazed and excited and conscious of praying and settling before making any decisions but basically I have been offered 10 months work where I may not always be earning but I will always be fed and housed, an offer I could never have imagined nor deserve but I am soooooo grateful and thankful to GOD for the opportunity.

Do let me know your thoughts but I think I already know my response to these offers.

Will keep you posted!

Thank you God

Amen!

tiredness

i am tired today and am in york staying with my friends al and hannah and am so grateful to them as they are letting me stay with them while im here to audition for riding lights!

big day tomorrow 10-1230 - workshop
2- interview
5 - audition

really don't know how i feel about this all as im so thankful to god for the opportunity to go but haven't spent alot of time working on it!! So please pray for energy and focus for tomorrow and that I would do a great job with the skills that I have.

thanks

lots of love from a very tired rach!