EAT/PRAY/LOVE: Kerith

On Saturday night I stumbled through the door at about 11:30. Not exactly hardcore, especially when my next move was to trip over my new second-hand Henry VIII 750 piece jigsaw, consequently scattering tiny pieces of puzzle all over my room. Yeah, I'm cool. I'd spent the whole day being flanked by anger and sadness, those little grieving companions that come now and again to punch you in the face and remind you that everything is not alright and that deep inside this body of mine there's a tiny borrower-sized Ellie hugging her knees and rocking to the rhythm of her tears. When in this melancholy state of mind, I often find it hard to be around people because my emotions are so unpredictable and I would hate to say something I'd regret later. However, a group of us from church had planned to go to the beach as a 'lantern-launching-goodbye-uni-people' sort of thing, furthermore I hada whole day of respite to endure and so, lucky me, I had no choice but to be smothered in company for a good 12 hours solid.

We didn't go to the beach, but that didn't really matter. Respite wasn't so awful and when it was over my lovely friends Zak and Stu provided me with an hour or so of Glee, Tea and interesting conversation. Then the beach goers all gathered in Laura's living-room to eat pizza, mock the X-Factor contestants, laugh at recently uploaded facebook videos and photos and just enjoy each other's company. The evening's entertainment continued at the pub where we played musical chairs, without the music or in fact anyone noticing that the game was being played, and one boy decided to pocket a tankard found on the grass. Great Hollands wreck saw the boys pretend to be Jason from Twilight and certain reenactments from Lord of the Rings, we swung on the swings, got dizzy on the roundabouts (and various variations of roundabouts), the stars smiled on us as we sung 'Be Glorified' at the top of our EVER so tuneful voices and then we all returned to Laura's to be packed into matchbox cars and waved goodbye. A very ordinary yet very extraordinary evening. It was only when I got home, after I'd picked my way through the obstacles which lay between my bed and my door and reached the comfort of my duvet that I realised how incredibly privileged I was to have had every moment of that day. This is my community, my family. The events of the Summer have secured a divine, eternal bond between us all, no matter where our lives take us, we will still be able to share and understand the emotions that have consumed us over the past few months. As we EAT, as we LOVE and as we PRAY I understand the significance of a church community and I am eternally grateful and proud to have been, even a tiny, part of Kerith Community Church.