BHX -> LAX

Hey friends!

These past few weeks have been tres busy but its been great! I finished work and then soon after my best friend Hannah from New Zealand came to visit which which was so amazing! We went to Bristol to see some friends, came back home and did lots of nothing and then went to Ireland & N. Ireland (Dublin & Belfast) for a few days, it was beautiful! 

Currently I'm very exhausted but energised knowing that my plans for the next few months are exactly what I'm meant to be doing. This past year being home has been challenging for a number of reasons- a mentally and emotionally draining but very rewarding job, having a lot of my friends leave to start on adventures of their own, learning how to fundraise and mentally preparing myself that I'm going to live overseas for at least a year of my life, etc. However I've seen the goodness of the Lord over every detail of every challenge, discomfort, pain, growth and change. I've learned the power of choice, love and forgiveness. I've personally seen the redemption and change that having a relationship with Jesus brings. I'm able to wake up in the morning and not hate myself, I know that I am loved, that I am valued and that I am able to influence people through my actions and words which is a huge responsibility that I want to continue to honour the Lord in. There is so much more that I can learn and I know this is just the beginning. 

I only have a few days left in England until I depart on my adventure to the west coast of the US of A. I am so excited and ready to go and study and learn. I've worked my butt off, and I've been given nearly $4000 towards this trip, which makes me want to cry because I don't deserve that kindness and grace. So thank you to everyone who has believed in me and chose to selflessly give towards my trip. I still need about £650 to pay off the whole school in full ($1000) which is amazing as that is 9 months paid for! If you'd like to support me in my walk through the Bible then please don't hesitate to talk to me :) I mean, I need to find out why a young goat can't be boiled in it's mothers milk?! 

All my love, Elisa <3

what i've learned being a professional carer

Inspired by buzzfeed and my experiences, I thought I'd write about what it's been like to be a domiciliary care worker for individuals with physical or mental disabilities for the past half year of my life. The people I work with are able enough to live on their own, with hours of outside support to help them with practical home things and personal care. The way Domiciliary care works is that each individual has a certain number of hours of care each day, usually a few hours in the morning, sometimes during the day and then a few hours at night- Some weeks I have consistent back to back 10+ hour days, other days I only technically work for 4 hours but I have 6 hours free in the middle of the day. The free time is useful to get jobs at home done however there's never time to relax as I'm always looking at the clock and waiting until I have to go back out to work again. I've not had a week where I haven't done over time. I realistically only get 2 full days off a month. I also work alone, which I love because I prefer 1-1 time with people so that I can really get to know them.

My job role is to go to individual's (aka 'service user's') houses (where they live alone or with a partner) and help them with shopping, cooking, cleaning, finances, personal hygiene, hospital appointments etc. However what it's really included is: burying and buying a budgie, playing endless games of pool, DIY, going on day trips, driving 300 miles per week, crying with service users and their heart breaking stories, laughing hard, sometimes leaving the house at 7am and not returning until 10pm. I've learned how to dismantle a wheelchair in 30 seconds, how to transfer birds from one cage to another and how to multitask giving a someone a shower, making a full roast dinner, giving medication and deep cleaning within an hour. I've also had horrendous days where I've burst out crying from things said and done towards me. But then again all jobs have those kinda days.

me after work often 

I've learned so much about myself from this job, it's been restorative and encouraging. Being the number 1 carer in peoples lives is a beautiful job, it's humbling and it's scary- i feel like i can barely look after myself let alone be responsible for another person! Despite my doubts, I've grown emotionally and mentally stronger. I have grown in character- when the going gets tough the tough get going! I'm learning tough love, how to say no and how to help others achieve their potential. One of the best bits of this job is to see someone be able to do something they've never done before. Whether that means learning how to cook, how to write or count money correctly. One thing God taught me early on is to do all things in this job with excellence, to the most that I can do. Often that extra work would go unnoticed but it's a important work ethic quality that I've learned and am thankful for. I've also learned that I'm human and I make mistakes and I don't have to do everything perfectly in this job, mostly because thats impossible. And thats ok.

The Lord's grace has been all over this job- I've learned so much from the people I've worked with. God has done deep healing work in me through being able to care for people. The majority of the time I've come home, exhausted but satisfied knowing that I have the best job in the world.

I'd recommend this job to anyone- its so much fun! It grows you as a person, challenges you and exposes parts of your character that need to be dealt with. It's expanded my world view and helped me to look outside of myself. I will be forever grateful. :)