How you doin'?

"How are you feeling about your trip?"

"Excited?"
YES, very excited!

"Nervous??"
Yep, fairly nervous.... What if I miss my friends and family too much..... What if  I struggle with my spanish..... What if my team don't like me..... What if?

"Has it hit you yet?"
Is it meant to all of a sudden punch me in the face? Am I meant to feel pain as I realise that I'm going to the other side of the world for 4/5months....?

Truthfully one minute I'm super super excited to go, after all I have been saying that I want to go for about 10 years! But the next a flood of worry rushes over me and me being me, every single possible thing you could worry about I am worrying about! Even the most unrealistic things like what if I run out of underwear and I'm in the middle of nowhere and nobody sells underwear?! What if nobody likes each other in the team and the whole time spent together is awkward?!? Sometimes I just have to take a step back and tell myself to shut up.

Don't judge me....

Muchas gracias
Roxy x

Email me: roxielou16@hotmail.com
Donate: www.virginmoneygiving.com/RoxannaSmith

Latin American themed quiz night!

A lot of people have been asking what I am doing to raise money for Latin Link who I will be travelling to Latin America with.

Well this is one you can all get involved with! Woohoo!

I am hosting a Latin American themed night, where there will be:

• A quiz hosted by the one and only Simon Ashby. (the master of all quiz masters, I hear he will be turning up in a sombrero and poncho!) Possibly with a cash prize!
• Refreshments which will be free! Yes, that is correct free food and drinks!
• A raffle with some awesome prizes which will be announced asap!
• An auction of promises (which involves auctioning people and their services like professional makeovers, a day with your own handy man etc)
• Also there will be more information about my trip and what the money raised will go towards!

Tickets are £3 and will be available very soon! Email me at roxielou16@hotmail.com or go to the Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/658640227494666/ to find out more or get tickets.

It will be on the 21st December at Amblecote Christian Centre, Brettell Lane, Stourbridge, DY8 4BS at 7pm-10pm.

Let me know if you feel you could help in any way either with set up, prize donations, refreshments etc, any help is appreciated!

Most importantly come along, invite all your friends!

Muchas gracias

Roxy

Sudden Realisation

It seems my life has changed so dramatically in just a year. I have gone from being a full time student to not having a clue what my next steps are, to having 2 jobs and deciding to go to Latin America. Not only that but I feel like I have gone from my lowest point (a year ago last month), hating myself and my life to realising now that things have got so much better and life aint so bad really.

Do not think this is another of those attention seeking sob stories. My life really wasn't that terrible, there are people who have suffered far far worse than me! And my life now isn't suddenly amazing. My sudden realisation wasn't me realising that my life has got so much better now, or that I now know what my purpose in life is, or that I'm a better person now....

So what is the sudden realisation? This change in my life and change in myself isn't, and wasn't down to me. At first I thought 'I have become a stronger person and that is how I got myself out of that bad place in my life' but just recently it has been revealed to me that I cannot take any credit for where I am now. The sudden realisation was that it is and has been all down to God.

A lot of my friends reading this now may be thinking what a load of crap, is she really talking about God? How boring.... But truthfully if I didn't have God in my life right now, I would still be in that bad place in my life. Don't get me wrong, I still have bad days, and am still a bad person but now I find it easier to rely on God and to see the better rather than the worst.

Without God, I wouldn't have passed my A-levels, I wouldn't have 2 jobs, I wouldn't be going to Latin America, without God I am nothing.
Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast."

So thanks God, all credit to you big man.

I apologise for the difference in this blog post to my last one. I want my posts to be truthful and representative, the direction of my posts will be mixed, today's blog post was just more God directed. I have changed in the past year, changed for the better, but I'm still the same little crazy Roxy and I love you all dearly.

Muchas Gracias,
Roxy x

Various links for you to click and poke:
My email: roxielou16@hotmail.com
Donation Page: http://virginmoneygiving.com/roxannasmith

6 months to go.... What?!

To be able to say that now there is only 6 months left before I go to Latin America seems crazy! For all of those that don't know, in March 2014 I will be travelling to Latin America for 4 months with a Christian organisation called Latin Link (I will put the various appropriate links at the bottom), doing voluntary work in some local, less privileged, communities! This will involve being part of a 'Step Team', with about 7 other people who I will be living and working with for those months.

It seems even crazier when you take into consideration the fact that I have been telling my family and friends that I am going to be a missionary in Latin America since I was about 8... While all my friends wanted to be rich businessmen, or famous singers, or heroic firemen I wanted to be working voluntarily in a place I barely knew about. However at that age my dream seemed an eternity away.... I never thought I would grow up and have to make big, potentially life changing decisions. I still don't feel anywhere near old enough to call myself an adult. Sometimes I think, if only the typical view of a 5 year old was true; that we are born a certain age. Kids will always be kids and adults will always be adults and teachers live in school.

Anyway! Change is good! Scary and unpredictable, but good! I am excited for what my future holds, for what God has planned for my life and for what my travels will teach me.

These next 6 months leading up to my trip will be filled with physical, emotional and spiritual preparation for 'Step', which may sound slightly extreme, "Roxy it's not like you are going to be doing a marathon or living there forever...", however I want to give as much as I possibly can on this adventure and I feel the only way I can do this is by going the extra mile! I will be practising my Spanish, making sure I am fit and healthy, reading the Bible, working extra hours, fundraising and so on. After all what is the point in letting this opportunity go to waste?

Thanks so much for reading my first ever post on here, I hope it wasn't too long and boring! And thank you for everyone that has supported me so far whether it has been financially, through prayer or helping me plan it all!

Muchas gracias
Roxy x

Latin Link website: http://www.latinlink.org.uk/
My email: roxielou16@hotmail.com
Donation Page: http://virginmoneygiving.com/roxannasmith