(Yes, that's a Rhino)

Dear feet,
I just wanted to take a moment and thank you for hanging in there with all this walking we've been doing lately. I know I've asked you to step it up a bit, pick up the pace, and make due with running around Camden everyday. Ya done good. What a pair you make! Your neighbours upstairs, the Knees, have been complaining about all the stress I've been putting on them, so I can only imagine that you're feeling a tad of resentment with all this walking, too. I can tell your frustration comes to a surface with the blisters, the odour, the swelling. So here's a bit of affirmation and thanks for sticking together and getting me where I've needed to go.
While we're on the topic of walking, I wanted to ask a favour. Would you mind just picking yourselves up a bit and not tripping over all the cracks? It's become a daily occurrence where the rest of the body goes flying forward because you two can't seem to pull yourselves up. I don't know how you manage to do it everyday, but I know you get a kick out of it, especially since it's always infront of strangers.
The rest of the body that you're attached to thanks you kindly!
Sincerely,
The rest of your body

Thankful!

I'm so thankful that I get to serve over here in the 21st century, where there's the such thing as internet! I was thinking this morning about stories that my dad used to tell me of when his family was living in Germany. When he went back to the States for school, he said a phonecall back to Germany cost $50, so they only talked at Christmastime. He'd record letters onto tapes and then mail them to my grandparents! Last night I got to talk with that grandma, who has exchanged sides of the ocean with my parents (and now me!), for free over my computer! I also got to call a dear friend back home, and I loved hearing her surprise from the other end of the line on her cell(yay no more scheduling skype chats! Thank you, Mr Google!).
This morning I went online and listened to a GOOD sermon by John Piper. Then I went to another site to listen to some worship music that I wanted to sing in acknowledgement and thanksgiving for the Gospel message I had just heard!
Just feeling very thankful for that today!

I know I'm working through cultural transitions when...

(this is what I feel like on the inside a lot of the time!)
-Finding the right lightbulb at the store feels like a success and makes me want to jump in the air and say "Yippee" (and then call someone to say "Guess what?! I found a lightbulb!!"). It only took 2 tries and bringing the lamp along with me to the store! haha! Who knew that there could be so many different sizes and shapes of sockets for a desk lamp? (You should have seen the storeman's face when I pulled a lamp out of my bag!)

-I get excited to feel movement of air when riding on the tube, where they don't have AC (My hair is always frizzier when I get off!).

-Another man stops me on the street and asks if I want to be his personal care assistant. Instead of just walking on, I stop and begin to explain how I work for a church and am under a "Tier 5 visa", which means I can't work for other organizations. Nice one, E. At least you didn't give him your number when he asked for it.



-I am too mentally tired and forget that I have something on the burner until I start smelling smoke. (Good thing the landlord supplied a fire extinguisher, just incase. She must have known...)

-I regularly find myself in a death metal pub. Two months ago, I didn't know they had those kinds of pubs, let alone what they're yelling in their songs! (I'm still trying to find an appropriate black t-shirt to wear. I think the pub owner finds my floral patterned t-shirt a little offensive! haha! Oh well... that's me!)

-one of the biggest highlights of the day is crawling into bed and reading "Lord of the Rings".

-I long so much to go for a hike in the country that I start wearing my trail runners around town... Probably not the most fashionable... and keep my headlamp by my bed.

Solomon's Benediction

"Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us nor forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other. Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day." 1 Kings 8:56-61

I love how Solomon prayed this benediction thousands of years ago, and it's still totally relevant and applicable to the cry of my heart today.

Bus Ride

This morning I got on the bus to head to our morning team prayer meeting. A mother and her adolescent daughter sat down across from me, and it was sweet to hear them talking to eachother. They just really seemed to have a good relationship, and it was obvious that the mother cared a lot for her daughter, and the daughter respected her mom a lot. I overheard the mother asking the daughter if she remembered what stop she needed to get on at to come home later in the day. They got off half way through my ride, and another mother and daughter got on and sat down across from me. The mother's hair was very short and thinning, and she looked very frail, weak, and in pain. The 20-something daughter leaned across to me and said, "Excuse me, do you have any water?" "I'm so sorry, but I don't. I have a banana if you'd like it, but no water." We began to all talk, but the mother's head was down most of the time, like the chemo must be really hitting her hard today. The daughter asked a woman across from us for some water, retrieved the bottle, took out a big pill and gave it to her mom. Her mother must have really needed it, because she drank straight from a stranger's bottle. She struggled to swallow it. "That's a big pill," I said. "It must be really hard to swallow it." I got off the bus on High Street and started crying. "This is the present value of the blood of Jesus," I thought. Right before my very eyes, I saw the huge role reversal that might take place in that adolescent's life in 20 years. I saw a woman in agony from cancer, and a daughter lovingly caring for her, after her mom had taken care of her for so many years. Sometimes the amount of suffering in this world is overwhelming. This morning was a huge reminder to me of how Jesus meets us in the suffering and pain, and He understands (Our morning reading this morning included, "Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, 'Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?' And they said many things against him, blaspheming him." -Luke 22:63-65). I really don't know how people can get through life without Him, without the promise of a day that's coming where this suffering will be gone (Rev 21:4).

What's the deal?

I think that I should start a blog that's centred primarily on conversations I keep having with random men while I'm walking down the street. Take that back, because they're not even conversations! They're always awkward comments directed at me, while I'm passing by on my way somewhere, comments that have little room for a proper response.
Today's case in point:
I was returning from running some errands, and was standing at the corner waiting to cross. There was a man there, who looked at me and said, "Wow! Beautiful women are right here! Hey there!" I tried to catch the eye of the woman standing next to me waiting for the light to change, but she had headphones on. So I just ignored it and walked home. Two hours later, I was back out to pick up some things, and happened to be on the same side of the street. I should have dodged over to the other side, but it's busy, and he saw me before I knew what was going on. He past me and encouraged me not to pay a lot of money to marry rich, because I'm apparently so beautiful I don't need to marry for money. What does that mean?! My first thought was that perhaps he's read a lot of Jane Austen books. My second thought was that these encounters have been so much more common over here than back home, and I don't know why! Besides Lady Gaga man from the hostel who told me that he wanted to "kiss my accent", no one knows that I'm a foreigner before they make those comments or give those looks (shudder). My hair is poofier and crazier over here because of the rain, I wear the same stuff that I always have, and most of the time I'm trying so hard to figure out where I'm going that I'm bumping into things/people and looking quite clumsy. No wonder I like that Lily Allen song so much.

Psalm 139

This morning during intern debrief, we spent some time sitting in Psalm 139. The Holy Spirit really encouraged me through seeing some verses differently than I have before.
This was my version of vv7-12:

"Where can I go from Your presence, Holy Spirit?
My rebellious heart has tried to flee before, and You still faithfully pursue me.
When things are going well, You're right here.
When I am struggling in the pit of loneliness and fear, You are right here.
If I am living on the other side of the ocean in London, even there Your hand is upon me, and You will hold me firmly and lovingly, Lord (Thank You, Jesus!).

When I've said, 'Camden is too dark. I don't know where Jesus is here.'
Or have really struggled with confusion over things that I know are true,
You are so much bigger and brighter than any darkness I face.
You are all-powerful, and nothing is too difficult for You.
Amen."

Today

I'm so thankful for the beauty of God's creation, and that there are opportunities to get out of the city and sit on piers looking at this.

Missing

Tonight I'm missing summertime dinners at the cottage with my family. I miss sitting on the dock in the late afternoon with a good book and some fruit, while the loons call at eachother from across the lake. And I miss sitting on the couch at night, with a big fire crackling, contemplating whether I should indulge in a s'more. I'm thankful for that place.