Spring in Regent's Park!!!

Author`s tip: Don`t throw petals up in the air and look up with your mouth open. They don`t taste amazing.

Someone told me a while back that when you live in London, you really need to have some plants to cope with the dreary weather. I took their advice and haven't looked back. I've gotten herbs, potted gerberas, bushes, and now daffodils. They seem to be popping up everywhere in London, even in public spaces along the roads. I love it! They're so bright and cheery, especially on the rainy days. There's a floral shop down the street from my flat that sells them for cheap. I like picking up a bunch, putting them in some water, and then seeing them pop open the next day. And for a girl who doesn't have the greenest of thumbs, when they die next week, I'll just venture back down the store and get some more... And watch them pop open!

I DANCED AROUND IN MY ROOM TODAY!!! I think I'm slowly getting better! wahooooooo!

Nice to have some family around

While in Oxford...

I've always had a bit of a love of church history, particularly reformation history. There's something so enriching and powerful about hearing the stories of people who have blazed the trail before us. When preparing to come to England, I remember sitting at my parents' table last April, while visiting them, and googling Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, two martyrs during the English reformation. Hugh Latimer is famously quoted as saying to Ridley, while they were being burned to death, "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out." Two weeks ago, I walked out of a shop in Oxford, while family was visiting. They were standing in the middle of the road, where it was a square area of bricks and not pavement. And there was an engravement by the site saying that it was where Latimer and Ridley were burned to death in 1555 for wanting to have the Bible translated into English. And now I get to be a very small part of carrying on the candle here in England partly by handing out English Bibles. What a crazy thought...

I can't wait until I'm better and can RUN again!!!!

A taste of Ireland

It was so good to see 2 friends from Ireland on Sunday afternoon. A few of us who were part of the WHM Ireland internship or staff in 2007 got together in Covent Garden. I hadn't seen these two friends for 3.5 years, and though it was brief, it was so great to catch up a bit!

On my walk home from church last night...

MAP on a map

Last week I found out that two people I know tried to end their lives. My pastor's little girl fell down the stairs and hit her head, causing some bleeding in her head and multiple CT scans and tests. I watched on the news as a boat in a Japanese fishing port was swallowed up by the tsunami and then hurled under a highway overpass, crushing it to pieces, while I'm sitting on the couch eating icecream. Yesterday I was walking home from a meeting and heard a mother yell angrily at her little girl, who was coming out of school, to "get her hands off the car door! I just had it cleaned!!" One of my dear friends emailed me yesterday and mentioned that our highschool student president had skin cancer go to his brain. Sometimes the brokenness around me, around this world, and in me is overwhelming. We are so frail and fragile. Where do we run with all of this brokenness? We complain about being so busy and tired and having "full" schedules. Wouldn't some people give anything for more time on earth? We complain about how small our houses are and "if only...". It could be made into matchsticks from an earthquake. We shout at our kids to not mess up the car handle when they get in. Wouldn't some parents give anything for their kids to have the physical ability to get into a car by themselves? Or to even have kids at all. Lord, have mercy on us. Melt our selfish, self-loving hearts. Give us eyes to see You and the blessing of the life You've given us, and mouths that cry out to You to heal the brokenness in us and around us.

Guess what?!

Yesterday I heard myself saying to a friend that having mono has been a blessing in my life! I never thought I'd be able to say that, but God has been doing some amazing shaping and renovating in my heart. I don't like having it. I don't like having chronic achy muscles and days where I can't do much, or run down the street to catch a bus, but God has been using it to show me the Gospel in a fresh new way, and that's a big blessing and joy to me, despite the frustrations and difficulties. I've never been in a state this long where I see my limitations and inabilities so right in my face, and just have to stop. The head knowledge of knowing that my worth is not found in what I can do is really seeping down into my frozen heart and melting it to really be able to know that and believe it. I'm learning about what it means to find my competency and adequacy (2 Cor 3) in Christ instead of in my gifts and abilities, and that my weaknesses leave more ground for God to move and show His glory and power in my circumstances. And that I am lovely in God's sight, because He is my Father and cares for me and delights in me just the same on slower days and "nonproductive" days than when I'm out in Camden doing "ministry".
"...for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned (ESV: bound)." 2 Tim 2:9 I am so thankful that even though I am bound in my physical state right now, God's word is not bound and held down, but He is alive and not leaving me in a place of despair, but moving me to a place of deep contentment and joy in the midst of my physical imprisonment with Mono. What a beautiful God we serve. Who can compare?

This is my team:

Since being affiliated with World Harvestites for the past few years, and particularly this past year in London, I've noticed some unique sayings that I've begun to appreciate, as well as adopt into my own vocabulary.

-Saying "Yeah" 3 times in a row, or 4 if you're really excited about something.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

-Asking someone, "How is your heart?" Sometimes I am tempted to respond, "Well, I've been having a normal sinus rhythm today with a bit of tachycardia during exertion, but I think that's due to my Mono." :)

-Screaming "Ah" excitedly.

-Talking about legalism vs licentiousness, and using those terms, in a normal day-to-day conversation, which is pretty cool, actually.

-Talking about a prayer chair.

Have a look at some things that WHM has been up to this past year!

http://animoto.com/play/czfd3Le8r15ZG7FTwk2HIA

(you have to cut and paste the link into your search site)

Praying with Expectancy

Yesterday my brother-in-law sent me a clip from a Desiring God conference, where Francis Chan, author and pastor, was talking about bathing everything in prayer and waiting to see the Lord respond.
Before listening to this talk, I had gone to the hairdresser to reschedule my appointment for the next day, which in itself is an answer to prayer, that I'm getting stronger and able to get out a bit (new goal is to get out once a day to do something lowkey)! I also found out that the woman who had cut my hair before, T, wouldn't have been available the day I had initially scheduled for, so this worked out better with her schedule too.

This morning I prayed that God would give me an opportunity to share the Gospel with T while getting my hair cut. I got there and sat down, and T said, "How was your Christmas, E?"
Me: "You know, to be honest, it was a pretty hard time. I was quite sick and my Grandma passed away on Christmas Eve."
T: "Yeah, my mom passed away suddenly on New Years Eve. She was only 49."

Praise God, because this was an amazing opportunity to ask her if this sudden and horrible tragedy made her think about life after death. She said she did and then asked me if I did. And I got to talk about Jesus. It wasn't a smooth and tidy conversation. I could have said things better, but it was really amazing to see how God brought it about and moved through it all. I encouraged her to read Romans and John, because I've found those really helpful books when thinking through the meaning of life. And she even took my number and said that she would like to come to church in a couple of weeks, when she's not working! So thank You, Lord, for that opportunity, and for being the One who brought that about. if I hadn't gone in yesterday to reschedule, then I would have had a different stylist who I hadn't had before. This really challenges me to wait expectantly on the Lord to answer, even when it might be different than what I thought, or a different time frame. God wants me to call on His name!