Some Things that I really like about Londoners

-When you're getting off the phone with a Londoner, they almost always say "bye" repeatedly. "Bye, bye, goodbye, bye."
-Most people I smile at here return the smile! yay!
-People here in Camden will almost always stop what they're doing to have a conversation.

ie: Me to the guy at the phone store yesterday (who had already told me that he was short-staffed and exhausted)- "Do you recommend a good place to watch the match tonight?"
Phone guy- "I was just going to ask you that! Do you know of any good places around here?"

-The underground tube drivers have personalities when they make announcements about delays... "Right, we're just sitting here for 30 seconds. I had a bit of a heavy foot on the pedal."

The Street-sweeper

Your head was hung low, like you were feeling defeated. I saw you walking down High Street with a broom in your hands, sweeping up the garbage that we've all left on the ground. I wondered what thoughts were running through your head as you picked up after others. Did you feel frustrated that you were always cleaning up after people who seemed so rushed and in a hurry? Did you ever get a "thank you"? Did you spend all day listening to your ipod and your own thoughts and not feeling like anyone walking past really cared about YOU. Do you know that you're loved by Someone who really cares about everything that's going on in your life, and everything that's wearing you down?

I tapped you on the shoulder, and your head came up from the ground. Your eyes looked so sad. "Thank you for cleaning up the streets. It makes a big difference here in Camden." I just felt like you needed to hear that today. You looked at me, your eyes red from exhaustion or crying. You looked back down at the grounnd and then back at me, and I could tell that you really needed to hear that today.

That was on Tuesday, and I still find myself sitting here feeling burdened for you. I don't know your name, but I'm praying that you know the deep, rich love and joy of Jesus today. He cares about you. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

"Take that" Bad Pizza Experience!

The bad pizza experience on Saturday was definitely redeemed last night, as our team went out for Italian! Hollah! :) We were joined by a lady who has been over here for 7 years working on a ministry to help women who have been trapped in the sex-trade industry of London. I got shivers hearing her talk about ways that God has been at work, not only in women's lives, but also for the ways that He's used campaigns against the demand side of prostitution (she's helped to change legislature here on human rights, as well as some other crazy stuff). Some of the interns are going to be helping her out this summer, and I'm really excited to see how I can help throughout the year. This is definitely an area that I've been feeling burdened about and want to serve in.

Today is the first day in many where I've woken up to grey skies. I've been told that this very sunny summer in London is not normal at all. Another reason to say "Bless the Lord"!

Bless the Lord, O my soul

Some reasons for me to say "Bless the Lord" (Psalm 103) today:

-I ran into TWO people I know while running by the canal this morning! YAY for knowing some people in a new place.
-Had breakfast with close family friends who were travelling through London. So nice to see some familiar faces.
-Hanging out with M and T in Hounslow this afternoon.
-I found out today that the tea shop that I've already deemed my favourite has wireless, which definitely makes it the place I will hang out lots in!

Pizza?

My fellow apprentice-friends and I spent our afternoon off exploring Hyde Park and enjoying a picnic in the grass today. We then ventured over to Picadilly Circus, where we lazed in Starbucks for a couple of hours and read (so nice!). Then the best part came, the part I had been looking forward to all day!! PIZZA!! And not just any kind of pizza, but real American pizza- cheesy, tomatoey goodness ontop of steaming, soft crust, or so we had hoped. Enter "Scotch Steak Houses" restaurant, the name itself should have said something, as we walked inside to be greeted by the same Celine Dion song "Asian style" being played over and over again, in a definite Chinese restaurant atmosphere. But the sign outside said "Pizza Pizza Pasta", so sat down we did, right by the window. Toph, Megan, and I looked over the menu and didn't see pizza, so we thought we had entered the wrong place. We awkwardly got up to leave, but the server brought us a lamanated piece of paper with pizzas on it, so we sat back down. We ordered two presumably medium-sized pizzas, but when they served them, they were the size of a dinner plate. I looked down at my Hawaiian pizza, and noticed that there was no cheese on it. It looked like frozen pizza crust topped with some stuff, but no cheese. I asked the waitress, who informed me that cheese wasn't on the list of toppings in the menu. "Oh, I just assumed that cheese came on pizza. Where we're from, we have cheese on pizza." We left the place as quickly as possible, having eaten a couple of bites and not being too keen on it. It was probably one of the weirdest pizzas I'd ever had. Upon leaving the Scotish/Asian/Italian/American/Pick a culture restaurant, we turned the corner on the street to see a large Pizza Hut sitting right smack dab infront of us. "Don't look!" Megan said to me. But I did, and the people inside were eating soft, warm, gooey pizza, with LOTS of cheese ontop. Next time, next time.

SUCCESS!! I love those days when you feel like you beat the system! Today it was navigating my way around the tube and bus and train system, all in one ride! WOOT! I only had to ask 2 people for help, but that was fun in itself, because one of them was decked out in great attire for the Wimbleton match. :)

The lines

"The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places." Psalm 16:6
This verse came to mind this evening, as I was sitting in my bunk in a tiny Camden hostel room, where my 5 interns and I are camped out for the next 5 weeks (I've been calling it our mini-van, because that's about the size it is!). I've really been feeling a depth of loneliness that's feeling heavy, as the reality of being in this foreign place for a long time sets in, and I long for "tastes" of home. I think I got about 3 hours of sleep last night- our first night in our hostel room. The nightlife of Camden is pretty happening, and there was a ton of noise throughout the night on the street. I got to Hounslow this morning with the 5 interns, really tired and dragging my feet. We were going to help the Southall team with a book table today. And after I ran to Starbucks and grabbed a caffeinated drink, the zombiness started to wear off a bit, and I went around high street chatting with people. It was so so cool and energizing, and great to be out and doing surveys and just talking to people from different places in the world, some who mentioned the loneliness they struggle with (being a young foreigner here provides a good ground for talking). I felt like we had something in common, and I was able to say that I am also new to the country and am struggling with lonliness too. I've been quick to complain that my living conditions for the next month are hard, and that I'm really exhausted and lonely. But this evening it just hit me that in all of that, the lines have fallen in gracious places in my life today, because I know the hope and love and changelessness of Jesus Christ, and I am no longer an alien or orphan (Eph 1), but a daughter of His family. So yeah, things might be hard and lonely, and I might find Camden crazy intimidating right now, but I know the treasure of Jesus, and am no longer walking in darkness, and that's huge and worth sharing!!