Tomorrow is my last day in England. It's time to pull those ruby red slippers out from under the bed and travel home. However, clicking my heals together and reciting "there is no place like home" is going to look a bit more like a 2 hour bus trip to London, a 12 hour flight to Denver (lay over in Toronto) and a 3 1/2 hour drive to Colby. They just don't make ruby red slippers like they used to. ;) Hmmm...that's ok though, the whole traveling process will provide me with some good thinking time; I look forward to this.
Today we had a couple hours of debriefing and our last high tea. Oh the sadness... More than the beautiful countryside, the organic food, and the incredible resources (libraries, professors, etc.) I am going to miss the people. What a beautiful group of people the Lord has brought here for such a time as this. I will miss the daily interactions with them all and reflect on our memories with such gratefulness.
I look forward to seeing you all and sharing the treasures that I have been entrusted with here in Oxfordshire. Until then, I leave you with a poem that I wrote today as I reflected on my time here...
Praise the Lord for his faithfulness, praise the Lord for his grace
Lord, no matter where I go, may I gaze upon your face
Your promises have proven true; not once did they fail me
I put my hope in you and set my heart on eternity
How tenderly you guide me; you direct my steps with care
These burdens of the world, alone I do not bare
You walk with me and teach me; You are up to something good
You give me strength to do things I never thought I could
I voluntarily sing to You, it pleases me to do so
My soul is satisfied in you alone, where else could I go
Keep my heart attentive Lord, always to Your Ways
I want to be found faithful at the end of all my days
------------
I shall see on on the other side of the pond dear family and friends. :)
Thank you for all your messages/letters, prayers, and thoughts. You have played such a role in encouraging and strenghtening my heart.
See you soon.
Thursday, 22 July 2010
Thursday, 8 July 2010
To be loved by the King...
So let me tell you about Bristol... :)
This last weekend I jumped on the train and traveled to meet up with Dave Jeal, who I mentioned in my last post, is a friend to one of my professors at Sterling. He picked me up at the train station and I got into his car (on the front, left side...scary/weird feeling) and he drove me to his house to meet his family. His wife's name is Nikki and he has an 11-year-old daughter named Hannah. (She is the girl with me in my current profile picture on facebook.) Because it was Dave's birthday, the girls wanted to clean up and get ready to go out for curry...Dave's favorite. To give them some time, Dave and I went out sight seeing a bit. He had a lot of historical and fun stories to tell me because he has lived in Bristol all of his life. Before heading back, we stopped at a restaurant to get a drink (it's been really hot here). This restaurant had a gorgeous terrace that overlooked a deep ravine and winding river...awww sooo beautiful! Dave and I sipped on our refreshing beverages and just talked for a bit. He never shyed away from meaningful conversation and asked me about plans and dreams I had for my life. I don't think he realized just how much I enjoyed this part. When we got back to the house, the girls were ready to go and we headed out to eat at the favorite Bangladeshy restaurant. :) Dave's parents as well as a family friend, joined us for the birthday dinner and afterwards the whole gang returned back to the house for some incredible fudge cake and coffee.
Later that evening, Dave let me know that he had picked up on two things from our conversations earlier that day. To be honest, I didn't even recall mentioning them. First, I must have conveyed that I was missing home a little bit because he told me that I could use his phone to call home if I wanted. (After his gentle persistence, I did...it was a fun and unexpected surprise for me as well as my sister and mom.) The other thing I didn't realize I had hinted at was that at some point during my time in England I would love to spend time with God walking through a forest. Haha...Dave said, "Ya know Lauren, we have a forest out back and if you want, after church tomorrow, you could go for a walk down there." I wonder what my face looked like because I am awful at hiding expressions. :D
Church the next day was great; Dave and his family started this church 5 years ago and it continues to grow. I enjoyed helping them with all the little prepartions for the service and sunday school time. After church I asked if Dave and his family would walk down through the forest with me before I headed back to Oxford. Ahh they did... and I loved it.
That afternoon Dave and Hannah took me back to the train station and as we drove there, Dave went through the weekend and told me specific things he saw in me and encouraged me very purposefully. All I have to say to the weekend is WOW, wow, Wow...!!!
On the train ride back, I recorded some of the things Dave said to me and settled back into my seat and asked God what on earth had I done to receive such special attention this weekend...and he whispered back to me, "Nothing, Lauren...just wanted to say that I love you."
Oh to be loved by the King...
-----------
Tutorial week #1 followed this lovely weekend, which means our first round of essays were due as well as two tutorial meetings to attend. The structure of the tutorial meeting goes like this: You bring your essay to your designated meeting time and read it out loud to your professor. As you read, the professor marks and underlines different parts of your paper that he or she would like to discuss. Both of my professors have been incredibly thorough. Afterwards I have to remind myself that I prayed for this, an opportunity to become a better communicator. It can be a rather humbling experience, but it is very helpful in that you are receiving personal counsel and direct answers to your questions. I like it! One of the closing questions to my first tutorial was, "Lauren, please explain your thoughts to me on child suffering."
This coming week, I have a tutorial on Tuesday and another one on Thursday. For my essay due on Tuesday I am explaining and expounding upon a quote of C.S. Lewis' "All who are in hell choose it." Thursday's essay/tutorial is over the literary elements of Jane Austen's novel "Emma." Haha...my classes hit really different parts of the research spectrum. It's been an interesting duo for sure.
Tomorrow, I am going to the botanical gardens with a couple of friends and I am super excited! This is something I have personally wanted to do since I first got here. I bought a new journal at an antique store yesterday...(antiques here are a tad bit older that the antiques in the U.S. ;) and I think starting my new journal at the botanical gardens is going to be very fitting. The garden is indeed where the Lord started writing our story. ;)
Hmmm...some closing thoughts:
I have been so refreshed by the Lord's personal and determined pursuit to finish the story he has started in my life.
May this truth rest in you today:
He sees you (all of who you've been and all you are capable of be coming) and asks you to "be confident in this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Phil. 1:6
He's working it out...
That's all for now,
Lauren
This last weekend I jumped on the train and traveled to meet up with Dave Jeal, who I mentioned in my last post, is a friend to one of my professors at Sterling. He picked me up at the train station and I got into his car (on the front, left side...scary/weird feeling) and he drove me to his house to meet his family. His wife's name is Nikki and he has an 11-year-old daughter named Hannah. (She is the girl with me in my current profile picture on facebook.) Because it was Dave's birthday, the girls wanted to clean up and get ready to go out for curry...Dave's favorite. To give them some time, Dave and I went out sight seeing a bit. He had a lot of historical and fun stories to tell me because he has lived in Bristol all of his life. Before heading back, we stopped at a restaurant to get a drink (it's been really hot here). This restaurant had a gorgeous terrace that overlooked a deep ravine and winding river...awww sooo beautiful! Dave and I sipped on our refreshing beverages and just talked for a bit. He never shyed away from meaningful conversation and asked me about plans and dreams I had for my life. I don't think he realized just how much I enjoyed this part. When we got back to the house, the girls were ready to go and we headed out to eat at the favorite Bangladeshy restaurant. :) Dave's parents as well as a family friend, joined us for the birthday dinner and afterwards the whole gang returned back to the house for some incredible fudge cake and coffee.
Later that evening, Dave let me know that he had picked up on two things from our conversations earlier that day. To be honest, I didn't even recall mentioning them. First, I must have conveyed that I was missing home a little bit because he told me that I could use his phone to call home if I wanted. (After his gentle persistence, I did...it was a fun and unexpected surprise for me as well as my sister and mom.) The other thing I didn't realize I had hinted at was that at some point during my time in England I would love to spend time with God walking through a forest. Haha...Dave said, "Ya know Lauren, we have a forest out back and if you want, after church tomorrow, you could go for a walk down there." I wonder what my face looked like because I am awful at hiding expressions. :D
Church the next day was great; Dave and his family started this church 5 years ago and it continues to grow. I enjoyed helping them with all the little prepartions for the service and sunday school time. After church I asked if Dave and his family would walk down through the forest with me before I headed back to Oxford. Ahh they did... and I loved it.
That afternoon Dave and Hannah took me back to the train station and as we drove there, Dave went through the weekend and told me specific things he saw in me and encouraged me very purposefully. All I have to say to the weekend is WOW, wow, Wow...!!!
On the train ride back, I recorded some of the things Dave said to me and settled back into my seat and asked God what on earth had I done to receive such special attention this weekend...and he whispered back to me, "Nothing, Lauren...just wanted to say that I love you."
Oh to be loved by the King...
-----------
Tutorial week #1 followed this lovely weekend, which means our first round of essays were due as well as two tutorial meetings to attend. The structure of the tutorial meeting goes like this: You bring your essay to your designated meeting time and read it out loud to your professor. As you read, the professor marks and underlines different parts of your paper that he or she would like to discuss. Both of my professors have been incredibly thorough. Afterwards I have to remind myself that I prayed for this, an opportunity to become a better communicator. It can be a rather humbling experience, but it is very helpful in that you are receiving personal counsel and direct answers to your questions. I like it! One of the closing questions to my first tutorial was, "Lauren, please explain your thoughts to me on child suffering."
This coming week, I have a tutorial on Tuesday and another one on Thursday. For my essay due on Tuesday I am explaining and expounding upon a quote of C.S. Lewis' "All who are in hell choose it." Thursday's essay/tutorial is over the literary elements of Jane Austen's novel "Emma." Haha...my classes hit really different parts of the research spectrum. It's been an interesting duo for sure.
Tomorrow, I am going to the botanical gardens with a couple of friends and I am super excited! This is something I have personally wanted to do since I first got here. I bought a new journal at an antique store yesterday...(antiques here are a tad bit older that the antiques in the U.S. ;) and I think starting my new journal at the botanical gardens is going to be very fitting. The garden is indeed where the Lord started writing our story. ;)
Hmmm...some closing thoughts:
I have been so refreshed by the Lord's personal and determined pursuit to finish the story he has started in my life.
May this truth rest in you today:
He sees you (all of who you've been and all you are capable of be coming) and asks you to "be confident in this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Phil. 1:6
He's working it out...
That's all for now,
Lauren
Thursday, 1 July 2010
"Faith is a bird which loves to perch on scarecrows."
Mug full of coffee...check
Shoes off...check
Window open, letting in the English country air...check
Awww....friends and family, where did we leave off? I believe it's been almost a week since I wrote you last. Allow me to bring you up to speed.
This week has been full of incredible lectures and classes. My head feels like it weighs 10 pounds more than it did last week; so much knowledge, so many thoughts, and so many questions. I often find myself taking the long way back to the house (through the park) to reflect on the discussions of the day and talk with God.
I have found an icecream buddy and for the past couple of days Becky and I have been getting icecream in the evenings. I have really enjoyed her friendship and we have decided that because we have to walk a mile to get the icecream, that getting it everyday is not actually as unhealthy as it sounds. :)
In between lectures and classes I have been researching for my first two essays that are due next week. Starting Monday we will transition into tutorial week, where we will meet with our professors one on one and discuss our essays. Eeeek! There are times when I am completely at peace with the idea of discussing my essays with my professors, but then there are these moments when it hits me..."Lauren, you are going to talk about a topic with someone who has been studying this particular issue for longer than you have been alive."
Haha...I really do look forward to letting you guys know my experience with this. When it comes down to it, I really feel quite honored to be able to ask my questions to people who are ahead of me in this journey.
In the midst of my time in Oxford, I have been observing so many things that are not really academic at all and this has increased my journal writing recently. The Lord is connecting dots all over the place and it is making the world look a little smaller and well...He is looking a whole lot bigger in the grand scheme of things. Oh how I would love to discuss these thoughts in more detail with you, but for the sake of covering more I will move on. Send me a message if you would like to discuss more in detail what the Lord has been showing me...and I for one would love to hear what the Lord has been teaching you.
Speaking of messages and correspondence...I recieved three letters in the mail today!!! Thank you Ashley, Mom, and Megan!! I absolute love getting mail. I was just thinking to myself today of how lovely it would be to write letters back and forth the old fashion way using my (new) quill pen and ink. I read the letters on my way back from class, which I must say, says something about my improving navigation skills. Through busy streets, a market, and a park I read those cherished letters and arrived back here at 8 Crick Road without a hitch. :)
Speaking of navigation skills, (haha...I am such a spaghetti minded person) this weekend I will be traveling to Bristol to visit one of my professor's friends. Dave Jeal came to Sterling College and spoke at a couple of chapels before school let out. It will be fun to visit with him and his family. (I love how God connects dots like this.)
Right after I get back from Bristol on Sunday, the OSP group here (all my study abroad friends) are going to celebrate the 4th of July. Haha...it will be interesting to celebrate our independence from Great Britian in Great Britian. :) God bless the U.S.A!!
Tomorrow morning the group will be headed to Glastonbury and Wells. (Caves, cathedral, and where King Arthur and Lady Guinevere are said to be buried.) I really love Fridays! More pictures are surely to come after this adventure!
I bought an old hymnal last week at a church in Salisbury. (They were having a book sale and getting rid of some old books. How fun to stumble upon it!)
I will leave you with a hymn that I have really enjoyed reading this week:
God holds the key of all the unknown
And I am glad;
If other hands should hold the key,
Or trusted it to me,
I might be sad
What if tomorrow's cares were here
Without its rest!
I'd rather be unlocked the day;
And as the hours swing open, say,
'Thy will is best."
I cannot read his future plans,
But this I know;
I have the smiling of his face,
and all the refuge of his grace,
while here below.
Enough; this covers all my wants,
And so I rest!
For what I cannot, he can see
And in his care I saved shall be,
Forever blest.
J. Parker (1830-1902)
"Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares about you." I Peter 5:7
Shoes off...check
Window open, letting in the English country air...check
Awww....friends and family, where did we leave off? I believe it's been almost a week since I wrote you last. Allow me to bring you up to speed.
This week has been full of incredible lectures and classes. My head feels like it weighs 10 pounds more than it did last week; so much knowledge, so many thoughts, and so many questions. I often find myself taking the long way back to the house (through the park) to reflect on the discussions of the day and talk with God.
I have found an icecream buddy and for the past couple of days Becky and I have been getting icecream in the evenings. I have really enjoyed her friendship and we have decided that because we have to walk a mile to get the icecream, that getting it everyday is not actually as unhealthy as it sounds. :)
In between lectures and classes I have been researching for my first two essays that are due next week. Starting Monday we will transition into tutorial week, where we will meet with our professors one on one and discuss our essays. Eeeek! There are times when I am completely at peace with the idea of discussing my essays with my professors, but then there are these moments when it hits me..."Lauren, you are going to talk about a topic with someone who has been studying this particular issue for longer than you have been alive."
Haha...I really do look forward to letting you guys know my experience with this. When it comes down to it, I really feel quite honored to be able to ask my questions to people who are ahead of me in this journey.
In the midst of my time in Oxford, I have been observing so many things that are not really academic at all and this has increased my journal writing recently. The Lord is connecting dots all over the place and it is making the world look a little smaller and well...He is looking a whole lot bigger in the grand scheme of things. Oh how I would love to discuss these thoughts in more detail with you, but for the sake of covering more I will move on. Send me a message if you would like to discuss more in detail what the Lord has been showing me...and I for one would love to hear what the Lord has been teaching you.
Speaking of messages and correspondence...I recieved three letters in the mail today!!! Thank you Ashley, Mom, and Megan!! I absolute love getting mail. I was just thinking to myself today of how lovely it would be to write letters back and forth the old fashion way using my (new) quill pen and ink. I read the letters on my way back from class, which I must say, says something about my improving navigation skills. Through busy streets, a market, and a park I read those cherished letters and arrived back here at 8 Crick Road without a hitch. :)
Speaking of navigation skills, (haha...I am such a spaghetti minded person) this weekend I will be traveling to Bristol to visit one of my professor's friends. Dave Jeal came to Sterling College and spoke at a couple of chapels before school let out. It will be fun to visit with him and his family. (I love how God connects dots like this.)
Right after I get back from Bristol on Sunday, the OSP group here (all my study abroad friends) are going to celebrate the 4th of July. Haha...it will be interesting to celebrate our independence from Great Britian in Great Britian. :) God bless the U.S.A!!
Tomorrow morning the group will be headed to Glastonbury and Wells. (Caves, cathedral, and where King Arthur and Lady Guinevere are said to be buried.) I really love Fridays! More pictures are surely to come after this adventure!
I bought an old hymnal last week at a church in Salisbury. (They were having a book sale and getting rid of some old books. How fun to stumble upon it!)
I will leave you with a hymn that I have really enjoyed reading this week:
God holds the key of all the unknown
And I am glad;
If other hands should hold the key,
Or trusted it to me,
I might be sad
What if tomorrow's cares were here
Without its rest!
I'd rather be unlocked the day;
And as the hours swing open, say,
'Thy will is best."
I cannot read his future plans,
But this I know;
I have the smiling of his face,
and all the refuge of his grace,
while here below.
Enough; this covers all my wants,
And so I rest!
For what I cannot, he can see
And in his care I saved shall be,
Forever blest.
J. Parker (1830-1902)
"Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares about you." I Peter 5:7
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