Last night in Oxford

Welp, this is it. It is my last night here in Oxford, and surprise surprise, it’s raining! haha It has been such a wonderful last night out with my friends!! I know I have said it a million times, but I could not be more blessed by the people that I am here on this trip with. What a special community! Seriously, it brings me to tears every time I think about what a blessing each person has been on my life this semester.

On a more exciting note- I’m all packed and ready to go! I have fit all of my things in my suitcase only by the grace of God haha. It is going to be a nightmare to get to the airport and on the plane… I just want to get home! Haha but it will all work out.

I am excited to be going home!! As hard it is to be leaving this country and my amazing friends, I am ready to be back in Texas. It just doesn’t feel real at all...I feel like I am getting ready to go on another trip and I will be back in a week or so, but I won’t! But hey, all good things must come to an end right?

Well, I have got to go and soak up every second I can with my friends before I leave! See you tomorrow in Texas!

Peace and Blessings!! 

"Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

Psalm 37:4

2 days... WOW.

Well hello there!

Holy cow, I only have 2 days left in Oxford. This cannot be real!! It seems like just yesterday that I was unpacking my things and looking ahead to all the fun trips I was going to go on! Now, the trips are done and some of my stuff is all packed up and I am beginning to reflect on the many incredible things I have learned this semester by being abroad!

Here are just a few thoughts (serious and less serious):

Chips (or French fries): I AM SO THANFUL FOR THIS FOOD!! Haha not only is it delicious, but there have been numerous times on trips where that has been the only thing that I have been able to eat. It may not be the healthiest, but it sure beats being hungry! In Paris I seriously had French fries every meal but one (stupid culture who loves bread…). God has provided for me so much this semester as far as what I have been able to eat with my gluten allergy, and chips have definitely been a huge part of my diet.

Queues and “mind the gap”: Don’t cut the queue (line)… EVER. Just don’t do it. It is the biggest mistake that you can make in this culture. Seriously, English people love their lines, and you better not cut them! There is a joke that if 3 English people were locked in a room together, the door would open and you would find them forming a queue haha This could not be more true! When I return home, I am going to be the lone American forming a line over everything (and I do mean everything) because that is what I am used to doing here! Haha and “mind the gap”…. This one is going to have to be explained in person, but all I can say is when you get on and off a train you better mind the gap! Haha

Dreamtime: This tea has changed my life. It is so freaking good. Also, there have been so many amazing memories made over many cups of dreamtime! This is my favorite hot tea in the world, and I know that everytime I drink it I will think of my friends and the hilarious memories we have shared over a cup of tea!

Community: Although this word has been ruined by my core class, the community I have experienced here has been like nothing that I have ever had before! What an amazing group of people that God has put with me with this semester. Although there are times where I just want to be alone or skype without someone without interrupting me (I did not have one conversation alone all semester- AND I LOVE IT!), I adore the people that I live with. I have seen Jesus in every single one of my friends this semester, and we have seriously become a family here. Through the good times and bad, this community has always been there for me. I have been able to truly understand why God does not want us to go through life alone… community is sooooo important! This is only the beginning of what I want to say about community, but I don’t have time to write it all down now!

Church:  Experiencing different churches has really changed my relationship with Christ and greatly increased my love for his people. I can’t explain the feeling of worshiping with people who don’t look, dress, or sound the same as you (or even speak the same language!) and knowing that they are your brothers and sisters in Christ. Wow. Seriously, I get chills just thinking about it! I have learned so much about how different traditions do things, and it has greatly increased my personal convictions. I also have learned so much about the Lord’s Supper, Baptism, and communal reading of Scripture. I have gotten several glimpses of heaven this semester, and it only increases my longing for the day that we all get to sing to our King in Heaven together!

            My love for the people of God has increased more than I ever thought possible! As a bible major, I knew that I loved the church and the people in it, but I have never been so in love with the Bride of Christ as I am now. I yearn to be with the people of God at all times, and I am humbled and excited to have been called to serve them full time! The body of Christ extends past Plano, past Texas, past America, even past Oxford! It has been so amazing getting to see this first hand and be a part of the church on a global scale. It has also made me realize how much I love and feel called to my church back home! Some of the times I have felt the most homesick was when I was missing Parkway Hills: the people, the staff, and my kiddos. I can’t put into words my passion for the body of Christ, and I had never really grasped this idea before this semester!!

Well, there is so much more that I could say, but I have got to go pack (yikes)! Hopefully I will put some more of my thoughts on here in the future, but this is all I got for now haha

Peace and Blessings!

“And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.” Colossians 1:23

Top of the Morning!

Top of the Morning to you!

As I write this, I am sitting with Megan in the most legitimate book shop/ tea place EVER. Being in here and sipping on my tea while listening to jazz music automatically makes me feel creative and inspired… I feel as if I should write a book right now! But no worries, I don’t have the time today to do that on my blog! Haha So much has happened this weekend and the beginning of this week. I cannot believe that just one week from now at this time I will be on a plane back to the States! What an incredible whirlwind of a semester it has been, and it is insane to think that it has been almost 5 months. But more of my depressing attitude later, let me tell you about my trip to Ireland!

Friday: Once again, we began our journey early. 12:30 am (with no sleep or nap this time before) came quicker than normal, and it took some mental preparation to start off this trip on a 4 hour bus ride to the airport. I take for granted the fact that I live within 45 minutes to DFW and Lovefield at home, for trips to the airport here are journeys in and within themselves! Stanstead Airport is the bane of my existence. Anyway, we made it to the airport and to our gate with plenty of time to spare. There were lots of kids at the airport for some reason that day, so I had a great time playing peek-a-boo with some of the babies around as I waited to board the plane! I colored with Cameron the whole flight, and then we got off and found our bus to take us to the Blarney Castle. Ok, Ireland is absolutely beautiful. I have never seen such green grass in my life!! We headed right away to the Blarney Castle where we kissed the Blarney stone! It is supposed to bring eloquence and fertility into your life after you kiss it, and you have to lay down and lean backward over the castle in order to kiss it. What a fun time this was! After the castle, we caught our train to Killarney, where we were staying. The train ride was fun, but me and a couple of friends ended up sitting on the floor cause there was no room (this is a funny story- ask me later!) I had a great conversation the 2 hour train ride and enjoyed looking at the beautiful scenery! What a wonderful and precious little town Killarney is. Wow. Our hostel was very nice too, and even with 11 of us staying in a little 8 person room, everything worked out ok. If we weren’t close before, we are now!! Haha That night we went to a wonderful dinner and then did some shopping. Then, we went back and played cards for like 10 minutes before some of us went to bed. We were all so tired (we hadn’t slept in like 24 hours remember!) that we fell asleep rather quickly.

Saturday: We woke up and took a bus to Dingle. LOVED this city! So great. The bus ride was the best ride of my life, and the scenery was absolutely incredible! I felt like I was dreaming or something. Then, after lunch, we did the most exciting thing in the world: WE WENT HORSEBACK RIDING THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS OF IRELAND!!!!! AHHHHHHHH DREAMS!! It was absolutely the highlight of my trip. What a blessing it was to be on a horse again, and in NO back pain! Thanks be to God for healing me! Seriously, I almost started to cry on the horse because of how good I felt and how I was in no pain (well, except for the normal pains of not riding a horse in a while haha). What a mighty and incredible God we serve! Not only was the ride fun, but we got an incredible view of Ireland from the top of a horse- AH!! The friends I went with made is so much fun too, and this afternoon made a memory that I will have for the rest of my life! After this we looked around a little and then headed back to Killarney. We ate dinner and spent the rest of the evening chatting and walking around the cute town of Killarney. What an incredible day.

Sunday: We got up and went to the national park to see the waterfall and stuff. HOLY COW. I can’t even talk about how pretty it was. I tried to capture some of it through pictures, but that really isn’t fair because there is no way to really capture the beauty! We spent the rest of the day eating (we found a gluten free restaurant with pizza- yay!) and traveling back home, where we arrived at 4:30 am… wee. Cameron, Michael and I played Life, Risk, and Mash on our phones together the whole trip though, which made it much more fun and enjoyable! And we colored on the plane again- I’m telling you, it is cheap, fun therapy!

One super cool thing though: on our bus ride back, I sat in front of an NFL legend that played for the Packers in the Icebowl and has won two superbowl rings! Who would have thought this would happen on a bus ride back from Stanstead at 2:30 in the morning!! His name was Dick Capp, and his is 75 years old and has ridden that bus every 10 days for 21 years. He coaches an American football team both here in England and in the States, and we spent some time talking to him about his life and experiences in the NFL… SO COOL. He even said I had a precious southern accent (which I don’t get much- my friends think I sound more northern than Texan haha). It was so cool.

Monday was a boring day- I slept in and then wrote a paper and hung out with some of my friends, which is never boring! Then we had our community worship service, followed by a dance party… SUPER FUN!!

Tuesday- Last English and Greek class of the year…YAY! Then I studied for our INTS exam this morning at 8:30. I also went to Christ Church, which was absolutely beautiful (that is also where the great hall scene was filmed from harry potter). My friend who volunteers there gave us an exclusive tour, which was super cool!! But the highlight of yesterday was crepe night! Our floor family made crepes and hung out and enjoyed our time and sugar high together for about an hour as we listened to the same song on a loop haha I absolutely love my floor, and it is going to be so sad not to be living with them after this! Oh, and we bought tickets to see Phantom of the Opera this weekend in London…you know, the usual. (I AM SO EXCITED!!)

Now I sit here in this book shop, sipping on tea, and trying to avoid thinking and studying for my Greek exam that is tomorrow. Time flies by! It is crazy to think how much this semester abroad has changed my life. I am never going to think the same ever again, and my view on God and people have forever changed! What an incredible God we serve! There is so much that has happened this semester- I can’t wait to tell you all about it when I return home!!

Well, my procrastination time is over. It is time to study for Greek (unfortunately). Hopefully this jazz music will drown out the negative thoughts I have for Greek at the moment…

Peace and Blessings!