Friday, May 15th
2:00 pm was our designated meet up time at the Baptist Student Union to depart on our journey to Grantham, England! Of course, I had many last-minute tie-ups... such as packing for 7 weeks... to do that day, but somehow I was able to lock up the apartment and head over to the BSU right on time! Everyone met up, and I could barely contain my excitement! (That may be an understatement somehow...) One of the greatest things about this team that's been pulled together is that it is such a mixture of people. Most people only knew one or two others prior to our team meetings. And even going into Friday, we still were pretty unfamiliar with one another. But that didn't stop me from jumping off the walls in excitement at the idea of England! The excitement of getting to see all of my friends over here, but also in how God would work in the lives of the 11 others surrounding me as we prayed and boarded our bus for GTR airport. Friday was an answered prayer as our journey went smoothly. We got to the airport in plenty of time and went from GTR to ATL without trouble. We even had a little time to spare before our flight left for London. It's funny to think back a week and a half later at how little we knew each other that first day. We have come a long way! And still have a little over a week left together. I'm definitely thankful for that!
On the long flight, I had an aisle seat by a girl in college who was on her way to Europe to visit her father's family. Her brother, mother, and younger sister were sitting around us as well. We were pretty much best friends by the end of the flight. Well... at least knew a good bit of each other's life stories. I'm usually a fan of just seeing who God places next to me on planes because you never know what kind of conversations will take place or what new things you can learn! And the same with flight attendants. I asked for milk to go with my dinner, and for some reason the male flight attendant started laughing at a "grown woman" wanting a glass of milk with supper. :). They always have fun stories as well. Make an effort, get to know them. It's pretty great.
And with that, though I didn't really sleep on the plane, somehow, the days changed from Friday to Saturday with hours just getting deleted from my life with time zone changes! Pretty fun to say I never had a _:00 on Friday, May 15th, 2015.
I would like to give one other praise in this day! God has provided so much in preparing me to go on this trip. A couple of prayer requests that date beforehand was specifically related to finding a job. I was asked to join the staff at a middle school only 20 minutes from where I already live, which is such a blessing in itself! With my new job, there is a conference coming in July (that actually starts the day I get back in the States!) for which I had applied to get in. Well, when I checked my mail Literally right before I left, I received an acceptance letter into the program! It also required a response within a certain amount of time, which I was able to fill out, sign, and return before I left the country. I am so thankful that everything happened in perfect timing! Things like these just amaze me. In times that I ever question if England is where I am supposed to be this summer, I just get reaffirmed by provisions such as these that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, and God is taking care of everything else!
Saturday, May 16th
No need for sleep when it's 8 am on a Saturday morning! ...even if you've already been awake for 19 hours. We had a full day in London planned!
As we gathered all of our luggage that successfully made it with us to London (praises there!), we journeyed out to our hotel where we were able to drop off our luggage until our rooms were ready. In the mean time, we went back to an old favorite restaurant called The Onion. If you ever get the chance, you should go! We went last year, and they remembered Mr. Michael. Some people say the food in England isn't so great. I'm just not sure why. I would have to disagree.
After lunch, we went to the British museum and zombied our way around the exhibits. Well.. a couple of them. I was more on board with the idea of looking at one or two things and then resting in the outside courtyard until time to check into our rooms at 3. However, there was a moment of service some of us got to help with right off the bat while we were in the museum. Zach and I came across Ashley and Michael as they were sitting on the floor with two young boys while a couple of people (some being emergency assistance personnel) were gathered around a man lying on the floor. I joined Ashley and took Mr. Michael's spot with the boys and learned about the situation. Apparently the boys were with their dad, and they were going to meet up with their uncle. However, their uncle is diabetic and apparently went into a seizure right before we got there. Ashley and Michael were helping to watch the boys while their father was trying to help with their uncle. Ashley and I helped the boys stay calm and just spoke with them to give them assurance that all would be fine. And it was. Their uncle was able to recover in a small amount of time, and their father was very grateful for our little bit of help. Things like this just remind me of how gracious God is in peace. The peace that comes with God is so powerful! Even if other people don't have it themselves, I love how I can share that peace with them just by acting it out for them. I love to use the peace God gives me to give peace to others. And hopefully, this peace can be explained to them as given to me by God and is nothing I could ever have on my own. The gifts of the Gospel at work.
After we were able to check into our rooms (Daphney and I were roomies in London!), I hit the bed for a shorter-than-preferred nap. Then, it was time to get ready for Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games at the Domion Theatre. We ate at the restaurant right next door- excellent of course- then proceeded to watch an amazing show! Have I ever mentioned how much I love dancing? Well, I do. And this was just great. Usually it's a struggle to stay awake with so many hours without sleep, but this show caught my attention for sure!Finally, happily, after hours of awakeness, it was time for bed!
Sunday, May 17th
Daphney and I had the best intentions of going to breakfast with the group that morning. However, we slept in a good couple of hours longer than intended. An alarm was set, but time differences threw it off that morning. We didn't complain because it was beautiful to get so much sleep after an eventful couple of days.
That morning, we got together with our group in the lobby and headed towards our very own tour mini-bus for a day full of adventure! Order of stops included Salisbury, Bath, and Stonehenge! Our driver's name was Frasier, and our tour guide's- Carol. As we went around and outside of London, Carol told us all kinds of historical facts surrounding the country. We learned everything to why pubs have pictures on their signs to the history of thatched roofs. I feel at least a little more knowledgeable in certain things!
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| Our First Stop! Salisbury Cathedral |
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| The King's Bath |
In the town itself, we walked around to the shops and enjoyed the differences the town had to an average American town. There were also sweets shops around every corner, which we were sure to venture into! Spent a couple pounds to gain a couple pounds. But they were pretty delicious!
Finally, we had our last stop at Stonehenge. This is the first of the 7 Wonders of the World that I've visited. It was pretty cool :). We were getting our picture taken with an iPhone, and then a stranger started to take our picture as well. He took a couple of shots with a very professional-looking camera and started talking with us. He turned out to be a professor from the U.S. who also liked to do professional photography. He got Mr. Michael's email and sent us the picture that night! I'd say he did a pretty good job!
We finished our day of travels and returned back to our hotel. Our days of adventure (and jet-lag) were filled to the brim! It's so great just having time to get to know these wonderful people I've been sharing life with these past days. God is so good in taking a group of random (not-so-random) people and binding them together to serve individual purposes for His Kingdom! It's just Awesome.
