independence day/official update

here's a few pics for you from our recent 4th of July celebration. there was much good food, some brought back from america, some home made, and some purchased from Aldi who had a bunch of american stuff in for the holiday. that american flag cake was made by Rachel my fellow american and was amazing! strawberries and blueberries for the stars and stripes! the company was great and the weather could not have been better. as you may or may not know, in the summer it doesn't really get dark till about 11pm, so you'll see us looking at the fireworks when it seems kinda light out, but they were still really good!
i think everyone's accepted our rebellion as a good excuse for a party!

On a more serious note for those who haven't heard, i'll be moving back to the states the beginning of September. two weeks ago my committee had a meeting and it was decided thatthe funds were not available to continue my post. other suggestions were proposed as to how NISCU could make my staying work, but as i wasn't there the committee decided that before any decisions were to be made i needed to figure out where God was leading me for the future. tuesday morning began one of the most difficult weeks of my life. Through much prayer and many tears and wise counsel i've come to the conclusion that the other job proposals were not for me and that this situation was God's way of letting me know that it is time to move to the next exciting venture God has for me.

It will be nice to be closer to friends and family, but it will be very hard to leave the work, the kids, and the friends i've gotten to know. it's funny how the really difficult things of this past year are already beginning to seem not so bad in light of leaving. as for what the next stage is, the plan is grad school studying social work. my heart is and i believe always will be full time ministry and i think the skills learned from the social work field will help me in working with people wherever God leads me.

So that's a brief synopsis of the events of the past two weeks. it's crazy how much things can change in so short an amount of time. i'm just so grateful God is in control, not me. For He knows far better what's best for me! I hope you are all enjoying your summers, the weather has been fabulous here! it's been in the upper 80s and sunny the past few days and i spent saturday and sunday at Ullswater lake this weekend! i'll take it while i can!

just some fun pics

our train carriage office...

we americanized maizie at the 4th of July bash!
jon becomes a kid when there aren't any around.
a springtime dip in derwentwater
a great afternoon of trampolining!

most embarrassing moment of my 24 year existence

i know i've been remiss in my blogging and some people have given up on me, but i think this makes up for my lapse in dutiful posting...

We’re sitting in house group (a bible study group for 20s -30) catching up on the current events of our lives and as everyone knows I’ve been in America this past week. Gavin asks me how it was and after the preliminary "it was really good", "the wedding was beautiful", etc..., in my excitement I begin to tell him about the day that jenn’s brother, Michael, took us out shooting. Now Carl and Rach had already heard this story on the trip back from the airport, but the rest hadn't and for those of you that don’t know it, I’ll tell it like I did at house group.

I begin by telling Gav what an awesome time we had and that Jenn’s brother is in the coast guard and in charge of something to do with guns--teaching people how to use them, clean them, fix them, etc. So he took us out one day to shoot and we got to try our hand at a 45, a semi-automatic, and a shotgun. And I was good. I even managed to hit the clay pigeon-like things! (my excitement building as i tell the story) At this point one of the other girls in the group asks, “What do they need guns for in the coast guard?!” interrupting the flow of my story. So Carl inputs with, “they use them to chase away drug smugglers” and I interject in front of the two new guests to our house group with, “No, they shoot at Russians!” (*as I’ve been informed by Michael)

As the words leave my mouth my heart stops and my breathe catches as I see Carl’s head snap up and eyes bug out, Rachael’s head swing my way, and Roman’s eyes (he’s one of the new guys) meet mine, and in that fraction of a second I die. Wishing the floor would open and swallow me up, not having a clue how to fumble for a recovery I wonder just how badly I’ve offended the Ukrainian I met only moments before.

And for what seemed like years I sat staring across the room at Carl with my mouth hanging open grasping at something to say, debating whether in saying anything I’ll just dig myself deeper into the pit I’ve just created, and all the while panicking over what the odds are of Roman having a brother who's died of the coast of alaska.

I stumbled with, “Jenn’s grandmother…Jenn’s grandmother wanted to come shooting with us…She was shooting the semi from the hip…” and luckily Carl and Gavin carried it on from there, my hope lying in the distracting humor of the grandma shooting bit or for the whole thing being lost in translation.

Sitting with a heated face through the rest of the evening I contemplate the pros and cons of apologizing, defending my country, or justifying it by saying they would have done the same. In the end I said nothing at all except “nice to meet you” as he walked out the door… That was after inviting him to a 4th of July party to celebrate America’s independence from the Brits! At the end of the day I feel confident in knowing I’ve done my part in perpetuating the stereotype of the stupid oblivious American.

Thank God for grace.

And another aspect of humor in all this is that it happened literally hours after telling Jon that i had never really experience any significant embarrassing moments. go figure.

P.S. As for the wedding, it really was great and beautiful. and i will hopefully soon be able to post some pictures. until then, let my experience be a lesson for you all...thinking before speaking is probably a good thing.

*as far as being informed by Michael, i mean that this is what i heard and what came out of my mouth, but not necessarily an accurate representation of what Michael said!

SNOW!!

Yesterday it looked like the pic i posted yesterday, but today i woke up and it was a winter wonder land! in mid march! check these out!

hello

hi folks! not too much to say today. life is good, work is good, but nothing too extroidinary has happened as of late. i taught a few more brits how to line dance a couple weekends ago and we had a yummy chocolate night at CHOFHS youth club on thurs. i'm looking for a place to stay, so if you think about it please pray for me, it's not the easiest area to find cheap living! but in the meantime here's a pic of the view from my current residence. out the backdoor you can see the pennines in the distance and the castle ruins in the back right.

i hope you all are doing well. keep me updated! take care...

Scotland pics

not much purpost to this first pic, just a pretty picture of a dam bridge! (ha, i didn't even plan that) the second is some gorgeous scottish scenery taken from my car window as we were zipping along, hence the not so great quality.


this is taken the same day, but a little later...how quickly the weather changes!

Weekend Away

Hello, Hello! I returned yesterday about 6pm from a fun-filled weekend away with 19 other people. Jon and I took several students, aged 16 and up to Scotland for a skiing/snowboarding adventure! It was super fun and i now have a sore bum! hey, i rhymed. This was a great opportunity to get to do something with the older youth, who are much harder to reach. They're just not as easy to amuse as 11 year olds! Though there was little snow and only one run open, i think everyone had a blast and it was just a great chance to get to know each other. Hopefully, because of the relationships built during this trip, we might see some more of these guys at events where we wouldn't normally. Please pray that they would simply be open to the possibility of having God be a part of their lives. And that the Holy Spirit would begin a good work in their hearts. It's always encouraging when you can see and hear about the great potential in youth, and these guys have such potential!

This will have to be short, but i thought I'd send you a couple pics of the incredible views in Scotland. These pics, taken from a car window, unfortunately do no justice to God's awe-inspiring creation.

Hope you guys are doing well, leave me a message, and I'll talk to you soon!!

P.S. I'll have to post pics later, the internet is being retarded!! Arg.