The second day...

I reread last night's post and found more mistakes than usual :) Forgive me, please!

Well today has been a very good day.  Partly because it started at 12:30 when a friend called to say she was coming over later than expected.  Which was good, considering her phone call woke me up.  When I said I was tired, I wasn't exaggerating!

The day began the best way possible.  I read Psalm 69, 83, and 84 with a friend and we spent some time praying for our co-workers and friends in London.  It was very refreshing, to say the least.  We ate lunch together (obviously it was a late lunch!) and then I spent some time preparing for my evening, which has included dinner and a very long but beneficial meeting.  After having been away for so long, it's time to start to figure out my new schedule and duties.

As I travelled on the Tube to my  meeting, I was struck by the serious mood.  I've forgotten while away and I suppose I just got used to it when I was here before, but everyone is very serious.  No one smiles when they walk or if they accidentally make eye contact.  Very few people bother to say "Pardon" as they walk/push by you on the sidewalk.  Almost everyone wears a black coat.  Generally, everyone rushes off to catch the next train or the next bus.  It makes me wonder if I became more like that while I was here before.  I'm not certain these are elements of the culture to which I want to adapt.  It really shouldn't matter if I miss my train, because within two or five or (oh horrors) ten minutes, the next train will come.  I don't like pretending to be oblivious to the world around me.  I feel I miss opportunities.

Well, I must get to my preparations for another meeting tomorrow and I think an early bed is also required so that I wake up before noon!  To close, here's a portion of what I read this morning:

How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!  My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the Living God.  (Psalm 84:1-2)

I have arrived!

I departed amid some craziness.  My first flight was delayed almost two hours, causing me to attempt a dash from one terminal to another to catch my flight.  I was the third to last person getting on my connecting flight, but thanks be to God, I made it and my bags did as well!  The flight itself was pretty empty, leaving the seat next to me vacant.  I could lay over and sleep a few hours during the trip.

Arrival was smooth.  Our months of work paid off with a mere five minutes spent with a Border Official.  I was met by two friends at a coffee shop just outside of customs.  We were able to sit and have a coffee and chat for about an hour before we piled suitcases into Beth's car and made our way to the flat.

My day consisted of unpacking, grocery shopping at Sainsbury's, realizing I've forgotten the pin for my debit card because I haven't used it in so long, topping up my phone, topping up my Oyster card, and meeting friends at Trafalgar Square for a light dinner.  It's now 10:15, and I'm exhausted.  The two hours of sleep I got last night on the plane were not nearly sufficient.

The weather is pretty nice today, cold with the wind but warmer than London has been of late.  Tomorrow will be a blissfully easy day in schedule, with a lay-in for my sleep recovery.  I'm making lunch for V and C, and then doing some administrative work and hopefully resetting my pin with the bank.

The words are starting to blur together on the screen so I think it's time for my head to hit the pillow.  I miss family but it's nice to be back in London too.  One day at a time.

Kolton :)

Kolton, now one year old.  He looks happy that I'm holding him, but really, he's grinning at his momma!

The things I'll miss...

I'm sitting with a Jack Russell Terrier on my lap, another one at my feet, and I'm drinking my last free caramel latte from Sheetz.  I will miss those punch cards that add up to free coffees :)

As most of you probably already know, I'm headed back across the Pond on Monday, a scant three days from now.  I can't quite believe it!  I've been stateside for six months.  I'll have an entire new adjustment to the UK again.  To top it off, I had been staying at a friend's flat while she was out of the UK.  Now, she and I arrive back on the same day.  She graciously doesn't mind if we share her room for a few days, but in the meantime, I'm looking for a place to rent with another friend.  We've thus far been unsuccessful.  I'm praying we'll find the right place with the right price in God's time.  It's actually not stressing me out too much, which is a reminder to me that God has been teaching me about trusting Him for my provision while I've been here in the USA.  It's a lesson I'll continue learning in the UK.

Things I will miss when I leave?  (in no special order other than the first!)

• my loved ones :)  You are all so special to me.  My parents have recently arrived from Africa.  Although I'm sad to be leaving them so soon, I've still had almost two weeks with them that I would have missed had I returned to the UK when I planned.
• the convenience of a car!
• pets 
• as I mentioned, free coffee from Sheetz!
• having so many good friends in such close proximity
• knowing how to do most things without needing to ask for help!
• Wegman's grocery store
• chocolate with peanut butter....yummmm
• fires in the fireplace
• a Christmas tree at home
• Monkey bread
• Pennsylvania countrysides
• the church I've been attending
• my weekly gatherings with two dear "sisters!" (Marleen and Meredith!)
• dryers!  
• clothes warm from the dryer!
• a back yard
• nights just relaxing on the sofa watching a show with my family snuggled close 

But the bright side is, there are also things I'm excited to go back to in the UK!  I need to remind myself of these things to keep my perspective balanced.  Here's a sampling of what I'm excited to go back to....

• my friends in the UK
• being able to (eventually) unpack my suitcase
• knowing (eventually) where I will be living for a set period of time
• not needing to put fuel in a car!
• being able to get back in my job and my life in the UK
• Cornish Pasties.... um, amazing!
• seeing the Christmas lights in London
• lots of recycling options! (Ok, tangent.  I know that seems silly, but recycling is important to me!  London makes it very easy and in rural PA...not so much!)
• Corner shops
• walking as my main method of transportation
• being able to use my UK iPhone again 
• getting into a routine! (again, it seems silly, but the last six months have not had much of a routine.  It's draining to try to be planning for your days and weeks not knowing when you are leaving the country!  It does not allow for long term plans at all!)
• the Tube
• Sticky Toffee Pudding from Whetherspoons

Again, just a sampling, but I know there are good things waiting for me in the UK.  I am filled with anticipation about what the coming year holds.  

Jeremiah 29:11

 For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and future, says the Lord.