The pigeons haven't annoyed me just yet. Even though they pooped on Ben the first day and I accidentally ate the bird poop....anyway. I'm sure they will annoy me. But, yeah, birds. God takes care of them.
This time last week, we were serving with the Earls Court Community project (serving tea, lunch, etc. to the homeless or just someone who needs to talk). And I was in charge of the art table. I was inspired to draw something. Anything. So I began to draw birds. I drew a really big blue bird, looking down. Then I started to draw a tree with a little nest with 2 other little birds in it. The tree has lots of branches. Both baby birds are looking up at the big bird. The one on the right has its mouth open, as if it is talking, and the one on the left has his mouth closed. He is just listening, really. And along the curve of the tree I wrote, "Consider the birds...even they do not worry..." I've read that in the Bible many times. And maybe those aren't the exact words but you know what I'm talking about. I'm talking about how God takes care of those pigeons. Why wouldn't he take care of us? I wasn't really worried when I drew that picture, but I just kind of felt inspired to draw it. I was talking to Ben about it that day and how I thought that maybe the big "mama" bird represented God. And the two baby birds represented me and him. Of course...I was the one with my mouth open. Talking. Asking questions. Trying to figure it all out. And the other bird represented Ben. Listening. Trusting. haha.
And look at us now. We are "stuck" in London. We should have gone back to work yesterday. We have bills to pay. Blah. Blah. Blah. But we are here. "Stuck" (or really not so stuck in Gods eyes). And each day that goes by and I think "we should be home right now. Working. Coming up with a plan on how to raise support. Etc. Etc." But then I look at the pigeons. Some of them different colors. Some of them waiting to fly away until that last moment when the bus is about to hit them (silly stupid birds). Some of them with only one foot. But God takes care of them. And he's taking care of us. Its that simple. Maybe we will be able to fly out Thursday as our flight is booked. But maybe it will be cancelled again. Maybe the volcano will continue to erupt for years as it did 200 years ago. But I just can't sit here and worry. 20 years from now I don't want to look back and see how I sat around worrying and worrying until I finally got on a plane. I want to look back and know that I served Him the best way I knew how for this circumstance. I want to look back and see this adventure. Look at the birds. They dont' worry. And God has called me His own. I belong to Him. He will take care of me. And of us. For the next two days. Two years. Two decades. Forever.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
And the Honeymoon is Over...
Whew. We are so exhausted. This is probably something we will remember for the rest of our lives. Last Thursday (while we were still here), a volcano in Iceland erupted, causing ash to fill the skies all the way to over here. Flights were cancelled, but we were feeling optimistic that our flight wouldn't be affected. Not so...
We are suppossed to be on an airplane on the way home this very minute. Instead, I am sitting in a hostel with a sick, exhausted, snoring, handsome husband next to me. (He didn't bring his inhaler here and is definately wishing he did by now). We arrived at our hotel in Heathrow last night around 12:30 A.M. We got up early and headed to the airport, despite the fact we had been told our flight was cancelled. When we got there...it was a ghost town. Only a few security guys passing around sheets of paper with phone numbers to call to re-book our flight. I took one. And we decided to head back into the city to a place with free wi-fi and try to rebook our flight. (This involved lugging all of our luggage around yet again. Up and down lots of stairs, mind you.)
An hour later, we made it into our favorite Lebanese Cafe in Earls Court (thank goodness we made friends with these guys last week!) and we sat down to use their wi-fi to contact the airlines. After 45 minutes of being on hold, we found out our microphone wasn't working and they hung up on us. So frustrating. So we looked up some hostels within walking distance and found a GREAT one. Definately a provision from the Lord. Free wi-fi, free breakfast, and the guy checking us in gave us a room for just us two for the same price as it would be for us to be in a room with 4 bunk beds. If you're ever in London, stay at O'callaghans hostel in Earls Court. :) Thankful for a place to sleep tonight.
So...I'm still on hold as I write this blog. Wondering how long we will be here. Till Friday? For a couple of weeks? Months? A year? The last time this volcano erupted two hundred years ago, it erupted intermittdely for a year. :/I am such a "what if" person. A planner. Someone who likes and lives by black and white rules. Schedules. NOT somebody who likes to look out the window and see a grayish/blue sky and wonder when it will be bright blue enough for me to go home. So this is definately a scary time. Financially, we could make it here for awhile. We've even talked about me going down in the underground and singing. Maybe make a few pounds.
This is such a test of faith for me. Its like God saying, "Tara...do you REALLY trust me? I know you trust me when you have enough to cover all of your bills, with a little extra to go out to eat every now and then or see a movie. But do you trust in me now, my child? Will you trust me if you have to watch your "emergency savings" dwindle down to nothing? Will you be humble enough to accept help from others in this time of need? Would you trust me if you ended up in England for a year? Do you trust me to be your provider? Your Jehovah Jirah?" And right now I'm kind of like..."umm yeah God. But I'm tired. My body is sore. I'm suppossed to be at work tomorrow. What if they fire me? How are we going to pay our bills if we're away for months or even a year." And I here this still, soft voice (over Ben's snoring)..."Trust me. I have always provided. I will ALWAYS provide. Do not worry about anything, but in everything, present your requests to me, and the peace, my peace I give to you, that passes over anything you could wrap your tiny mind around, will protect your heart and your mind." So that's what I do.
We're going to make the most of it. Get by with as little as possible. Serve a lot. See if we can continue to serve the homeless with YWAM as we wait for flights. God has a purpose in everything. Although I'm not quite sure what He's up to right now...wait....I have NO IDEA what He is up to right now with all of this. At least I know He is working ALL things together for the good. For His good. His glory.
We are suppossed to be on an airplane on the way home this very minute. Instead, I am sitting in a hostel with a sick, exhausted, snoring, handsome husband next to me. (He didn't bring his inhaler here and is definately wishing he did by now). We arrived at our hotel in Heathrow last night around 12:30 A.M. We got up early and headed to the airport, despite the fact we had been told our flight was cancelled. When we got there...it was a ghost town. Only a few security guys passing around sheets of paper with phone numbers to call to re-book our flight. I took one. And we decided to head back into the city to a place with free wi-fi and try to rebook our flight. (This involved lugging all of our luggage around yet again. Up and down lots of stairs, mind you.)
An hour later, we made it into our favorite Lebanese Cafe in Earls Court (thank goodness we made friends with these guys last week!) and we sat down to use their wi-fi to contact the airlines. After 45 minutes of being on hold, we found out our microphone wasn't working and they hung up on us. So frustrating. So we looked up some hostels within walking distance and found a GREAT one. Definately a provision from the Lord. Free wi-fi, free breakfast, and the guy checking us in gave us a room for just us two for the same price as it would be for us to be in a room with 4 bunk beds. If you're ever in London, stay at O'callaghans hostel in Earls Court. :) Thankful for a place to sleep tonight.
So...I'm still on hold as I write this blog. Wondering how long we will be here. Till Friday? For a couple of weeks? Months? A year? The last time this volcano erupted two hundred years ago, it erupted intermittdely for a year. :/I am such a "what if" person. A planner. Someone who likes and lives by black and white rules. Schedules. NOT somebody who likes to look out the window and see a grayish/blue sky and wonder when it will be bright blue enough for me to go home. So this is definately a scary time. Financially, we could make it here for awhile. We've even talked about me going down in the underground and singing. Maybe make a few pounds.
This is such a test of faith for me. Its like God saying, "Tara...do you REALLY trust me? I know you trust me when you have enough to cover all of your bills, with a little extra to go out to eat every now and then or see a movie. But do you trust in me now, my child? Will you trust me if you have to watch your "emergency savings" dwindle down to nothing? Will you be humble enough to accept help from others in this time of need? Would you trust me if you ended up in England for a year? Do you trust me to be your provider? Your Jehovah Jirah?" And right now I'm kind of like..."umm yeah God. But I'm tired. My body is sore. I'm suppossed to be at work tomorrow. What if they fire me? How are we going to pay our bills if we're away for months or even a year." And I here this still, soft voice (over Ben's snoring)..."Trust me. I have always provided. I will ALWAYS provide. Do not worry about anything, but in everything, present your requests to me, and the peace, my peace I give to you, that passes over anything you could wrap your tiny mind around, will protect your heart and your mind." So that's what I do.
We're going to make the most of it. Get by with as little as possible. Serve a lot. See if we can continue to serve the homeless with YWAM as we wait for flights. God has a purpose in everything. Although I'm not quite sure what He's up to right now...wait....I have NO IDEA what He is up to right now with all of this. At least I know He is working ALL things together for the good. For His good. His glory.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Be Visionary
Today was another exciting day. We spent the majority of our day with YWAM London again and were so blessed and encouraged and affirmed again in where God is leading us. We have been sitting in the morning lectures with the students and the past few days they have gone over YWAM's core values. I will probably have them all set up in a blog eventually because I think they are so relevant and true to how we are suppossed to live as Christians. Its basically a heart attitude. Being a Christian is not a theology...its a WAY OF LIFE. One of the values is to be visionary, which is what I titled this blog. Because for the year and a half that Ben and I have been married....we have been nothing but visionary! We are always looking for the next step God wants us to take. And now God is amazing us with these new possibilities and visions of coming here to London to know the Lord and make Him known.
Today we talked more with Christian, who is an artist in the YWAM Taboo Art Ministry. He really encouraged us and welcomed us. The ministry (which is within YWAM) actually could use some photographers. This was such exciting news to Ben and I! Christian can really see (like we do) how the Lord can use a gift such as Photography, Painting, Dance, etc....and use it to bring people to Him. So that was really exciting.
This afternoon we served at Earls Court Community Project which was AMAZING. We helped out with the coffee bar which occurs every tuesday and wednesday at a local church here in London (Earls Court area). Its basically a place for the homeless, for the lonely, or for someone who just wants some tea or coffee and a light lunch and someone to talk to. Its a great example of how we are suppossed to walk with people where they are in life....and not just preach down at them. There's a Bible Study afterwards that everyone is invited to join.
Well...I was at the art table today. So I basically just sat down and starting drawing (I'm quite proud of my picture and am bringing it back as a Souveneir). One older man in particular, lets call him Bob. Bob sat down with me because he heard my American accent when he first walked in. Then he found out I was a Psychology major and starting talking about Freud, Bolby, etc. etc. It was like a mini refresher course for me...hearing Bob go on. From what I could gather, Bob was very manic. Talking a million miles a minute and just spouting off a TON of information. He is extremely intelligent. He asked me straight out if I am a Christian. I said yes. He said, "Why?". And I of course was taken aback and just hoped God would speak through me in that moment. Well....Bob has a degree. Two degrees actually. One of them is in theology. But Bob in a downright atheist. He kept trying to reason with me and give me logical and educationally based reasons why God doesn't make sense. Why an afterlife doesn't make sense. It was so sad. I felt so oppressed by the enemy, really. Not by Bob. It just felt like the enemy was poking fun at me saying...see, here Tara! See how much this man is mine! You can't do anything about it! You know what Satan....I can't. But God can. I had to keep telling that truth to myself. I had to keep telling myself that Bob's soil just isn't ready. But I'm here to listen to him. To try and refine his soil. To plant seeds when the soil is ready.
The end of my story with Bob isn't miraculous. In fact it ended like this, "Bob..it was great to meet you today and I hope we will be able to talk more in the future during coffee bar. I am going to be praying for you and for God to reveal himself to you in a brilliant way". Bob: "Well....I'm not a Christian." And after 45 minutes of conversation...that was it. And Bob walked away. But I won't be discouraged. I will continue to pray for Bob. And if its Gods will that we move here and do the DTS in September...you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be seeking Bob out at the coffee bar. Bob has been through years.....through decades...of hurt. Of who knows what that has made his heart hard for the Lord. And I'm not here to save him. That's not my job. My job is to walk with him. Encourage him. Speak truth to his life (Gods truth). And pray for him. Whew. Today has been a shaking day. In a good way, I guess.
Anyway...its really late and I need to go to bed! A lot more to do tomorrow with YWAM again!
Today we talked more with Christian, who is an artist in the YWAM Taboo Art Ministry. He really encouraged us and welcomed us. The ministry (which is within YWAM) actually could use some photographers. This was such exciting news to Ben and I! Christian can really see (like we do) how the Lord can use a gift such as Photography, Painting, Dance, etc....and use it to bring people to Him. So that was really exciting.
This afternoon we served at Earls Court Community Project which was AMAZING. We helped out with the coffee bar which occurs every tuesday and wednesday at a local church here in London (Earls Court area). Its basically a place for the homeless, for the lonely, or for someone who just wants some tea or coffee and a light lunch and someone to talk to. Its a great example of how we are suppossed to walk with people where they are in life....and not just preach down at them. There's a Bible Study afterwards that everyone is invited to join.
Well...I was at the art table today. So I basically just sat down and starting drawing (I'm quite proud of my picture and am bringing it back as a Souveneir). One older man in particular, lets call him Bob. Bob sat down with me because he heard my American accent when he first walked in. Then he found out I was a Psychology major and starting talking about Freud, Bolby, etc. etc. It was like a mini refresher course for me...hearing Bob go on. From what I could gather, Bob was very manic. Talking a million miles a minute and just spouting off a TON of information. He is extremely intelligent. He asked me straight out if I am a Christian. I said yes. He said, "Why?". And I of course was taken aback and just hoped God would speak through me in that moment. Well....Bob has a degree. Two degrees actually. One of them is in theology. But Bob in a downright atheist. He kept trying to reason with me and give me logical and educationally based reasons why God doesn't make sense. Why an afterlife doesn't make sense. It was so sad. I felt so oppressed by the enemy, really. Not by Bob. It just felt like the enemy was poking fun at me saying...see, here Tara! See how much this man is mine! You can't do anything about it! You know what Satan....I can't. But God can. I had to keep telling that truth to myself. I had to keep telling myself that Bob's soil just isn't ready. But I'm here to listen to him. To try and refine his soil. To plant seeds when the soil is ready.
The end of my story with Bob isn't miraculous. In fact it ended like this, "Bob..it was great to meet you today and I hope we will be able to talk more in the future during coffee bar. I am going to be praying for you and for God to reveal himself to you in a brilliant way". Bob: "Well....I'm not a Christian." And after 45 minutes of conversation...that was it. And Bob walked away. But I won't be discouraged. I will continue to pray for Bob. And if its Gods will that we move here and do the DTS in September...you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be seeking Bob out at the coffee bar. Bob has been through years.....through decades...of hurt. Of who knows what that has made his heart hard for the Lord. And I'm not here to save him. That's not my job. My job is to walk with him. Encourage him. Speak truth to his life (Gods truth). And pray for him. Whew. Today has been a shaking day. In a good way, I guess.
Anyway...its really late and I need to go to bed! A lot more to do tomorrow with YWAM again!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
There is No One Like Our God
Wow. Today has been amazing! And yesterday too! I wanted to blog last night, but we were so exhausted and needed to rest. So...here's a bit of an update.
Last night we met up with YWAM (Youth With a Mission) London. Its only their second week (Its a 6 month Discipleship Training Program) so its a great time for us to shadow them a bit. Well, last night was a bit laid back and we met them for salsa. yes...salsa! They use it as a ministry at Notting Hill Community Church. Every Monday there's a salsa class for whoever wants to come (and its legit...the teacher, Joanna is from Argentina! Her and her husband are YWAM staff). We had a BLAST in the salsa class last night. After the class, during the cool down, JoAnna prayed. It was just so cool to see how God can be in everything ( I mean...He's already there, anyway right?). It was really moving.
This morning, we were able to join YWAM again for their class. We were a bit late because we are still figuring out the tube (it can be quite confusing). So we sat down and talked with the Jose, the hosue leader of YWAM London before the next session began. He told us his story and how God brought him and his family to London...which was of course amazing. Then we were able to go to the YWAM class. Today they began reviewing the YWAM values. I can admit that I was MOST nervous about YWAM. I'm not sure why. I think because it sounded too good to be true. Many of you know I have many different passions...all of them pretty strong. (Singing, Spanish, Psychology, Missions, Photography,Art,). Can you believe that YWAM London has ALL of these things for me?!? God is so cool. I used to pray, "God...why have you given me a passion for all of these different and unrelated things? How will they ever fit together?" Well, if Ben and I decide to go through the DTS this September or in the near future, I will be able to use all of these gifts. Many of the LONDON YWAM staff speak Spanish. They have a focus on serving through art and music. They are missional. They are visionary. Ah! Its just so amazing! I was just praising the Lord all day long today for answering so many questions I've had on my heart....some for awhile.
And I've never heard Ben interact as much as he did today with the things discussed today in the YWAM class. He also feels strongly that YWAM London seems a good fit for us. Ben and I had so much conversation today about the Lord and where He is leading us and how we feel so confirmed and encouraged by today (and the past few days). Its so very exciting!
Tomorrow we'll hang out with YWAM some more and get to participate in the afternoon activities. I just love the people we have met there and the passion they have for the Lord and for His work. They are very visionary and supportive of Gods work. Its truly amazing.
Sooo another amazing thing...we met with the pastor and his wife from Reality London, a new church plant here in London. God had JUST opened the door for us to meet with them only a week before we left to come here! He is so good. Ben and I have been attending Restoration Church, in Nashville, and Ben Webster (a steward at Restoration), told us about Upstream Collective and gave us some contacts. (Usptream Collective is a ministry. Its people who have a heart for Europe and move to Europe and have regular jobs but live missionaly, or they already live in Europe) 2 days later we were skyping with a guy named Larry McCrary, who is highly involved in Upstream Collective and a missionary in Germany. He gave us the contact for Reality London. We were actually able to attend Reality London's church service this past Sunday and L-O-V-E-D it! It was really cool to see God moving in this city.
Anyway, today we met with them for lunch. We shared our heart with them, and their heart with us. We prayed together, and they gave us SO much insight on what it actually looks like (and what it takes) to move to London and what its like to live here as missionaries (or as workers living missionaly). It is seriously such a God thing that we ever met them in the first place and we are so blessed to have had such an amazing day today. So much was answered for us.
To top off this wonderful day...Ben and I ate at my favorite resturaunt in London. Food for Thought. Its vegetarian, quircky, and amazing!!! We were able to just talk and process a lot of things from today. Needless to say, its been a good day. :)
Again, thank you SO much for your prayers and support. We feel them around us. See you in a few days!
Tara
Last night we met up with YWAM (Youth With a Mission) London. Its only their second week (Its a 6 month Discipleship Training Program) so its a great time for us to shadow them a bit. Well, last night was a bit laid back and we met them for salsa. yes...salsa! They use it as a ministry at Notting Hill Community Church. Every Monday there's a salsa class for whoever wants to come (and its legit...the teacher, Joanna is from Argentina! Her and her husband are YWAM staff). We had a BLAST in the salsa class last night. After the class, during the cool down, JoAnna prayed. It was just so cool to see how God can be in everything ( I mean...He's already there, anyway right?). It was really moving.
This morning, we were able to join YWAM again for their class. We were a bit late because we are still figuring out the tube (it can be quite confusing). So we sat down and talked with the Jose, the hosue leader of YWAM London before the next session began. He told us his story and how God brought him and his family to London...which was of course amazing. Then we were able to go to the YWAM class. Today they began reviewing the YWAM values. I can admit that I was MOST nervous about YWAM. I'm not sure why. I think because it sounded too good to be true. Many of you know I have many different passions...all of them pretty strong. (Singing, Spanish, Psychology, Missions, Photography,Art,). Can you believe that YWAM London has ALL of these things for me?!? God is so cool. I used to pray, "God...why have you given me a passion for all of these different and unrelated things? How will they ever fit together?" Well, if Ben and I decide to go through the DTS this September or in the near future, I will be able to use all of these gifts. Many of the LONDON YWAM staff speak Spanish. They have a focus on serving through art and music. They are missional. They are visionary. Ah! Its just so amazing! I was just praising the Lord all day long today for answering so many questions I've had on my heart....some for awhile.
And I've never heard Ben interact as much as he did today with the things discussed today in the YWAM class. He also feels strongly that YWAM London seems a good fit for us. Ben and I had so much conversation today about the Lord and where He is leading us and how we feel so confirmed and encouraged by today (and the past few days). Its so very exciting!
Tomorrow we'll hang out with YWAM some more and get to participate in the afternoon activities. I just love the people we have met there and the passion they have for the Lord and for His work. They are very visionary and supportive of Gods work. Its truly amazing.
Sooo another amazing thing...we met with the pastor and his wife from Reality London, a new church plant here in London. God had JUST opened the door for us to meet with them only a week before we left to come here! He is so good. Ben and I have been attending Restoration Church, in Nashville, and Ben Webster (a steward at Restoration), told us about Upstream Collective and gave us some contacts. (Usptream Collective is a ministry. Its people who have a heart for Europe and move to Europe and have regular jobs but live missionaly, or they already live in Europe) 2 days later we were skyping with a guy named Larry McCrary, who is highly involved in Upstream Collective and a missionary in Germany. He gave us the contact for Reality London. We were actually able to attend Reality London's church service this past Sunday and L-O-V-E-D it! It was really cool to see God moving in this city.
Anyway, today we met with them for lunch. We shared our heart with them, and their heart with us. We prayed together, and they gave us SO much insight on what it actually looks like (and what it takes) to move to London and what its like to live here as missionaries (or as workers living missionaly). It is seriously such a God thing that we ever met them in the first place and we are so blessed to have had such an amazing day today. So much was answered for us.
To top off this wonderful day...Ben and I ate at my favorite resturaunt in London. Food for Thought. Its vegetarian, quircky, and amazing!!! We were able to just talk and process a lot of things from today. Needless to say, its been a good day. :)
Again, thank you SO much for your prayers and support. We feel them around us. See you in a few days!
Tara
Friday, April 9, 2010
I Ate Bird Poop
The title of this blog is so crazy I knew it would grasp attention. Unfortunately....its also true. I did...in fact...eat bird poop today....
We woke up this morning...both feeling like we'd been hit by a train. But as soon as we got outside and walking around we were better. We had our meeting with YMCA London today at 11:00. I think it went really well. We talked with a friendly guy named Ben about different job openings, the application process, and many other things. He even gave us some great suburb areas to live that aren't "dodgy". He also was the first one to say "cheers!" to us as we left. My favorite phrase.I just love it for some reason. It sounds as if we would both have a pretty good shot at a job with the YMCA, but the process could be really quick so we need to have things in order. We are going to stop by the embassy sometime tomorrow and get an idea what the process will really look like.
So, how did I manage to eat bird poop? Let me tell you...
Ben and I were hungry and stopped by Pret a Manger (that's French for "Just Eat". Its delish. Absolutely no preservatives or yucky stuff. Organic goodness. Made fresh that day). We each got a sandwhich and split half (Roasted duck and barbeque sauce on baguette, and fresh mozzerella, tomato, and pesto on whole wheat). I also got a latte. mmmm. Ok, so we were only a few blocks from St. Paul's Cathedral so we decided to have a rest on the steps of St. Paul's and enjoy our lunch. (it costs more to eat in Pret a Manger so we opted for the cheaper and more scenic route). We were sitting down and enjoying our lunch along with hundreds of other people and pigeons. All of a sudden, I heard Ben say "Oh crap".
Tara: "What?"
Ben: "I think a pigeon just pooped on me"
Tara: "Nu uh! Let me see!"
Ben: "See...its all over my pants! (Ben was wearing his only nice pair of pants since we had a meeting this morning.)
Tara: "ohhh I'm sorry babe! Heres a napkin."
Ben: "do you have any hand-sanitizer?" (he reaches for my purse)
Tara: "no no! Don't touch my purse! You have bird poop on your hands! Let me get it!" (hands sanitizer to Ben)
Ben cleans up the bird poop with a napkin and leaves the napkin on the steps. He cleans his hands with sanitizer. Then he goes down to the bottom of the steps to take my picture. He comes back and sits down. Well, the neat freak that I am decided to clean up the trash we had all over the steps. The plastic wrap and such. The last thing I grabbed was Ben's napkin that he had used to get bird poop off of himself. Unfortunately....I had forgotten this.
Green bird poop looks a lot like pesto, mind you. And I was eating a mozzerella, tomato, and basil sandwhich. I had gotten the bird poop on my finger when I was putting his napkin in the trash bag. For some CRAZY reason (maybe its the jet lag...I'll blame it on that. Not my own stupidity)...I licked my finger. I licked my bird poop infected finger! And of course as soon as I did, I started spitting it out like I have never spit before.
Tara: (spitting....making horrible faces)
Ben: "Tara..what are you doing?"
Tara: "I just licked my finger! It had bird poop on it! I thought it was pesto from my sandwhich!"
Ben: I TOLD you that napkin had poop on it earlier!"
Tara: "I know...but I forgot!"
spitting...spitting...more spitting....Ben takes a picture....spitting...spitting...
UGH. It was disgusting. And for the next few hours all I did was wait to see if I was going to get sick. Thankfully I didn't. And we went on a beautiful walk instead and took lots of awesome pictures.
We walked across the Millennium Bridge and took pictures as if it were falling apart (like when the death eaters come to London in Harry Potter 6). haha. And we spent a few hours in Tate Modern museum (looking at Picasso, Monet, etc.). We then decided to get lost in a part of London that I had never been to and it was quite fun. We discovered a HUGE organic/fresh market and I bought some pear juice. Definately going back to take pictures, because our camera batteries had died by then. You all know how I am with taking pictures of food!
That's all for now. Keep praying for us as God leads our hearts. Pray that we would be open to His will....whether thats here in London or somewhere we don't even know yet. Pray that we would be able to make an impact even for the small time that we are here. Miss you all!
We woke up this morning...both feeling like we'd been hit by a train. But as soon as we got outside and walking around we were better. We had our meeting with YMCA London today at 11:00. I think it went really well. We talked with a friendly guy named Ben about different job openings, the application process, and many other things. He even gave us some great suburb areas to live that aren't "dodgy". He also was the first one to say "cheers!" to us as we left. My favorite phrase.I just love it for some reason. It sounds as if we would both have a pretty good shot at a job with the YMCA, but the process could be really quick so we need to have things in order. We are going to stop by the embassy sometime tomorrow and get an idea what the process will really look like.
So, how did I manage to eat bird poop? Let me tell you...
Ben and I were hungry and stopped by Pret a Manger (that's French for "Just Eat". Its delish. Absolutely no preservatives or yucky stuff. Organic goodness. Made fresh that day). We each got a sandwhich and split half (Roasted duck and barbeque sauce on baguette, and fresh mozzerella, tomato, and pesto on whole wheat). I also got a latte. mmmm. Ok, so we were only a few blocks from St. Paul's Cathedral so we decided to have a rest on the steps of St. Paul's and enjoy our lunch. (it costs more to eat in Pret a Manger so we opted for the cheaper and more scenic route). We were sitting down and enjoying our lunch along with hundreds of other people and pigeons. All of a sudden, I heard Ben say "Oh crap".
Tara: "What?"
Ben: "I think a pigeon just pooped on me"
Tara: "Nu uh! Let me see!"
Ben: "See...its all over my pants! (Ben was wearing his only nice pair of pants since we had a meeting this morning.)
Tara: "ohhh I'm sorry babe! Heres a napkin."
Ben: "do you have any hand-sanitizer?" (he reaches for my purse)
Tara: "no no! Don't touch my purse! You have bird poop on your hands! Let me get it!" (hands sanitizer to Ben)
Ben cleans up the bird poop with a napkin and leaves the napkin on the steps. He cleans his hands with sanitizer. Then he goes down to the bottom of the steps to take my picture. He comes back and sits down. Well, the neat freak that I am decided to clean up the trash we had all over the steps. The plastic wrap and such. The last thing I grabbed was Ben's napkin that he had used to get bird poop off of himself. Unfortunately....I had forgotten this.
Green bird poop looks a lot like pesto, mind you. And I was eating a mozzerella, tomato, and basil sandwhich. I had gotten the bird poop on my finger when I was putting his napkin in the trash bag. For some CRAZY reason (maybe its the jet lag...I'll blame it on that. Not my own stupidity)...I licked my finger. I licked my bird poop infected finger! And of course as soon as I did, I started spitting it out like I have never spit before.
Tara: (spitting....making horrible faces)
Ben: "Tara..what are you doing?"
Tara: "I just licked my finger! It had bird poop on it! I thought it was pesto from my sandwhich!"
Ben: I TOLD you that napkin had poop on it earlier!"
Tara: "I know...but I forgot!"
spitting...spitting...more spitting....Ben takes a picture....spitting...spitting...
UGH. It was disgusting. And for the next few hours all I did was wait to see if I was going to get sick. Thankfully I didn't. And we went on a beautiful walk instead and took lots of awesome pictures.
We walked across the Millennium Bridge and took pictures as if it were falling apart (like when the death eaters come to London in Harry Potter 6). haha. And we spent a few hours in Tate Modern museum (looking at Picasso, Monet, etc.). We then decided to get lost in a part of London that I had never been to and it was quite fun. We discovered a HUGE organic/fresh market and I bought some pear juice. Definately going back to take pictures, because our camera batteries had died by then. You all know how I am with taking pictures of food!
That's all for now. Keep praying for us as God leads our hearts. Pray that we would be open to His will....whether thats here in London or somewhere we don't even know yet. Pray that we would be able to make an impact even for the small time that we are here. Miss you all!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Well HELLLOOOO London!
Well we made it. It was a bit of a long and crazy journey. At times it was definately humorous. Before we left, I (Tara) was getting all of our itinerary printed off and such and realized that my name on my boarding pass was under my maiden-name. Uh-oh. BIG uh-oh. Praise the LORD that I called the airlines BEFORE we left and found out all I needed to do was bring my marriage certificate (which is a pain to haul around since its sentimental and kind of...important).
And GUESS WHAT?!?! I FOUND A FOUR-LEAF CLOVER walking to my apartment from the office. I hadn't found one since grade-school. I thought it was definately a sign from God. Ok maybe not..but I know God smiled down at me because it made me happy. I put it in my passport. And yes...its' still there. The security guy had to get his supervisor to come sign off for me since my name wasn't right on my ticket. Ohhh great I'm going to have to go through this everytime, I thought. Well the his supervisor must have been bored because she thought it was hilarious to tell me that I wouldn't be able to fly. Then she started laughing. SO not funny...now it is I guess. :)
Our flight was delayed 2 hours and when we finally flew to Chicago the whole time I thought I would be sick. It was in one of those tiny planes so it basically felt like we were about to crash the whole time. The lighting didn't help my anxiety. And neither did the pilot announcing (before we flew) that we were a couple of hundred pounds short on fuel and were waiting to get it filled. At least they found out!
Thankfully, American Airlines booked us on the next flight to London and we left (after more delays) around 11 PM. Let me just tell you...Ben and I were ALL about those individual tv screens! You can choose your movies/tv shows/etc.! So cool. (but the food wasn't so cool lol)
We arrived at Heathrow, London 12:00 PM their time (6 A.M. our time) Soooo I got 3 hours sleep (thank you Ambien) and Ben got one hour. Needless to say...we're a little sleepy. But so excited! We made it through customs JUST fine and our luggage arrived. We're staying in a TINY hotel. Literally. The room is 6 metres. But we're so excited.
We just ate at an authentic, cheap, and AMAZING lebanese place down the street from the hotel. It was SO good. Everyone here is speaking lebanese. Falafal definately is helping my cranky side affects from lack of sleep. Anyway....we're about to leave and find where we need to be for our appointment tomorrow for YMCA. Please pray for God's direction and for him to still keep us safe. We are LOVING it so far! Thanks for your support. Your prayers. God is awesome. We live in such a big world with so many lost people. Its really mind boggling. He loves us so much....and I just want everyone to know it. Gotta run for now!
Tara
And GUESS WHAT?!?! I FOUND A FOUR-LEAF CLOVER walking to my apartment from the office. I hadn't found one since grade-school. I thought it was definately a sign from God. Ok maybe not..but I know God smiled down at me because it made me happy. I put it in my passport. And yes...its' still there. The security guy had to get his supervisor to come sign off for me since my name wasn't right on my ticket. Ohhh great I'm going to have to go through this everytime, I thought. Well the his supervisor must have been bored because she thought it was hilarious to tell me that I wouldn't be able to fly. Then she started laughing. SO not funny...now it is I guess. :)
Our flight was delayed 2 hours and when we finally flew to Chicago the whole time I thought I would be sick. It was in one of those tiny planes so it basically felt like we were about to crash the whole time. The lighting didn't help my anxiety. And neither did the pilot announcing (before we flew) that we were a couple of hundred pounds short on fuel and were waiting to get it filled. At least they found out!
Thankfully, American Airlines booked us on the next flight to London and we left (after more delays) around 11 PM. Let me just tell you...Ben and I were ALL about those individual tv screens! You can choose your movies/tv shows/etc.! So cool. (but the food wasn't so cool lol)
We arrived at Heathrow, London 12:00 PM their time (6 A.M. our time) Soooo I got 3 hours sleep (thank you Ambien) and Ben got one hour. Needless to say...we're a little sleepy. But so excited! We made it through customs JUST fine and our luggage arrived. We're staying in a TINY hotel. Literally. The room is 6 metres. But we're so excited.
We just ate at an authentic, cheap, and AMAZING lebanese place down the street from the hotel. It was SO good. Everyone here is speaking lebanese. Falafal definately is helping my cranky side affects from lack of sleep. Anyway....we're about to leave and find where we need to be for our appointment tomorrow for YMCA. Please pray for God's direction and for him to still keep us safe. We are LOVING it so far! Thanks for your support. Your prayers. God is awesome. We live in such a big world with so many lost people. Its really mind boggling. He loves us so much....and I just want everyone to know it. Gotta run for now!
Tara
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