Londoners Walk on Red.

Hello from London, England! I still find it hard to believe that I'm actually here and that we are not headed home in a few days--try a few months! We have only been here 3 days, but I already love it and miss everyone at the same time. London is busy, busy. Everybody headed somewhere all of the time. Here is a phenomenon--the oldest buildings and streets I have ever seen mixed with everything the twenty-first century has to offer. (For example, I walked the stones of the Great Bath in Bath today, where Roman emperors walked, and then on the coach ride home, I saw a McDonald's and Texaco off of the American equivalent of an interstate: motorway.)

Headed to London, I had no idea what to expect, and that scared me. I'm the kind of person that likes to know what I'm doing at least in the immediate future, and the concept of coming to a country where I knew no one but my classmates and my summer missions teammate blew my mind. Many, many people told me that yes, I should come and yes, this is God's will for me; and I fought a huge battle about why I was coming and such. But now that I'm here, I know that this is exactly what God wants me to do, exactly where God has placed me, because as soon as I set foot here, all doubts and fears I had vanished. I know that He will use this trip to challenge me and help me grow, and I hope beyond all reason to glorify Him in all that I do.

Our group of 23 flew from Jackson, MS, to Atlanta, to London Gatwick. (There are 2 London airports--Heathrow and Gatwick). The layover in Atlanta seemed to take forever (but we played Dutch Blitz) and the flight to London seemed even longer than forever (probably because I woke up about 3 hours before the flight was over, a.k.a. 4 am greenwich time, and couldn't go back to sleep). But we made it to the airport and through customs without too much trouble. I had an interesting time trying to work the trolley (luggage cart), but after asking for help on how to get the wheels to turn, I was ok. Until I crashed it. But that's a different story. We went by coach (bus) to the bed and breakfast that we're living in until February and then after Spring Tour, called the Celtic Hotel (pronounced Seltic). I'm on the very, very top floor. That means lots of skinny, steep stairs. It's not that high up, but it is hard to get there when we're all sore from a day of walking. But it will build character and muscle and whatnot, right?

The group at the Atlanta Airport

First View of the National Gallery

The first day, we did not rest at all. I cheated and took a 45-minute nap at 2 pm, though. We got our mobiles (cell phones) and Dr. Parks dislocated his shoulder and had to go to the hospital for x-rays and a morphine injection so they could pop his shoulder back in socket. He is fine though, praise the Lord. He keeps joking about falling and such, and I'm really glad he's ok. It really scared me. Our first walking tour with Dr. Rumblelow took us all over the city, to Trafalgar Square and such. We got our Oyster Cards for the tube and buses (passes for travel systems through and under London). The best thing of all was that night, when Dr. Parks took us on our first adventure through the Tube (subway). We emerged at the Westminster stop and came out and saw something breathtaking. There was Big Ben. Right there. Big and everything! Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye (a huge ferris wheel) and Westminster Abbey are all together right on the Thames, all lit up. Breathtaking moment, right there.

Big Ben right above the Westminster Tube Stop

The Eye at night

the view at the top of the stairs to the Tube

Bench behind St. Paul's Church at Covent Garden

Day 2, we had the famous Tube Rallye, a scavenger hunt that takes us all over London. I was on a team of four, with James, a Katie (we have 4), and Becca Stovall. We must have walked 6 or 7 miles yesterday. We took a bus, the Tube, and walked. And walked. And walked. James, our fearless team leader who would just cross the street on red and almost get us run over, even ran up to the bus as it was pulling away and knocked on the door so that we could get on. The driver gave us a death glare, but taking that bus was the best decision we made all day. To top it off, we ended up winning the Rallye! That was exciting! The prize was £5 each. Which is a big deal. So proud of Team King James Tried to Kill Us, a.k.a. Team Walk On Red, a.k.a. Team Deathwish! It was so much fun! And the important thing is that I now know how to navigate the Tube and match up the bus map with a physical map.

A tired yet victorious (unknown at this time) Team Walk on Red

Today we took a day trip to Stonehenge, Avebury, and Bath. I'm pretty sure all of us were conked out on the way there, so we missed all of the beautiful fog that characterizes the London countryside. We got to Stonehenge where we saw....a big pile of rocks. But it's pretty cool to think of how old they are, and how MASSIVE they are and how COLD it is. However.....it was SUNNY! The weather has been absolutely gorgeous since we got here, and the sun was so bright today that some of my pictures didn't turn out! :) It's a rare day indeed when Stonehenge is not covered in fog. Oh. And we saw sheep. And our driver, Paul, made them stampede. Priceless!!

A rare, sunny day at Stonehenge.

Yes, we are Stonehenge.

Avebury was yet another string of strange rocks that somehow got there for no particular reason that anyone can tell. It was cool to walk around b/c it's a lot like Moundville in Alabama, only much, much colder. So good to see GRASS. And small children. And a beagle! I got lost though, and James had to come find me. Then we went to Bath and wandered around, seeing the Royal Crescent, the Assembly Rooms (where my camera died), the Fashion Museum, Bath Abbey (which is my first time to go into an old church), and the Baths. (This is Jane Austin’s Bath!) We got to learn about the baths and when they were built and how there were animal sacrifices and such, and we even got to taste the water from the hot springs. Tasted like sulfur. Then we came back to London, and now I’m sitting in the lobby combating the spastic wireless internet so that I can blog. Oh, and we're watching the Saints v. 49-ers game.

Can you see the white horse?

Firsts that I have experienced the past few days:

-first overseas flight

-first time through customs

-first coach ride

-first Tube ride

-first meal in London (turkey and cheese Panini)

-first injury of the group (no, it was NOT me!)

-first Rumblelow walking tour

-first Celtic Hotel breakfast (scrambled eggs, toast, and grapefruit, which is DIVINE!)

-first British shower

-first did-the-tourist-really-do-THAT? Moment

-first time watching sheep stampede due to a honking coach

All in all, it’s been a great first few days. Things will slow down a bit as classes start Monday, but I’m so excited about everything that we’ll get to experience living in London and seeing everything we’ve studied about since 3^rd grade or so. Just a week ago (has it really only been a week?) I was in church in Mississippi and was thinking about how a week later, I would be worshipping in St. Paul’s Cathedral, which is older than our COUNTRY. Yeah. Tomorrow I’ll be worshipping at St. Paul’s. Wow! I can't keep "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins out of my head. ^_^

Prayer Request time. I left a friend behind in the States whom I met only a week ago, but she has already become precious to me. Pray that she will come to know Christ as her Savior. And another friend who loves Jesus with every fiber of her being is really having a tough time right now with sickness and not being able to go back to school this semester. Pray for healing for her and for her to focus fully God’s sovereignty over all and His unimaginable plans instead of the hopelessness that comes from circumstances. Pray that my classmates and I will stay firm in our faith and pursue our relationship with God with all of our being, even in a country so dark that they think they know God when they do not. Pray for revelation among Great Britain, and for an awakening to want to know Christ.

Until next time, good-bye!

"For your Maker is your husband--the LORD Almighty is His Name--the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth. The LORD will call you back..." Isa. 54:5-6    Praise to a God Who relentlessly pursues us!