- Napping in the grass outside Buckingham Palace (above), sunshine spilling over us, resting our weary feet, soaking up God’s grace.
- Blessed {Single-Minded} singles, eager for the gospel, warm and inviting toward us. Finally getting used to their accents and being able to carry on a conversation.
- Having the honor of teaching Expectancy without Expectation to the group on Sunday.
- A sweet time with the ladies, talking about beauty.
- Jill sharing her heart, letting me peak into her journal. A brave, beautiful soul. Blessed because she let me in to see.
- Many many English meals.
- Plenty of “refreshments.”
- A barefoot walk in the sunshine through the breath-taking High Leigh grounds. The weight of speaking responsibility lifted, my heart soaking up the goodness of God.
- Instant coffee packets. It might not taste that great but it sure is convenient!
- Electric tea kettles.
- Crammed in the backseat of mini-cars … several times.
- Re-Hope church plant in Glasgow. Singing Revival in Belfast worship songs at the top of our lungs with dear Scottish saints. Church full of arms stretched out to our Lord. Overcome. Wow.
- Singing Matt Redman and Tim Hughes worship songs … they sound so beautiful sung with the right accent!
- Late-night tour of University of Glasgow. Looking out over the city. 10pm home and collapsing into bed, exhausted.
- Sleeping in until 10! Twelve hours of sleep. We needed it. Waking refreshed and excited for the day.
- Day spent with church-planters Scotty & Monica Burns. Hearing their amazing stories of God’s provision. Built up in my faith, amazed at God’s grace.
- Indian food.
- Brian Luse at the Glasgow airport with the biggest smile you can imagine. HE, in himself, was a gift. Though we hardly knew him before, you can’t not love this guy.
- Five beautiful Luse children all winning my heart. Caileen snuggled on my lap within 5 minutes. Four of them reciting the Shema (Deut 6) in Hebrew and English after dinner. Wow! [I’m applauding them above]
- Playing Snakes & Ladders.
- Personalized plastic letter necklaces for Jeff and me.
- Scottish dinner! Sausages and fresh fish BBQ’d on the grill donated by Willamette Christian Church.
- Butterscotch-chip cookies.
- Late night with Brian & Shauna. What a gift they are.
- Recounting the story of why we’re attempting to sell our house. It helps so much to tell the story. Helps us believe again, reminds our own hearts why we do what we do. Dear dear saints who cheer us on and encourage us. So thankful.
- Playing soccer in the yard.
- Loch Lamond — beautiful. Day walking the Scottish countryside and enjoying the park.
- Eating haggis. (It was disgusting … but it’s still a gift that we got to try it!)
- Skype every night with the kids. Crying afterwards … I love those little monkeys more than life itself.
- Arriving back in London after an hour delay and miraculous (no really, miraculously) catching our bus into the city. Collapsing into our seats, exhausted and ready for an adventure.
- Finally arriving at our hotel late Tuesday night…. the sketchiest, dingiest hotel I’ve ever seen. BUT, we were together and that’s all that matters, yes? Happy Anniversary!
- Day in Oxford with Dale Gibson’s daughters and their families. A true gift.
- Climbing to the top of Magdelan tower. Overlooking all of Oxford. Breathtaking.
- Homemade curry chicken and a ride back to the bus station — a HUGE gift!
- Discovering a food-coop store. A bag of apples and bottled water for the morning — a gift!
- Instant coffee in our hotel room. Nothing’s ever tasted better.
- The trek up several flights of stairs to the only shower in the hotel. I’ve never appreciated a hot shower so much in my life. Oh the amazing wonder of a hot shower!
- Seeing everything new, through the eyes of KP Yohannen and his fellow missionaries. No shoes, no spare clothes, no food, no money, traveling to hundreds of villages to preach the gospel. I pray to remember this always … keeps life in perspective.
- First (and only) day on our own in London, seeing MANY sights in one day. Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St. Paul’s Cathdral, the church of the holy sepulchre, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, walking across the Thames, London Eye, Hyde Park, Buckingham palace, the Old Bailey (Rumpole’s stomping grounds!). Full full day. Good and tired.
- Attending Evensong worship at Westminster Abbey. Wow.
- Resting under a tree when it started to rain.
- The tube.
- Double-decker buses. Wishing Dutch were with us.
- Being so tired our dingy and stingy hotel room looked gloriously comfortable!
- Yakisoba.
- Sleeping great every single night despite our tiny, dilapidated bed. Another miracle — so thankful!
- Amazing day together on Friday. Long morning spent at Starbucks outside the British Museum (nothing like some Pike Place coffee to make me feel at home!). Rest, no rush, able to see, refocus, correct our compass, plan for the future, pray, get in God’s Word. Ahhhhh…. just what we needed. Thank you Lord!
- Venti coffee with real cream.
- Day spent at the British Museum. Unhurried.
- Amazing statues from China in the first century AD, when the idea of hell was introduced to their culture (wonder where that might have come from in the first century AD?!). Two sculptures, one holding a book of “good works” (TINY) and one holding a book of “evil works” (HUGE). Wow. Amazing to see that every culture, at the heart, knows that humanity needs a Savior. More on this later…
- Pad Thai and Curry. Delicious!
- Super fun “blind double-date” with blog-reader Brie and her fabulous fiance Jamie. Drinks overlooking the Thames, walk along the pier, sweet fellowship and encouragement in Christ. A sweet fresh reminder of the fellowship we share in God’s Spirit.
- Feet up, laptops out, logging in to record the sweet events of our trip. Three more days here, out to south, where Jeff will preach at Calvary Chapel Leatherhead. A quiet end to a busy and blessed trip. So thankful for every moment of it. And so thankful to return home.
- Anticipating the taste of Oregon water. Nothing so delicious in all the world …
- Times of refreshing.
5 thoughts on “Week's end with thanks”
Comments are closed.
…and one great big grin in my heart seeing your happy faces and reading all the kisses from our Father to you! 🙂 Thank you Kari for sharing the tid-bits, giving a taste of your experience there together!
Beautiful. Thanks for a window into your whirlwind of blessings and gifts given and received. All Grace, all the time. Oregon awaits:)
How much more beauty does each day hold when we look with eyes searching for God’s fingerprints and hearts eager to sing thankfulness.
God bless the rest of your trip Kari. Love Emma
such a blessing to meet up with you guys on friday! we’ve talked about it all weekend. praying your time in leatherhead has been restful and that your trip home is smooth! enjoy that oregon water! xx
SUCH a blessing for us too! We realized right afterwards that we forgot to snap a photo! That was really a highlight — thanks so much for making time for us. We’ll have to do it again… 🙂