So Pray....

As we are sitting here in our temporary apartment at the EBC, another week has gone by and I wonder what the next week will hold.

Hopefully there will be some forward movement in regards to our visa and departure date. I am getting a little restless here.

The Lord though has been speaking to me and challenging me to use this time wisely. At first I did not know what that looks like, and how to make it happen when I have two little girls ( one of them stuck to me like glue) but I hear him say ... SO PrAY.

I know he is calling me to pray about many things...
1) my grief over leaving my corps and things  happening there... SO Pray
2) my future appointment and my anxiety over that... SO pray
3) my concern over  our visa application .. SO pray
4) tensions and war in Israel and Gazza .... SO pray
5) horrific situation against Christians in Iraq ... SO pray

So many things to pray for...and I have time... SO I will pray...

I hope you will join me ... Maybe the only bring we can do is PRAY

The wait

I read on a blog recently that "if moving overseas was easy, everyone would be doing it"... So true.

Moving overseas is not super easy and not for the faint of heart. There is a lot sitting around and waiting, coupled with spurts of super busy running around and then more sitting around and waiting.

We had hoped to be in London by now, alas it is not to be. In fact we probably have another month to go. It is at times frustrating, funny and a blessing.

It's frustrating because we really could have been in London by now if people just communicated with each other and if instructions were clear. The reasons we are not in London right now is because some times the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing or what they should be doing or who should be doing it.

It is funny because sometimes the left hand does not know what the left hand is doing or what the left hand has done. Kind of like a comedy of errors. When the  last thing happened I was able to laugh because the night before The Lord had spoke some scripture into my life.. That prepared my heart for the craziness of the next day. :)

It's a blessing because we get to spend time with friends and we get to spend time with each other. We get to read and rest.

I am ready though... I am ready to be settled in my home. I am ready for my kids to be able to have a routine and meet new friends and have their toys back.

I am ready for a ministry and something to do.

But here we are .... Waiting... But I have no doubt in a few days we will be rushing around trying to get paperwork done and then we will wait some more!

That's just the way it is. If it was easy... Everyone would do it

It's not a vacation

Our move to London is not about being on one giant vacation. Sure we want to be tourists every now and then, enjoying all that London, the UK and the Continent has to offer.

Our overall desire is not to take a long vacation. Our desire is to be involved in ministry and to build relationships with our neighbors and our fellow Officers and soldiers in the Central London Division. Our desire is to join God on what he is already doing in that place and to to learn from those that are already in the trenches.

I have been on vacation now for 4 weeks and I am bored. I am enjoying myself and being with my family, but I ready to dream and create and build and learn. I am ready to get stuck into whatever God has for us.

I am a little anxious about what ministry will look like for us there. We won't be Corps Officers and truthfully we don't know what we will be doing, so I am interested to see what it looks like and how it works for our family. But I am excited. I know The Lord knows our hearts and our desires.

So although you will see plenty of pics of red buses and Big Ben and London Tower and hear stories of our tourist adventures ... Hopefully you will also see many pics and read many stories of ministry taking place and relationships being built.

One thing I surely know is that we are not bringing God with us, he is already there and he is just awesome enough to let us join him.

UK Bucket List

Miscellaneous & Tacky Musts

1. Take a picture in an old London phone booth
2. Purchase something in Harrods’s
3. Visit Sea life Center
4. Chow down in Chinatown
5. Ride a London Taxi
6. Visit Westminster Abbey and photo-bomb someone
7. Go to a concert at the O2 Arena
8. Go for afternoon tea and scones
9. Watch the changing of the guard
10. Have a real English breakfast
11. See a trial at the Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court of England
12. Tower of London nightly lock up 
13. Ice skate at Natural History Museum
14. Go to a theme party, dressed in a 20′s or 60′s style
15. Watch Guy Fawkes fireworks

Outside

1. Finish at least 20 Walks of the London City Walks Cards
2. Visit the London Wetlands
3. Spot all 50 things on the “50 things to spot in London” cards
4. Do Windsor Castle Tour 
5. Do London Marathon
6. Go to the top of the Tower Bridge and enjoy the view of the Thames and the cit
7. See the city from Parliament Hill (Hampstead Heath)
8. Go to Winter Wonderland and experiment some of the attractions
9. Enjoy an open air concert in the summer at Regent’s Park or Hyde Park 
10. Go to Richmond Park and attempt to take a picture with an imperial deer
11. Go on the Jack the Ripper Walk
12. Do Salvation Army History Tour
13. Tour three Castles 
14. Longleat House 
15. Go to a cricket match at Lords
16. Attend a Wimbledon game 
17. Go a rugby World Cup game 
18. Go to Bath
19. Go to Brighton 

Culture 

1. Visit the British Museum
2. Visit the British Library
3. Visit Tate Modern
4. See an Opera at the Royal Opera House
5. Visit the Crypt Gallery
6. See a Shakespeare Piece at the Shakespeare Globe
7. Read a Sherlock Holmes book and then Visit Sherlock Holmes Museum
8. Read a Dickens’ Novel and visit the Charles Dickens Museum 
9. Watch a West End Show
10. Visit the Tower of London
11. Go to the Museum of London and learn more about the history of London
12. Visit Natural History Museum and see the dinosaurs exhibition
13. Experiment and interact with some objects at Science Museum 
14. Visit the Camden Catacombs
15. Harry Potter studios
16. Albert and Victoria museum 

Overseas or Outside of London

1. Ireland 

2. Scotland 

3. Amsterdam  and Anne Frank House

4. Germany 

5. Poland 

5. Spain 

 6. Turkey

7. Paris 

 8. Italy 

9. Singapore

10. Dubai  

Home

There is no doubt about it, the USA and especially the Southern Territory are home to me.
From the moment I arrived in the USA from NZ, this place and these amazing people have embraced me.
I have not always felt like I fit in here, but I have never doubted that this was home.

This place has my heart for so many reasons and has been the only place I felt I needed to come back to time and time again. I have always felt safe here, I have felt loved here, I have felt accepted and I have felt like this was my solid base especially when my family was all over the world.

There are so many things I will miss;
1) family... I don't have blood family here, but I have family. People who have taken us in, loved us, prayed for us, encouraged us, looked after us when we were sick. People who have fed us, disciplined us and challenged us. People who have married us, been there for the birth of our children, walked me down the aisle. People who are my daughter's God parents and babysitters and teachers. We have family here for sure and we will miss them all so so so much.
2) friends... We have made some amazing and life changing and life impacting friends here. Friends who I know will be our friends for years and years to come. Friends we laugh with, cry with, pray with, play with! Friends who embrace and support us without judgement. Friends who have truly changed our lives. They will be soooo missed.
3) I will miss the Southern Territory Salvation Army. This Territory has accepted me, shown me grace, given me opportunities, supported me, taught me, loved me and given me outstanding role models. I will miss Territorial events and the way they celebrate and worship. I will miss the way they lavish love on people. This territory has taught me well and I am more than proud to be a southern territory officer.
4) I will miss being known... This is not a pride thing...but I mean I will miss people truly knowing me and my heart and my passions. People who get me and who have journeyed with me.
5) I will miss Target... I love Target so much... For real.. It such a beautiful place, full of color and so many things I don't need haha
6) I will miss my washer and dryer... True fact!! It's not the same!!

So many things I will miss as this place, this country, these people are in my heart!!

So grateful for everything I have experienced here and will experience here in the future.

London Here We Come

Hopefully soon we will be on our way to London.

I really cannot wait to begin this journey with my family. It's all incredibly exciting and one rather huge blessing.

This journey to London really began for me 7 plus years ago. I was enjoying life as an Officer in the USA when I was told my religious visa was about to expire and that I would need to leave the country within 6months.

I was told I could basically choose three different countries to go to for a year and at that time I chose Australia Eastern Territory, India and Australian Southern Territory. Then my parents were moved to IHQ in the UK and I asked if I could be sent there instead so I could spend time with them.

The Lord was incredibly amazing and that is where I was sent.

I was in LoVE the moment I left the airport. I loved the countryside, I loved the houses, I loved the food, I loved the people. I loved it all.

I felt like I was home in many ways. Having grown up in Australia, so many things were familiar to me. The language and the words used, the food, the sports, the tv programs, the music.

I loved the multicultural feel about it and I really felt very connected to this country, very quickly I might add.

I got engaged in London and spent time with Ashish's family in London. I know Ashish fell in love with the place too. I knew that one day we would come back as a married couple. I did not know how or when, but it was my desire for sure.

Fast forward to three years ago and we began to pray about serving overseas and we talked and prayed about a lot of countries and the one we kept coming back to was the UK.
We both felt connected to the multicultural feel of this country and just felt it was a place where God could use us. He could use, not because we had anything to offer that was super special, but maybe just because we were willing.

So we requested a few times and were told not now. It was pretty heartbreaking at the time, but God always knows.

Finally though they said yes and here we are... Just a few weeks away from living in London.

I am excited about so many things,

1) being near Ashish's mom and dad for a few months and having family near us. This has not happened in 13 plus years.
2) the food... Oh my goodness Roast dinners and all the yummy food I grew up on.
3) the sports... Rugby, cricket, netball just to name a few.
4) feeling like I am home... Everything is familiar to me... Similar to growing up in Australia. There is a sense of belonging I feel when I am there.
5) the ministry... I don't know what I will be doing at all, but I feel like it's going to be something awesome and something I will love
6) the people, all from different walks of life and countries... It's going to be amazing .
7) the birth place of the Salvation Army. Something awesome about that.
8) my girls being exposed to new and different experiences.

So yep, I am excited!!! Bring it on Lord, bring it on!!

Tomorrow I will share what I am going to miss about my HOME here.