Transportation in London

Transportation in london is both amazing and easily accessible and maddening and frustrating.

One the one hand there are buses and trains to everywhere you need to go and where I live there are bus stops literally right around the corner and just super easy to get to.

Trains and buses are also pretty regular so there is usually not a lot of waiting for them.

I really don't mind catching public transportation and especially like it when I have been able to get in interesting conversations with people.

I like that someone else has to worry about traffic and for the most part I can enjoy a journey hanging out with my family.

I like getting on random buses as they allow me to see the sites around me and I get to explore this great place called London.

On the other hand it seems that every other day the schedule for these buses and trains change and the train that use to take you to your destination does not go there anymore and the next train is 30 mins away....now thats a pain.

And on the weekends you never know what train line will be down and how many buses and trains you will need to catch to get to your destination...another pain..

I am learning the best times to catch public transport with a 3 year old and a stroller...
Mon-Fri....do not get on anything before 9am if you have children...you and your children will be smothered in human flesh and may not make it out alive.

Do not get on a train between 4:00pm-7:00pm...once again your life and the life of your children will be at serious risk.

I do not get on a bus between 3-4pm as school children with attitudes and no sense of manners will crowd the bus and will cuss and yell and scare your children as they have done to Priya many times.

I also know where to sit on a train in order to be closest to the lift when I get out and when to catch a bus because there is no lift at a certain station.

I know to get on a bus one stop after the hospital and not before as the crowds will have left the bus at the hospital stop.

I know that on weekends I should go into the city on a train super early or go on a bus after 10am as the crowds are CRAZY.

I know that when it is dark I catch a train to one station further down the line as there is more light and more people to keep me safe.

I feel exposed  to more of the world when taking public transportation because you see and experience  a whole lot more of people...both the good and the bad and that can be interesting when you have small children.

I find public transportation both challenging and a blessing. What I love is that it does FORCE me to interact with people...to not just go from my house to the car, to the office, to the car, to my house.

Instead I feel the heat or the cold, I hear the arguments or laughter, I sit with my child and explain why they said such and such and I get to have teaching moments. I get to play a game with priya as we walk to the train and we see a plane and we wonder what country it is going to and she wants them all to be going to some random country. My children make others interact with them instead of staring straight ahead. with a frown...cause really no matter how hard you try you cannot resist Alina saying "ello" over and over until you smile at her.

Its not always pleasant or easy but I believe it's party of the ministry my family has here and I feel we need to keep at it and instead of complaining we need to ask the Lord to bless this small offering of ours.

Expectations

Something that I am also learning on a daily basis is to let go of my expectations and to hold things loosely in my hands and heart.

When you move you can naturally have expectations of how things will be when you get there. These expectations can come from past experiences, things you have read or things that have even been discussed with you.

My advice is let go of them all and just come into the situation zero expectations.

Don't expect that things will work the same way as they did where you came from, don't expect the experience will be the same as last time you were there, don't expect for things to just go smoothly.

Have zero expectations and just enjoy what God places in front of you.

Our family has been incredibly blessed here and we are having a wonderful time. But things have not gone as we expected they would. Our first few weeks were a little different, our ministry was a little different, living in London is different when living there with kids instead of being single. Banks are different and The Salvation Army is different (good but different) child care is different. Everything is different.

We as our family have adjusted well and I think that is because we had very few expectations.

Even now as we truly are beginning to settle and figure out our role I have zero expectations and I am holding my dreams and prayers very loosely.

I want to be ready for whatever The Lord has for us and when we have expectations we can miss the blessings.

Packing

So here is my advice for packing to move overseas (for all it's worth), especially if you are packing to serve overseas with The Salvation Army

When you begin packing have three piles
1) to take
2) to store
3) to give away/ sell etc

Begin sorting it all out and when you feel like you have got your head around it.... Half all the things you are taking with you and all the things you are storing .... Then half the stuff you are taking with you again!! Seriously

We thought we had done really well, we have a lot of things away and we were under the weight we were allowed for storage and shipping. So we felt good.

We get here and begin unpacking and think what the heck were we thinking!!! Why did we bring this, why did we bring that...we still have boxes and boxes of items just sitting in a our garage.

I was actually incredibly ashamed of how many things we had.

So there you have it... If you are planning to move overseas seriously limit what you take...bring only the essentials and a few items that will make your house look like a home...you don't need the rest of that junk...

Great opportunity to simplify your life

and so it begins

Part of my prayer in coming to London was that i would be challenged and uprooted from my confort zone. When you think of London you dont really think that it would be a challenge like that... But it is and I am so glad.

Its not like moving to a third world country of course but it has already challenged my materialism and my sense of what I am entitled to.

When we arrived in London we arrived at our house and through no fault of anyone our lights did not work and neither did the hot water and our house was small. I knew it was going to be but i was still shocked.

Due to being over tired and overwhelmed I cried over these things. And i was a little irritated.

Then the Lord gently chastised me for my hypocrisy. Did you not sign up for this? Why are you caught up in trivial things? You have a beautiful house and its your problem that you bought to many things to fill it.

God said to me on Day one...this journey will be a blessing but I will strip you of things in your life that hold you back from truly serving me.

So it begins and I praise God for that.

PS Here is the thing, it is the most beautiful house...i love it so much. We have been so blessed and so well taken care of. I am so deeply ashamed of how "things and where I was going to put them" took center stage that first day.

We also got to spend two weeks with Ashishs parents which was amazing. In my irritation I could have missed that blessing.

We have nothing at all to complain about.

So it begins....the stripping away...Lord have your way.

taking flight

Our flight over to London was one big blessing and answer to prayer.

First up the international airport in Atlanta is wonderful. It is big and spacious and not at all crowded.

Our amazing,friends Matt and Daynes and their girls dropped us off and that was just a true gift to our family. Brittaney, Priya's teacher came and also said goodbye and that meant so much to us. Check was so easy and they did not,charge us for our extra bags and were very kind to us.

Security check in also went smoothly. I was amazed at how smooth. Big relief for me as luggage check in and security give me anxiety.

The actual flight was great and went rather quickly even with Alina on my lap the whole time.

Alina and Priya did so well on the flight and Priya was so excited to finally be going to London.

When we arrived in London going through customs was quick and they were so friendly to us (total shock) and it was a very painless process.

I was pretty numb the whole flight really. I was amazed at this dream coming true but also overwhelmed. I had not really allowed myself to get emotional saying goodbye to people because i knew if I started I would not stop. So on the plane I was trying to process that and also just shocked we were actually on our way.
I was in awe God but also allowing myself to grieve for the amazing friends we were leaving behind. It had also been such a long wait and so on the plane I felt like I could breathe as we had finally made it.

I felt the favor of the Lord was truly on us for our departure and arrival and I know that is because people were praying for us. Thank you friends!!

Next up is our arrival day and well it was a doozy.....so stay tuned.

Fond Farewells

So its been while...but we are finally in London. Wow dream come true, but before we talk about London I need to backtrack for a few blog entries and talk about getting here.

We ended up staying in Atlanta for about 9 weeks so we were ready to finally leave when we did but it was still not easy to say goodbye to wonderful friends.

We have truly been blessed with wonderful friends in our life and the last two weeks there provided precious opportunities to spend quality time with friends.

First a week at bible conference and then a week in Atlanta. Dinners, brunch dates, day trips, birthday celebrations and just special times.

So hard to say goodbye to people that have truly blessed and enriched my life and that of family but i am so thankful to God for each person and know that distance wont change the impact or blessing they are.

Just incredibly grateful to God for those extra days with friends, gave me strength to leave.