It's really happening

We got news this week that our VISA's were approved! Wow! Praise God indeed.
I was so excited I jumped up and down in the elevator and did a little dance.

There has never been a time that God hasn't eventually answered all my prayers. Seriously The Lord has always answered and given me my deepest desires and every time he does I am challenged by the fact that I always let doubt creep in when there is a delay in the answer.

I have testimony after testimony of his answers... So I need to stop doubting that he hears me. I really need to just learn to fully trust...to trust even in the delay.

So here we are...visa in hand, ready to go!

Thank you Lord for answered prayers, thank you for your grace even in the doubt and fear that creeps in. Thank you for your favor!!!

Fear and Anxiety

So I have been very anxious the last few days and today was the worst of it.

I am a bit of a control freak. I like to be in control and I like to know the outcome of things.  I like order and feeling settled.

Right now I have no control over anything and it freaks me out completely.

I need something to control and to be able to know the outcome.

There are two things that really really freak me out and I panic.

One is filling out ViSA and other immigration paperwork and the other is going through customs at the airport.

Immigration stuff freaks me out . It is so serious and going to immigration offices makes me feel like a criminal. My anxiety level is always a 10.

Today I had to go to immigration and I needed a certain paper before we could get in. I did not have it and had to leave and get it and then come back. It was an easy fix but as soon I got in the car I cried. I had been on edge about this visit for days and I just felt like I messed up.

We came back and got our bio metrics done and we were told to send our papers in within 2
Weeks.

This created  even more anxiety because I would have to send them by myself and what if I made a mistake etc etc .

I just wanted it all out of my hands.

This fear and anxiety I have is not of God. It is the enemy and he is trying to destroy what should be joyful and exciting times . He comes and steals my joy, causes me to try and control things (which never works out) and causes my anxiety level to sky rocket.

I am working hard to find peace in The Lord. To release control of this whole situation. Trying to memorize scripture that will sink deep into my heart.

I think it is about surrender too. By holding onto tightly we don't let The Lord take over and it kind of becomes an idol to us.

I try to think ... So that's the worst that can happen if this does not work out... And usually the worst is not as bad as I think.

I also think that these situations are teaching me to trust in The Lord more...complete trust. When I think I can control any of these things that is pride.  When I begin to think any of it is about me , then that is when I begin to feel fear and anxiety .

This opportunity, this appointment comes from The Lord. He will have HIS way. I do not need to fear the outcome.


What are the things you are fearful and anxious about? Maybe it's time to release them to The Lord.

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.