Leaving On A Jet Plane...

This will be the last post I write from the States because tomorrow morning I am leaving for England!  The day has finally arrived!!!  I am so ready to begin the next part of this experience, actually being in Birmingham!  Even though I am arriving much later than I wanted to, and with all of the delays, unknowns, and frustrations of the past five weeks, I trust that I am arriving exactly when I need to.  I am not the only person in this story; the friends and family I’ve spent time with while I’ve been in Virginia, the people I will encounter while I travel, and the Canvas team and students in Birmingham are all a part of this as well.  The timing isn’t all about me, but I am glad it is time for me to get there!

For those of you interested in travel details, my flight schedule is as follows:

Depart from Roanoke, Virginia at 10:16am
Arrive in Chicago at 11:15am
...7 hour layover...
Depart Chicago at  6:05pm
Arrive in Brussels at 9:20am (That's actually just an 8 hour and 15 minute flight)
...2 hour layover...
Depart Brussels at 11:20am
Arrive in Birmingham at 11:40am
(I'll actually be in the air for an hour and 20 minutes between Brussels and Birmingham, more time change stuff going on there)

I covet your prayers over the next few days, and here are some specific ways you can be praying:

Travel – For safety in the air, that there won’t be any cancellations or major delays, and that all of my luggage will arrive with me!

Adjustment – Not only will I be tired after 24+ hours of traveling, but there is a five hour time difference, so I will be dealing with jet lag too.  Please pray that my body will adjust quickly and that I will have a smooth transition into English life.

I enjoy traveling, and I am obviously excited about getting settled in England, but I don’t want to get so caught up in everything that I’m not in tune to the Spirit.  Please pray that I will be aware of those around me and all of the things the Lord might want to teach me even in these first few days. 

I will make a post again within a day or so of arriving to let you know how it all went.  For all of you who have partnered financially, prayed, and offered words of encouragement, thank you!!!  I really can’t say it enough!

"Connected At The Heart" Gift

This post is long overdue, but I've been slightly preoccupied lately, what with the whole moving to another country in a few weeks thing happening.  But for Christmas this year I wanted all of my gifts to have an England theme to them.  Coming up with something for my mom, dad, and brother-in-law was  pretty easy but I had no idea what to get my sister.  Their spare bedroom has a travel theme to it and has a big map in it, and had been pinning lots of gifts idea that had to do with traveling, so I decided to go that route.

These pins were my inspiration:

via

And this was my final product:

I started by finding a map of Virginia in an atlas and tearing it out.  Then I printed off a map of Virginia from the computer, cut it out, and used it as a template to cut out Virginia from the map.  I made sure that Blacksburg was in a relatively accurate place on the map.

Next I found a picture of a map of England, one that had a similar look to the atlas map.  Then I printed it off and cut it out.  It wasn't until then that I realized I should have done that for Virginia too.  It would have been proportionate and would have saved a step of cutting.  Oh well, you live and learn!

I laid the two maps out on a piece of card stock, and then I started looking for a quote I wanted to use.  I found the one I used on Pinterest, and then I practiced writing it several different ways until I came up with an arrangement I liked.  I wrote it in pencil first and then went over it in Sharpie.

The final step was drawing red hearts around the cities of Blacksburg and Birmingham, and then connecting the two with a dotted line that formed a heart.

Sister Weekend

This weekend my sister got to come visit!  It was a weekend filled with eating, shopping (mostly of the window variety), and laughing.  She got in Friday afternoon and that evening we went and ate at The Firehouse.  She got to meet a lot of my co-workers and we split a piece of home made pumpkin pecan cheesecake that was amazing!  Well, we ate normal food too, but the dessert was the highlight.

Saturday morning we hit up a few shops in town and then headed to Asheville, North Carolina.  This would be her first trip to Asheville, so not only was I excited for her to experience it, but I was super excited about the drive there.  The leaves are absolutely gorgeous right now and I couldn't wait to see the mountains covered in them!

Once we got into Asheville we stopped by Mast General Store and French Broad Chocolate Lounge.  French Broad is a very well known chocolate shop, especially in the south.  There was a whole wall of framed magazine articles that they had been featured in, including Martha Stewart Living and several from Southern Living.  The wait was only 12 minutes or so, which wasn't bad.  I've waited close to 25 minutes before!  Amanda got a French macaroon and I got a piece of shortbread dipped in chocolate and sprinkled in pistachios.  It was very good, as I expected.

After that we stopped in Malaprop's and Bookends, both book stores.  Then Tops for Shoes, a shoe store where I petted all the Toms, and L.O.F.T.  L.O.F.T is a funky little shop with all sorts of cute and odd knick knacks.  I've gotten lots of gifts there over the years but didn't find anything this time.  By this time we were getting really hungry and went to put our name in at Tupelo Honey Cafe, because I knew there would be a wait.  The hostess told us it would be about 30-40 minutes, but it ended up only being about 20.  And in that time we were able to look around in the store next door, so it went by pretty quickly.

Amanda and I ended up ordering the same thing - their massive grilled cheese and tomato soup.  It had havarti cheese, goat cheese, ham, bacon, a fried green tomato, and basil on sourdough wheat bread.  Delicious!  The original sandwich actually had pimento cheese on it, but I subbed goat and Amanda subbed cheddar.   When we left we were stuffed and moaning about wanting to put our stretchy pants on.

We headed home after that, and encountered the weirdest weather along the way.  It started out fine, then out of nowhere it started pouring, and then it started sleeting!  A few minutes later everything stopped and there was a huge rainbow.  It was quite bizaire!  I had wanted to stop at the scenic overlook on the way home, so I was glad that all the bad weather stopped a few miles before the overlook.  These views never cease to amaze me!

We were having some issues with the self-timer...

...and then a cute little old man offered to take our picture.

After we got home we wasted no time changing into comfy clothes, watched tv, ate popcorn and went to bed early, even though we knew we were getting an extra hour of sleep.  Sunday morning we stopped by Panera for bagels before church, then went to church, and after that Amanda headed back to Blacksburg.  I'm so thankful for a great weekend during my favorite season, with my favorite sister - ok, my only sister - before I move away!

Globalscope Training

New post on the England Edition about my trip to Indianapolis!

Globalscope Training

New Boots and A Big Announcement

I mentioned in a post last week that I had gotten new rain boots and you would it hear more about them later.  Well, it's later!  A few months ago I wrote about how I needed a new pair of boots and I was debating on whether I should get another cheap pair to make it through the season or go ahead and invest in a good pair.  I actually ended up doing neither of those things.  I just decided to save money all together and make do with the old boots I had.  I super glued the broken buckle back together and made sure not to step in puddles that were deep enough to get inside the leak.  

Now the "good pair" of boots I had my eye on were a pair of Hunter rain boots, and I was pretty sure I wanted them in yellow. Well one night about a month ago I was at home reading when there was a knock on the door.  I went and opened it and there was no one there, but there was a UPS truck driving away and that's when I noticed the big package.  My mom sends me packages fairly often, so receiving one isn't totally out of the ordinary, but this was much larger than what she normally sends.  I had no idea what it could be or who it was from, and then I noticed on the mailing label that it was sent from Hunter Boots.  I grabbed a knife, cut all the packing tape, opened up the big brown box, and there inside of it was a beautiful, shiny black Hunter boot box!  I was almost giddy as I opened it up and saw the even more beautiful and shiny yellow rain boots that I wanted!  

I had a hunch that my sister had gotten them for me, because she had recently asked me a bunch of questions about what kind of new boots I wanted and when I planned on getting them.  I gave her a call and sure enough, they were from her!  She asked if I had seen the message she had included when she ordered them, so I dug around a little more in the box and found this envelope, which if you ask me, is pretty nice for a pair of rain boots ordered online.  And inside the envelope was this message...

Not quite sure what the N is for...

The big announcement is...I'm not just going to England, I'm moving to England!!!  At some point next year, probably/hopefully January, I will be moving to Birmingham, England, for at least a year!  I am going to be serving with Christian Missionary Fellowship International (CMF) through their Globalscope program, which focuses on international campus ministry.  The ministry there is called Canvas and serves students attending The University of Birmingham.  In many ways it reminds me a lot of The Well.  They have weekly services with worship and teaching, a leadership team of students, weekly Bible studies, fun social events, service opportunities, and even weekly meals together!  I don't know the specifics of what I'll be doing, other than just doing life with these students, with the intention of helping them come to know Jesus and grow in their relationship with Him  - which is what I'm doing now!

In order for me to pursue this opportunity like I need to, this semester will be my last on staff with The Well.  That is definitely a bittersweet realization.  I am excited to go, but it doesn't mean I won't miss what I'm leaving behind.  I know the Lord has called me to go though - so I'm going!  In the months ahead there will be more posts about the whole process of getting to this point, what life after The Well will look like, more about the ministry of Canvas, and about my future new home in Birmingham!  But for now I just wanted to go ahead and get this on the blog.  I can't wait to see all the things these feet are going to experience in the months ahead!

It's going to rain a lot there, which is why good boots are a must!

If you are interested, below are links to both CMF's website, and Canvas' website and facebook page!

CMF International

Canvas online

Canvas on facebook

Spring Break '13 - Atlantic City

This year for The Well's spring break mission trip we went to Atlantic City, New Jersey to do relief work from Hurricane Sandy.  There were thirty-four students and six adults, and early Friday morning March 8th we loaded a trailer full of luggage, sleeping bags, air mattresses, tools, and food, piled into a van, mini bus, and car and set out!  We arrived in Egg Harbor Township late that night, where we would be staying for the week at Greentree Church. 

Saturday morning we got right to work!  We were split into three teams, and I had ten students on my team.  We were the only team that got to work at the same house all week, and that was a huge blessing because it allowed us to form a really good relationship with Mel, who lived at the house with his mother and son.  When you first walked into the house you wouldn't have known that anything was wrong, because it looked pretty normal, but after the hurricane there had been two feet of standing water in the downstairs of the house.  Everything under the floors and behind the walls was starting to mold, and it would all need to be replaced.  The first few hours of work were the most fun I think, because we all got to take crowbars to the walls and tear down all of the drywall.  Then we pulled up the linoleum in the living room, hardwood floors in the kitchen, and started tearing up the sub-flooring, which was the most difficult and time consuming thing we did all week.

On Sunday morning we went to church at Greentree, had our lunch there, and then spent the rest of the day and evening in Atlantic City.  It was kind of odd to have our "fun day" at the beginning of the trip, but that's just how it worked out this time.  It seriously took us about 25 minutes to find somewhere to park our bus and van together, and at one point Seth got out of the van and forgot to put it in park.  It started rolling backward, I covered my eyes and sort of quietly screamed, and one of the guys sitting in the first row had to dive into front and slam on the brake with his hands!  That was the highlight of the early afternoon.  Once we found parking, the first stop for my little group was the boardwalk and beach.  It was strange to be walking on the beach in boots, a coat, hat, and gloves! 

Even though the sun wasn't out, it was still bright, so we're all squinting.  In the sand we wrote #atlanticcity2013, which was the hash tag we all used whenever we tweeted about the trip.

Me and Ashlynn, one of the girls from my Class '16 freshman small group.

And Lauren and I.  She was in my Class '13 small group, and now she's graduating in May!

In front of us everything was gray.

And behind us everything was quite colorful.

After the beach we went into one of the lobby areas of a casino to get some Starbucks, and then to a little mall sort of place where we saw two guys getting arrested for shoplifting.  That was the highlight of the middle afternoon.  Then we headed for the outlets; we went to J.Crew, Gap, H&M, Fossil, Life is Good, Nike and Famous Footwear and I managed to only buy one thing!  A pair of shorts at J.Crew for $25.  For dinner we went to Sack 'O Subs, a popular sub shop.  I thought my sub was just ok, but my table split orders of regular fries, spicy curly fries, and pizza fries, and they were amazing.  Definitely the highlight of the evening.

Lauren got really excited about the revolving doors at the casino and took pictures of everyone going in.

These are the two shoplifters, handcuffed.  We were a floor up, looking down.

And here's our whole group.  I'm in front making a horrible face.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were more or less the same.  Get up, eat breakfast at 7:30, pack a lunch, leave the church by 8:10ish, and go to our work sites.  We'd eat lunch there and then return to the church anywhere between 4:00 and 5:30.  On Monday my team finished tearing up all the flooring and sub flooring, which involved busting up tile with sledge hammers!  We also installed new insulation in the walls and treated all the floor joists for mold. 

Lunch break!

Alex, Haley, and Debbie.

Ashlynn and Kelcie.

That's mold on the walls, behind where the cabinets, fridge, and stove were.

We had to wait a little while for some more supplies, so we got to play with Mel's son's dog, Bolt.

I actually worked too! 

My team! Alex, Martin, Ashlynn, Mason, Lauren, Mel - who's house it was, Ashley, Haley, Tiffany, Debbie, and Kelcie.

I only had the camera with me on Monday, so I can't show the rest of the progress, but over the next three days we finished tearing up all the flooring, installed insulation in the walls and floors, and laid down new sub flooring.  You could also say we installed insulation in the floors several times, because we all kept stepping through it!  Until all the sub flooring was down we had make shift walkways, but we still had to do lots of walking back and forth just balancing on the floor joists.  The insulation covered the wood up though, and it was easy to miss-step.  Thankfully no one was seriously hurt, just some bruises and minor scrapes.   

On Tuesday, before we put in new insulation, we all wrote a message to Mel on the floor joists.  It was so neat to glance up from working and see students scattered throughout the living room, awkwardly crouched between the wooden slats, writing prayers and Scripture.  Even though I knew those messages would most likely never be seen again, I loved knowing that the house would literally be founded on the Truth.  Mel wasn't at the house when we did this, and so later we just told him about it.  The next day, when he got back from the Dollar Tree, where he works, he had two pieces of poster board and a pack of markers.  He told us that since he would never be able to see what we had written, he wanted us all to write it again on the posters, and that he would hang it up to remember us by.  It was then that I realized we were doing so much more than just working on his house, we really were touching his heart.  I do not think that Mel knows Jesus, but I know he saw Jesus through our students.  And for me, that is why this trip was a huge success!

*Shout out to Lauren Ray for these photos!

The church that we stayed at was very nice and accommodating.  We had a commercial grade kitchen to prepare all of our meals in, and a gym to eat and hang out in.  We slept in classrooms and had plenty of room.  There was only one shower for the guys and one shower for the girls though, and they shared the same hot water heater.  So needless to say that resulted in long lines for the showers, which were often quick and cold.  But we made it work and it really ended up not being a big deal.  One night I waited until pretty late to shower, so I could have a somewhat long and hot one.  And everything was going according to plan until the lights went out!  The bathroom lights were on a motion sensor, and I'd been in the shower long enough that the sensor didn't pick up any movement.  Thankfully all I had to do was step out for a moment and they came back on!  

It was the church's missions emphasis week that week, and on Wednesday night they had a mutli-cultural dinner.  They had little stations set up all around the gym with authentic food from different countries, and we could sample whatever food we wanted.  My favorite was the matzo ball soup from Israel and the dish from Poland which had sausage, cheese, and potatoes.   It was also a fun night because after three days of wearing work clothes and looking kind of rough, it gave us a reason to "dress up" and feel nice.

Lauren curled my hair with one of those curling wands.  I need to get me one of those!

All of the ladies of the trip.

Friday morning we got up, packed, cleaned, loaded everything back up and headed back to Tennessee.  So it really was an incredible trip.  The students were great - everyone got along and had great attitudes, and we accomplished great things for the Kingdom of God!