London Baby!

Today was so special. Although I bid my good friends Luketon Abi adieu today it was an amazingly spectacular day.

I slept a solid five hours last night and although I could have spent the better part of my day in bed I felt good this morning. The short sleep was a good sleep. I got up early and packed up my luggage. My good friends and I went to Lyme Regis to the beach and I put my ankles in the English Channel. It was a bit chilled but lovely. I then got to stop by the church in Chard and then Abi took me to the bus station so I could catch my bus to London. I'm going to say it again...London. I am absolutely amazed to be in London. Heading to the city was probably the only thing the softened the blow of having to leave the Talmages. I was so blessed for having the privilege of being able to be with them past couple days.
On the bus, sorry coach, I read a book by Harry Greenwood, a few chapters in the book of Job and spent some quality time in prayer. I love receiving revelation. It is truly my favorite past time. When I arrived at the bus station Liz found me (thank God for cell phones, or mobiles as they are called here.) and we took the "tube" to her place. I'm glad she was with me. I'm confident I would have found her house but it would have take some time. I must say I was spoiled by NYC because it is super easy to navigate. London, not so much.
We had a dinner of grilled vegetables and chicken and pesto pasta. It was absolutely amazing. We ate outside. It was just a glorious evening with great food, wonderful people and "London Town" in the background. I am still amazed that I'm in London. Last year at this time I was looking at a second surgery coming off the first surgery and life was less than promising filled with lots of pain and a decent amount of misery. It's amazing where a lot of faith and a little bit of time can take you.

FYI: There is always more than one pick up point. So far on this trip any time I've been waiting for someone at a bus or train station they are always either early or on time waiting for me and I end up waiting 30 minutes cause I was at the other pick up point....so....good luck!

Good Day

Today was amazing. It was hard getting out of bed because I stayed up way too late blogging. But once we hit the road (30 minutes later than we were meant to) it was a grand time. I feel like I didn't do anything today because it was such a lazy fun day. No stress, no demands. Just me, some flippin' fantastic friends, some beautiful sights and some proper tea.
The architecture I saw today definitely made a statement but it was today's fellowship that I loved the most. I feel super spoiled. When we returned home from our outing in Bath we had some time of prayer and it was really refreshing. Best part of the day! Then we ate Chinese. That is to say we ate Chinese food, without chopsticks sadly. (I will forgive you some day Luke.) And chased dinner with 'Cornish ice cream' and another round of Downton Abbey. It never goes out of style. Now its off to bed again way too late.

The whole day was amazingly amazing. I feel so blessed to have been able to make this a stop on my adventure.

Ok so it is two views of the same thing. I liked them both and couldn't decide. This was taken in Bath, UK

 

FYI: Watch out for the silent dive-bombing birds of Bath. I sustained a hit today from the rear end of a pigeon and didn't even know it until well after the fact. Thank God for washing machines. 

 



A Day of Firsts

Today I took my first ferry.
       It was grand. The railings were all brass and it was kind of fancy with plenty of room and different places to go. It felt a bit like I was on the Titanic at first because I've never been on a big boat before. My favorite place to be was up on deck watching the water go by.

Today I saw "The Hobbit" for the first time.
     I've been wanting to see it for a while and it was showing on the ferry. I was up on deck but it started to drizzle so I decided to go in and watch it. After it concluded the rain had stopped and I went back up on deck and breathed in the salt air and the Welsh wind.

Today I saw Wales for the first time. (No Welsh stamp in my passport. Rather disappointing.)
     But it is a beautiful country from what I saw. I took the train from the ferry to England it was beautiful.

Today I saw England for the first time!!!!!!!!
     I have been wanting to see England ever since I can remember. Today I have seen it. Currently in Somerset and it's beautiful, welcoming, and wonderful. Maybe I'm just bias because my hosts are absolutely super-fantastic. I'm still having trouble believing I'm here and that I have work to do because right now I'm just surfing the whirlwind of adventure with which God has seen fit to surround me. I'm wondering if I will wake up tomorrow and be in my own bed back home in New Hampshire with the sun shining in my window telling me it's time to get up because it is 10 a.m. and I just had the most glorious dream. I do hope not.

Today on the ferry as the boat was listing one of the swivel chairs just kept going around on it's own because the boat was rocking at the right rhythm to keep it going. It was rather amusing. The fun part about today was that while waiting for the first of my three trains today I met a couple from Ohio. They were from a town that I'm familiar with. We spent about 4 hours in each others' company as they were waiting for the same train. They are believers and it was just a nice encouraging day. They are retired and also on an adventure in Europe. We commiserated about things we found different about Ireland, the UK and Europe, the things we loved that the USA doesn't do, and how we sometimes still feel like we have to fix everything which is futile and rather silly considering that is God's job and we fail miserably when we try to do His job.

My day concluded with being picked up by my hosts, enjoying a lovely meal of fish and onion rings (Luke had faggots which is a surprisingly good dish in spite of its name) at a Pub and finished the day off with episodes of Downton Abbey and 'Cornish ice cream.' I'm still not sure what makes it Cornish but it's delightful.

I can't wait to see what is in store for tomorrow.

FYI: When leaving the train station take one last glance back to where you were sitting. You might have been distracted when gathering your luggage and forgotten your travel mug. If that is the only accidental casualty of this adventure I will be okay with that.

Chillin' part 2

So today I did even less than yesterday. It was nice. I slept in again until about noon. I got up, had a wonderful breakfast made for me. I made the coffee. Then we went out to look at some horses, bought a postcard and stayed in with the fire. I watched some Irish medical show, had "high tea" with my host and just did nothing. Well, not nothing, we drank more tea and ate biscuits and made supper. Then more tea and now I'm going to bed because I have a 10 hour travel day tomorrow and I need some rest. Cheers!

High Tea this afternoon

 

FYI: Doing nothing is harder than it looks :-D

Chillin'

Today I slept in until noon local time. It felt very wrong but when I looked at my watch, which was still on EST, it was only 7 a.m. which is not getting up time for me unless I'm working or have somewhere I need to be so I didn't feel too badly, except I knew I couldn't sleep the day away because that would delay my body moving to Dublin time. So I got up and downed an energy drink and then went back to bed thinking that it would give me enough energy to help me wake up and I wouldn't want to stay in bed. It didn't. I ended up staying in bed for another hour before I got up. It was a lazy day as it rained off and on today. My host and I went to Wexford Town later in the afternoon and I found an adapter for my computer cord since the converter I brought didn't fit my computer cord plug. The man that was helping me find what I needed was asking me about American power outlets since he will be making a trip of a lifetime in a couple months visiting NYC, Vegas and Florida. Having been to each of those places I was telling him about the good places to go and how much fun it was going to be and walked out of the store without my purchase. It was rather comical. Good thing I don't embarrass easily.

This afternoon I was reminded again that God will always provide and has a plan for me...even here. Plans I've made to go to England have been delayed and I have peace that I'm where God wants me, even if it's just to rest and relax and fellowship with my friend. "It's all part of the plan" keeps going through my head when something pops up that doesn't seem like it should have. Then I just smile cause I feel like I know a secret that no one else is picking up on. So, I have one more full day in Wexford and I'm actually really happy about my delay to go to England. It must be that it's all part of the plan :-D

FYI: Establishments here will have a handsome gentleman with an accent help you with your purchase and then distract you with interesting conversation to the point that you leave your merchandise behind allowing the establishment to resell the item. DO NOT be distracted.

This is the Keys in Wexford Town. I love it here.

The Flight

I have arrived safe and sound. I saw my first miracle already on the flight over. I actually slept on the flight over and on the bus. I'm still pretty tired but functional. Never before have I slept more than a 15 minute dose during travel and even three of those aren't enough for a whole nights worth of sleep. I was so sound asleep that my seat mate didn't want to wake me and very thoughtfully held my breakfast for me until I woke up.
Those that know me know that I've battled insomnia for many years so being able to sleep a few hours worth during travel truly is a miracle. I can't wait to see what else is going to happen.

FYI: When waiting at a bus stop for your ride who confirmed they would come get you, explore all the parking spaces in a 1/8 mile radius because they might have actually been there early but their car was hidden by bigger vehicles. ;-)

The Adventure Begins -- For Realz

About 8 months ago I felt God calling me back to the Irish people while I was on a week long missions trip there. I prayed about it and it became settled in my spirit. I then prayed for the next six months about where He wanted me to go, what message He wanted me to bring to His people and when I should go. The only answer I got solidified was the time frame. I was to go for two months after my winter job as a ski patroller concluded. The job concluded and I was praying about funds and accommodations and direction. I just kept hearing "trust me." Hard for a planner to live without a plan but the past month I've gotten better at trusting for provision. I was waiting and praying and as time grew closer to the dates I felt I was supposed to leave flight prices continued to climb. For someone who currently is short on funds it's hard to watch something you need increase in price. But as time grew closer and nothing seemed to be working out I continued to trust. There were moments of anxiousness but the peace I also had and knowing deep down in my spirit that God was in control was incredible. Then my tax return came in for almost the exact amount of the flight I wanted with $4 to spare. I booked my flight. I still didn't have anything else sorted but I knew I had a flight and I was going.
A friend of mine took an offering for me at church and it gave me something with which to start the trip. He also put out an email to his European church contacts. He, as of yet, still hasn't heard anything but I'm trusting that where God wants me He'll make a way.
Two weeks before my departure date I was stressing once again about not having a plan and I felt a new level of peace and God say that He has places for me to go but I needed to have flexibility and availability in order to do these things He had in mind. So without a plan, and without any security except the faith that God will provide I'm heading off to parts unknown (to me at least) and trusting Him every day for the next step. Upon my arrival I have sleeping accommodations with friends for the first week (which is going to be a great start to the trip) but after that I'm pretty much along for the adventure.

At this moment I'm in Philadelphia at the airport on a 4 hour layover waiting to catch my flight to Dublin. Already on this trip I had an opportunity to share God's love with a woman who was on my flight from Boston. It was kind of incredible how that happened. It turns out she just left a less than savory "church" and is really leery of people professing God's love. I told her I was planning on seeing physical manifestation of miracles during my travels and she exclaimed "really? Can anyone do that? What have I been missing?" I know it was a divine encounter and its just the beginning.

FYI: It isn't always sunny in Philadelphia (as the TV show title leads one to believe) and its hard to find a power plug for your computer.

Packed

I'm all packed...finally....I think. My check luggage is weighing in at 49.5 lbs. I'm so proud of me. My laptop bag and carry-on are bursting at the seems however. I am trying to pack light and I would have offloaded some from my hand luggage had there still not been a lot of room in my checked piece. Once I get off the plane and arrive at my first stop I will be offloading some of it there and transferring things around so I'm still technically packing light since the things I actually brought for me account for half of my luggage.

I'm kind of nervous but I have peace about this so its all good. I never thought that one could be nervous and peaceful at the same time. Once you have the deep down peace one only finds in the Creator it doesn't much matter what else happens. 

The Adventure Begins

Well I've tried to start a blog four times now. Each time something goes wrong. I've also started writing my first post about six times because each time it just doesn't seem "grand" enough. I want to make my first post epic but that doesn't seem to be happening. I guess I'll just have to go with "humble beginnings."

I'm almost packed as I'm leaving Saturday for the adventure of a lifetime. I'm flying from Boston to Dublin to embark on a mission for missions. I'm not sure what will happen but it's going to be awesome.