Every Party Has a Pooper…

And, the pooper in London is for sure the man that all but cursed me out (oh wait, I am pretty sure he did curse me out) when I asked him where Oxford Street was… good day to you too, sir! However, that is neither here nor there as I haven’t written in a few days and I have quite a lot to cover.

First, I spent Friday resting (far to cold to venture out of the flat) and doing a little skyping (I won’t lie, I did a lot of skyping) and some research of areas around Romford (where I will be working). I looked at the railway map… wrote down the names of the few stops preceding and following the Romford stop, goggle imaged them and decided on Chelmsford. I know, so logical! (I see my dad shaking his head!) During my hours upon hours of computer time, Ingrid kindly stopped by to bring me some mandarin oranges… so sweet. However, it should be noted that she did not knock and instead used her key to get in which about caused me to have a massive heart attack. I was suddenly greeted by a sweet Ingrid plopping down on my bed next to me. Yes, I do believe we have reached a new level of comfort.

Once deciding on Chelmsford I woke up early Saturday morning, hopped on the tube & railway and got off a Chelmsford (the ride there was beautiful through the countryside), no real plan in hand. I figure the Lord has directed my path thus far and he wouldn’t let me down now. So, off the train I got and around the city I began to trapes. I stopped a older married couple and explained my situation. They were quite kind (unlike the man who yelled at me today) and directed me to an estate agent just up the way. Once inside, I again explained my situation and the gentleman was more than helpful. He provided me with the name a man that does “room lets” and directed me to a shop that sells the Essex Chronicle, where there would be room let advertisements. Well, I picked myself up a Coca-Cola (tastes a little different here) and an Essex Chronicle and parked myself on a bench and called away. A few “I’ll call you back” and “the room is no longer available”’s later and I finally spoke with a man that had three room lets he was willing to show me. He said he would pick me up at the railway in 20 minutes… he would be in a red van. Hmmm… I quickly called Jeff and gave him the Man’s phone number, told him I was in Chelmsford and that if he didn’t hear back from me in an hour he needed to somehow get a hold of “999” here and tell them I am with some man (yeah, didn’t really get his name) in a red van at that number. Jeff, not thrilled at my decision, gave me a few self defense pointers and I went on my way. (Jeff later made an excellent point saying that should I ever be in a dangerous situation, all I need to do is show someone my spots and tell them I am contagious. I Who needs tae-kwan-do when you have spots!?!?!) A large red utility van picked me up, at which point I also texted Jeff the license plate number… you never can be too safe… and headed on my way. Now, the man was very nice and proved to be harmless, however, the rooms and the homes that they were in are another story. Holy NASTY!! I would lose so much weight if I lived there, I’d never be able to eat. They were so gross!!!! For those unfamiliar with room-lets, you have a bunch of rooms in a house and you pay for the room and share the common areas. Except, these houses had all the common areas turned into rooms too, so the only play to go other than your room was a small, NASTY, DIRTY kitchen. No thank you! I don’t require a royal palace, but come on!! I kindly thanked the gentleman, called Jeff to let him know I was alright and frantically began calling other advertisers from the Essex Chronicle. I had just a few hours before it was to get dark, time as running out, I needed to find somewhere that day. To make a long story short, I got in touch with Nigel, he was wonderful, picked me up as well from the rail station… family guy, car seats in the back seat, SUPER NICE… showed me his room shares, all very clean, and I picked on. WHA LA – housing!!! I couldn’t be more excited. And, where flats in Central London are around 3000 pounds/mo… I am only paying $320. I’m very proud of my find!!! And, only a ten minute train ride from the stop where I work. Perfecto! I traversed the country side back to my wonderful home in Maida Vale that I am going to miss so very much and rewarded myself with a warm avocado, tomatoes, mozzarella and pesto panini… YUMMY (it should have been for 6 pounds!) However, I did not feel so bad about the purchase as I did not leave my flat the day before and thus, didn’t do much eating. Calories and pounds (money) well spent if you ask me! Two days worth in one meal!

Now, here is where it gets exciting!!! I google mapped directions to Hill Song Church (based out of Australia… amazing worship band called United, many of you are probably familiar) and decided that it was only about 3 ½ miles and would make for a nice Sunday morning walk. Oh, how I forgot that I am cursed every time I try to get directions and needless to say… they were crappy directions. My three mile walk turned into an adventure all over the city this morning and took me while beyond 3 ½ miles and just about 2 hours! Reminds me of all those ten mile walks we went on in Ann Arbor (except those were on purpose!). Anyways, I am quite thankful for my adventure this morning as it allowed me to orient myself with my surroundings. I walked through Edgware, Oxford Circus, Trottenham and a few others places that were previously only stops along the way on the tube. Now, I know exactly what exists at such places. Oxford Circus happens to be my new favorite place in London, it’s like New York City!! They had every shop from Gap to Borders to American Apparel (doesn’t having an international store defeated what they stand for) to American Outfitters, not to mention all the amazing foreign stores that I had never heard of but that had clothes that were to die for!! It was like a shoppers heaven! Thankfully people watching sufficed my shopping hunger pangs and I was able to by pass all of the stores. I made it to church in time to stand in the “queue” (line) that was wrapped around the entire building. Apparently the guest worship band today was pretty popular (Israel Houghton and New Breed). SO INCREDIBLE!!! Israel is actually from Lakewood Church in Huston Texas.
Church this morning was fabulous (word affectionately stolen from Cate!). Jeff and I have been studying about purpose and I have to say that I’ve really been struggling with what my purpose is right now. I know what my purpose is as a believer in Christ, to win souls for the kingdom of heaven and share of God’s great love and mercy, however, beyond that I have struggled with what specifically God would have me to in the season of my life, in these very moments, what my purpose is here in London. I have to say, I truly feel as though today God really showed me that His purpose for me is to be able to experience him more fully so that I might desire to worship Him more wholly, which will in turn affect my ultimate purpose as a believer and follower of Christ! Today, God revealed His splendor so clearly. It was incredible to worship with persons of all colors, creeds and nationalities, to look around and see dance and song and hands lifted high… voices praises and worshiping the same God. I’ve never experienced anything like it. (Literally, in the bathroom there was at least four different languages being spoken, two that I had never heard before and couldn’t Identify if I tried. Imagine how many more were there!) I found myself in tears as I looked around the room, wanted to know the story of how God moved and worked to bring each and every person there. How many of those people came from countries where they would be persecuted for worshiping as they were in that moment. From there I was taken back to how easy it is for me to forget that back in the states, everyone there has a story too. God worked in their lives to bring them to the places where they are attending church and worshiping God too. How easy it is to forget. I liked the first service so much that I decided to stick around for the 5:30 worship service. God’s provision, I happened to arrive at 4:40 and was greeted with a queue that was hundreds of people long and wrapped around the building all the way to the back. PRAISE HIM that I got there when I did as I was one of the last people to make it in the door before they reached maximum capacity. Well over three hundred people were unable to attend the night time service… I am so thankful that I arrived when I did. The nighttime service was just as incredible. You could see the different cultural expressions of worship around the room, all coming together to praise God, pray for healing, pray for Zimbabwe. “Ask and I’ll give the nations to you!!” – Shane & Shane
It was such a powerful experience today. I was so scared to attend such a large church, for fear that it was just another “mega church.” I thought it would be too big to get involved in, too impersonal, maybe even too showy and they would miss the true message of the gospel. Boy was I wrong. I tell you what… that is one Big Church that has it all. They really know how it is done. It was the most personal church I have ever been to. I literally had very sincere conversations with at least four people, found it almost impossible not to get involved… ahhh, it was amazing. And they get it!! They preached the word, the true gospel. Truth at its finest! Oh so fantastic!! Such a glimpse into the goodness of God. I found myself praising Him today for the fact that I am healed, despite the physical pain in my body or spots on my skin, as it says in His word, by His stripes I am healed. One song particularly that really spoke to me this morning had the following lyrics, “Your grace has found me just as I am, empty handed by alive in your hands.” I have no idea what I am doing in London, no idea what I have to offer these people or this city.. but so alive in His hands!! I am so excited that God is so present in Central London! Once again, He has done immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).

Blessings.
- I finally purchased an Oyster Card (cheaper travel)
- Most restaurants and stores serve all natural, organic food. In fact, many coffee shops only offer organic milk and food, no preservatives if you wanted them. Additionally, I ate lunch at Pret a Manger today and patrons recycle 96% of their waste… meaning that when you throw your food away there is a compost bin, liquid bin, wrapper bin, etc… LOVE IT!!
- I have been feeling so good lately that I decided to try going without my “magic blue pill.” (For Spondylitis). Sadly, I was in a lot of pain today and thus, still very much need the medicine… however, I am so incredibly thankful for a medicine that would make me feel good enough to question whether or not my body was still sick.
- I got home to find an e-mail from Michelle (the lady from NY that I met at the coffee shop with the adorable chunky 8 ½ month old son, Sebastian). She was advising me on housing in the Essex area and invited me for dinner to meet some other fellow Americans. So sweet of her. I am very excited!!!
- God is continuing to reveal Himself to Jeff and I individually and as a couple and it has been absolutely incredible to see the ways in which He is working in that regard. ☺

Sold-out,
Carina