Thanksgiving

I have realized over the past few days that I am growing up in a sense. I officially missed my first Thanksgiving. It was really weird, I must admit. It was weird knowing that back home everything was closed down and I was sitting in class and going on with my day like it was any other day, since it was here in Wales. Life seems to be changing every time I blink. One minute it’s missing Thanksgiving, the next another friend gets engaged or married. It’s weird. I don’t deal with change well, but apparently I am being forced to learn to deal with it better and realize that this is life, it would be boring if everything were the same all of the time…right?

We had a Thanksgiving celebration on Saturday so that we could feel somewhat like we hadn’t missed out on our American life and traditions and so that some of our British friends here could also experience a Thanksgiving meal…I think they were somewhat overwhelmed at the amount of food. I officially made my first pecan pie…one was slightly over done, but apparently the other tasted good. Here are a few pictures from the day, compliments of Charity…(I hope that’s ok)
The masses of food...

Some of the people

Carrie and Pam with all of the desserts...mmm

Addison was happy about all of the foodPlaying with Cerys and Bailey

Bigger Than Us

I'm sitting here thinking about how home seems so close, yet so far at the same time. I sometimes find myself wishing I were sick so that I could just spend the day in bed. This is not what I want to be wishing. I want to be so filled with energy and excitement that it really radiates to the children and people around me. I really do love being here and love the people, but it's the people back home that I am missing. I want to hug them and actually know what is going on in their lives and not just find out random tid bits here and there. I hate talking on the phone, and now that is my main way of communication with my family and friends back home.
This morning while I was reading in 1 Corinthians I came across this verse. I must say I'm not sure if I have read it before, but if I have reading it this morning really just amazed me. 1 Corinthians 1:25 "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." When I read this verse this morning it kind of slapped me in the face a bit. How many times do I sit there and think, oh I can handle this on my own or I don't need any help trying to figure this out...I'll work it out on my own? I can be so stubborn sometimes that it really just made me stop and think. So many times we think we know better than God and it clearly says right here that God's "stupidity" (if we can say that he has any) is more intelligent than any wisdom we as humans have. It's so clear! How do we continue to forget that God is omniscient? Then it says that God is stronger than any man, his weakness is still stronger than the strongest man in the world. Think about that for a minute...it really is just blowing my mind right now. We think we are so great, strong and wise, yet God tells us that is nothing compared to his wisdom and strength. What an amazing God we serve!
Ok so some things that kids have said lately that were funny:

• "Um Miss I need to go somewhere else because I need to fluff"
• In front of an entire club of kids aged from 8-11ish I think, "So you know that boy Callum that came last week? Well we are going out."

Well for some reason those are the only ones I can think of right now...maybe I can remember some more later.

Oh one more thing...Please be in prayer for our group that Satan will have no place here, that he will not even be able to scare us because we know that God is on our side. Pray that he would not even have a foot in the door with us. Pray for God's protection.

Laminin

Ok so this morning in our worship time before our actual teaching began they showed us this video. This may be only me and my ever so slight hint of nerd coming out, but I thought this was amazing! I'm not even going to try to explain it, so basically you should just watch the video and let Louie Giglio do the talking. I must say it's pretty amazing and it gave me goose bumps. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4zgJXPpI4

Time for a Change

Ok, so I know I look absolutely dumb in these photos, but here they are for you mom! I decided to go ahead and cut my hair off again...it was just too long for my liking. I'm not so sure it was the best idea because it is humid here, but nonetheless I've done it. I do really like it short though, even if it does make my face look "rounder." My computer is currently broken, so I am using the one that my family has in my room here, and I discovered I could plug my phone into their computer, browse and upload pictures directly from my phone without having to download them onto their computer. It's amazing what technology can do.

I've really been learning a lot in the past couple of days. It seems that the longer I am here the more I find myself wanting to go sit in a coffee shop..aka Starbucks, and just read and journal. For those of you that really know me, in the past I would have never ever wanted to just spend my spare time doing that. I really enjoy it though and I find that spending time alone with myself and God is one of the most amazing things. I think in the past I have been afraid of really finding out who I am because of what I might find. What if I found out I was someone I didn't really want to be?? I think it is so important to be comfortable enough with yourself to realize that we are always changing and growing. So what if I discover something that might be a bit weird, I don't have to stay that way, I can change, I can grow. God wants us to spend time with him because we want to, not out of obligation. I think I am really beginning to see and understand that. I am really beginning to want that time with God and not just do it because I know I should. Anyways your prayers would be much appreciated because I having a bit of difficulty with one of the girls on the team and I think ulitimately it is going to come down to the two of us sitting down to have a chat (as the British would say). Pray that God would give each of us understanding and grace towards each other. Thank you!!

Why should you never iron a 4-leaf clover?

I should be preparing for the presentation I have on Thursday, but instead I decided to blog, while listening to Christmas music. I know it’s a bit early, but there is no Thanksgiving in Wales, so technically I don’t have to wait until after Thanksgiving to start listening to it, well that is how I am going to justify listening to it for now anyways. It is getting colder here and that makes me think of Christmas too…the high for the rest of the week is 54, 50, and rain…I need to do my wash, so that I can wear everything I own at once.
Last week we had some time off so Pam, Jesslyn and I went to Ireland from Tuesday until Saturday. It was wonderful and who knew there were sites that beautiful!?! We started out in Dublin and did a walking tour around the city on Wednesday. It was full of a lot of history, but it was still fun. On Thursday we got up and skipped breakfast….big mistake. If there is one thing I learned on this trip it is that the 3 of us need to start our days off with breakfast and coffee or grumpiness sets in. We got our rental car and headed on our way. It was raining, and I hadn’t driven a standard in about 5 years and I was driving on the other side of the car and the road, in a busy city…this started the driving out as a bit stressful. We started out on our journey that we thought was to take about 3 hours and didn’t arrive at our destination until about 6 or 7 hours after we started out. I guess Google maps didn’t account for the fact that we were on winding roads around mountains. Even though the drive was long, it was well worth it. We went to the Cliffs of Moher, which were magnificent! Here are some pictures…. Then we headed to Galway and at Quiznos, the first one I’ve seen since we’ve been in Europe. It was quite tasty though if I do say so myself. We ended the evening with ice cream and some guys, who weren’t necessarily sober, asking us for a wee lick of ice cream (Pam allowed them her ice cream because she didn’t want any more, but I am stingy and like my ice cream, so I kept it all to myself…hence the reasons for my weight gain). Thursday we got up and spent the morning, or what was left of it by the time we got up and left the hostel, looking around Galway. Then we decided to drive out to Connemara because it looked pretty and there were a bunch of leaflets for it all around, so it had to be good. I am so glad we did this. The drive out to Connemara was mostly along the Sea, it was beautiful. I don’t have many pictures from our drives because I was the only one who could drive, so I chose safety over taking pictures while driving. There wasn’t much to do in Connemara except look at the scenery, which we did. We did stop for coffee along the way and had a wonderful view of a lake while we sat and sipped our coffee, that wasn’t that great….it was all about the experience though. We took a different route home and found a pub along the way to have some dinner. It was probably one of the nicest meals we had on the whole trip, but it was fun to sit down and just enjoy a meal together somewhere nice, instead of enjoying a meal of McDonalds or Quiznos. The food was delicious and this meal was the only meal I had any vegetables the whole time we were in Ireland…oddly enough I was craving healthy food…even vegetables. Then we headed back to Galway and went to the movies. Then we settled in for the night. (I was really cold, that is why I am standing so awkwardly in this photo.)Friday we got up early and headed back to Dublin to return the car. We had to return the car in the morning and our flight didn’t leave until the evening so Pam and I went back into Dublin city centre for part of the day, Jesslyn stayed at the airport because she wasn’t feeling well. Pam and I bought some souvenirs and had lunch (my sandwich was in the shape of a 3 leaf clover) and then went into a wax museum. That was really fun because it was Halloween, so there were some extra scary exhibits. Then we went back to the airport and waited on our flight. I had a wonderful time seeing things I have never seen before and going places I had never been before. I would love to go back one day and try to see even more.
One thing that really began to hit me while we were in Ireland was how badly I wanted to go home. I know that once I got there I would wish I were back, but nonetheless I want to see my family, and talk to them face to face, not through Skype or over the phone. This really began to bother me because I do really want to be home, but I know at the same time that I am here and God has me here for a reason. I want to be used by God, even in these last weeks, but I know that if I continue to focus on being at home, then I might miss something God is trying to show me or teach me. I know God is working in me and trying to use this in some way, but I just can’t see how or why yet. I wish I could see what God is trying to teach me through being so homesick. I don’t want to be homesick. I want to be enjoying my time here, not wishing I were at home with my family. Maybe that is something I am supposed to learn, to live in the moment and not be focused or worried about the future, or what will happen tomorrow. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?” Matthew 6:25. This verse came into my head, so I thought I would include it as well. Maybe I am supposed to learn this, maybe it is something more, only time will tell, I suppose.

In answer to the title question: You don't want to press your luck.