Word comparison:
English: boffin. American: nerdy, without the negative connotation of being dorky. Professorly.
English: daft. American: stupid.
Sorry for the large gap of time since my last blog post! So much has been happening; I've been living in the moment more often than reflecting on it. Time to reflect now :)
Last week on Sunday, we had worship at St Peter's in Boxted. Afterwards, I went to Sunday dinner (lunch) at the Butler's house. It was so much fun! I got a tour of the house and had fun playing with Ben and Natty, and we even made freshly pressed apple juice from the apple tree in the backyard! We had Lamb roasted with garlic and rosemary, potatoes and parsnip and carrots, and fresh mint sauce. Yuuuuuuuuuuum! Who knew that I liked lamb so much?! Not me :D
After that, Julie, Alice, and Pippa took me to Dedham for Cream Tea! Cream Tea is tea, served with two scones, strawberry jam, and clotted cream on the side. It was absolutely delicious and decadent and lovely... I will definitely be back for more :) We went walking around the town and went to the cutest village shop, which was like an upscale consignment store, built in an old chapel building. So much fun!
On Monday, Rev Tim and I met with Ruth, the minister of the Methodist church in Boxted, and discussed things we could do to get our churches to work together and have more fellowship time! Ruth also talked about the possibility of me getting involved with the Boxted Methodist Silver Band, possibly playing tuba for them! I geeked out at that possibility. I was also invited to sit in on their practice that evening, but opted to spend time with Pippa and Alice instead :) Building relationships, especially in the beginning of my work, is most important to me, so I feel like this was the right decision.
Tuesday was my day off, so I napped, watched TV, read, went blackberry picked, went walking, and made dinner for Patsy-Ann, my host mum, and I since she was arriving home late that evening!
Wednesday, I went into Colchester for the day and did some window shopping :) It's quite a lovely town! We had a planning meeting for the Point after school youth club which is held Thursday afternoons. It was very successful.
Thursday, I went into Colchester again and got my hair cut! I got SIX INCHES OFF!!! Whoa. Big change for me :) I quite like the way it looks, but it is terribly annoying while eating! I then went to my buddy family, the Sheils, for supper that evening.
Friday, I read and went walking, and then had the second meeting of the Edge, the secondary school (middle school) youth group. We went 10 pin bowling! It was sssooooo much fun :D I don't think bowling is quite as popular in England as it is in America, though, so everyone was quite impressed with my (nonexistent) skills ;)
Saturday was the Homes & Gardens sale fundraiser for the church, which is basically a big yard sale inside Langham Community Center. The church collected items that people didn't want anymore, and organised them into different sections. They ended up raising £2300 for the church! I helped man the one pound table, which was fun even though I'm a lousy salesman :)
Sunday of this week was service at Langham St. Mary's, and I ran Sunday School with the kids for the first time. It wasn't that great, but we discussed what it means to give thanks, and what we are thankful for. Julie and I are hoping to use the kids' answers to write the prayers for the service next Sunday, which is an all-ages service. I went to the Sheils house for Sunday dinner (lunch) and we watched Avatar and I straightened Becky's hair. I think this will be our thing this next coming year :) I'm going to get a hold of a curling iron so I can curl her hair at some point! That evening, we went to a Young Adult led contemporary worship service at one of the churches in Colchester, St John's. It was fantastic, and the kids that went with us (Alice, Pippa, Ben, Becky) all loved it as well! It's great to see them get excited about worship :D
Monday of this week, I had a bank appointment to follow up on setting up my English bank account and do online banking. Now that is all sorted out :) Also, my first stipend should be deposited into my account tomorrow! After that, I went back to Tim's house for Bible study, prayer, and discussion. We had a very interesting chat about image and the way we want to be perceived. It was great to hear that someone else, especially someone in the ministry, has problems dealing with our perception of ourselves, and trying to make the impression on others of "how good we are". It's uplifting to know I'm not the only one in this position, wanting others to think better of myself than how I know I really am- full of envy, anger, pride, judgment, fear. God is calling me to be a better person, and I want to step up to that plate.
All right, I think that's all for now! I will try to write more frequently in this blog so that I don't have verbal diarrhea all over one blog post like this again ;)
Love you all! Cheers!
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