Being blessed . . .

Although it is very strange to be in a place where people don't celebrate Thanksgiving, its very much on my heart today. So, here's my contribution to your celebration of the myriad of blessings that God has so generously bestowed on us:

-A warm place to sleep, good food to eat, and clothes that fit me.

-A family of believers who loves and cares about me, even when I'm crabby.

-A God who gave up what was most precious to Him so that I could be His friend.

Not a long list, but it covers just about everything that means anything.

I'm very tempted to wallow in self pity today, but last night I was challenged to think about what Thanksgiving really is for me. Is it really about getting to have all the traditions I'm used to? Or playing games all day with my family?

I have a choice today - I can feel sorry for myself, moping and complaining all day. Or I can be deeply thankful that I have a warm, safe place to live, a Christian community to support and challenge me, a place to serve others, and an opportunity to see God's incredible way of changing hearts.

I think I'll go with the latter.

Have a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving.

Edinburgh or Bust

Scotland was amazing!!!

I'm not sure what expectations I had for the trip - its November, cold, rainy, and we were taking a 10 hour bus ride to go somewhere for just three days. Normally that kind of trip makes me grumpy.

Quite the opposite, I think it was one of the best trips I've ever taken. I'm sure most of that fact had to do with the company I kept - wandering around with 4 Brazilians is never boring. However, some part of my enjoyment came from the fact that I fell in love with Edinburgh. Its absolutely worth visiting if you ever get the opportunity (skip Glasgow, not nearly as charming).

We left last Friday night at 11pm and arrived in Edinburgh at 8am. The Brazilians were discouraged because it was cold and drizzling and we wouldn't be able to check into our hostel until 2. But we managed to walk around downtown a bit, grab a shuttle to the hostel, and keep warm there for a couple hours until check-in. Which didn't go so well as Pedro had accidentally made the reservations for a day earlier and they had cancelled it when we didn't show up the previous day. However, they were extremely nice and not only gave us free shuttle tickets back downtown, but called several hostels and let us know who had space. The weather cleared up and was beautiful for the rest of our trip; we ended up at a hostel directly in downtown which was nice because we could walk everywhere and didn't have to pay to take the bus. Love the way God works things out . . .

Our hostel was . . . interesting. Alice was terrified of the place, but I thought it was kind of charming. The people were really nice, the place was clean, but what freaked her out most was all the strange murals covering every single amount of wallspace. Our directions to our room were "Go up the stairs, walk down the corridor until you see Spiderman and turn left."

We spent two full days sightseeing in Edinburgh - beautiful old buildings, cute shops, Edinburgh Castle, Scotland National Gallery, and the big hill that overlooks the city. The people we met in the shops and on the streets were extremely warm and friendly - much more so than in London.

We took over 250 pictures, but I selected just a few to post up for your viewing pleasure here.

Overall, a wonderful and relaxing holiday. Especially when you have a Korean (even a Brazilian-Korean, they can't deny their blood) with you to get you everywhere and take the best pictures!

Request

I have a pretty urgent prayer request. One of the residents here found out that one of his best friends was murdered. He already struggles with depression and alcoholism, and he is not a Christian (professes atheism). As far as I can tell he also does not have many really close friends here.

Please pray for protection for him for these first few days, as I am very concerned that he may harm himself with drugs and alcohol. Pray also that the community would have wisdom in being able to reach out and help him.

Yay-Boo

Yay - for Rest Week and getting to sleep in an extra half hour because prayers are in the afternoon.

Boo - for trying to stay awake during the afternoon prayer service RIGHT after lunch . . .

Yay - for cold, crisp, Autumny days and wearing scarves.

Boo - for a third of the community to be gone on retreat.

Yay - for random people from California to walk into Lee Abbey and decide to apply to be a community member.

Boo - for having to work Rec 1 three times this week and eating lunch after everyone else (especially when all the good dessert is gone)

Yay - for having a two hour conversation with a resident about every aspect of the Christian faith imagineable!

Boo - for the lack of good apple cider in this country!

Yay - for beautiful and talented Hungarian women who teach aerobics every week (just for girls!); i'm definitely feeling the goodness today.

Boo - for hearing more often about all the people who are leaving in December and January (I think there are about 10).

Yay - for the incredible way God works when you wait and pray.