Still, still, still . . .

. . . one can hear the falling snow.


Or, that's the theory anyway. The sound didn't seem to wake me up two nights ago, but I certainly got a phone call from a very excited Brazilian just before I was going to leave for morning prayers saying that it had snowed over night.



Sure enough, 2cm of snow lay on the ground and perfectly covered every branch and tree - which Dr. Watson tells me is rather unusual for the rare times that it does snow in London. Often, it is too warm for the snow to stick on the trees.


I must admit, as much as I've missed snow and have been longing to see it, it was even more special than I expected to be able to share that morning with so many people who had never seen snow before in their lives - Brian from Zimbabwe, Alice/Leandro/Thiago from Brasil, Marcial from the Philippines, etc. I have some really wonderful memories now of taking Alice out to feel and taste snow (which I knew she'd love, since she is already addicted to eating ice as a snack) and watching the Hungarians beat Thiago and Marcial in a snowball fight.

And yes, the snow was gone by lunchtime. But fortunately, memories aren't so fleeting.

Enjoy the pictures :)

The Sound of Rushing Water

Isn't that a great title? Sounds pretty poetic, like a waterfall. You'll find out that the reality isn't so romantic, but hang in there.

So now that I've given you a couple updates on community life here, I'd like to fill you in on the "inside update" (how many directions do you think I can get going here? Is this an "outgoing inside update?" :)

God has been really nailing me with one idea over the last two weeks: the need to pray. I've always been a huge fan of prayer, and prayer has always felt very natural to me - probably because of my parents' examples and being raised in a prayerful church.

However, the kind of prayer that I'm comfortable with is like working with your best friend. I'm used to just bringing up anything I'm thinking about or worrying over to God and receiving His peace. I'm used to sending up pleas for help as I try to deal with a difficult situation and to thank Him when they pass. God and I are great conversationalists together. He is the friend walking beside me all day long and nodding at anything and everything I want to chat with him about as I go about my work.

But here is the kind of prayer that has always eluded me. The go-lock-yourself-away-in-a-closet-and-wear-holes-in-the-carpet kind of prayer. I've always had two problems with trying to step out of the race and just sit to pray: I fall asleep or my mind wanders off to something else. I inevitably leave feeling a sense of failure (or wake up the next morning wondering how far I got down my prayer list before they turned into dreams).

The phenomenon I've experienced over the last week is that I have not only felt a need for that kind of prayer, but I've felt a burning passion to go do it. It started with a promise to very dedicatedly pray for one person. I figured I would keep up with that like I always have, by sending up one- or two- liners to God every time that person came to mind. But then I read a chapter in a book called, "The Life You Always Wanted" by John Ortberg, entitled "Interrupting Heaven". The great title (which he got from Revelation where it talks about the agenda of heaven, all the singing and praising, etc, being interrupted by the prayers of the saints) was just the beginning of some great insights into the kind of prayer I was feeling was missing from my life.

Among other things, Ortberg had two suggestions that I really appreciated. The first addressed my attention span problem - Ortberg commented that his prayer life really improved when he realized that his mind wandered for a reason. It naturally wandered to things that he probably needed to deal with anyway and who better to bring them to than God?

The second was to consistently separate yourself from the things that tend to distract you and pray for just a short time, every day. Consistency is much more important than length of time and helps us learn the discipline in a reasonable way rather than leave you with the sense of failure that comes when we try to accomplish a huge, unrealistic goal.

So, these last two weeks I've been trying these two things and now I find I can't get enough time to pray - and the people who need prayer seem to be coming out of the woodwork. My favorite prayer closet is what is used to be an old bathroom - and I've gotten pretty used to the sudden sound of rushing water going through the pipes if someone decides to take a shower next door :) I just pretend it is the sound of the Holy Spirit rushing out to answer prayer . . .

If you would like to join me in prayer, here are some of the top requests on my list:

1. Leán - for healing and forgiveness in his family

2. Carla and Mario - for God's provision to get Mario a visa to the US and wisdom for decisions that Carla must make now about the summer.

3. Alice - for her relationships at Lee Abbey

4. LA Community - for new members to settle in and find their niche here; also for the new warden who will start in April.

5. Samuel - for a focused mind to study German and English, for God's direction for his future after his time in Germany

6. Pedro - for his opportunity to teach at a church youth camp this week; for starting university again next month after having taken a year off.

Obrigada meus irmãos e irmãs queridas!
(Thank you my dear brothers and sisters!)

The closest I'll ever come to being a Fireman . . .

. . . is being a Fire Marshall.

At 6am. Which is quite a badge of distinction, because it means I was the first person down at reception when the fire alarm went off. If that wasn't exciting enough, they couldn't figure out what caused it except that the electricity was out in about half the building.

Which made opening reception really fun because there were no lights, no computers, and it took us 15 minutes to find the funny cranky handle gadget to manually open the shutter.

But at least we had a door to get in Reception to open the shutter manually. The genius who designed the shutter to the wash-up room installed it with the manual winch on the INSIDE (and there is no other access to the room). So, its paper plates and forks today.

To go along with the cold sandwiches because the kitchen ran out of gas to fire the stoves and ovens. And they still don't really know what caused the power to go out (there is flooding in two rooms as well, which may have something to do with it). Because of this horrendous storm that took out half of London's transportation system, we didn't get an electrician here until after noon. As I type, the power still isn't back on in half the building (the important half, unfortunately - reception, kitchen, boilers . . .)

To top it off, this poor new resident arrived today from the States - with over 20 bags. Literally, I have never seen one student bring so much stuff. How on earth she will fit it all into a single room, I have no idea. But get this - her room is on the 5th and final floor and of course, today is the one day in the four months I've been here when the lift has been down and her family is helping her carry each one of those 20 bags up 6 flights of stairs.

So, if you think of us across the pond, please pray for the poor kitchen team workers and for Brian (head of Maintenance) that God will bless their work today.

The Weight of Responsibility

First - can you imagine the look on my face when I found this shirt with the name of my hometown on it in a cheap clothing store in Gravesend? Of course I snatched it up for only £3 and the chance to say that Idaho Falls is so famous you can find shirts with the name all over the world . . .

Now, I have a great story to share with all my democracy-loving Americans.

The community at Lee Abbey elects a representative to act as a go-between when volunteers have problems or issues that arise and they don't feel comfortable to go to the head honchos themselves (usually because the problems have to do with all the laws and decrees that fuel this place).

Samuel was the former community representative. Allow me to interject that he was a fabulous representative, mixing just the right amount of respect and backbone to address issues with both the community and management here. His last official act was to elicit a promise from one community member that she would finish translating, "Please wash your own dishes" into every language used by the community to put above the community sink. Well done, Samu.

Unfortunately, Samuel left and his rather brief reign as community rep ended when he abandoned me to go hole up in Germany and learn a rather un-beautiful language (compared to Portuguese, but maybe I'm a bit biased ;).

A week before Samuel left, Lee Abbey's warden, David, announced that community members should give their nominations for the next representative to Samuel within a few days. David promptly approached Samuel a week later and asked for the names.

"No one has given me any names" Samuel replied. David was a bit taken aback, but then asked him, "Well, do you have a nomination?" "Yes." Samuel answered. "Brittney."

David asked me if I'd accept the "nomination," but told me that I accepting it would mean accepting the position. Because I had no one to run against, I would be automatically appointed to the position.

I agreed, but then had to laugh when I read the notice that was posted up on the community bulletin board.



Only in England would they dare to declare someone elected . . . and now I have no public mandate from an apathetic community to do a job that no one wants. Sounds like the perfect start to my political career. It could be worse - I could be the governor of California.

Feliz Ano Novo

Unfortunately, to fill you in on life since my last post would take much more time that I'm sure you're willing to spend reading a computer screen. So here are the highlights:

1. My family arrived safely, but groggily, from the US on the 22nd of December despite the nefarious attempts of killer fog to thwart their travel. Never let it be said that highly condensed water ever got the best of Peterson plans.

2. The Lee Abbey community and my family seem to get along pretty well - in fact, I think I've already been replaced by several people here and I might find my room taken over when I go back to Sacramento in September.




















The Brazilians singing "A Deus Demo Gloria" (To God be the Glory) for the Christmas Carol.

3. Christmas was beautiful and full of the joy of Christ coming down as light into the world. I was so richly blessed to be able to share this celebration with both my families here.

4. Boxing Day = trip to Paris on the Eurostar! Although I came down with a nasty cold, I still enjoyed three days in France despite the sub zero temperature (think celcius :) My favorite: definitely Notre Dame, although Chateau Chantilly and Musee D'Orsay were close seconds.

Beautiful Notre Dame at night
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5. Floating down the river . . . took my family and two Brazilians on a boat ride to Greenwich and toured the Royal Observatory. We had classic London weather - sunny sky, beautiful day going down the river and pouring rain and cold wind on the way back. 4 seasons in one day . . .





Thiago, myself and
Samuel at the
Royal Observ.
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6. New Years Eve - I got to go to church twice!!! Both were spectacular services, like cold spring water after being in a desert for a month (Christmas services are nice, but a whole month of them can leave you a little thirsty for a really good worship service). I was doubly blessed - by the first message, which was the recipe for a good new year: rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and be thankful in everything (1 Thess 5:16-18). The second service was full of prayer for the next year . We ended the day by watching the Thames fireworks celebration from the roof of Lee Abbey - what a view!

7. We spent Tuesday the 2nd at beautiful Bath touring the Jane Austen Centre and admiring the GORGEOUS architecture! So worth going to just to walk around the city.



Mom, Dad, and Nick
at the Jane Austen Centre
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8. I won't bore you with more details - may you experience all of God's rich blessings for you this New Year!!!