Saturdays don't really exist at Lee Abbey. I mean, we call the day "Saturday," but that word carries with it the connotation of being part of the weekend, of being somewhat different from Tuesday and Friday. Unfortunately, the connotation is all in your head, because here Saturday is a working day like any other - unless it happens to be your day off. But your day off could have been Monday the previous week. So, in my little Lee Abbey universe, weekends have ceased to exist.
Sometimes I can pretend though. Like today for instance; I am supposed to work in the evening, from 3pm to 10:30p. You might think that means I get to sleep in, but you're only half correct. Everyone who works that day has to go to morning prayers at 7:30a regardless of when you're working. I'm used to the routine, though, and going back to sleep for two hours after prayers and breakfast ALMOST feels like really sleeping in and is just as effective (even more so, since you don't mess up your eating schedule!).
I'm sure you understand now how much I was looking forward to pretending it was the weekend for at least a morning. Unfortunately, this is where the conspiracy to prevent Brittney from sweet slumber comes in.
First of all, my cleaning day is sadly Saturday. Which means that House Team usually comes knocking around 10am to hoover (vacuum), dust, and sometimes change my bed linen. I anticipated this petty obstacle and decided to catch my forty winks down in Alice's room, which is one of the darkest and quietest places in Lee Abbey.
I can usually drop off pretty quickly, but for some reason it took me a bit longer to fall asleep - about 40 minutes. I'm sure I had only been sleeping a good 10 minutes when I woke up to the fire alarm. If you've read my previous fire alarm posts, then you know that they have to test the fire alarm every Tuesday (and if I'm working in the evening on a Tuesday, then the fire alarm usually wakes me from my fake sleep-in). So, my first thought when it went off was, "Is it 11am already?" followed quickly by - "Wait a minute, its Saturday!"
So, I had to jump out of bed, grab my shoes and keys pronto, and sprint up to reception where I was handed the responsibility of being Front Door Marshall (I got to shoo all the bleary-eyed residents out the door). I heard later that the alarm went off because something burned in the kitchen . . . Chris, I love you and I love your food, but you're not supposed to be sleeping on a Saturday morning, I am!!!
I tried to go back to sleep after that, but I don't suppose there is really any way to detox fire alarm adrenaline so quickly if you've already had a full night's sleep. So, that's why I'm posting a blog now :)
Saturday, February 24
Sunday, February 18
Hit by the Plague
When David and Mary returned Friday night from their day off in the country, little did they realize that they would return to a decimated community. 8 people had been hit by the "dreaded lurgy" that seemed to be no respecter of persons - all teams and nationalities were equally struck.
It gets even funnier. Dr. Watson was "DPR" for the evening, which means she carried a little cell phone that reception calls when anything out of the ordinary happens: she was the second line of defense. Unfortunately, because of this terrible plague she had to work reception alone the whole evening as well. How can you be in two places at once? What if, hypothetically speaking of course, she was checking the new warden and his wife into their rooms and another community member were to come running up shouting that something exploded in the resident's kitchen?
Dr. Watson actually deserves sainthood. She spent all morning making sure sick people had medicine and food, arranged for all the shifts to be covered for all the teams, AND managed to come visit me for a nice chat (she gave me wonderful mental and medicinal advice). She also dealt with not one, not two . . . but three calls in the middle of the night (1a, 1:40a, and 2:00a) and then worked an evening shift again the following day. Score one for England.
Here's a quick non sequitur for you - check out this really cool new movie that just came out in theaters! Its about William Wilberforce, who dedicated his whole life to abolishing slavery in Britain because He believed it was the work God called him to. Not only does the movie star the incredibly handsome Ioan Gruffod (of Horatio Hornblower fame) but also includes a campaign to end the modern day slavery of human trafficking (5 times more people are sold into slavery today than in Wilberforce's time).
Happy Chinese New Year . . .
It gets even funnier. Dr. Watson was "DPR" for the evening, which means she carried a little cell phone that reception calls when anything out of the ordinary happens: she was the second line of defense. Unfortunately, because of this terrible plague she had to work reception alone the whole evening as well. How can you be in two places at once? What if, hypothetically speaking of course, she was checking the new warden and his wife into their rooms and another community member were to come running up shouting that something exploded in the resident's kitchen?
Dr. Watson actually deserves sainthood. She spent all morning making sure sick people had medicine and food, arranged for all the shifts to be covered for all the teams, AND managed to come visit me for a nice chat (she gave me wonderful mental and medicinal advice). She also dealt with not one, not two . . . but three calls in the middle of the night (1a, 1:40a, and 2:00a) and then worked an evening shift again the following day. Score one for England.
Here's a quick non sequitur for you - check out this really cool new movie that just came out in theaters! Its about William Wilberforce, who dedicated his whole life to abolishing slavery in Britain because He believed it was the work God called him to. Not only does the movie star the incredibly handsome Ioan Gruffod (of Horatio Hornblower fame) but also includes a campaign to end the modern day slavery of human trafficking (5 times more people are sold into slavery today than in Wilberforce's time).Happy Chinese New Year . . .
Sunday, February 11
Proof is in the pictures
Does the community at Lee Abbey actually work?
I realized a few days ago that of the hundreds of Lee Abbey pictures I possess, not one contains a person working. So, I set out to rectify the situation and added a link for "Lee Abbey Working" under Photo Albums on this blog site. Peruse at your own risk. Its up to you to decide which are actual candid shots and which are merely poses . . .
Quick Update:
1. 7 people came to "English with Experts" hosted by Dr. Gill Watson and yours truly. We had a great conversation with several Spanish residents and a new french girl. Please continue to pray that we will have the opportunity to serve residents and build deeper relationships with them through this outreach.
2. Last night I taught the 4th weekly English grammar class for the community. God has really blessed me through this time with my brothers and sisters, so continue to pray that we find a time in our schedules to meet together.
3. I am helping Alice, Viktor, and Sarah lead a bible study for residents on Sunday afternoons. Continue to lift up David and Kevin in your prayers, that they would continue to hunger for God's truth. Pray for David's discipleship and for Kevin's salvation.
4. Worship Night is rapidly approaching on the 28th of February and we need all the prayer we can get! Please pray for the health of all participating, for Viktor as he prepares the message, for Astrid and Leandro as they lead music, and especially that someone would respond to our advertisment for a cameraperson. We really want to bless the residents here and give them a taste of what it means to worship God in spirit and truth!
5. Community leaving in the next few weeks: Sang Kyoon, Natasha, and Martin. Community arriving in the next few weeks: Aron (Hungary), Luke (USA), Jung Eun (Korea), Israel (India), and Marcelo (South Africa).
Thank you so much for your prayers!!
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