The Queen of the Swans

Cheerio Mates!
I am back on this side of the pond. I had a terrific time. We saw so much, spent so much, and learned so much I am still recuperating. We walked all over England and I enjoyed every minute of it. I loved Oxford and enjoyed seeing all that C.S. Lewis called home. The weather was a bit colder than I expected and once I bought a warm coat I felt better. You'll see this purple pullover in most of my pictures.
Well I am going to share several pictures and exerpts from my journal over the next few weeks. Please feel free to comment and ask questions.
The first thing to know is the British (and most of Europe) put the day, then month then year so.. 13 May 2008
"We are in Oxford. We walked 8 miles today! The best part was a long walk along the Thames. We saw a lock, where the boats pass through. We saw the ruins of a nunnery. I learned that the Queen of England owns all the public paths and therefore they can not be barred even though they go through someone's land. So I came face to face with a cow, she was friendly. Also, the Queen owns all of the swans in Britian, they are a protected species and are everywhere. I wish I could draw because I would draw a swan with a beautiful golden crown and write a story about the Queen of the Swans."
This first day I did not take any pictures. I just enjoyed the moments I was there, the next day I began to be a tourist.

We are under contract!

Well, after a fretful afternoon yesterday, we heard that our offer had been accepted on our first home. We are both thrilled! Miraculously Rob's headache and my stomach ache have disappeared. We did have some competition on the house, but we won and we got the pot rack! (Check out the pictures it's next to our agent who is on the right of our pic and remember that is not our furniture in the house). Thank you for the prayers and keep them coming for all the final paper work. God's hand is so obvious in all of this that we are not anxious about anything. (OK, maybe a little bit). Tomorrow I leave for England. I will try to post some while I am there.

House Hunting

Well, we have been house hunting in VA. Our first day we were totally dejected. We would find a great, renovated house but it would be right next to a crumbling decaying building. Apparently it is illegal for the real estate agent to tell us if it's a "good or bad" area. But, when I saw a drug deal going on half a block from the house, I figured it out. But if you know my dh he was totally optimistic and said let's go on and look. Well, later on that night, he said "Oh no, we wouldn't live there, I don't want my wife shot." He is so sweet, caring about me like that! No, he is just southern and polite and didn't want to tell the agent NO!. But, finally we steered away from those areas and explored new territory. One of the things we have been really excited about is adopting a dog. We started the joke that we would have to get a pit bull if we lived in that part of town.
Well, today we were back to the sheltie variety of dog (for those of you who don't know a sheltie is like lassie thrown in the dryer and shrunk). We think we may have found IT! IT, the house is small, 1500 square feet, but it is charming. It has great curb appeal, low maintenance and big trees. So, y'all pray for us, that if this is God's will it will go smoothly. If it's not God's will let every door slam in our face! I hope tomorrow I can give you the address of our new house.

Birthday's in April are Awesome

Ok, I am going to brag. I have the best husband in the world. This is ok to say because I believe God created us specifically for each other. Now, my dh(dear husband) planned a surprise birthday party at the pottery painting place. Fourteen of my dearest family and friends painted pottery with me for several hours. I will post pictures as soon as they are in. It was so neat to watch my dh and his buddies painting pigs, smurfs, and owls. But, the fun did not stop there, my dh also had the BEST birthday cake ever. Chocolate with chocolate mousse filling. It said "Happy 30th my Lovebug" and it had ladybugs all over the cake...mmmmm!!
I received many other really thoughtful gifts including a book about Virginia, beautiful pottery, a mickey mouse watch, luggage, charms for my bracelet, and pajamas. The Kindergarten/First grade Sunday School class had cupcakes for me and made me a bracelet with my name on it.
When people found out it was my birthday they said "How old are you?" (just to use this blog as a tool for education; you should NEVER ask a woman how old she is). Everytime I was asked, I responded 30. The usual response was "oh, yeah 29 and holding, or 21?" And I said, "Nope, God has given me 30 years so far and I am claiming every single one of them, good or bad, they are mine!

The Perfect Me

Crazy days. My mom and dad are in town. My house is a mess because we are trying to pack. But, it's ok, because we are having a good time. I mean we can't stop laughing. I have finally made it to this relationship with my parents where I don't scrutinize every word they say. You know, I am not trying to prove myself to them nor am I looking for their approval. I don't feel like they are judging me and so I don't read something into every word, sigh, or facial expression. I don't panic when they are coming anymore and try to build the "perfect picture" of my life. They accept me for who I am, right now, a person growing toward perfection. Not earthly perfection, but heavenly perfection.
Recently someone asked me if I have any regrets, if there was anything I would do over. I was the only one that said no. I think that is because, as a Christian, I see my life differently than some others. I have learned not to try to be the perfect daughter, wife, whatever but rather be the perfect me. The me that God created me to be! I have learned this journey of life is a long road and if I take a detour, that's ok, I learn and get back on the road. The most important thing I have learned is not to take this journey alone, to let Jesus be my guide. So, next week I will be 30 and I am pretty proud of me, the me I am right now. I hope I will continue to grow in the future but I am satisfied knowing I am a work in progress.
So, are you the perfect you right now? If so what makes you that way? If not what does the perfect you look like in your mind?

Are you going to Canada or Mexico?

Our church was robbed last week. The thieves got away with our special 30 pieces of silver offering. 30 pieces of silver was what Judas was paid to betray Jesus. Guess Judas got his money back!
Last night at Bible study, Anna Kate (who's about to be 12) said to me, "Ms. Sarah I heard the church got broken into." I said, "Yes it did." She said, "That is terrible, those people are going straight to Mexico!" I covered up a smile and said, "How do you know their going to Mexico?" She said very matter of factly, "All bad people go to Mexico and good people go to Canada." She shared with me that in their house they called Heaven Canada and, well, you get the rest. I laughed and then thought to myself, well that's not very Politically Correct, I don't think mexicans would appreciate their home being compared to, well you know. The next thought was, who new that when Clinton did NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) he was actually making a theological statement.
Anyway, Anna Kate dug into her pocket and pulled out three shiny quarters. She gave them to me and said, "here." I said, "What are these for?" She said, "so we can get started again on our 30 pieces of silver." Isn't that just like a child? To bring us back to the matter at hand, yeah something bad happend but we don't have time to whine about it, lets get back on track. Of course she took the other two quarters in her pocket to go get her Diet Dr. Pepper and she ate her raisinettes all through class. She also answered every question with a wisdom beyond her years. I love kids, they teach us so much about how to approach life: take a blow, get up and play again and study hard but eat raisinettes at the same time. Life is sweet!

Not through with me yet

I turned in my resignation letter today. I think in every job there are parts or people you don't like. I know in my old job it was alphabetizing and this crazy lady I had to share an office with who popped Xanax and Prozac like it was candy. I thought I would be elated to live out a country music video and slap the "I Quit" or "Take this Job and shove it" sign on my boss' desk and march off. But, it hasn't turned out that way, all the bad things are fading in my memory and I am having a hard time saying goodbye to the good things. The good people who sent me cards when my father-in-law died. The children who run up to me and give me free hugs. When I moved here I knew one person and now wherever I go someone says "Hello, how are you?" I am going to miss being part of this community.
Fear keeps sneaking up on me. I am moving to a new place where no one knows my name or my history. I'll have to explain to people all over about my "accent" (I don't think I have one and everyone else does). When people say, where are you from? What do I say? When people say what do you do? What do I say? God has reminded me of Ginny Owens song "If you want me to" and its playing in my head like a skipping disc, it's what I repeat to push that fear away:

Cause I'm not who I was When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise
You're not through with me
yet
so if all of these trials bring me closer to you
Then I will walk through the fire
If You want me to

I keep reminding myself that God has taken me to places I never even imagined. I grew up on the beach in California, went to a school on a mountain in TN, came to the Delta, and now I am going to the birthplace of our nation. I was an only child and now I have sisters, brothers, and friends all over. I am not who I was when I took my first step, and I am glad to be moving forward, and Thank the Lord he is not through with me because I have a lot more steps to grow, so today is just another step, a step of faith. You all remind me of this day so in a few years you can say, "See I told you God had big plans for you!"