my first official day here.

So last night was a blur...I couldn't keep my eyes open for ANYTHING! Kimberly was doing her best to keep me awake through dinner so when I went to sleep, I could just sleep until I was fully rested and not have to wake up from a nap to eat. I went to sleep at 6:15pm and felt rested when I woke up at 6:15am this morning.

Bill and Joan are my host mom and dad and are very kind, hilarious people. They have been so sweet and hospitable already. I look forward to getting to know them better. (Mom, they were excited about the Texas salsa. And Cam, they were also really excited about the beef jerky. Good call!)

This morning when I woke up I spent some time getting ready and then journaled and prayed some. Kimberly has created the perfect little nook in my room for me to sit and read and write and think. Speaking of my room-WOW. It is more than I could have dreamed! She went beyond what I could imagine my room being. Thank you, sweet Kimberly. Well, then we had tea and I had toast with homemade blackberry jam-delicious! Then at 9:15 we started our 2 mile walk into Yarm to have a meeting to plan a youth event for next Tuesday with 2 other girls who are working in 2 other local churches. We met at Costa, which is like Starbucks here. I had a great peach smoothie! After our meeting, Kim and I walked around a bit and started our trek back home. It started raining pretty hard, so Bill picked us up and took us back home. Now we are relaxing a bit before we go get some shampoo and such for me and then have a youth event tonight!

You all would not believe how truly beautiful and enchanting it is here. I feel like every breath I breathe and every step I take hold a new adventure and something new to experience. Everything is GREEN as ever and people's gardens are incredible. The homes looks like they're straight from a movie or a dream. My window looks out to another house and just beyond is a horse pasture with a stable and horses. Magical.

Thank you all for your prayers! I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store. Kimberly and I have had a wonderful time catching up on life and it's been very interesting to learn all about England and the culture and how very different it actually is. I get to meet some of the youth tonight and I want to ask you to pray for them. Pray that the Lord will grab their hearts and show them that there are ways to pursue holy adventures that don't involve drinking/drunkenness. (Kimberly was telling me that it is 100% the culture here to do that all the time. Kimberly wants them to realize that there are so many other ways to have fun and live life that are full of holiness.)

"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered."
— G.K. Chesterton