Well, friends, I have found a flat!!! Yep, I do not tell a lie. I now have a home in England. I move in on this coming Tuesday, and I could not be more excited! I will be sad to leave my current temporary home with my pal and colleague Kerry, but I am thrilled to be able to settle in and feel like I am a Londoner. My home is also crazy close to the school where I will most likely be helping coach softball (looks like it will be middle schoolers), and close to all the shops and the ever important Starbucks! Tangent: I must say that I have a new affinity to Starbucks. Not that I didn't love the have-it-your-way coffee company prior to moving, but it is so nice to feel the familiarity that 'Bucks brings while wandering through this new city. (I am a bit of "the worst kind", "high maintainenance, but I think I am low maintainenance", so I do like the order-it-like-you-like-it way of this company.)
Ok, I will explain the pictures you see above. I know you are anxious to understand. The first one is me and the ever-mentioned Zsa Zsa (pronounced Zaw Zaw) on the train one day coming back from the city. (Hats are good in this city for me...oh the dampness of the weather.) She is a bit goofy, as you can see. The next photo is Kerry, my roommate for another few days wearing a little gift from me. I am sure you recognise it easily. In her snout-adorned picture, she is looking at the guy in the next picture, Tate, my Area Director, pal, and also a happy receipient of a hog nose. (All six of my fellow staffers got one as a gift upon my arrival, but we have not all been in the same room for me to get a pic of the lot of them thus far. Speaking of our mighty Razorbacks...GO HOGS GO! I have been keeping up! Woo Pig!) The background of both Kerry and Tate's photos is where we spend a lot of our time, the gar-office...affectionately and appropriately named because though once a garage, it has had a facelift, making it our office. Clever, I know. I love these people. : )
I went to my first vball game yesterday and met a couple of girls who I believe may come with us on our Spring Break service project to Bulgaria to teach English, work in orphanages, etc. (We do this trip in place of taking kids to the states to do the traditonal YL camp in the summer.) I have begun to meet parents and other friends in my neighbourhood, as well as wonderful people at church. I have been visiting two different churches, All Souls and Holy Trinity Brompton...both great bodies of believers.
Other great news...I believe I have three volunteer leaders to join me in working with kids in central London...two college-aged girls who are here studying for the next year or so, and a dad who has interest in helping out. Fantastic!
One of the common statements that I have heard since moving here is that coincidences don't exist. When the Lord moves, provides, or works, no doubt is present. I am not sure I ever believed in chance, luck, or coincidence before now. I always have had a sense that the Lord is in every good thing...little and big, so this conclusion is not revolutionary to me. However, I will say with full confidence and conviction that I have never seen His hand, His preparation, His timing more tangible, practical, or real in my life than at this moment.
I think of my brother who consistently and constantly reminds me to expect blessings and to expect that the Lord will take care of me. I am thankful to see this advice fleshed out in my direct frame of reference.
Dependence is necessary. Since I can remember, I have longed to be independent and self-sufficient. I still possess such a desire, but I am thankful for new perspective on dependence, "the quality or state of being influenced or determined by or subject to another";"one that is relied on". (Far too long since we visited my pal Webster.) I think you see where I am going with this one. Getting to the end of oneself is a beautiful place to dwell.
More about my flat? Of course, you want to know more. To be honest, it could not be more perfect in my estimation...so convenient to where I will be spending so much time and to the tube, my gateway to the rest of Londontown. I have always wanted to have a studio apartment in a quaint neigbourhood with much character. How intimate and fun is our God! I will be sure to post some pics of the interior once I get settled, maybe even as soon as the next blog. We shall see how my progress in nesting happens.
So, this week has been significant, as I guess the three weeks prior have been as well. I am encouraged, blessed, awestruck, and overwhelmed (meant to be positive, not negative as I often think it to mean) by the Lord's work in the course of this last month.
It is "time". Time for me to be here. Time for relationships to form with parents and kids in YL in central London. Time.

Word/phrase of the week: "I'll come back to you."
Ok, I got in a phone conversation that caused a bit of confusion this week with my letting agent who helped me let my flat. He is called Daniel, and he was a tremendously brilliant gentleman who was fantastic in all the process that could have been quite confusing. When we were speaking on the phone about price, he told me he would "come back to me" with an answer from his boss about whether we could come down on the price. I replied thankfully that I would appreciate that. I sat on the phone silently waiting. He repeated himself. "I'll come back to you with his answer." I agreed once again and prepared to hold the line. So, I learned first hand that this phrase means in my terminology the same as "I'll call you back". Not a standout in the world of fun British terms, but definitely a bit of a usage difference that can easily confuse and run a bill on your mobile if you never get the correct meaning. : )