Just Doing Life

After 17 seemingly quick days living in England, I can conclude the following:

It is nessecary for survival to drink tea or coffee because they are on a continuous flow throughout each day.
“Hiya” is the most common greeting so if you just say hi it is a dead give away that you are American.
ALWAYS carry a rain jacket because it’s England so even if it’s sunny you will get rained on.
Being a Youth Worker allows you to do things that aren’t normal…. Like wearing a sumo suit.
A biscuit is the term used for cookies unless it’s a chocolate chip cookie then it’s just called a cookie. Pants is the term they use for underwear and trousers is the term used for pants. Chips are called crisps and fries are called chips. Plaster is the term used for band aid. A zipper is called a zip. Yep, that’s it. Just a zip. Tea time is dinner and dinner time is lunch time. So if someone asks you to go out for tea don’t eat before….
Costa is like their Starbucks.
Not everyone likes Harry Potter.
People are not afraid to hit you with their car if you jaywalk.
People tend to be drawn to Americans just because of our accent.
There is typically never ice in a glass of water.
Cricket can be played on the beach (although that’s not the proper way and actually doesn’t work well haha).
ENO is a foreign word here.
Funny animal pictures make Rachel and I REALLY happy.
God is at work here.

The truth of it is that life is life no matter where you’re at. Culturally it may look different but in the big scheme of things; it is the same. You eat, drink, work, build relationships, and have a faith in something. You have good days and some bad days. BUT moving away from a life that is comfortable into the unfamiliar has taught me to appreciate everything. The sun. The rain. Hard days. Good days. Friends. Family. Home cooked meals. Laughter. Conversation. Breath. It all points back to who He is and how uniquely He has created this world. For me, the coolest thing to hear about is how others on my team have gotten here and their stories of faith. Hearing those stories as well as reminiscing on my own is a constant reminder of how big God is. The same God that has flipped my life upside down has also touched lives across the world! WOAH. And not only has He changed lives in the past, His Spirit is alive and He is at work right now!! Hallelujah! So thankful to serve a God that isn’t distant but instead walks with His children and cares deeply for us!

Update: This past Friday some of us began one-on-one mentoring in a school called North Shore– I have two girls in year 7 (aka age 11). I am so excited to get to know them more and to do life with them. The fact that God has opened doors for us to go into schools and do mentoring is a huge opportunity that we are really expectant about. He is already intervening in conversations and is preparing a way for His name to be made known. We also get to go into a secondary school (basically like high school) called Ian Ramsey during lunch to play games, do worship, and share our testimonies/ share the gospel. It’s awesome because one of the girls I am mentoring goes to our Youth Club called Go4It and a couple of our girls from Ian Ramsey go to our other Youth Club called Guts! God has definitely opened up a lot of opportunities to spend time with these precious kids. We also go into a primary school (basically like elementary school) called Tilery and do an after school club with them there. OH and one of the really wonderful youth workers I work alongside, Rachel, started a running club for the kids on Monday nights so we are prepping with the kids to do a 5k!

Prayer: if you could please continue to join us in praying for God’s presence to be made known in the estate, mentoring sessions, kids club, and Tees Valley!