End of Round 1

wow. Am I really back for Christmas???

"I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
with my own eyes - I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!"

Job 19:25-27

Powerful words when having a rough time of it...

Coast Walks...

Coastal Walk from Cley-next-to-the-sea to Wells...


Joel, me, Miriam, Vicky (David taking the picture) enjoying some Norwich ale after a long day's hike. On a boat. :)

Vicky traversing some leftover tidal streams.

Enjoying fresh seafood!!!

Beautiful English day...

Boats stranded from the tide.

me, Joel, David, Vicky

At Blakeney (after David's last name): Miriam, me, Vicky, and Joel.



Coastal Walk (the first one) from Sheringham to Cley-next-to-the-sea

Shadows on flint.

Miriam and Vicky. :)

Enjoy pints and half pints after our walk.

Lighthouse (not really) watchman taking our picture: me, Joel, David, Miriam, Vicky.... looking straight into the sun. ;)

gorgeous cliffs (which are, incidentally, slowly eroding into the sea!)

Lunch time! grins

Blackberry picking!

Old abandoned house (cliffs just to the right being eroded, so eventually it will fall into the North Sea).

more mates and our Rural Dev group

Rural Dev and families on an outing on The Broads.
from the left: Rie (Makoto's wife), Makoto and their little girl Ami-chan, Thomas Sikor (prof/advisor), Rob (Norfolk farmer turned developer), Hannah :) , me, Faiza from Yemen, Adrian Martin (prof/advisor) and his little girls Lydia and Tammy.


Hannah and Phil, a wonderful couple (Hannah's in rural dev with me). We've all decided to find a church together. :)


Tiggy, Ruby, Hannah I., and Alice (on Alice's birthday) - so much fun!


me and Chieko - hurray for Japanese friends! ii ne!

new mates :)

Starting from the back: Sara from California - the only American I've met so far, Stephanie from China, Mari from Mexico, me, Vicky from Taiwan, and Miriam from India. grins Vicky and Miriam live in my flat, and we're becoming quite good friends! :)

Mari, Sara, Vicky, Miriam, me - waiting for the bus

Back row: Sara, Stephanie, Chieko from Japan (Osaka), ummm a girlfriend of Chieko's
Front row: Mari, Vicky, me, Miriam

Really wonderful girls!

first run

I went for a run yesterday afternoon... the result of not having done anything "active" (aside from walking, which just doesn't count at all) for about 2 weeks. I had so much pent up energy I couldn't sit still a minute longer. It was wonderful. Perfect weather, just cold enough to be comfortable in shorts and t-shirt and break a sweat but not die of heat exhaustion. Ran down to the lake and ran along the meadow clearing beside it. I was making my way to some trails I'd discovered the other day (which would have taken me into some beautifully ivied woods and out into a meadow rich with lushy grass, old oaks, and literally countless numbers of brown rabbits), but took a detour instead. A path you've never been on is just too irresistible to pass up. (hehe Life calling??) ;) Anyway, off I went, discovering that it curled around the end of the lake (past more rabbits) and crossed over a lovely river (more like a really big creek). The water was beautiful! Absolutely transparent, inky in the shadows, with the speckled suggestion of a pebbled bottom. Really hard to take your eyes off of (though necessary when running ;) ). As I ran I eventually made my way around what the football (soccer) fields and medical school, and back again to that same river, to which I discovered that there was actually a trail that ran alongside. I figured (hoped) it would take me back to the lake, and headed that way. Again, beautiful. On one side was the river, and the other was marshland - tall feathery grasses, fallen trees... and lots of nettles (eek!). There's got to be some way of harvesting them and using them... they're all over the place here, and normally such a nuisance. It's a shame to see something so plentiful just left alone and wasted (if it can in fact be used for something meaningful). Google, I suppose. grins So, back to the running. The trail did come out where I thought it would and I made my way back to my hall, tired, sweaty, and very very happy.

The End. ;)

Settling in to UEA

Hello everyone! So, I've arrived at UEA (last Thursday), and have now been in England for my first full week!! Hard to believe that ALREADY a week has gone by... I have a feeling these feelings of horror and astonishment ;) are going to be an ongoing theme for the rest of this year.

So far... I've met LOADS of other international students, and a lot of those being postgrads, as well as quite a few UK students that I've hit it off well with. There's even a girl (Hannah) who is from Norwich in my department (there are 6 or 7 of us in Rural Dev) who has invited me to go with her to church! We've hit it off quite well, and I'm really looking forward to not only developing a solid friendship with her, but with others as well (there's a Taiwanese girl, Vicky, who lives on my flat floor, and we've hit it off as well!). So all that to say, I don't think I'll be suffering for lack of friendships. :)
As far as the course of study goes, I couldn't be more pleased and excited! I think this is going to be a tremendous year of growth, among students (young and old alike) who are as passionate in their fields as I, and among staff who are tremendously engaged and supportive. God has TRULY blessed me in bringing me to this place. And for some icing on the cake, the campus itself is really quite gorgeous - lakes, fields, trails, marshes, rivers... millions of rabbits nibbling away on the lawn. I'm not kidding. I've never seen so many rabbits in my entire life!!! I think I counted around 30 or so? in an area the size of a basketball court. Holy crap! No wonder Beatris Potter wrote about Peter Rabbit in the Briar Patch (and no wonder the farmer was always so infuriated!)! ;) hehe

Well, assignments are already calling... grins I'll try and keep a running update posted, along with pictures.

I'm in England!! Spending the rest of this Wednesday with the Windus Family, then tomorrow Luke will be taking me up to Norwich... and I'll begin settling in to life as a grad student in the UK. grins I'm excited, and yes, nervous. :)

"L'âpres midi"

So, thanks to German friend Henning, I was introduced to the sheet music to "L'âpres midi", my favorite song from Amelie. I'm in love. I haven't enjoyed playing the piano so much in a very long time. And just in case YOU would like to hear this poetic music, here is the YouTube link. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moknkDqk0wE&feature=related

In other news... :) I'll be leaving for England on Sept 14, just a little over a week away. I can hardly believe it's almost upon me, and yet it seems so far away too. Perhaps it will sink in once I've boarded the plane... perhaps not until I've started unpacking in my Orwell Close dorm room... or maybe as I'm walking down the sidewalk to my first class. Jeepers I feel like a freshman getting ready for my first day at college again! ;P

reunions! (are wonderful) :)

Happy times in the Jeep!


The guys heaving their greased watermelon and racing to pounce on it.


Beautiful Kat and Beautiful Baby


The lovely Becca and Andrew!


The girls... Carina, me, Kat, Tegan, Becky, Becca.


Hair cutter extraordinaire!


Hanging out on the Shaffner's back porch.


Riding in the jeep... :)

Here in... not so sunny Florida... with Laura and Phil and TS Fay straining and gusting and wailing outside.

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.

Galatians 5:13

Psalm 111:2

Great are the works of the LORD; they are pondered by all who delight in them.

Baby!!

japanese night

hurray for friends with whom you can celebrate amazing japanese food! ;)
(jonathan vergara and i)

It's kind of crazy to think about... but I'm really coming to love Buffalo. I didn't think that could happen for me in N. America.

Lafayette High School

Mom's poppies (my favorite)

Nose in humungous Japanese tree peonie

Japanese tree peonie

Haythangay Way

Seriously the cutest little Burmese Karen girl in the world. :)

letter to a sister

Dear J., forgive me forgive me forgive me for taking sooooooooooo long to write back to you!!!

Let me start off by saying that you have much been in my thoughts and heart over the past days and weeks (not unusual :) ), but maybe... in a more intense sort of way... with more of a sense of urgency. May our Lord, who was, who is, and who is to come, be present with you right now, be it in sorrow, joy, tribulation, confusion, peace, laughter that makes you "crinkle your nose" :) , be you under attack, or at rest, or whatever. The Lord, our Shepherd, is with you by the quiet waters and green pastures as well as through the valley of the shadow of death. He is present with us through both and all of the in between. He is with you in whatever difficulties you may be facing at home and work, in whatever sorrow you may be experiencing in missing the Buffalo you have come to love, and in your preparations for U.

Thank you so much for sharing your heart with me. I feel... both honored and humbled. I by no means have a corner on wisdom, but I will do my very best to sift out the good that the Holy Spirit has laid upon my heart.

You're very right... I didn't tell you what I did about M. with any lightness. I had even decided not to say anything at all, that I was being ridiculous and that maybe saying something about it would cause more harm than good. And it very well may be that nothing does come of your friendship than just what it is: a friendship woven by God's very gracious and merciful hands. But I said it. And as I've had time to think and consider... just time, really... I'm glad I said it. But it has taken on a deeper meaning since then, too. Not a warm fuzzy one, but the heart-wrenching, grubby-fisted hand of a child clinging in desperate hope to his/her father... that no matter the present situation (I honestly don't know M.'s present situation, as I've neither seen nor talked to him in 2 weeks.), God knows, our Father knows, and that is enough. That has to be enough... because I am a child, and he is my father, and there is a time and place for everything, and a season for every event under heaven, and that goes for knowing these things too. And maybe more of God's children need to come in and out of M.'s life... leading him, showing him, guiding him, teaching him, rebuking him, loving him... before he is prepared and ready to lead a life worthy of the calling of Christ. Maybe this is just the beginning of that path. It could be that our roles will continue; it could be that they were only meant to be for a time. It could be that their time may come again, after a hiatus. I really don't know. But I do know that I believe that God has a purpose for his son, that Jesus Christ has a purpose for his brother... so don't lose heart, J. M. needs someone to hope for him, to trust for him, to pray for him. I'm so glad you shared with me your visions; they have served to increase my own hope. Persevere with him. Have you ever... considered sharing with him the visions that you have had? I know that that is a very scary thought... but maybe he needs to see those visions too. It's like... describing the vividness of colors and images you see around you to someone who has lost their sight. Help him see until he has eyes to see himself. Give him something to dwell on, to think about, other than the chaos that spins its threads around him. Be an agent of hope and help to give him something to cling to and hope for... and in doing so, increase his sight that the Lord is the author of it all. But despite my words, pray about it, and make sure that you yourself have peace in sharing these things with him (and remember 2 things: that perfect love casts out fear... and that there may be a time and season for that too, and the Spirit will guide you). The Lord will lead you, one step at a time.

As far as things being easy... grins I've often wondered why it weren't so myself. hehe But then... where would we be? Conceited? Self-confident? Independent? Stubborn? Would we be the oppressors instead of the oppressed? The selfish destroyers of peace rather than the peacemakers? The greedy hoarders rather than in humility sharing our last penny, our last strawberry, our last piece of multi-grain bread...? Tucked away in our nice comfy nooks of a fabricated utopian world rather than on our knees, hands in the dirt, in the basements, broken boys sobbing hopelessness on our shoulders, pen in hand with green card applications, subsidized housing forms, school enrollment sheets, overdue gas bills, eviction notices piled high in front of us with beautiful Burmese, Burundi, Somali, Cuban, Iraqi eyes peering with hope over the pile... or 3 beautiful children not your own, loved and created by our Creator, tugging at your jeans or skirt, longing to be loved unconditionally... Take the narrow road, J. Take it, and don't look back.

But mostly... know that in all the fullness of God, our Redeemer loves you. And he loves M. And while M. was getting high, or knocking up his baby mamas, or shooting someone, or punching someone's face, our Jesus died and rose for him. And he did it for us too. We were abandoned, kicking and gasping and bleating in our own blood, and he picked us up and cleaned us off and adorned us as only a Father King can.

as only a sister in Christ can

I love you

R.

arg... how i would love to sleep... but alas, my roommate is snoring.

*sigh*

2 new things...

It's spring in Buffalo. And this makes me indescribably happy. The trees have exploded with blossoms and leaves, and the ground has pushed out countless varieties of flowers and plants with brilliant pallets of colors and smells.

I'm going to England in the fall. grins To study Rural Development at the University of East Anglia. For a year. Meic Pearse (one of my Houghton profs) has already started looking into churches he can hook me up with there. hehehehe I can't believe this!!! I've been awarded a scholarship for international students, and the school is now considering me for a full tuition scholarship. Please please pray with me...

Did you know...?

...that estrogen comes from the Latin word oestrus, which means "frenzy" in English?

hahahahahahaha

florida

with mom and laura

lunch in st. augustine's at o.c. white's


old spanish church at st. augustine


beach babies at amelia island


cocktail night with laura and her friend brooke to raise money for the vet clinic they work in




looking at a huge dead fish ;)


me and mom, our last morning in florida

Sakura and LASP friends in DC

We also happened to bump into the Kite Festival...

Kyla surprised me. :) Yuri (taking the photo), exclaimed over and over "Come on, Patti!!" so excitedly that I began to be suspicious of who was actually standing behind me... grins

Stacy, Patti, Kyle, and me (and Yuri taking the photo). It was the first time I'd seen Stacy and Kyla in 4 years!!

Admiring Abe (me and Tegan).

Last weekend, my parents' farm, this weekend... :)