Happy Monday to all. I hope you all enjoyed a small glimpse into English daily life. The flowers here are in full bloom, and I think we received enough rain today to spruce our garden back into greenness of life. A season of new beginnings, that's Spring for you. Since last I wrote, Easter has come and gone, but Jesus is still risen!
Many of the university students return home for Easter holidays, so it's been a quiet couple of weeks. For my Easter holidays I spent a day hiking with two of the families from the church, a day brunching and Easter egg hunting, and a very American evening of tacos. It was great to get to know some of my kiddos better on the hike. One of the families trains hunting dogs, and I got to watch the wonder of well trained puppies.
Brunch was a church affair. A mismash of everyone who didn't have Easter plans or didn't go home for the holidays. It's was great to get to watch little Nadia's first Easter egg hunt. She was distinctly less interested in finding the eggs than in the joy of walking. For taco night, we played games and enjoyed guacamole and all the fixings. Minus the queso mind you. They haven't mastered the art of Fuzzy's queso here yet.
After Easter it was back to business as usual. As usual as we get here. We learned about salvation on Easter and then proceeded back into our Worship theme. So far we've learned what worship is and why and how we do it. This past week there were 14 kids in Launch Pad. It was as if we suddenly bloomed. Like Spring came in the children's ministry. As long as God promises to be with me and give me wisdom, I think we can keep blooming and blooming.
Two of the girls have been coming with a gentleman who walked into church off the street four weeks ago. He had been drinking, but came in to check out the service. One of the guys in the church got to talking with the man and prayed for him. Turns out he used to be a pastor and fell into alcoholism. But you wouldn't even know he's the same man from four months ago. That's the power of Jesus Christ. Sometimes I need to remember how powerful the gospel is, even though I'm submersed in it everyday. New beginnings, new beginnings.
I nearly forgot to mention our trip to Our Cow Molly. It's a farm in Dungworth that makes ice cream. It was great fun playing with the animals, swinging on rope swings, shepherding sheep, and, of course, consuming ice cream. This week, I'm heading down to Cheltenhem in the Cotswolds for a short trip/personal retreat. I'm excited to see a new part of this country that is slowly becoming my new home. It will also be a good chance to spend a whole day with God, being refreshed by His presence.
God is doing great things in the UK. Next time I'll share a cool story of repentance, but I'd better sign off for now. I pray this finds you experiencing new beginnings even amidst the turning up and replanting of new ground.
