As of tomorrow my service in the UK will be completed, and I will be on a plane back to the United States. What lies ahead for me is vague and uncertain. However, I do know that this year of serving and living in England has molded me into a different person, and has greatly influenced where I want my future to go.
So how do you sum up an entire year of your life abroad? Numerous times I've tried, but whenever someone asks me that question words escape me and I usually only utter a description that is lacking to say the least. England has gone from being a place that never even crossed my mind to visit, to a place that has now become my home. Names have become faces, faces acquaintances, acquaintances have transformed into friends, and these friends I now call my family, a fact that I am ever so blessed for. I have experienced more acceptance and love here than I ever anticipated, and I can truthfully say that I have never possessed this many copies of people's house keys, automatically being accepted into their lives and families when most of them barely knew me.
As I leave England, I'm filled with excitement about returning to my friends and family, yet I am also saddened to be saying good-bye to a place and people that I have fallen in love with. To briefly sum up this year I would say I've listened, observed, learned, grown, embraced a new culture, loved, served, laughed, cried, been blessed, experienced incredible things as well as some things I wish had never occurred, and been challenged in every aspect of my life. I only hope that I am challenged further when I return to the States, and that I carry a part of England with me wherever I go.
A couple weeks ago I read a prayer by Sir Francis Drake, and I believe it is applicable for everyone, especially since it is so easy to become comfortable in our own lives. I spent this year abroad being uncomfortable in a foreign environment, and it has been one of the greatest things that has happened to me, being able to serve people here and learn from them and their way of life. So, as I return to the comfort of a culture and country that has always been familiar to me, I echo this prayer for my life:
"Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves.
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storm will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push us in the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.
This we ask in the name of our Captain, who is Jesus Christ.
Amen."
Through coming to England, I have been "disturbed". I hope my life continues to be so, so that I may be able to serve people to a greater degree and continue to grow in my relationship with Christ. Thank you all so much for your prayers, encouragement, and support. I wouldn't have made it through this year without you.
Peace.
On a different note, here are a few of my favorite things about England:
1) Tea breaks. Literally every time you go to someones house, every hour, before you eat, immediately after you eat, right when you wake up to start the day, and even when you're crawling into bed at night a cup of tea should be in your hand.
2) Standing in line at a coffee shop waiting to be served for at least 10minutes when there is only one person in front of me...it turns out baristas are very friendly here and regardless of how long the line they care about how everyone they serve is doing.
3) Custard creams and digestives....two of England's best biscuits....or should I say "cookies".
4) Roundabouts---truly one of the greatest inventions ever.
5) Public transportation is INCREDIBLE!!! Traveling across the country is so simple here with the access to trains!
6) If you go for a hike you plan the route based on where the pubs and tea rooms are located...it doesn't matter if the hike itself is gorgeous or boring as long as there's pubs and tea rooms along the way!
7) In North England where I'm based life is a lot slower, more relaxed, and people take time to stop, rest, and simply be.
8) Mail is delivered by people on bicycles....how cool is that?
9) The hats women wear to events, such as weddings and horse races, are absolutely phenomenal in their own way, and it's so much fun to see who is wearing the best one.
10) Open-air markets held throughout the week where you can buy almost anything you could possibly think of or want.
11) Cows roam freely in open-pastures on the outskirts of town...and occasionally they actually pay us a visit in the town itself.
12) Serving is important here, with many people doing a full-time volunteer year between high school and college.
