Just Can't Get Away

On Sunday, I'll be setting foot on the bonnie shores of England, exactly one day less than five months since I stepped on the plane in Heathrow to return to the home of the Yanks and the land of the hamburger. I just can't get away (Rush of Fools, anyone?) from the UK, or the God that's given me a love for the country.

I just read my last entry from November before writing this resurrection post. A lot has happened since then. I've lost the facial hair, for one. I got a pair of super hipster glasses. I learned how to drive a scooter. (Speaking of scooters, yesterday I was driving to get my shots for my trip to South Africa later this summer, when I saw a man in full confederate general regalia scootering around to different street corners to wave at cars passing by. Definitely an 'only in South Carolina' moment.)

The transition back home has been an interesting one. Each time I come back, I realize just how connected I am to my hometown and my friends, but then I also realize how much I've changed over the past three years. In the spirit of the last post's 'then vs. now' comparisons, I came to Los Angeles as a sheltered homeschool kid, and now I'm a slightly less sheltered Trojan (I'd like to think that I'm close to normal now, but certain people keep reminding me of how sheltered I am. Thanks, Julia and Chelsea). I've had so many fantastic experiences in the past three years, and I'm excited for what the future has to bring. Life moves quickly. One of my good friends that I grew up with just got married on Sunday. It makes you think. I'm applying to medical school right now and have hopes of getting a masters degree in London next year. I've hoped to go to medical school for a long time, but not that it's right around the corner, it feels so much more palpable.

Snap. Caught myself reminiscing again. I tend to be a nostalgic writer, and I keep forgetting that no one likes to read sentimental mush. ::slaps wrist:: Back to the matter at hand.

I'll be leaving on Saturday to return to King's College London, where I studied last semester and had perhaps the best and most growing three months of my life. God called me back to work with Agape (StudentLife/Bridges International/CCC, take your choice of the names, but I'll be referring to it as Agape from now on). I'm so excited to see the friends I left and to share and discuss faith as an answer to life's most important and hardest questions. Please petition God for a few things:

(1) Pray that finances will come in. God has already done miracles in the past few days to bring in several hundred dollars. I still have a little ways to go, but as Mr. Beaver says, 'Aslan's on the move.'
(2) Pray for safety for the entire team both physically and spiritually while we're there. We'll face a lot of resistance there, and pray that we would be humble like sheep, but would be bold as lions in defending and sharing our faith as God calls us.
(3) Pray that our team would be inspired by agape. I was just going through 1 Corinthians 13 (it was next on Dallas Willard's list of scripture passages that Reid and I have been memorizing and studying over the past semester), and I was astounded by how important love is. Thankfully, our team will have the logistical ease of being able to speak the same language as the Brits, but according to 1 Cor. 13:1, even if we can speak their language, but have not love, we're not speaking to their hearts.

In the last year, I've been convicted of telling people that I'll 'be praying' (present participle indicates a continuous action/state) for someone if I'm not going to actually commit to be in a state of prayer for their request. I think something from my honest nature died every time I gave them a verbal 'promise' that I had desires of keeping, but knew I realistically was unlikely to keep. Now I tell people, I'll 'pray' for them, and usually pray right then and there and pray again whenever I think about their requests. So if you don't think you can commit to praying for me (commit if you feel God calling you please, but don't do it if it's out of obligation-Jesus isn't a huge fan of spiritual chores), then just say a quick prayer right now for one of those three requests (or all three-forgive my spiritual greediness). On the other hand, if you do wish to commit to praying more regularly, find the button on this page somewhere that allows you to follow this blog.

On a closing note, I'm intensely looking forward to getting a haircut at the Tabard Garden barbers. Only 9 quid for something that'd cost me $40 in the states, and far better than the $8 haircut I was tempted to get in LA. Thanks to my loving friends (Megan, Ben, Sonia, Mel) who urged me to make an agape choice with my hair ('patient' enough to wait and give my hair the 'kindness' it deserves-hopefully not an overly blasphemous application of 1 Cor. 13:4). I do love the ghetto $8 cuts on Vermont St., but Lord knows they can't compete with the Tabard Garden barbers.

Cheers for now!
(I can't wait to be allowed to freely say that! I use it moderately in LA, but abstain in the deep South. When I've used it in South Carolina in the past, I literally feel the judgmental thoughts raining down on me, usually the thoughts I feel are along the lines of 'what a drunkard...')