Settling In

Hi Friends,

These last two days have been good -- catching up with Bob and Kathryn and starting to get settled in. We went to the grocery store yesterday and met with a couple I expect to be spending lots of time with today. Otherwise, I'm afraid I don't have much to report, since I've been sick with a cold or flu since getting to England. I have been staying close to bed. I'm expecting to feel better soon, and am looking forward to that, so I can get out for a run at the manor and feel more like myself as I meet people and make plans!

Laura

And We're Back!

Hi Friends!

It has been a long time since my last post. The last few months have been very eventful, spent back in the U.S. They have included big decisions for the future and a lot of planning! I am back in the UK now... ready to stay until December 20th.

Here is an update with pictures of these last few months:

This is me in London as I headed back to the U.S.

I have LOVED spending time with the International Friendship Group this summer! I will really miss these guys!

Cari-Jean, John, Justin and I lead the college Bible study at Grace this summer. These are some of the girls I enjoyed getting to know!

I got to spend some quality time with Emily. This is us in Baltimore for a "Mr. Green Jeans" concert.

My sister Jenni came to visit for a few days. Here she is with Deb at dinner before an evening of adventure!

Some friends ran in the Annapolis Ten Miler. This is me with some others who went to cheer them on. I was able to run part of the race with Emily, which was fun!

Deb joined me on a quick trip to my grandparents' house in Pennsylvania. On our way home we saw a sign for a town called Forks. Since some of our friends have visited the Forks near Seattle lately, we decided to get a picture with our own Forks sign!

I spent time catching up with friends I won't get to see for a while. This is one of my favorite pictures of the summer... me with my friend Catherine's daughter, Grace. I think she is SO cute!

On my final Friday night, some good friends met up for dinner together at the Cheesecake Factory. Jess and Laura walked up together looking so cute and pregnant... I couldn't help but get a picture of them with Christy. All three are due soon!

I will be in England continuing work in inter-cultural communication here. I'll teach some English lessons, and help with other projects in the city. I plan to spend January-July in Israel working on peace-building there, and then next fall hope to return to England to start a masters program here in conflict resolution.

I hope you are all well, and look forward to hearing from you!

Laura

London -- and to home

Today I walked around London and then met up with a friend of a friend in the evening. Overall it was a nice day. Tomorrow I leave the guest house where I'm staying for the airport at 5:20am or something... which is 12:20am East Coast time... not like anyone is taking note of that or anything! I'm looking forward to arriving in Maryland in time for some fireworks:-). Seems like a very poetic time of year to come home to the US from Britain, doesn't it? I look forward to seeing many of you tomorrow. Please don't expect too much intelligent conversation, though:-). I will probably be a little out of it!

I know I have lots of pics to catch up on. I'll post them at some point soon!

Phil Wickham - You're Beautiful.mp4

Good Morning,

I love this and just thought I'd share it. Have a wonderful day!

Bradford, Day 22

I had an absolutely wonderful day today. I went to Haworth today with the intention of spending some time alone with God and taking a nice walk into the moors near the Bronte house. I got to do that and God surprised me by having different plans for my time than I did, which was really good. In the evening I went to the youth group meeting for the church I've been attending here. I really enjoy the students:-)!

I'll have to post some pictures, but at the moment I'm too tired. Tomorrow if I can get on the internet. I'll be traveling to London tomorrow.

Bradford, Days 20 & 21

Hi Friends,

I hope everyone is well!

Yesterday, I volunteered to help out in a shop which does some neat work with youth here in the city. I washed dishes, met the youth, and even got to make an "authentic" American hamburger for a customer (authentic because of the American making it... not the burger). It's fun to be a novelty every now and again:-).

Making the "authentic" burger.

After leaving the shop I went to Leeds with a friend and had a nice time seeing the neighboring city.

Me in Leeds.

Today I went to a conference about community organization for leaders in this Bradford. The speaker was an American clergyman, and it was a bizarre situation to be the only other American in the room. I found myself identifying more with my British colleagues than with the presenter. I think it's really valuable to get out of one's culture to gain perspective on things like our attitudes about ourselves and our role in the world, our political bias, and things along those lines.

After the conference, I got back to the house around 5! This has been unheard of -- I had the first "down" night since the team arrived 11 days ago. It was fun to have tea (supper) with the family and then just spend the evening getting prepared for the next few days and catching up with a few people online.

Bradford, Day 19

Today was the team's last day here, and we spent most of the Day in York. Bethan and I drove up this morning in an attempt (which worked) to beat the crowds, and then met the team there for church. After the service we had a nice lunch, did some sight-seeing and then came back to Bradford for a church service bringing multiple local congregations together. It is really exciting to see the intentional unity in the Body of Christ here in this place.

This evening was the final debrief with our hosts. It was wonderful to have a great team, and so sad to see such a fun group go in our different directions. I am thankful that I get to stay here a few more days!!!

Here are some pics of York: