In a week I am back in AZ. I neglect to say "home" because I have decided that Arizona is no longer home. For someplace to be "home", one must live there more than one month a year, and since in 2010 I will only be in Arizona 4 days (and not even 4 full days) I regret to say, I am now no longer my own official resident of America.
For a long time I have stolen a good theory from Pumba the Warthog, from the Lion King, "Home is where your rump rests", and while this theory may work for Pumba, I am sorry to say that I now disagree. After lots of time and prayer I have realized home is Jesus, and Jesus is in me, so therefore home, for me, can only be found within myself. I carry my home with me, and while I am entrusting it to other people, Ruth, Vicky, Ashley, Kyleigh, Stevie, Matt, and others, home is found a bit in each of them as well. So home is no longer where I rest, home is where I am at peace, which can only be found when Jesus and I are on the same page.
I have not been excited to go back to Arizona, I kinda feel that my three week trip is kinda like overstaying a welcome. I would rather spend one day each with everyone I love and entrust myself to (except ashley axup, who I plan to steal as a stow-away in my bag and bring back to Leicester with me), and then I'll come back here, to the rain and darkness and cold and Matt. But I imagine that when I get there, to the desert, I will fall back into line with my natural way and enjoy the time I have, even if that means having to eat LOADS of Mexican food.
(and just so we're all clear, Mexican food is one thing that I really wish England had a LOT more of)
Showing posts with label England. Show all posts
Showing posts with label England. Show all posts
Monday, December 7, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Update, I'd title it something more interesting, but I suck at Blogging so...
So... I officially suck in the realm of blogging. Sorry friends. But, allow me to attempt to redeem myself in a short update of life.
In September my family suffered a huge blow when my grandfather died and I had to fly back to Arizona to be with them and for the funeral. It was a great service though. It celebrated the life of an amazing man who loved God and his wife and his family very much and was a great example of determination and strength.
While at home I got some good quality time with Ashley and Brian, sorry that I didn't see anyone else, I was mostly hiding out, I love and miss you both! And Ashley recorded one of my most embarrassing, but honest moments in a Wal-Mart.
October has been a crazy month. Classes started the first week and all the students came back, and I got to meet all the amazing people who had joined Navs in the year that I was gone. I was a bit worried that it would be weird to be an American on Connect, but mostly I just get made fun of a lot for the silly things Americans tend to do. (hehe.. people think I'm really loud here.... I can't wait to introduce them to actual loud Americans.)
Connect has been amazing. I have been extremely challenged in so many aspects of my personal walk with Christ, and I feel like God is showing me a whole realm of new ideas and training I was never exposed to as a student. Seeing a ministry from this angle has been eye-opening. The amount of love that goes into every planning aspect has been inspiring and provided a deeper respect in my heart for staff here.
I can't thank everyone enough for all the financial and prayer support I've had. I know I'm really hard to get in touch with, I'm so sorry. Currently it is a 7 hour time difference between England and AZ, so phone calls and chatting is a bit difficult, but I'm good with emails and facebook things.
As for prayer requests, my main priorities are:
1) We have a main meeting coming up for students to bring non-believing friends to. Please pray that our students take the opprotunity to do this and that it impacts the lives of their friends.
2) I've been praying for peace and patience in my own life. For a greater surrender to God. And through this I would be able to love people better.
3) Finally, please pray for the students themselves. It is now midterm time and most are stressed with club activities as well as school-work. Pray that they would find restful times in Jesus as well as time to physically rest.
Thank you all so much! I'll be in Arizona from December 14th to January 4th, hoping to see everyone soon!!!!
(but I will try to update again before then. :-) )
In September my family suffered a huge blow when my grandfather died and I had to fly back to Arizona to be with them and for the funeral. It was a great service though. It celebrated the life of an amazing man who loved God and his wife and his family very much and was a great example of determination and strength.
While at home I got some good quality time with Ashley and Brian, sorry that I didn't see anyone else, I was mostly hiding out, I love and miss you both! And Ashley recorded one of my most embarrassing, but honest moments in a Wal-Mart.
October has been a crazy month. Classes started the first week and all the students came back, and I got to meet all the amazing people who had joined Navs in the year that I was gone. I was a bit worried that it would be weird to be an American on Connect, but mostly I just get made fun of a lot for the silly things Americans tend to do. (hehe.. people think I'm really loud here.... I can't wait to introduce them to actual loud Americans.)
Connect has been amazing. I have been extremely challenged in so many aspects of my personal walk with Christ, and I feel like God is showing me a whole realm of new ideas and training I was never exposed to as a student. Seeing a ministry from this angle has been eye-opening. The amount of love that goes into every planning aspect has been inspiring and provided a deeper respect in my heart for staff here.
I can't thank everyone enough for all the financial and prayer support I've had. I know I'm really hard to get in touch with, I'm so sorry. Currently it is a 7 hour time difference between England and AZ, so phone calls and chatting is a bit difficult, but I'm good with emails and facebook things.
As for prayer requests, my main priorities are:
1) We have a main meeting coming up for students to bring non-believing friends to. Please pray that our students take the opprotunity to do this and that it impacts the lives of their friends.
2) I've been praying for peace and patience in my own life. For a greater surrender to God. And through this I would be able to love people better.
3) Finally, please pray for the students themselves. It is now midterm time and most are stressed with club activities as well as school-work. Pray that they would find restful times in Jesus as well as time to physically rest.
Thank you all so much! I'll be in Arizona from December 14th to January 4th, hoping to see everyone soon!!!!
(but I will try to update again before then. :-) )
Friday, August 22, 2008
Oh Liz... thats so you!
I think the most odd thing about being back in Tucson is people "knowing" me. I mean, while I was abroad I kept in touch with some people and all, but in the past few days I have heard more "only you would do that"s and "I'm so glad you're back, that was missing from our group"s that I'm kinda thrown for a loop. It's not a bad thing, not at all. In fact, I rather like being well known and established, but it's weird.
In England I was mysterious... well... sorta. Different to say the least. I wasn't English and anyone could easily tell. My sayings, actions, thoughts, and accents were all different. I wasn't predictable. And perhaps that is to some extent what people mean here too. I am, by nature, a rule bender (if not an outright rule breaker). I am spontaneous and pretty laid-back. And I suppose that if a person is those things enough that those out of the ordinary, crazy-type things do begin to define them.
Today I was telling someone about a conversation I had in England. When I had finished they smiled and said "you know, only you would do something like that." And I began to think and wonder if I have been pegged here. Tucson is comfortable. Maybe that's why it bugs me. I can fall into a pattern here. And the most exciting things about being back have been those few times that I have been placed in a position I wasn't expecting. Being thrown into situations where I don't want to be, where I am uncomfortable, where I didn't know what to expect or what to do have been the best ones thus far.
I think one of my favourite (and I must spell that one the English way) memories abroad was where I was talking to strangers about Jesus with Bernard (my Nav leader in England) and he introduced me as a girl who had come from America especially to meet them. I was shocked. I hadn't been warned. I was thrown completely under the bus. I am an extrovert, true, but this was a whole different level of extroversion than I am comfortable expressing. But I did it. I ended up talking to them about... something. And, obviouslly, I lived to tell the tale. And what I took from the situation was that meeting new people probably won't kill me. I had met new people before then, but it was on my own terms. This time I was flexable. I was out of my comfort zone. And in the end I loved it.
"There is no comfort in the growth zone and no growth in the comfort zone." - wow. What a great quote to describe my life.
In England I was mysterious... well... sorta. Different to say the least. I wasn't English and anyone could easily tell. My sayings, actions, thoughts, and accents were all different. I wasn't predictable. And perhaps that is to some extent what people mean here too. I am, by nature, a rule bender (if not an outright rule breaker). I am spontaneous and pretty laid-back. And I suppose that if a person is those things enough that those out of the ordinary, crazy-type things do begin to define them.
Today I was telling someone about a conversation I had in England. When I had finished they smiled and said "you know, only you would do something like that." And I began to think and wonder if I have been pegged here. Tucson is comfortable. Maybe that's why it bugs me. I can fall into a pattern here. And the most exciting things about being back have been those few times that I have been placed in a position I wasn't expecting. Being thrown into situations where I don't want to be, where I am uncomfortable, where I didn't know what to expect or what to do have been the best ones thus far.
I think one of my favourite (and I must spell that one the English way) memories abroad was where I was talking to strangers about Jesus with Bernard (my Nav leader in England) and he introduced me as a girl who had come from America especially to meet them. I was shocked. I hadn't been warned. I was thrown completely under the bus. I am an extrovert, true, but this was a whole different level of extroversion than I am comfortable expressing. But I did it. I ended up talking to them about... something. And, obviouslly, I lived to tell the tale. And what I took from the situation was that meeting new people probably won't kill me. I had met new people before then, but it was on my own terms. This time I was flexable. I was out of my comfort zone. And in the end I loved it.
"There is no comfort in the growth zone and no growth in the comfort zone." - wow. What a great quote to describe my life.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Update-ish
My last post was in October of last year, that makes is 9 months between posts, but hopefully I can get better at being more scheduled at it. I suppose a short review of life in the past few months is in order.
The next significant point in my life after the last post was my breakup with my then-boyfriend, John. This was in January, about 7 months ago. The day after I got on a plane and moved to England. Stepping off the plane at Heathrow in London was possibly the scariest moment in my life. I got off the plane and through airport security and realized that I did not know a single person on the same continent as me. I was all alone. And with that terrifying thought I took a deep breath and set out into the the second biggest adventure of my life thus far. Mid-January I moved into my single room hall, Lasdun Hall at Gilbert Murray Stamford, in Leicester, England, which I was kindly helped into by the greatest hall-mates an international student could ever wish for. The next week this group of friends went out of their way to introduce me to the Christian group I had been looking for on Campus, The Navigators. I am a part of The Navigators, a Christian group at the University of Arizona, and it was because this campus also had a Navigator group that I had decided to go to Leicester over all the other Universities that UofA had connections with. I joined Navs in England and my life started going uphill from there.
The next significant point in my life after the last post was my breakup with my then-boyfriend, John. This was in January, about 7 months ago. The day after I got on a plane and moved to England. Stepping off the plane at Heathrow in London was possibly the scariest moment in my life. I got off the plane and through airport security and realized that I did not know a single person on the same continent as me. I was all alone. And with that terrifying thought I took a deep breath and set out into the the second biggest adventure of my life thus far. Mid-January I moved into my single room hall, Lasdun Hall at Gilbert Murray Stamford, in Leicester, England, which I was kindly helped into by the greatest hall-mates an international student could ever wish for. The next week this group of friends went out of their way to introduce me to the Christian group I had been looking for on Campus, The Navigators. I am a part of The Navigators, a Christian group at the University of Arizona, and it was because this campus also had a Navigator group that I had decided to go to Leicester over all the other Universities that UofA had connections with. I joined Navs in England and my life started going uphill from there.
Since moving to Europe God has radically changed my life. All these changes will probably be addressed in subsequent postings. Unfortunately, I have to return to my country of origin at the end of this month after 8 months of traveling across Europe (MAR MAR MAR). We'll see how that goes.
As of now I am living in the Netherlands as a missionary learning about how God exists and grows in people's hearts in a post modern world. Very interesting.
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