Home.

So, I'm home.

sister-daddy date

I got back to Lusaka a couple of weeks ago, and have had a great time getting back into the swing of things here - waving down the guy on the street corner to bargain for tomatoes, going on runs in my neighborhood and high-fiving all the cute little kids playing in the streets, taking Kelsey to school for finals and trying not to get hit passing tractors on Leopard's Hill, baking chocolate avocado cake, going to Bible study, catching up with old friends and getting to know new friends - I love being back!

grocery shopping with Cowie and what does she find?
HAPPY COW CHEESE! so perfect.

taking Kels to her first IB Exam -
nothing like a little T-Swift singalong to get PUMPED!

After living with an impressive bunch of literature buffs for the past 3 months, I've taken it upon myself to make a personal summer reading list. I know, I dreaded them in high school, but this summer I'm really excited for it. Without papers to write, I have so much more time to read (and bake, and paint, and play piano, and sing, and run....!) . The list is now nicely magneted to the fridge so it won't get brushed aside and forgotten (another flashback to high school summer reading, and my mom's constant reminders to get my books read before the last week of summer. Somehow, the time always seemed to fly by and the books seemed to remain unopened until that last week...). I just finished the first book on my list: C.S. Lewis' Surprised by Joy (one book done, a minor feat in and of itself, if you know how little I read for fun...).


Surprised by Joy, as some of you may know - and probably all of you Oxford friends do know since you're all crazy Lewis scholars - is the story of Lewis' life and his faith journey. Having spent time in England, I had a much greater appreciation for his tales of growing up and heading off to university in England. He also goes to war in the book, which I can fully picture now that I am caught up on both seasons of Dowton Abbey (watching tv: another result of neither Kelsey nor I being at school or working yet!).

However, one of the most meaningful parts of the whole narrative, in my opinion, happens near the end:

I was going up Headington Hill on the top of a bus...I felt myself being, there and then, given a free choice. I could open the door or keep it shut; I could unbuckle the armour or keep it on...The choice appeared to be momentous but it was also strangely unemotional. I was moved by no desires or fears. In a sense I was not moved by anything. I chose to open, to unbuckle, to loosen the rein. 


So, although I am no longer riding up Headington Hill every afternoon to get home to the Vines, it was and indeed always will be the very hill upon which C.S. Lewis finally opened his heart to believe in God. I'd say that's a Highlight from Headington Hill if there ever was one. :] I miss it, but I can look back and see the awesome journey God led me on this semester and the great friends I've gained for a lifetime. No more ridiculous midnight cookie baking adventures, study breaks at the Vines' piano, bike rides through Port Meadow, afternoon teas, or Simon Schama videos....but SO many great memories that will last forever!

And, I am really getting excited for the fall - it will be great to be back at W&M....singing with the beloved Intonations, running in CW (....and maybe hitting up the richmond half marathon again with Katherine), rooming with Annie (!!!), getting back into church at Relevant, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones - I can't wait!

Thanks for reading along this semester! If you have any book suggestions I should add to my summer list...leave a comment!

Time of Our Lives

Tyrone Wells pretty much sums up this past term in this song.....

This is where the chapter ends
And new one now begins
Time has come for letting go
The hardest part is when you know
All of these years 
When we were here 
Are ending
But I'll always remember

We have had the time of our lives
And now the page is turned
The stories we will write
We have had the time of our lives
And I will not forget the faces left behind
It's hard to walk away from the best of days
But if it has to end,
 I'm glad you have been my friend
In the time of our lives

Where the water meets the land
There is shifting in the sand
Like the tide that ebbs and flows
Memories will come and go

All of these years 
When we were here 
Are ending
But I'll always remember

We have had the time of our lives
And now the page is turned
The stories we will write
We have had the time of our lives
And I will not forget the faces left behind
It's hard to walk away from the best of days
But if it has to end, 

I'm glad you have been my friend
In the time of our lives

We say goodbye, we hold on tight
To these memories that never die
We say goodbye, we hold on tight
To these memories that never die

We have had the time of our lives
And now the page is turned
The stories we will write
We have had the time of our lives
And I will not forget the faces left behind
It's hard to walk away from the best of days
But if it has to end, 
I'm glad you have been my friend
In the time of our lives

I'm glad you have been my friend, 
In the time of our lives

Wrapping it all up

beautiful england...on a sunny morning

As I ride through the English countryside on my post-term family vay-cay to Scotland, the world is whizzing past us in a blur. I realise now that my final weeks of my term at Oxford have come in gone in the same way. The term is over, and I can now smilingly look back and see how far we’ve come. Between the eight weeks of term and the subsequent five-week crash-course on British history, I feel that my mind has been stretched a refreshing, new way. The Oxford educational system really knows what it’s doing with the whole tutorial deal.

The hills outside my window, now cloaked in a blanket of cheery, mustard-yellow wildflowers display the vibrancy and life of this place, despite the dark clouds hanging low in the sky. England is an absolutely magical place. It’s different from what I expected, to be certain, but it’s a pleasant kind of different. Life seems to move at a more reasonable pace here, leaving time for long held traditions like afternoon tea and scones. In Oxford, almost everyone walks or cycles, rain or shine. No getting caught in afternoon gridlock, no road rage. You can take the train all over the place, and actually have time (and a view) to experience the journey. It’s something the US has quite unfortunately moved beyond – so it thinks – in search of becoming more efficient, quicker, and more accessible. No part of me wants to go back yet, but I know that I have to.

I have learned so much here – and made some of the BEST friends I’ve ever had – and I hate to say goodbye to all of it. But, I am looking forward to a great time in Scotland this week to wrap it all up and - as my dear friend Jesse would say - "process" everything before heading home.

Easter Week!

It’s been an eventful week, but here are some highlights:

Last Saturday:

Stonehenge!

- Spent the day visiting STONEHENGE! So great! Not going to lie; it was smaller than I expected, but it was still really neat. Simon told us the newest theory for why it was built where it was…seriously crazy. And apparently the most recent stone to tip over fell in 1979, and it was felt 5 miles away! Crazy, for a 3000 year old stone structure!

Sunday night:

- Simon joined our food fam for poppy seed chicken dinner! It was great to have him over, and a fun, memorable time spent with the food fam!

Strawberry-Banana Pudding Time!

Wednesday night:

- Cookie-baking fiasco, after they all morphed into one and semi burned. (Me: Elisabeth….they’re beautiful!! You made something new and great! Chase: (shakes head at failed cookies)).

- Nail-painting party with anna and Elisabeth (it must be really hard to be a toe model…)

- Banana pudding and endless laughter with friends until wayyy too late.

Cathedrals in Coventry, England with Jesse and Melisa!

Thursday field trip to Coventry:

- Morning spent in cathedrals (we should be giving the tours by now!)

- A visit to IKEA! As amazing as ever. Thought we might not ever get out. :)

- Crazy bus driver, required worksheets to fill out (total flashback to 3^rd grade!), adventures with friends, and war museums. Made for a good day.

…and then Thursday night:

- 10pm paper-writing, distractions

- 11pm tea break

- 12am stretching party

- 2am tea break

- 3am paper editing

- 4am Simon Schama re-enactment in room 13 with Elisabeth…papers DONE!

Remains of the Old Cathedral in Coventry

Good Friday:

- A few friends and I attended a Fresh Expressions church service for Stations of the Cross. A great time of serious reflection on the death of Christ, and the enormity of his suffering and sacrifice. All too often, the reality of Christ’s death can be lost in the Joy of his resurrection, at least for me, so this was a wonderful time to meditate on what He did on the cross.

- Friday night, after dinner with friends at the house, we had a little service to read the Passion Narrative, sing some hymns, and pray together. It was awesome to have a time of worship with such great friends, and especially meaningful after studying the passion narrative in depth for my Luke-Acts class this semester!

EASTER! Christ is Risen!

- Today may have been one of the best Easters I’ve had. No Easter baskets hiding when I woke up, no jelly beans out in cute little egg-shaped bowls. Instead, we woke up early, and headed to the 8am Holy Communion service at St. Ebbes. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I was early to church! We were in fact not only early, but the first ones there. The service, while small, was very moving, as we read the Eucharist liturgy, prayed, and sang a parting chorus. The reality of Christ’s sacrifice, and the truth of the resurrection are the crux of our faith, and the fact that we have assurance in them is so amazing.

Some of the Easter crew at the Vines

- After church, we cycled home for a much anticipated Easter brunch. Between the muesli, eggs, baguettes, hot cross buns, yogurt, fruit, muffins…..and of course wonderful company, we had a great time preparing and enjoying the meal together. Char and I realised that we drank the whole pot of coffee between the two of us, and we all learned that Brits say “knives and forks” instead of “forks and knives,” and they shorten moustache to “tashe” instead of “stashe”…who knew?! Fabulous time. Wonderful friends. Amazing Saviour.

EGG DECORATING! with Laz, Liz, Ben, Abby, and Tom!

aren't they AWESOME?!

- This afternoon, we enjoyed one of my ALL TIME FAVOURITE traditions: dyeing Easter eggs! Seriously, I will never outgrow Easter eggs. Liz and I boiled them to Martha Stewart’s precise instructions, and then we called in the artists to help us out. We only had red, green, and black dye...so we had to get creative. They turned out great! 

Best egg? you decide...

Community

Sitting in the foyer yesterday, I spent a good part of the rainy day on the couch, reading books for my long essay. Around 6pm, I was still sitting there, not getting much work done, when one of my friends (and housemates) walked past. He stopped, turned to me, and asked me to tell him one thing I could use prayer for right then. We talked about it for a bit, and he said, I’ll pray for us, right now. We prayed, and then went back to work, very encouraged. I couldn’t help but smile and think that this community is what God intended Christian community to be (see the early church in Acts for more on that...). A people who care, and not just about the things of this world, but who deeply care about others and about the Lord, sharing in their highs and lows, joys and sorrows.

As we near the end of our time in Oxford, I can’t help but realise that the people in my house and church here have quickly become some of the best, most sincere friends I have had in my whole life. I’ve never had friends who knock on my door to come pray with me or seek accountability as brothers and sisters in Christ (and hold me accountable as well), who hold Bible study once our small groups at church end for Easter break, who organise Monday morning worship at 8:30am, or who share their joy of baking with the house just because they love us.

I have seriously witnessed Christ in the lives of my friends here in a way I have never seen before. It’s rocked my world. And although no part of me is ready to leave (That’s not a hyperbolic statement. I really, really can’t imagine saying goodbye to this place and this community yet.), I hope and pray that I can take what I’ve learned in this community and transfer it to my life back in Lusaka and in the States. There is so much strength in being in community with other Christians, but it’s more than just living together. It’s being intentional about your faith and your friendships. I’ve learned that you can’t be real friends with someone without investing (and sometimes sacrificing!) your time, prayers, and selfish interests for others. But when you do, it’s a beautiful thing.

Some snapshots from the last few weeks:

 girls night out with Bex and Emily before
Bex headed back to Scotland for break
...and is now ENGAGED! So excited for her!
 

In Bath, England, visiting the Roman Baths and the Abbey! 

with Melisa on the Stonehenge trip! So cold!

No caption needed for this one...

In Coventry, England, with Anna, at the old cathedral, bombed out in WWII

The kitchen at the Vines....it's always a party.

More specific highlights from this past week/and Easter are coming soon….

read to learn to think.

'The way we learn to think is by reading good thinkers and letting their thoughts form our thoughts.....From the ancients, we learn to use language in a precise way, to discern the deeper relation between seemingly disparate concepts, to discriminate between things that appear similar, to know what is central and what is peripheral. And in the process we are tutored in humility, for we see that the things worthy of reception by us have been tested in the fire of human experience.'
~R. Wilken, in Reasoned Faith


I was reading for my theology seminar this afternoon, and this quote really struck me. As I certainly have had moments of questioning the motive for all of the reading and writing and discussing and thinking we all do as students, this was an eloquent response to those questions. We read to learn to think, to understand how to portray our own thoughts more accurately, and like Wilken says, through this we learn humility. Studying under (and alongside) some of the most brilliant minds I've ever met, this semester certainly has been a humbling experience, but I can honestly say it's also been the best.

Other highlights of the day: successful registration for the fall - all Public Health and Soc. classes, I'm so pumped! Being able to wear shorts in March! Learning new songs on the piano! ...Attempting to sew! (...yeah, after that last one, I decided I'll stay in school and not become a seamstress. Ha.)

Oil and Water

In many ways, trying to mix academic excellence with the glorious Oxford spring weather is like attempting to blend oil and water. They just don’t mix. And, despite the passion that all of our young minds have for learning, the sunshine has consistently won out over reading in a stuffy library. 

ben's birthday dinner 

Yet, somehow we all managed to submit our first case studies by midnight last night. Until this assignment—the first one that we all shared a deadline for—I had never realised the endemic nature of procrastination in our house, and I think it’s safe to say that most of us were at it until the eleventh hour, literally.

Winchester Cathedral Nave:
we took a roof tour so we got to walk inside the ceiling above it!

Line of Jesse window
....Jesse is at the bottom (in the purple) and his
whole line of descendants, up to Jesus at the top, is
included in this giant, beautiful family tree! so neat!

One benefit of this wonder weather is the chance we now have to explore a bit more of England on field trips with SCIO. Thus far we’ve visited St. Albans (cathedrals, roman theatre ruins…) and Winchester (another cathedral, and an elite English boarding school which has been around since the 1300s…and where our trip leader Jonathan went before Oxford!). Later this week we’re headed to Bath!

picnic time!

Another wonderful highlight has been the opportunity to spend more time out seeing Oxford not wearing 2 coats/gloves/hats etc. Studying in the park, watching cricket and laughing with friends, picnicking on Saturday afternoon, biking through Port Meadow, food fam dinner in the backyard…the list continues to grow. I have been so blessed to form some of the best friendships I’ve ever had this semester, and I am so glad that we have a few more weeks of beautiful spring to spend with each other.

south park picnic!