Sunday, 8 April 2012

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 3rd 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….