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!

HIlary Term Comes to a Close

from last week...

So, we’re nine weeks in, and Hilary term is over. The time has, just as everyone predicted, flown by faster than I could have imagined. Sure, Wednesday evenings when I was up til all hours of the night writing essays seemed to drag on a bit, but overall, it’s really raced by!

Last week marked the first of the lasts. The first last lectures (got to hear the Director General of the World Trade Organization give a guest lecture – cool opportunity!), last tutorials, last Focus small group meeting, last time to return (instead of renew…ha!) my scripture commentaries on Luke and Acts at the Theology library.

The first goodbyes. Anyone who knows me well knows I hate goodbyes. Just think back to my high school graduation party. Thankfully I didn’t have a repeat of that event (….bursting into sobs while singing a solo about goodbyes, not an ideal farewell). At Focus, I gave many hugs to the girls in my small group. It’s amazing that God brought us together for this term, and even though we all study different courses, and are in different places in our university careers, I became close with a few of them and I really was sad to say goodbye! As I said my farewells to a guy from my brother Focus group, he asked if I’d be back for Trinity Term in April. When I said no, he replied, “Well, if I don’t see you again, I’ll see you in heaven!” It was a startling response to be sure, but an awesome reminder as well. Goodbyes aren’t forever. I’ll see my small group again one day, which is amazing!

Cookies, Cosette, and College Decisions

Since I have neglected to be consistent in posting - here's another post from the weekend (yesterday)!

It's been quite an exciting weekend, and I wouldn't want to leave you out of it.

1. The weather has been absolutely phenomenal, and I have enjoyed some much-needed time outdoors. After Big Issues on Friday, Liz and I headed to the patio of the Turf Tavern to finish planning our end of term travels - to Espana! And, before that happens, I'll be heading to Berlin to visit Sophie over spring break - which I am thrilled about!

who needs lectures when you can get "an education in intoxication"? haha!

2. On Friday night, Tom decided to bake oatmeal raisin cookies. Now, I love baking, and I LOVE oatmeal raisin cookies, so I quickly joined him to help. Funny though, the amount of dough produced for his recipe filled the biggest bowl we have in our whole house! Turns out, even after snacking on far too much of the dough, we had a loaves and fishes scenario on our hands as we made batch after batch and eventually counted 104 cookies. 

Most of them are gone now though. 37 hungry mouths will do that! They were delicious. Secret? Soak the raisins in hot water before adding them to the dough. It makes them much softer and yummier. And add cinnamon. Because as I always say, cinnamon makes everything taste better. A solid 3 hours of baking? Definitely worth every minute of it.

3. Yesterday I went into London for the day. I had the chance to spend the morning walking around the city (in search of the Tate Modern, which after 2.5 hours of walking toward we figured we'd never actually find :D) with Jessica, who spent a semester last year in Williamsburg and attended Tribe Fellowship at William and Mary, and is now back home in London. It was great to catch up. 

Westminster Abbey with Jessica!

the perfect day

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We also tried the cupcakes at a Georgetown Cupcakes-esque bakery in the city - delish! 

Hummingbird Bakery

Black Bottom Cupcake: dark chocolate cupcake base,
topped with cheesecake and cream cheese frosting! heavenly!

I then joined up with friends to see Les Mis on the West End. Incredible show, just absolutely incredible. I love love loved Eponine's voice, as well as Fantine's. I loved the whole show.

4. Kelsey's officially decided - she's going to SPU! My beautiful, brilliant, hilarious, sweet little sister, all grown up. I am SO excited for her, and I can't wait to see all that God has in store for her there. I'm also so glad that she will be close to our awesome family out in Seattle (which gives me even more of a reason to visit out there more often!).

Kelsey's SPU bound!
Yay!

5. Tonight, a few friends and I are going "The Voice UK" A Cappella competition. It's a UK-wide competition, touring major cities and then selecting one group from each to the finals next month in London - it should be a GREAT show! I have missed a cappella!

Learning

celebrating v-day at the vines!

I’ve learned a lot in the past couple of weeks. I suppose being at Oxford and attending copious amounts of scholarly lectures on random subjects (this week: Max Weber and the Protestant Work Ethic, Health and Social Class, the patterns of voters in political soc., the ethics of the church and state, and something about trends in Industrial Societies…) that should only be expected. However, being here, I think I’ve learned as much outside the classroom (or the library, rather) as I have in it.

sunny walk along the Thames River

I’ve learned that…Every tutorial isn’t perfect. I can survive double-tutorial day on less than 3 hours of sleep, but it’s certainly not much fun. G&D’s cafes all stand for different names…that start with G and D. I can (and finally did...) bike to the top of Headington Hill. Jericho Café makes a killer mocha. Christ Church meadow and the Thames River are the perfect place for an afternoon walk. Starbucks here doesn’t brew decaf filter coffee (?!). When putting a bike chain back on, it's better not to put your fingers between the chain and the metal gear you're trying to put it around. Pink white-chocolate popcorn is absolutely brill. The power goes out even in England. The Oxford modern art museum is as weird as it looks, but it has some nice art. Farmers Market blueberries are way better than Tescos.

Focus small group dinner party at Emily's - such a fun night!

I’ve also learned a lot from God these past couple of weeks. I’ve been reminded that he is faithful. His timing is not my timing, but thankfully his is perfect. He comes through when I need his help, not just when I want it. He is certainly good at surprising me with his faithfulness, but he never forgets me. I’ve always believed that Jeremiah 29:11 is true, but these past few weeks I was reminded of how incredible, and how real it truly is. His plans are perfect, and they span far beyond what I could ever imagine.

On a completely unrelated note, an amusing tidbit:

I’ve taken “running to the grocery store” to a new level of literal meaning this week by twice realising I needed an ingredient that I didn’t have and kitting up and running into Headington (the quaint little town just up the road) to pick it up. Last Sunday, when I ran in to buy a giant chocolate bar for a friend's baking project, I could sense the cashier’s amusement with the whole thing. I think it’s brilliant. Kill two birds with one stone!