temporary glitch

I think for the next month my blog postings might become a bit scarce. In the school where I currently live and am employed I am not able to gain access to wireless Internet for my computer. Even if I did have wireless I can't access blogger as it is firewalled from the school system. That's right people- I went to check my own blog and received the message that it had been blocked for possible pornographic content. (!!!!) That's news to me, but perhaps I aught to take a look back through some older posts? hmmm....

At the moment I am visiting friends in London on my day off, and it has been so lovely!! The weather is hot hot here at the moment, which is GREAT. I am not ordinarily one for the heat, but because we didn't really get a summer last year in Leeds I am totally ready for it!

London is such a strange place. We went to go see this avaunt guard jazz performance where everyone was tragically hip, with the exception of me, and it was great. There is a great deal of goodness that can come from relaxing with your friends. I even turned off my phone for the night so I could be fully present with the people that I do not see often enough.

In other news I have been having a crazy craving for Rilke poetry and am FINALLY into The God of Small Things... I think I have tried to start this book at least 4 times. I am finally into it and on a role with it, will write a little review when is all finished. :)

Alright... off for some sleep... much needed and very lacking!

Bawdsey Manor

So two weeks ago I decided to apply for a new job. I did a quick search, found a job as a social coordinator for Alexander International School and 36 hours after submitting my application I had a background check, reference check, phone interview and a job offer asking me if I could start as soon as possible. YES! I had been praying for God to either open doors or close doors because I had an incredible feeling of hitting walls all the time. This door swung wide open and less than a week later, I resigned from both my jobs in Chester, went on one last bike ride (very sad to have left Fetish behind) and was on the train to Ipswich.

This is Bawdsey Manor, my home for the past week and some change. Sometimes I can't really believe my life. Not only do I have an amazing job organizing the social activities for an international summer school, working with a great staff, with a lovely boss for a good wage-- I get to stay in what is basically a mansion. Also... bit a trivia... the place where radar was invented. cool.

Above is the view from my room. yup. awesome.

This is the ferryman. You pick up this white stick that waves down the ferry, and he comes across the bay and takes you to the other side!! amazing!!!

On the way to Felixstowe I walked by many of these little beach houses. I quite like them. I think in my next life I want to own one of these and come on the three weekends a year it is sunny to enjoy it. Also the children in this area sound just like in English movies. Oh, the south.

This is the North Sea. It is beautiful. okay! more later... off to pack and make things all tidy before heading over to my new school and work environment tomorrow. :)

Oh the little things...

I think it is entirely possible that the thoughtfulness level of my friends and family rivals that of anyone else in the world... Possibly even surpasses (I think so!!)

Today I embark on an adventure in Suffolk to explore the home counties of England and partake in my role as the Social Coordinator for n International Summer School for English Language Learners... hell yes! My train departs at 15:35 and I arrive in the south of England later this evening and remain there (more or less) until August :) But before I left I went to say goodbye to my manager at Fat Face and they had not only scraped together a card in the less than a week's notice time I gave them, but also chipped in to buy me the new white tank top I had wanted at the shop. I am blessed with thoughtful friends. This past weekend I spent with Maddy and Fiona and they are the cheese to my macaroni. I had a chance to have coffee with a good friend, Jim, who wrote my reference that helped get me my new job and he delivered a present of a card and two necklaces from our friend, Bara. I am so blessed. On top of all of that I had a lovely bike ride with my friend, Rob last night and THEN and THEN if that wasn't enough yesterday I had a chance to skype with my sister and beautiful niece and today I check the post to find this lovely necklace sent to me from my most fabulous cousin, Krissy. She had no way of knowing that I am going through a huge change in life at the moment and her gift, so thoughtful, so lovely, arrived at the perfect moment, with a great note and for no other reason other than she was thinking of me and misses me. That is the best gift of all.
So here is a picture of the necklace that Krissy sent. I haven't had a chance to take a photo of the other lovely ones, but they are also very "Rachel" and I am sure they will surface in future blog entries.

So thank you friends for being amazing. Thank you for the blessing you are in my life... alright... time to pack. A little bit of love goes a long way.

Whitby, UK

My first trip to a coastal town in the northeast of England! The experience made all that sea side marketing at Fat Face (store where I used to work) come to life! ahem. Maddy, Fiona and I embarked on a journey that was destined to leave us short of petrol, full of delicious fish and chips and pretty darn tired. It was a great day. :)

There are a ton of seagulls on the coast. They kept diving into all my photos... I think this one had a pretty good result... though the gull could have been more accommodating and appeared fully in the photo.

This is one of the signature sights and sounds of the coastal towns... the arcades. Very popular place to lose your money. For me, they are a touch too jam packed with flashing lights for me to find it appealing. Though I did enjoy the really old machines that look like something out of a scary movie... like they might come to life at night or something... this fact did not entice me to use them... but I can see how someone might write a really bad scary book about them. Dan Brown? Your next big hit??

Seaside

Rock candy is a another seaside tradition. Each town has its own version of rock and if you break it open it has the name of the town written really tiny inside. Tough to explain... even more difficult to eat.

Maddy and I always end up taking photos that make us look like a a happy couple (I think it is because we are.)

the Abbey! and Fiona! Fiona gets the credit for thinking of this outing. Whitby is the town that Dracula visits when he stops by in England. Yup. nerds we are, nerds we will remain.
I put this photo on because I actually climbed the abbey walls illegally to take it, there is no legal way to climb the walls as a matter of reference. But Maddy and Fiona did a fine job giving me a boost. :)

Hippie Nettle Tonic is Good for Your Hair.

One aspect of England that I really love is the ubiquitous presence of used book shops. My personal favorite is Oxfam books in Chester. I can walk by and have a quick look at the "just in" section every time I walk into town! :) On one such occasion I managed to snag a book called: "Grow Your Own Drugs" by James Wong. A book based on his series on the BBC.

Since summer is all around us and the world seems to be blooming here in England, I am inspired to do some foraging and using a friend's book entitled "Food for Free" have tried collecting ingredients to use to make meals. :) Kind of like dumpster diving except in nature and not in alleyways.

First on the trial was the great Stinging Nettle. I have wanted to try Nettle soup for ages. I've heard of its health benefits, but couldn't seem to work past the fact that I don't really care for creamy soups, and most recipes called for about a bucket of heavy cream to offset the taste of the nettles.

We went collecting anyway.

Here is Letty hard at work

The young nettle tips are the best for the jobI came home and dumped the lot into a pot of water and boiled it to heck to make a recipe for nettle hair tonic found in the James Wong book. Everybody wants stronger hair!

Hair Strengthener

1 large bunch of nettle leaves
500ml of water
500ml of white vinegar
1tbsp aromatic herbs or 10 drops of essential oil (like lavender or rosemary)

MAKE IT: Simmer nettles in the water and vinegar for 2 hours, then stir the aromatic herbs or essential oil and allow mixture to cool. Strain through sieve lined with fine-weaved muslin. Filter bottles.

USE: Apply to scalp every other night as a hair-strengthening tonic, or use as a leave-in, final rinse after shampooing.

STORAGE: keeps for one month.

Letty and I both use it now and it is GREAT! Smells lovely with the lavender oil in it. :) Here is proof that at least one of us has nice hair. Letty straightens her hair once every million years (her curls are so nice!!) but we were bored and a friend left her straightener at our house. in any case having nettle tonic in re-used water bottles makes our bathroom look hippie-tastic (except it is really clean) and I love it!

Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.
Leonard Cohen

I wish that there was the "undo" button in life, or perhaps I could cut and paste more clever conversations or wittier rebuttal... be more kind, tactful, thoughtful... delete hurtful words and replace with imported photos of flowers and videos of robins singing. It can work online-we can backspace over our typed words so that the person on the other side does not know our immediate reaction and response... temper ourselves in a way--add in an emoticon for extra emphasis. Though we can delete text messages, remove numbers from our phonebooks and most recently... un-friend someone...In real life the face speaks to me more than the words say, and there is no way to undo the way you look at me with those eyes of yours.

I think it is time I shared a little bit about myself, and not just the places I've seen.

For my application to seminary, I had to write an autobiographical faith statement. If things about faith and God put you off, then by all means skip this blog entry, but do come visit again! :) It was a struggle to write about the cornerstones of my faith in 3 to 5 pages double spaced. I know that I left some parts out and others could be written better. Several changes seem to be happening in my life all at once, pretty cool, but kind of scary. I felt moved to share my faith statement on my blog today, and so here it is. What would you include in your autobiographical statement? How does God work in your life?

I have always known God to be an active force in my life. In lieu of a single dramatic introduction to God’s awesomeness I am blessed with a life-long conversation and continued affirmation of His love. I was baptized as an infant and raised in Messiah Lutheran Church in Auburn, Washington. Some of my earliest memories take place during Sunday school. The foundation of my Christian faith is rooted not only in God’s saving Grace through Jesus Christ, but also within the Lutheran tradition. At one point, I believed that my resume would impress no one but a fellow Lutheran. I graduated from California Lutheran University, worked at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp and God called me to service in Egypt through the ELCA’s Young Adults in Global Mission Program. Each of these events played a developmental role in my faith journey. At Messiah is where I first learned the need to work out my own salvation with fear and trembling; confirmation classes were particularly influential. One class was entitled: “Our Neighbour’s Faith.” The class consisted of learning about other Christian denominations and then visiting the churches following the lessons about a particular denomination’s beliefs. I remember respecting my church’s gusto for teaching its youth to think for themselves. It may seem trivial, but the assertion that asking questions about my beliefs, manifestations of faith, and faith practices was not only acceptable but also encouraged was massive. That experience was a seed planted that has since grown into a personal desire to know God more deeply and to foster dialogue not only within the church and between Christians, but also between different religions and cultures.

Living and working in intentional community at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp proved to be another stepping stone into my passion for conversations about faith and love of God. At Flathead, we were a diverse staff of Christian counselors working with a common calling to lead and mentor the youth. Those two summers influenced me as I not only grew to further appreciate God’s awesome creation, but also in the beauty of God’s power to transform a group of strangers into a unified body able to share His love. With the help of God, I positively impacted others lives during my time as a counselor; I have since struggled with the idea of taking a job that would be just work for money. I have a strong desire to work where God calls me and where my gifts are best utlized. I have the academic qualifications to do well in business, but instead I am drawn to positions working with disadvantaged youth, working in the arts, building cross-cultural relationships and generally contributing to the greater good. I want to follow my calling to do my part in God’s work here on earth, lessening the suffering of others and building community.

Another defining experience in my life is my time in Cairo, Egypt with the Young Adults in Global Mission Program. If you would have asked me two months before I applied if I ever saw myself living in Egypt I might have laughed out loud. I do not do well in warm weather and need roughly a gallon of sunscreen in order to walk outside on a cloudy day. But during discernment weekend I felt called to serve in Cairo. Despite the fact that I had not selected the country as even an option for my year of service, and already having two interviews with other sites, at the end of the weekend I was called to Cairo. I spent much time since my service as a YAGM pondering and praying why I felt so much peace during my placement in Cairo. Searching for the answers, I travelled to Peru to learn Spanish, completed my masters in English Literature in England, and organized a gang-prevention program in my hometown. However, it seems now that the answer is clear, I felt God’s peace when I was in Cairo because that was exactly where God called me to be at that time. It is a peace only obtainable by living with the spirit.

I moved to England in autumn 2008. The plan was to study for a Master’s degree in English Literature and then following its completion, attend seminary. After completing my studies in autumn 2009, I visited a monastery in northern Scotland. My intent was to reconnect with my spiritual path and actively engage with God in conversation about my vocation. At Pluscarden Abbey the services were catholic and in Latin. I felt unable to engage with the services and talked about this with a fellow pilgrim. We discussed the idea of listening as an equally active form of participating in worship. Active listening is a skill I have practiced with people for years, but applying that same principle to conversation with God was a dimension I had not fully explored. It is relatively easy for me to talk to God in my prayers but now I am learning to make space and meet with God in silence. It is during these times with God over the past year that my vigour for ministry awakened. In this time of reflection I feel an indicative prompt to attend seminary.

God blessed me with an inquisitive nature and a strong, capable analytical mind. My pastor once told me that our vocation is where our greatest passion meets the world’s greatest need. I am passionate about God’s saving Grace. I believe that building personal relationships between people will help the world move toward increased peace, tolerance and understanding. I will never look at the Middle East in the same way after living and working amongst my friends in Cairo. After that experience I have the knowledge to battle against the negative media which corrupts our ideas about that which is “other.” Jesus was the Son of God and He calls us to love God and one another. It is incredible that God loves us so intensely that He seeks out a personal relationship with us through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Five years ago, I was sitting in a church service when I first felt God calling me to go to seminary. During the time for silent reflection I prayed for direction and God’s answered clearly: “Go to Seminary.” I have spent a few years pondering this decision and labored under the lie that I did not fit the pastor mold. Though I know in my heart I am made whole through God in my imperfections and in fact often tell I let myself believe the lie that I was not good enough, compassionate enough, patient enough, perfect…enough. But the reality is that we are all sinners in a fallen world and only made perfect through Jesus and striving to be closer to God. God has placed people in my life to encourage me and actively intervenes when I make any more excuses to delay further the next step on my faith journey. God is calling me to attend seminary, and I have delayed long enough. I am tired of fighting against God’s will because I want to understand why and have decided to put the question of why aside and act in faith to move forward in where God has called me to be. The God that knows and loves us completely has called me to seminary, and I follow.