Dear family and friends,
The last two days have been a whirlwind.
Church was a tremendous blessing. We were able to attend All Souls. It's always a privilege to be in the Lord's house. It always amazes me that no matter how far away from "home" I am, I feel so in place in my Father's house. This may be the first time that we go to one church and just quickly plant. It was a great morning of worship and as much as I'm excited about the next few weeks, I'm looking very forward to going back again.
Today we were able to actually plant our own eyes on the flat that we've already signed and given a great deal of money for. It's going to be fantastic, and no doubt, where God has brought us. The location is amazing! We are in "theatre land" in the west end. The theatre's for "Wicked" and "Billy Elliot" are right around the corner. We are right across from Victoria station for anyone who knows the area or wants to get out their London map. We knew that The Chantrey House was located on top of "Earth Spa" but we didn't know that we'd also be residing on top of a "Starbucks". Ed's open to any and all gift cards for his upcoming birthday on March 1st.
We also took a walk to Ed's school which was a little less than 10 minutes. One of our prayers was that God would put us in a location that we could afford and yet the children could walk to Ed's school. We've been told through several resources that the school is very welcoming to families. I do wonder if that really means a family with four children who are homeschooled. Our children are very capable of attending adult situations with success and love the opportunity. We've made sure that they'll have the appropriate clothing and we plan on easing in slowly before we show up full force. It was really important that they be able to be able to walk home in order to be able to participate on a normal basis. Ed's studies will be in international relations and we are all looking forward to learning! We just found out yesterday that there will only be about 80 students, half of which will be internationals.
Tomorrow is filled with business, packing, and a lunch date with my man. The children are excited to all get 5 pounds to go and buy their lunch. We are staying in a flat that is right across from Tesco (small grocery), McDonalds (Wyatt's favorite Irish pub…he was so funny with his little accent yesterday saying that MIC-Donalds was a great local option), Starbucks, and many other businesses. I like standing at the kitchen sink watching the people walking by. We won't have this kind of view in our new flat which will be better for keeping our eyes on our schoolwork.
On Wednesday we are leaving for a trip that almost seems unfathomable to my little dreamy mind. God knows how much I love to travel and this year He has been so gracious to delight me. It reminds me of God loves to delight His children…don't we love to do the same? When we were in Italy Ed and I both went to Rome but this is one of the few places that we did not take our children. After our trip there we both agreed that we were hopeful that a trip to Rome would be a part of our children's education. We are going to be spending three nights in Rome this week and then meet longtime Air Force friends, John, Tonia, Rachel, and Tim Shaw, to spend 8 nights on the Mediterranean! Last summer we saw a deal for British residents only (we qualify) for a child to go free with each adult. I'm still amazed it's going to happen! This is the 17th pack up we've done since the 15th of October…God is good!
Love to all,
Dinah for The Troops
P.S.~ See last post for Texas pictures~ enjoy y'all!
