In Like a Lion...

Dear Family and Friends,

Our thoughts have been with so many this week as we learn of your struggles with health, loss, and every day trials. We extend our love to Tony and Joyce with the passing of Tony’s sister Polly. We hope you found peace and comfort as you attended the funeral this past week.

I’m sure this week will be the craziest weather week of our mission. If the UK has the same folklore as the USA when it comes to the first and last day of March, we should see very pleasant weather at the end of the month. We were warned to prepare for “The Beast from the East” (dubbed appropriately!) as it was set to move across the entire UK this past week, causing freezing temperatures. And freezing it was! Then on top of it came “Emma”, the storm from the Southwest. They were set to collide this weekend sometime. And so they did. It wasn’t that there was so much snow if you’re used to it, but England just isn’t used to it. Beginning Thursday night the snow and wind came as well as the freezing temperatures. The roads were icy and unsafe. Schools closed, as did our office. And everyone just hunkered down. Ron and I kept the heat up a little higher than normal in case we lost power at some point, put on a pot of Sue’s Minestrone Soup, and snuggled in with some reading, a Downton Abbey Marathon, and continued the process of sorting through our hundreds of mission photos. We were scheduled to leave for Ireland on Saturday, but airports were shut down and we were forced to postpone our project. I have to admit, I wasn’t sad. I’d much rather go when it’s warmer.

We have been having trouble with the latch on one of our front windows, and of course it finally gave out completely Thursday night. Every time a gust of wind came along it would fly open and let a burst of cold air into our cozy flat. Ron tied it shut with all we had which was some thin wire. Our landlord was good to get a repairman here for us, but it will take more to fix than he thought, so we’re still with the wire. It still lets in some cool air, so we choose not to sit on the couch by the window for now. Burrrrrrrrr. A+ for bad timing.

Saturday morning was treacherous outside, but things began to calm down in the afternoon and warm up just a bit, although still too cold for me. Many were outside “sledging” down the hill in the snow on their “sledges” (a new one I hadn’t heard yet) and having a good time. We had a message Saturday night that Church was on for Sunday, so we prepared. Sunday morning we woke up to “No Church today”. Freezing rain caused the carpark to be treacherous. Now, it’s up to 45° and still raining a bit, but I think we will get back to normal tomorrow and go to work. I really have loved and appreciated the down time, but enough is enough and now it’s time to get back to work.

We did manage to have a very cold outing on Wednesday. We had previously arranged to meet Fred and Carol Kaatz, our housesitting friends from home at Blenheim Palace. We didn’t spend time in the gardens at all, and the temperatures and snow was freezing, but we very much enjoyed the palace and learning about Churchill’s birthplace. Some of the fun things we learned were that Churchill was born there while his parents were attending a social gathering there at the family palace. His mother labored prematurely and he was born in the room that was being used as the cloak room that evening. He was not the heir to the palace, but his cousin and best friend was. Their grandmother took quite a shining to these two grandsons and had them spend a lot of time with her at the palace, which was a good thing because his parents didn't pay a lot of attention to him. Imagine having a palace as your favorite sleepover place and play yard!

Winston Spencer Churchill had many famous quotes. Two I really like and picked up on this week:

"Courage is the first of human qualities because it guarantees all others."

"Courage is what it takes to know when to stand up and speak and when to sit down and listen."

Blenheim Palace - Birthplace of Winston Churchill

Did you know that the Spencer in his name is the same Spencer family as Princess Diana? I love to visit places like this because I can walk away with new knowledge and something new to strive for.

I can’t say that we saw miracles this week, or even had special spiritual experiences, yet it has been a week of counting blessings for a warm place to live, food in the kitchen, and each other for company. We feel blessings each day we are here for so many things, too numerous to list. In light of my favorite Churchill quotes this week, I am thankful for the “courage” I had to leave the comforts of our home, our family, our friends, and the good life we have at home to serve the Lord for this period of time. This week will mark 13 months of being here. It has changed me forever.

Thank you for your continued love and prayers. Thank you for your letters, texts, emails, Face time chats, and sharing your lives with us although we are far away. We love and treasure our relationship with each of you.

Much love,
Ron and Marie