Adventure Three: Bath, England

Reality has finally caught up with me. Most of the past two weeks has been spent writing essays ... essays that will alone determine my grades. Oh, the pressure. However, last weekend I was able to break up the studying with a most exciting visit by Ashley! She, along with three of her sweet friends, made their way to Swansea ..... and by made their way, I mean missed a few trains here and there and FINALLY arrived in Wales around 1 a.m. Saturday morning. But no worries, we still had the best weekend being together, talking together, and laughing together!

As they explored the Gower Peninsula on Saturday, Lindsey and I headed to Bath, England for the day. Bath is known for its beautiful, old architecture, and hence the name, the Roman baths that still exist in the city today. Lindsey and I spent roughly two hours touring the baths and seeing all that went into designing these interesting creations. I felt as if I were walking the streets of ancient Rome. Story of the day: When we first arrived we saw a long line of people surrounding this building, which had no name, but it did have drawings of what we thought were the Roman baths. So we assumed, "Hey! These must be the Roman baths." After standing in line for about 30 minutes, we arrived at the front only to realize that we were actually standing in line for a fancy spa ..... a spa that is modeled after the Roman baths. We came to the conclusion we were definitely in the wrong place when we were offered chocolates by the staff and a British man behind us asked, "Did you not bring your swimsuit with you??" Swim suit?? No sir, we did not! We laughed, loudly, and laughed some more. What an adventure.

After a long tour of the Roman baths, we headed to a little cafe for tea and pastries. Typical English afternoon. We then began to roam the city. My favorite stop of the day: Bath Abbey. It is absolutely beautiful inside. At the time we walked in, the organist was practicing so we sat in the church for at least half an hour, just gazing at the colorful stained glass windows and listening to the music. What a memory. Bath was beautiful, and Lindsey and I had such a great time experiencing it together. Even if Lindsey does take 35 pictures of the same bench. So fun.

I am almost ashamed to say it, but I am going to anyways: It has taken me coming all the way to Wales to realize the power of prayer. Yes, I have grown up praying and talking to God, but I haven't REALLY prayed and talked with God. But now I am! In the last few weeks, I have felt my prayer life at an all time high. Whether it has been praying for safety, comfort, healing, friends, family, guidance, or peace ..... I have been praying! It's funny: my devotion for the past few days has been on prayer and its importance in a relationship with Christ. In fact, I went on a run the other morning down by the beach. It was an absolutely beautiful day; the sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky, and the weather was perfect. On my way back to the University, my iPod died .... I was devastated. I tried turning it on over and over again, and it just kept responding with "Battery Dead." What was I going to do while running back? What was I going to listen to? Then I looked around and realized "This is the (BEAUTIFUL) day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it." And rejoice I did. I stopped running, and instead, walked and talked with God until I arrived back at the Uni. As soon as I got on the bus to ride back to my house, I tried turning my iPod on again, and what do you know, it turned right on with almost full battery power. God has such a sense of humor, and I am so glad he does.

Recently, there have been so many things that I have been praying for/about, so I have spent a lot of time in prayer with God. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6 What is so great is I find myself yearning to talk to God more and more each and every day. And it isn't just to ASK of God; it is mostly to PRAISE God. "Praise be to the God and Father of our lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." Ephesians 1:3 I am so thankful I am learning so many new things about myself and my walk with Christ while being abroad. Rather than falling away from Christ, I find myself being pulled closer and closer into His loving arms. "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." James 4:8

I am thrilled and so grateful to say that God has already answered so many of my prayers. He has kept me safe, He has blessed me with opportunities I could never have imagined possible, He is healing, comforting, and loving friends and family, and He is continuing to be with me, guide me, and always love me. "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us -whatever we ask - we know that we asked of Him." I John 5:14-15.

One exciting answer to prayer: I am coming home early!! I have been praying about this for awhile, and God put a peace in my heart about it. I was able to have my exams moved around, and I will be coming home either the first or second week of May! This is such an answer to prayer, for now I will be able to spend time with friends and family who are dear to me before I begin a busy summer spent, most of the time, away from Memphis. And I will be able to attend my cousin's wedding and Bekah's wedding, both of which are extremely important to me. God is so good!!!

My next adventure: Four weeks traveling through Europe. We will begin in Barcelona, then to Prague, down to Austria, on to Switzerland, over to Germany, down to Rome for Easter, up to Florence, over to Venice, short flight to Athens for a week, then back to Swansea. Absolutely incredible. We have out tickets ready, our bags packed, and we're ready for the adventure of a lifetime!