Desert Song

While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the LORD appearing in the cloud.

Exodus 16:10

Freedom!

As I sit in my room on a late Friday night trying to prepare for next week's Bible study on freedom in Christ, I am a bit confused about where to begin. In church, we always hear about how freedom is found through Christ alone, but what does that really mean and how are we supposed to live this out?

To be honest, whenever I used to hear the words "freedom in Christ," I just imagined that as a sort of spiritual high or a euphoric state, like butterflies on a first date, except I guess the butterflies are supposed to last much longer since God is involved. However, as I began to dig deeper in the Scriptures, I'm beginning to see that freedom in Christ is actually more of a steady, unyielding discipline to serve which flows naturally from the grace He's poured into us.

In other words, God gives us freedom from the bondage of sin so that we can have freedom to serve Him joyfully.

13 For you have been called to live in freedom—not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if instead of showing love among yourselves you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. 16 So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves.

Galatians 5:13-16

Tree

I want to be unmovable, unshakable
So let my roots go down deep
Unmovable, unshakable in You

I want to be like a tree
Planted by the streams
Of living water

Ciao, au revoir, adios, goodbye

Tomorrow, I will be on my way home!

Right now, I am so tired and out of it that I don't even know what to say except I am really excited to see everyone again, sleep in my own bed, eat good food, drive my car around, and just relax from two weeks of craziness.

I will really miss Europe and traveling though.

I want to major in Art History

Hello from ITALIA!

I am in Rome right now writing from a computer in my hotel room (which is super nice; we got a good deal). I just wanted to write to say one thing: ITALY is GORGEOUS! Oh man.. the Italians have it good. Great food, beautiful architecture, rich culture... you couldn't ask for much more.

Seeing Rome and all the classical architecture is seriously making me want to double major in Art History even though it's very unrealistic and impractical.

Anyways, I will try to write more later.

Tomorrow we are planning to visit The Vatican, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, PANTHEON (yes!), and then going to Florence at 7 P.M. and spending two nights there.

Ciao!

...And this is where I write a long essay to wrap up my final thoughts

I'm leaving Brighton tonight. I can't believe two months has already gone by. Sounds cliche, but it feels like I just got here yesterday.

For these past eight weeks, one thing that has been on my heart a lot is my future small group. Since small group has played such a huge role in my own spiritual and emotional growth throughout college, I am really passionate about it and the whole idea of women's community is really near and dear to my heart. Ever since I found out that I'm leading a freshmen group next year, I've been struggling with my own fears and insecurities as a future leader. There are so many things I want my girls to get from small groups and so many ways I want to help them grow, but in the back of my mind I always felt afraid and inadequate for the task. I worried the most about whether I am spiritually mature enough to answer all their Bible questions and whether my Bible studies would be engaging and deep enough, among other things. But the more I thought about it and talked to Nancy and Eseul, I realized that in worrying so much about myself as a leader, I'm already heading in the wrong direction by making it all about me. Instead of trying to make small groups into such a "well-planned" event, I should allow God to lead the group rather than focusing on my own abilities (or lack thereof) as a leader. As long as I continually pursue and run after God, everything I do for my small group will come naturally from an outflow of love. I believe this is the way in which God is calling me to lead--with my eyes always fixed on Him and not on things above the surface.

Another thing that God has shown me through my time here is how much I still need to grow. While I was here, I had a lot of time to myself to just reflect on this past year. As I thought about it more, I realized that if I were to be completely honest with myself, I know that in the last couple months before coming to England (around spring quarter), I started becoming so comfortable in my daily routine and close circle of girl friends that the way I lived my life was bordering on "lukewarmness." It wasn't even like I was falling into sin, but just the diminishing passion I had for Him almost became a sin in itself, if that makes sense. Because I have been so involved in the Edge these past few quarters, going to Sunday services and Re:Acts had become so engrained in my weekly habits that I did it almost mindlessly and passively. And every time something happened to me, I knew I could call up any one of my close friends and they'd be there at any moment's notice. Though having that loyal, safe community was what I needed at the time, I think eventually that sense of security began to overcome my desire to seek Him as my ultimate comfort.

But during my time here, I am starting to see how God's timing is always good and perfect. I feel like He brought me to England to break me out of my comfort zone and cause me to reevaluate my heart. Over here, there are no Re:Acts to attend and no "social" motivation to wake up for Sunday services--everything you do for God, you do it simply out of obedience and a sincere desire to know Him, not because your church friends are watching you (because there are no church friends here to keep you accountable). Also, since almost all of my close girl friends graduated this past year and are now moving on, I know that not having them around all the time next year to encourage and take care of me will challenge me to seek Him even harder and look to Him for security and strength. Even though I know it will be difficult at first, I feel at peace now because I think this is where God wants me.

I definitely feel ready to see Europe and then go home and start another school year. Can't wait to see and experience all the amazing things that are yet to come...

Cheers!
Emma

Stress

Dang, so stressed right now! I haven't been able to think or do anything except pack and plan today. My mind is in a blur and I have no idea what to expect for the next two weeks.

Hello, Europe!

Starting from Thursday evening, Eseul, Erly, Sophia and I will be traveling around Europe by train for two weeks.
Here is where we will be on each day...

Aug 15: Milan, Venice
Aug 16: Venice, Rome
Aug 17: Rome
Aug 18: Rome, Florence
Aug 19: Florence
Aug 20: Florence, Pisa
Aug 21: Nice, Geneva
Aug 22: Geneva
Aug 23: Barcelona
Aug 24: Barcelona, Madrid
Aug 25: Madrid
Aug 26-29: Paris
Aug 30: Paris, Brussels
Aug 31: Brussels, Frankfurt
Sept 1: Frankfurt, London, IRVINE!

Keep us in your prayers please!

-For safe travels
-That we would have patience and understanding with one another
-For growth and fun times! =)

I'll try to update as much as I can while I'm gone.

A lovely day in London

Yesterday, Eseul and I went to visit Nancy in London for the last time. We were so excited for this day because we really wanted to hang out with Nancy again and see what Newsong London is all about.

I think yesterday was seriously the best day I've had in England so far. It wasn't even like we saw a lot of new things, but I think just being around Nancy and her friends, seeing how God is working in London and talking about where we are right now, where we're headed, and what He is doing in our lives was so refreshing and just good. I wouldn't trade that for anything.

Eseul and I woke up at 7 AM to get ready and catch our 9 AM coach to London. I was so exhausted because I slept really late the night before, but I couldn't fall asleep because the coach was so uncomfortable... the seats don't lean back!

Eseul having a very uncomfortable nap... hahaha.

Got to London two hours later and took the tube from Victoria to South Kensington to go to Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB), which is the church TIM HUGHES leads worship at!!! =)

Here it is!!! OH my gosh.. I was so excited to be here... I'm even getting excited right now just writing about it..!

They don't allow you to take videos or photography inside, so I didn't (I think that was my first time actually following the "no cameras" rule..) But it is pretty inside. It looks like one of those medieval cathedrals with stained glass windows and everything.

The speaker, Miles Toulmin, spoke from 1 Kings about following the calling God has placed in your life. (You can listen to the sermon here.) I think the message was a good reminder to me, especially as summer's coming to an end and pretty soon I'll be leading a small group, searching for jobs/internships, and just getting back into my "routine" life again. Many times I end up just doing things on my own without waiting to hear from God, but I wonder how much of what I do and put my time and energy in is actually what He wants for me. I think I need to be constantly reminded to just be still before Him and wait on Him instead of trying to do everything by my own strength or doing things simply out of habit or because I think I'm "supposed" to.

Oh, and sadly, I did not get to see Tim Hughes because he was away "on holiday" (say that outloud in a British accent, it sounds cute!) It's okay though, I'll see him next time he comes to Newsong again.

After service, we found Nancy!! She was with her two friends, Christina and Hannah, who also went to UCI... except Christina is 25 and Hanna is 29, so they graduated a while ago. What's weird though is that they all met each other for the first time in London.

We all ate at this cute French restaurant nearby.

This place was not that cheap and Nancy paid for ALL our meals, drinks, and even dessert (that's for FIVE people!) Can she please not...?!


I love my England mom!!

Aww.. Nancy gets more and more beautiful everytime I see her!

Afterwards, we went to the world's largest department store in the WORLD, Harrods (there are 330 different departments there!)

It is soo nice and luxurious in this place. Everything is super expensive too.

Meat.



Fruits.

These cooking oils cost around 20 pounds ($40)... whyyy would you buy that?!

These bouquets cost 55 pounds! sigh...


Chocolate high heels... cute huh?

Oh my gosh. This was my favorite part of the store. It's this super pretty cafe area with really cute pastries and chocolates. It looked so much nicer in person though! I wish I could have taken more pictures here but I was scared of getting caught (you aren't allowed to take pictures in the store).

Escargot costs 350-375 pounds and Caviar costs 600-700 pounds!!! I don't even know what to say to that...

These are chocolates... CUTE right?!

The chocolate section of the store looked so good. There are so many of these pretty chocolates on display.

Me with the chocolates. I'm so happy. =)

Afterwards, we took the bus to the area where Dave Brubaker lives and sat in this Starbucks.
That's Christina... she doesn't look 25, right?! She looks so young.

We sat in here for over two hours just talking about everything. Nancy was telling us how she's doing in London, where she wants to go from here and talking to us about leading and our experiences in England so far. It was like having small groups in London... haha. I enjoyed this so much!!


This picture is to show all of Nancy's supporters back home how holy she is in London, holding her Bible and pretending she's actually reading it.. haha. Seriously, this picture is so cute though.

It was raining outside while we were talking.. I love that feeling of being inside a coffee shop while it's raining.

Walking to the Brubaker's!
The Brubakers are a family from California that moved to London to work with Cheer (the organization that Newsong London is teamed up with). They came here only a couple months before Nancy arrived I think.

It's this bright blue house on the corner.


This house is so nice and cozy!

It's weird when you see Dave Brubaker and then see the place he lives because Dave looks like a total hippy but his home is really nicely decorated. I asked him if he decorated it himself but he said no, the landlord did it... haha.

This made me so happy!!!!
After the rain stopped, there was this HUUUGE rainbow outside. No joke. Everyone came out of their homes just to look at it. SOO beautiful! I felt like God was smiling down at us at this moment. =)

The other end of the rainbow!

Christina, Nancy, Dave, Hannah and the rainbow... this picture is priceless!

Back in Newsong Irvine, they always talk about "church without walls," but I never really understood what that meant until I came to London. Newsong London is REALLY a church without walls. There's no actual building where they hold formal services with worship and a sermon... it's really about bringing God to people by loving others and "preaching" the gospel through your everyday actions. I love how the Brubaker family lives out this vision by just opening up their home every Sunday for dinner and making everyone feel welcome and at home there. Dave's passion and energy are contagious, his wife, Jill is incredibly gorgeous and their five-year-old daughter is adorable. Such a beautiful family!

For "service," it was basically a dinner gathering at the Brubaker house. Jill made Mexican food and there was no Bible study or worship... it was just a night of fellowship and hanging out. I met a lot of different people--a 37-year old woman from China studying English here, another young woman from South Africa who moved here five years ago, some people from Korea, and some locals. Even though there were so many different people from all across the globe, everyone was just hanging out with each other and it really felt like being a part of one huge family. As Nancy kept saying, "London brings people together!"

Dave, one of the coolest, most down-to-earth guys you'll ever meet. He graduated from Berkeley... he really looks and acts like a hippy. It's so funny watching him and Nancy interact.. they joke around and act like brother and sister.

Nancy took us to the tube station at 9 PM.. I was sad to say bye to her. I'm happy though that I finally got to see everything she writes about in her emails and on her Xanga. I remember I'd always read her updates and look at her pictures and try to imagine what she is talking about, but I just couldn't... after seeing and experiencing Newsong London for myself though, I can see why Nancy is so passionate about it. There is so much freedom and joy doing ministry by simply loving on others and showing them God's character in the way you live out your life.

AHH, such a perfect day. <3

The end is nearing...

I am leaving Brighton in five days... where did the time go?!

Some things about England:

• In California, people freak out when it rains. But here it happens so often that it doesn't even really phase you anymore.
• English people love to say "brilliant" and "rubbish."
• The style here is classier and more sophisticated than in California... I love it.
• Girls in America always idealize British men because of actors like Hugh Grants... but let me just say that British men are definitely overrated. They are not that great looking or charming.
• People greet each other by saying "hiya" and say their farewells with "cheers"... someone please tell me, why are British people so cute?
• English mustard tastes like wasabi.
• And English food tastes like "rubbish"!
  
• Afternoon tea is really cute and girly... it makes Starbucks look boring. I wish we had it in America.
• But, the only Brits who actually drink afternoon tea are either wealthy or elderly... or both.
• English people don't eat fish & chips that much.
  
• The weather can never make up its mind. It literally has to change every five minutes.
• It's not cell phone, it's "mobile." And it's not "restroom," it's "the loo" or " the toilet."
• The English like to curse. But sometimes, it sounds cute... basically if you have a British accent, you can say anything and it either sounds intelligent or cute.
• The English like everything organic or recycled: food, bags, clothes, cups...
• They also like "fair trade" products.
• Apart from the really cute accents, longer history, and different types of stores/brands, England is really not THAT different from America. It's pretty easy to adjust.
  

I like England.