Being without a car is starting to be inconvenient. We do have a bus stop right in front of our home, which is a blessing. But even if I want to go somewhere, which would take about 5 minutes in the car, it takes 2 hours there and back on the bus. Thus Victoria and I stay home most days. We normally like to take walks around our beautiful area, but with the bad weather setting in, we stay home more.
If Victoria takes two good naps, the day seems to be bright and beautiful. But when she takes bad naps, the day gets frustrating! We can't really go anywhere with no car and bad weather (though I just throw caution to the wind a couple days a week). And I only have a handful of things to do with Victoria till my ideas get completely depleted.
Today was a bad nap day. And though we had our sweet neighbors over for tea, the day seemed to go on and on. By the end of the day Drew and I had;
1. Read books 3x
2. Practiced walking
3. Crawled around with her till our knees hurt.
4. Watched 3 shows (don't judge me; the person who said "don't use the TV as a babysitter" must have never had to make dinner or clean for guests).
5. Looked at pictures 2x
6. Alone play
7. Together play on the floor, bed, couch.
8. Ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
9. Took a bath.
10. Played paddy cake.
And after all these things I was wiped out. Totally and completely wiped out... and I looked at the clock...5:45pm...still 2 hours till bed time!! Ahhhhhhhh!
Dear friends and family, please, please, please send ideas. Highchair games, Busy games, or Educational games. Anything! Please send ideas, and please pray for us to be good parents.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Detectives
Being in England is somewhat like being a detective. There are so many things that are spelled or named differently. But being a detective is fun! I solve mysteries everyday! I added some pictures to help you all understand. :) I even solved a mystery while writing this post! I kept hearing banging noises that sounded like fire works. Then I started SEEING fire works but had no idea why. I enjoyed watching the fire works with the lights out with my family, I mean who would complain? But I had to know why?! I did some research and found it is an Indian holiday called Diwali!
We love being in England. Though I think the sweet lady downstairs was right to say to me after seeing my enthusiasm for the fact that they were going to build an ice rink across the street for Christmas, "oh sweetie, you must be lonely." I don't miss anything much about America, other than the people. I want to be with my sweet precious friend on bed rest, and my sweet friend Leannie as she plans her wedding. But I am thankful to be where the Lord has us.
Victoria is sleeping better and has our neighbor lady wrapped around her finger. We have decided to go and visit daily. :) Drew continues to love teaching Hebrew and studying. He is living his dream life! :) We just hope to get him a desk soon. After making a huge order on Ikea we found out they will deliver to us in about a month. lol! We had no idea it would take so long. I guess we didn't learn our lesson with the month long wait for Internet. With no desk, Drew uses the table. So at every meal I bring out the plates and he tries to shove his books over to make room. So we eat praying our cups of water won't spill onto Drew's computer and Victoria won't blow raspberries with a mouthful of baby food and cover Drew's library book with sweet potato and baby drool. :)
We love our apartment (video to follow soon, sorry it is taking me so long Janel), we love our neighborhood, and we love our church! Things are going well for us!
This post's question is this. Can anyone tell me about Diwali?
We love being in England. Though I think the sweet lady downstairs was right to say to me after seeing my enthusiasm for the fact that they were going to build an ice rink across the street for Christmas, "oh sweetie, you must be lonely." I don't miss anything much about America, other than the people. I want to be with my sweet precious friend on bed rest, and my sweet friend Leannie as she plans her wedding. But I am thankful to be where the Lord has us.
Victoria is sleeping better and has our neighbor lady wrapped around her finger. We have decided to go and visit daily. :) Drew continues to love teaching Hebrew and studying. He is living his dream life! :) We just hope to get him a desk soon. After making a huge order on Ikea we found out they will deliver to us in about a month. lol! We had no idea it would take so long. I guess we didn't learn our lesson with the month long wait for Internet. With no desk, Drew uses the table. So at every meal I bring out the plates and he tries to shove his books over to make room. So we eat praying our cups of water won't spill onto Drew's computer and Victoria won't blow raspberries with a mouthful of baby food and cover Drew's library book with sweet potato and baby drool. :)
We love our apartment (video to follow soon, sorry it is taking me so long Janel), we love our neighborhood, and we love our church! Things are going well for us!
This post's question is this. Can anyone tell me about Diwali?
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Stranger love
Drew and I just got back from dinner. We went to a nearby pub to celebrate getting Internet and finally receiving Drew's scholarship money. Getting his money meant we could now buy things like a can opener and hair dryer. Not exactly necessities but things that are very nice to have. Though I have to admit that some wants are necessities for this girl... One such thing was a high chair. If I had to feed my squirming daughter one more time from my lap, I was probably going to go insane! Thankfully I talked Drew into getting one a week after we arrived. It took a 6 hour bus/train/bus trip where we had to carry all our Ikea goods on top of Victoria's stroller, but we made it!
Being in England this past month has been hard. Not having money or Internet while in a country you're new to is.....difficult. There were so many questions I needed answers to! What foods should Victoria not be eating? Where is the closest store? What is "neat" referring to on my floor cleaner? All these questions had to go unanswered :(. I was also a bit lonely. Christian friendships are such a treasure, especially when your life is so crazy. But with my little Victoria to keep me busy and entertained I seemed to somehow make it through. But the thing that I am most thankful for is stranger love. What I mean by "stranger love" is when people love you when they don't even know you. Countless people have given us directions and advice. But one family gave us many things we didn't even know we needed. One of those things was rent. If this friend would not have insisted on lending us money for rent and deposit we would not have been able to move into our apartment till today, being Drew just received his scholarship money. If we would have not been in an apartment we would be in a hotel without a refrigerator, which is hard--ours was broken for 2 weeks and it was very difficult. In an hotel we would have had to share a room with Victoria, and waste A LOT of money. Drew and I took the rent money reluctantly but if I would have known the mix up with the scholarship would happen and the trouble transferring our American dollars into UK pounds was going to be, I would have taken that money with a whole new enthusiasm. So in short, if you see someone in need please be kind to them. They may really need it!!!!!!!! We sure have! The family kept saying, "If it were my daughter in another country I'd want someone to help her," which is a great way of looking at it. Really taught me a lesson.
UPDATES:
Victoria is doing well. She loves crawling around our apartment! We don't have carpets so I end up sweeping numerous times a day so the floor is suitable for her. She loves to practice standing on her own and I'm sure she will take her first steps soon. She is full of giggles for daddy's games and kisses for mommy. She is growing up fast! She will be 9 months old soon and the sweet baby I once knew is now turned into the baby who cries while getting her diaper changed, and growls waiting for me to make her food and screams ANY TIME she is not getting her way. I used to think she was the cutest and sweetest baby the Lord had ever made. Now I just think she is the cutest. :) Please pray for us to be wise with our little stinker.
Drew has started his studies at the university (or "uni" as everyone in England calls it). His first research project is reading the Isaiah scroll. Goggle has just started publishing the Dead Sea Scrolls online, which was frustrating for Drew because he didn't have the Internet to read them, but now he does! Any guesses as to what he is doing this moment? Drew also started teaching his Hebrew class. It consists of 7 girls! All girls! Crazy. I decided that to help with his class I would make cookies every Monday! Kinda take the edge off the weekend, and maybe attract some boys to the class.
God is so faithful and good. During this difficult process I came across a Psalm that David wrote. He says that even during trouble soon the good will come again, and it is so true. It's very silly to be sad during hard times because the Lord's faithful love will always be revealed again. God never says life will be easy! But I have to praise Him for allowing me to get that highchair!
For our trivia I'm going to write 5 things on our shopping list. All of them will have the UK English word, and whoever translates all of them into USA English first wins a copy of a recipe for one of Drew's and my favorite English foods: Yorkshire pudding! It is not a dessert surprisingly, but delicious!
Kitchen rolls, bathroom tissue, cot, rubbish bin, and nappies.
Bonus: I will probably get this stuff from Asda which is a UK equivalent for what American store?
Love you all, and miss you very much.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Blessings upon blessings
Drew and I are loving England. The food is great, a lot like ours, but with fun little twists. The people are nice, and the buildings are just BEAUTIFUL. Before we arrived in England we met an English family visiting their daughter in the States who offered to pick us up from the airport when we arrived. We were so thankful to God for allowing us to meet these kind people, but since then their love has overwhelmed us. They were forced to rent a car to be able to pick us and our suitcases up from the airport, which was so kind. They have introduced us to delicious English food and made us countless cups of tea. They have allowed us to stay with them for a week! And they even have driven us into Birmingham 2 times (a two hour crazy drive). With their help we have been able to rent a beautiful apartment. Finding an apartment has been our biggest prayer request and it is soon to be answered. We will be moving into our new place tomorrow. Our other prayer request was Drew's medications. He has Crohn's disease, and without insurance his pills would cost over $800 in the States. But it looks like it will only be 8 pounds here. We are yet to get the pills but that is what a nurse told us, so we are very hopeful. It looks like we may have also found a church! We will be visiting for the first time on Sunday but it sounds like it will be a perfect fit. With all the answered prayers we hope that, with us, you will praise our wonderful God for His goodness. We are excited to serve him in this new place. Please send suggestions of places for us to visit while in Europe. I hope some of you will also be able to visit soon. Lastly, as an incentive to read our blog, we want to have a little contest. The first man to translate the Bible into English was a man from England. The first person to comment on this blog with the name of this man will receive our first postcard from England! Love you all!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Visa applications approved!
We got an e-mail the other day saying that our visa applications for entry clearance to the UK were approved! This is our last major bureaucratic hurdle before we fly over! Thanks everyone for your prayers!
The Faithfulness of God and Answered Prayer
I write this so we can remember the Lord’s faithfulness to answer prayer
After Drew’s graduation our minds began thinking about what graduate school he would go to. We started praying every night that the Lord would lay out for us a clear path to the perfect school. And that is exactly what He did, leaving us ashamed for doubting he would and praising Him for the power and goodness of everything He does.
Personally I would rather go to a football game where my team wins in the last seconds of the game with an amazing touchdown, than one where they are 30 points ahead the whole game. I sometimes think that God works in this same way. One could say that Drew and I were “losing” at the game of getting into graduate schools till the last few seconds.
With Drew getting such high test scores and having such good grades we thought he would get into at least one of the schools he applied for. We first heard back from Berkeley: “NO”. I was personally sad, being I would have gotten to live close to family if we lived in Berkley. Next I think it was Princeton: another “NO”. A little discouraging, but we were hopeful. Next it was Notre Dame. This is the school Drew most wanted to go to, and this “NO” hit both of us hard. This may have been the turning point where we started getting worried.
It was during all these rejections that Drew got a letter from a teacher in Birmingham. He had put an inquiry out on a textual criticism e-mail distribution list concerning schools with good programs. Someone forwarded it to someone who forwarded it to someone else, and this teacher at Birmingham got the inquiry and wrote Drew asking if he would be interested in going to England for school. It was nice to get the letter, but all the programs Drew was applying for in the States were programs that were free to attend. We didn’t have enough money to pay for school and definitely didn’t have enough money to move to England AND pay for their graduate school program. But Drew applied anyways.
The days that followed were filled with more rejection letters. It was at this time that I saw my husband start to worry. I don’t think I have ever seen him worry besides this incident. But one evening on a walk he confessed to me he was worried about money. He had written to Note Dame and asked what his odds were to get in if he got another Master’s degree first. They said it probably wouldn’t help much. L At this point we had very few options. We prayed he would get into John Hopkins (the last school we had to hear from). Prayed and Prayed and Prayed!
Waiting to hear from John Hopkins was long and hard. I thought we would probably hear a couple weeks before the deadline, but nothing. The date of the deadline came and went, and our mailbox was still empty. Where was that letter?! We decided to be hopeful. Maybe the fact that the letter hadn’t came was a good thing?? Drew wrote the school and we waited. About 10 days after the deadline we found out that Drew had not got in, and thus all our options were gone. At this time all our eggs were in the basket of The University of Birmingham, England. We had found out that Drew did get in, but were now waiting to see if he would get a scholarship.
Some things about our journey are hazy, but this moment I remember perfectly. I was on the couch, and Drew was on that old ugly gold chair we had. He was checking his e-mail like any other morning. We had no idea that this day was going to be the day that we had prayed for for sooo long. The kind of day that pushes you into the reality that God can truly do anything! As I sat there on the couch Drew looked up at me and with a smile and some excitement said to me he was awarded the Doctoral Researcher Elite Scholarship from the University of Birmingham, and not only was tuition paid but, so were his living costs. The icing on the cake was the 6000 British pounds for research-related items!! Translation = BOOKS!!!!!
We were overjoyed to say the least! Victoria and I were so proud of Drew. We had to take him out to sushi to congratulate him. The Lord is so good. He can do anything... Give you an amazing scholarship... Lead you to exactly where He wants you to go by closing all other doors... Bless you with the knowledge that you need not worry about things, because He is a loving father who works all things for your good (Rom 8:28). Even the hard times are such a blessing in the end.
The Lord also blessed us with a family to buy all our things. We had to sell most everything, because shipping things to England was too expensive. A family was moving into the area from New Zealand, and they bought everything from us. The husband is going to seminary next year, and we know the Lord will use him in an amazing way. We were also able to sell our cars. We wanted to visit family before we moved to England, so we were going to drive Drew’s car from Los Angles to Modesto to Los Vegas ending in Colorado Springs. It was worth the pain of driving with a baby and no AC to visit family. But the Lord broke Drew’s mom’s car down, and she decided to buy one in Los Angles and allow us to drive it home to Colorado Springs. So now we have an amazingly fancy car for our road trip.
The Lord has answered so many prayers along the way. We could use prayer for a home and church in England. But mostly we praise Him for his power and thank Him for you. Thank you for reading this blog. I pray it will bless you.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Our Next Adventure!
For those of you who don't know, our next big family adventure will be a huge move to England! We are leaving the Santa Clarita valley to visit family in Central California, Las Vegas, and Colorado, before flying to England on the 7th of September.
Drew will be doing a Ph.D. program at the University of Birmingham (about an hour and a half north of London) studying the Dead Sea Scrolls and the history of the copying of the Hebrew Old Testament. It will be a three-year program, so we plan on being in England at least that long!
We are all very excited about the move, though it adds a lot of stress to our lives. The Lord has been good to us in providing enough funds for the move and maintenance when we arrive through a scholarship from the University. Everything seems like it has fallen into place perfectly. But there are still a number of things you can pray for for us:
Prayer Requests:
Thanks for your prayers and support!
Drew, Michelle, and Victoria Longacre
Drew will be doing a Ph.D. program at the University of Birmingham (about an hour and a half north of London) studying the Dead Sea Scrolls and the history of the copying of the Hebrew Old Testament. It will be a three-year program, so we plan on being in England at least that long!
We are all very excited about the move, though it adds a lot of stress to our lives. The Lord has been good to us in providing enough funds for the move and maintenance when we arrive through a scholarship from the University. Everything seems like it has fallen into place perfectly. But there are still a number of things you can pray for for us:
Prayer Requests:
- Visa applications - pray that we would get our UK entry visas approved to study on schedule.
- Family time - pray that we would have peaceful and restful family time as we visit everyone before we leave.
- Safe travels - pray for safety as we drive and fly all over the country and overseas to England.
- Church - pray that we would be able to find a good church in the Birmingham area.
- Housing - pray that we would find good, affordable housing in Birmingham.
Thanks for your prayers and support!
Drew, Michelle, and Victoria Longacre
Welcome Friends and Family!
Welcome friends and family to our new family blog! We are delighted that you would stop by to check in on us!
This blog will be a great resource to keep in touch with you while we are abroad. We plan to update it somewhat regularly with information about where we are, how we're doing, and what we're up to. You might even get some cute pictures of Victoria thrown in for free! :)
As we open up our lives to you, we would only ask that you would use it as an opportunity to lift up our family and ministry in prayer. We could never do it without the prayers and support of dear family and friends like you.
Stay tuned!
Drew, Michelle, and Victoria Longacre
This blog will be a great resource to keep in touch with you while we are abroad. We plan to update it somewhat regularly with information about where we are, how we're doing, and what we're up to. You might even get some cute pictures of Victoria thrown in for free! :)
As we open up our lives to you, we would only ask that you would use it as an opportunity to lift up our family and ministry in prayer. We could never do it without the prayers and support of dear family and friends like you.
Stay tuned!
Drew, Michelle, and Victoria Longacre
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