Homecoming Eve

Janna's plane gets into DFW at 6:25 pm 8/10/2010, tomorrow night. Daniel volunteered to drive (thank you!) so we plan on picking her up after she goes through customs, then out to eat, then home. Tim has a dinner meeting at the hospital which works out nicely. Fun fact: The flight from Dallas, Texas to London, England (United Kingdom) is 4742 Miles, lasting approximately 10.25 hours.

I feel like I know Janna better after reading her daily blog which is a pleasant surprise because we are good friends. I am immensely grateful to the professors and students that went along on the trip, the staff at Christ Church, the taxi driver that made sure she made it into her dorm safely after going to the London Swing Dance Society meeting, her "mom away from home" that gave her life advice and took care of her and her room, the docents that dressed up in costume, the Globe Theater actors, the staff at Baylor that took care of all the trip details, the travel agency, the cooks and waiters on the train... the list is endless and I will no doubt remember more after I post this. I am grateful for Tim's support giving Janna the gift of studying abroad. I am grateful to family and friends who love and pray for her.

Thank you Lord for watching over Janna and the Baylor in Oxford group and please grant them safe passage home.

Janna called

Janna emailed to say that she would be available to Google video chat at 5 pm today. She would call me first to let me know that she was on her computer. She called a little after 5 pm to say that the dorm internet service connection was temporarily down, but that we could talk on the phone. She has a Vodafone that costs ~ 5 euros for 100 international minutes. So we talked for thirty wonderful minutes. She is sleeping well, eating healthy and from what I gather walking a great deal. She misses bacon and Schmaltz's sandwiches. Today she saw the Globe Theater Company perform Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" that was on tour in Oxford - she laughed a lot. Brooke and Maddee are her traveling companions when free time permits. She will ask Dr. Hanks how the Inklings got their name per request from Papa Da who thinks that it is because they used ink to write their stories. Janna surmised that could be it combined with (she used another phrase - can't recall) the term "I have an inkling of an idea." Tomorrow they are studying C.S. Lewis where he once taught classes.

Sleepy

Love reading Janna's blog and seeing the photos. Laughed at singing happy birthday in a funny voice. Chicago! I think I'm glad. Everything Janna is getting to do is see the places that she has only read about or studied. It is fascinating to see what she did today in story and pictures.

We had a wedding shower for some friends and I had so much fun. I really love Jenn and Grant and am delighted for them. They are getting married next Sunday, a week from tomorrow. A group of ladies co-hosted the event. Some decorated, everyone brought food or drinks, someone grilled. The food was so good I was speechless.

I enjoyed getting to know Brenda, Jenn's mom. She is friendly and easy to talk to. Now I know where Jenn gets it from. I love the way that Grant and Jenn treat one another.

I am so sleepy, but its a good tired.

Bath

Reading Janna's blog, seeing her pictures, emailing and chatting with her is a blessing and comfort. But the lovely surprise is that I am learning all about the places she is seeing. What an amazing world we live in where you can access the world's libraries from the comfort of your own home computer. Recently I learned that C.S. Lewis went to church at St. Peter's which was built in the early 1100 AD.

Articulating Faith

Faith is a topic that came up recently in our communication, which lately has been through commenting on phenomenal facebook photos that Janna posts. I have a deep faith in God but find it challenging to explain it. Partly it is due to my background. I grew up in a faith filled home where actions mattered more than words. So we didn't talk about God very much, nor why we believed in God, scripture, etc. We went to church, we prayed at meals and sometimes in times of crisis, and we tried to live in a way that was pleasing to God out of love, but not out of duty or a price to pay to get into heaven. This is a link that articulates faith in a way that I like.

The journey of exploring God gives rise to some tough questions. Here is a collection of thoughts on why God is who is says He is.
Does God Exist - Is God Real - Who Created God?

Absorbing Oxford

Somehow Janna's blog entry and facebook photos chronicling her Inkling Walking Tour gave me a sense of the rich history of Oxford. I loved seeing the tour from Janna's perspective and am impressed that she walked the 3+ mile trek and ventured into shops for tea. Also, I thought it was insightful for her to find indoor and outdoor places to read to see the story through the eyes of the author. For instance, one of my favorite pictures is of the lamp post and Janna's comment "remind you of anything?" or something similar. In the book, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, the lamp post is a significant part of the scenery, no doubt inspired from the ones that C.S. Lewis saw in Oxford.

I wish now that if it had been practical, that the kids could have kept a photo journal, a hand written diary, and even an audio and video journal as they were growing up to help me understand how they see the world. I did some of those things to record their childhood, but it was from my viewpoint. It is dawning on me that the blog and facebook format allow us to do just that, deepening our understanding of one another.

Rambling Raining Thoughts

It is raining and thundering which reminds me of Janna. She loves rain and usually runs outside to splash around in the puddles. Daniel came over so that he and Janna could talk on google chat/video.

Philip, John and Pam brought back the truck and Daniel helped them put the lid back on the bed of the truck. As soon as they were done with the task, which is not an easy thing by the way, it started to rain and by the time we got inside the house it was pouring. We sat on the porch and watched the rain while they waited for the storm to pass before heading back to their place. John and Philip rented a house in Woodway and are moving in this weekend.

I managed to misplace my glasses, again, so Tim drove me to Janna's car which we had dropped off earlier this evening at the dealership. Not in the car. Looked in my car, dumped out my purse, looked on tables, bookshelves, retraced my steps as Mom taught me. Narry a pair.

I would like to be able to blame the lost glasses on being distracted with Janna in England, but that isn't the case. Losing things is in my genes.

The rain appears to be over for now and clouds of mist are rising from the pavement with the rain's evaporating off of the hot July streets. Tim called it "London fog."

I can see enough to type by increasing the font size and pushing the computer screen far away. I didn't wear glasses until I passed the wonderful age of 40, except for a short while in college to see the chalkboard.

I get to turn 50 this year. I'm thrilled and plan to join AARP.