the Senior Saints in my life

Through various situations this past term, I have enjoyed opportunities to get to know some of the elderly members from Church. One of these is a woman named Kris.

She is from India and moved to England when she married a British soldier...she has been widowed for some years now. She is known at Christ Church Bromley for her passion for the gospel and delicious home made curry.

On Sunday morning I was having a chat with her about my plans for the new year. "I hope to learn more about how to be a godly woman - ministering along side my husband - and finding ways to reach out to my neighbors..." I said.

Kris then told me how she has been trying to think of ways to be a witness for the gospel. When she was younger and still working, she frequently traveled by taxi and would share the gospel with the cab driver. Now that she is retired and lives by herself in a quiet apartment, she has very few interactions with non-believers. She has resolved to take the bus to the local library once a week and pray for opportunities to speak about the gospel to the people she meets there.

Here is a woman who, though she is nearing 80 years old, has not stopped running the race. It was a wonderful challenge to me - and I am so very thankful for it as I endeavor to run along the way in the new year.

For the Newtons

who live on Trafalgar Street in Texas...


Trafalgar Square in London

We miss you guys!

hmmm - so sweet!



measuring cups I found at Anthropology (here).

a little Christmas baking

Around this time 3 years ago - I, with the help of my sisters was busy making sugar cookies for my wedding favors (have a look at them here). Thanks to their creative hands they came out beautifully!
I now like to try to make sugar cookies to remind Nathaniel and I of our special day.

Yesterday invited my friend Betsy and her daughter Sophia to make sugar cookies with me. I made my cookie dough but when I went to roll my cookies out I remembered I have no rolling pin. After a bit of mutteling around in my tiny cupboards, I found a couple of jars that would make a good substitute.

the other night we walked through Trafalger square and we visited the lions.


usually the four lions that guard the square are covered with children - I was thrilled to have a chance to climb up myself and have a picture with one of the lions.

something worth rushing & waiting for

Winter has come to London...
which means lots of rain and cold.

Nathaniel and I have been waiting with great expectation for the arrival of a new little one into the White family (Nathaniel's cousins...). She was well past her due date and we were praying hard for a natural birth.

You can imagine our joy when we received news that mother and baby were home after an exhausting 24 hours of labor. Soon after we received a special invitation to meet the baby - and though our schedule would be tight worked out a plan... I would leave work at 1.30pm so we could take the bus (35 min) then walk (20 min) to their house, we would spend an hour with cousin Daniel and family then make our way back home to make an appointment for 6pm.

But what a day it was! I was late leaving work and so we just missed our bus - and it was wet, windy and cold. Conscience of the our tight schedule we ran through the rain and were only 10 minutes late. But after knocking loudly on the front door several times we began to wonder if we had gotten our dates/times wrong. As it turned out there was only a slight miss-communication and after a couple phone calls and 20 min on the front door step we were finally able to meet the newest addition to the White household. Ophelia Rose.

and she was worth all the running and the wet and the waiting...she is a beautiful little miracle! Congratulations Daniel and Ellen!

Goodbye Mazda, Goodbye school loan

While back in the States this Summer Nathaniel and I sold our Mazda 3, and it was hard. I remembered back to when I got my first car, a 86 Honda Prelude - a gift from my sweet grandfather who was graciously giving up his right to drive. The Prelude was one of my grandfather's special earthly possessions and it was I am sure hard to give it up. I went to pick up the Honda and my grandma did something that I did not quite understand at the time - over dinner she asked all who were at the table to give a memory of Grandpa and the Honda Prelude as a way of helping Grandpa say goodbye and let go of the car.

On August 31st as I handed the keys over to an excited new owner of our Mazda 3 and watched it drive away, I understood in a small way and appreciated why Grandma asked us to share memories with Grandpa to help with the transition.

So I am going to share a memory of the Mazda with you guys as a goodbye as it were...

A month before my wedding I was getting ready to move from my home in Santa Clarita Ca. to San Antonio Tx. My job was to whittle down all my earthly possessions to only that which I could fit into the Mazda 3. I think I must have packed and repacked about 5 times - I am sure my dad could have done the packing in 2 tries ... and then he would have fit about 10 extra things in that I thought I was going to have to give away. But there was no Papi around to help, so it was left to me.

Finally it was done, you could not see out any of the windows and the person in the passenger seat would have to keep things on their lap. So I was ready to be off - I just needed my traveling companion...Jeremiah who sweetly offered to fly out to Los Angeles only to turn right back around and make the long drive back to Texas in my packed to the hilt Mazda 3.

Certainly this is a memory about the Mazda 3 but also it is a memory of a wonderful exhausting trip with my younger brother (who insisted in driving the entire way - and anyone who has driven through New Mexico, Arizona & West Texas knows what a sacrifice that is) as I left behind a stage of my life to prepare for a new life as Mrs Jackson.

In a closing though a wonderful thing has come out of saying goodbye to the Mazda:

Part of the reason we sold the Mazda 3 was to enable us to pay off the last of my school loans. So it was worth it to see the Mazda 3 drive away. Last month I made my very last payment to Sally Mae for my college education. And it is Good! Thank you Nathaniel for being firm in insisting we sell the car! Definitely worth it.