Visuals of England

Hi All!

I've finally got internet on my laptop which means I can show you pictures!! Rather than sending huge digital pictures (and sometimes large amounts of them :)) in the emails, I've created a site where the interested can go just to look at what I've been up to in photos. They start out rather small, but you can click on them and they will come up larger in another window. Please visit if you'd like to see where I am! It's: www.xanga.com/OtobeinEngland
(P.S. If any of you get a chance, please show this site to Grandma sometime as well otherwise she won't ever get to see the pictures : ( You can also share these emails with her!)

School has truly begun now and most of my days are filled with various lectures both fascinating and challenging. I spent last week attending every lecture offered for my year and then all weekend deciding which of them I would take. I went in to the weekend thinking I knew exactly what I would do, then prayed about it for a few days, and came out of the weekend with an entirely different view : ) Nine courses are offered my year this term. I must choose six of them to be assessed in and then I may audit as many of the rest as I would like. So, the verdict for my term will be (drum roll, please)...

Introduction to Acts and the Pauline Epistles, which is two intense hours with Richard Johnson (who likes to make sure we're all quite awake by now-and-again jumping about the room energetically, his unruly, graying hair flopping against his forehead and his long, limp sweaters bouncing about his skinny shoulders :)) every Monday morning looking indepth at not only the books about and written by Paul, but all circumstances surrounding the writing of those books. Very interesting.

Then I have Bible Study Methods and Leadership, 2 more hours on Monday with Richard Johnson, in which we learn to truly study the Word-- analyze each aspect from each perspective. I have never looked at the Word this way or learned so much about the 'read-between-the-lines' aspect of it all. On top of that we must demonstrate our understanding of what we're learning by then leading a bible study with a group in the class. This, I will need huge amounts of prayer for as public-speaking in any venue terrifies me. Praise Him that it's not up to my power to share His wisdom, but His!

Tuesdays will be my longest day this term. I have The Growth of World Christianity with Collin Bulley for two hours in the morning, a class both extremely interesting and long : ) Mr. Bulley seems enduring British, if the entire nation can be generalized, and one might dismiss him as being the rather old, intellectual, boring type if it weren't for one small diamond stud in his left ear, as if he'd forgotten when he was dressing in his nondescript professor-ish sweater and trousers (never say 'pants' here. 'Pants' are strictly a pair of panties in English english!) to hide away the hint that there is a life beyond the teaching, endless knowledge, and classroom : )

Then comes the dreaded Developing Public-Communication Skills with Simon Steer, our school's president. His wife is American, by the way, and he studied at seminary in New York : ) Anyway, this is the course I was dead-set against taking. I figured I'd been subjected to enough fright and humiliation in my high school speech-making class and then again last year at Concordia whenever the courses called for it. This year, I knew I would have no need for a class such as this one. Apparently, God has other ideas because I couldn't find peace over not taking it and therefore, I find I'm enrolled. The course culminates in each student giving a 10 minute talk so I'm praying about a good subject and confidence to deliver it!! I will be begging for prayers as that day approaches, I assure you!

So, then it's World Religions with Rob Cook. Something about the tutor completely intimidated me at first. He has a way of purposely disturbing things in you-- of forcing you to step back and look at everything you once thought was solid as being slightly shifty. I was so uncomfortable with that at first and not looking forward to taking his lecture. But right now we're learning about Roman Catholicism and that's a religion I need to have a grasp of if God does someday/somehow lead me to Ireland. Then that night I went on to discover that he also teaches another of my classes as well as being my pastoral tutor AND my acadmenic tutor!! Of ALL the tutors here, he was both of those... So, it pushed me to really sit down with God and look at this as His Will and question what He might be trying to tell me through this particular person, through his particular style of raising faith questions and my immediate reaction to those questions. What I've decided is that God has huge plans that I cannot understand and He doesn't ask me to understand. He asks me to trust. So... here I am.

The Doctrine of God and the church, led by Rob Cook, is my 6th class and will be fascinating even if it is slightly over my head and intimidatingly philosophical.

Then I'm auditing a seventh, Old Testiment Survery, simply because it's such foundational information-- plus Derek Foster is a riot act who says things quite reminiscent of Monty Python and looks unmistakably like Mr. Bean : )

Coincidentally, in line with school officially starting and all, the weather has also turned this week to what I'm told is a bit more customary for an English autumn : ) It's quite chilly, windy and drizzly-- never real rain, just drizzle-- and quite gray. But the sun comes out off and on as well and none of this keeps me from walking everywhere I need to go and also plenty of places I don't need to simply for the experience of it : )

Aunt Melissa, you will be very pleased to know that I'm singing on a worship team here : ) My neighbor in the room next to mine heard me singing along to my BarlowGirl cd randomly one night and, without my knowledge, went to the powers-that-be to request that I be put on her worship team!! So, due to the mysterious nature of it all, I'm taking that to mean that God wants me there : )

With this being a Theology course and all, I find my classes are deeply intellectual, analytical, and academic and a part of me is grieved that we're picking God apart like this-- even as I realize how vital it is to really dig in and look at Him and all that He embodies in this way. Nonetheless, my heart was more blessed than I can say tonight when I went to the first of a series of student meetings called 'Resonate'. It's a night of praise, worship, and prayer done by students for students and it's just where some of us basically get together after lots of deep study to regroup and refocus our minds and hearts on simply loving God-- the motivation for taking this course in the first place. I love the new worship songs I'm learning here but some are still so unfamilliar that I would find myself standing there eyes closed just listening. I am so struck as I stand there hearing voices from all over the world raised to bless his name all around me. And again I stand in awe of His unfathomable purpose in bringing me here and placing me among them. Me?? I am struck by the divine appointment of it. You have Kalun (originally from China but raised in England), who must be one of the most talented and gifted people God has made, strumming the guitar and singing in a gorgeous, God-glorifying voice, Emmanuel (originally from Nigeria but has been living in England for a number of years now) mastering the guitar, Paul (British, but grew up in the Reunion Islands where his parents were missionaries) leading worship, Claire (Northern Ireland) giving her testimony of God's faithfulness so personably and personally, Leticia (Brazil)-- amazing, amazing girl-- praying God's Word over all of us, and then all these awesome worshippers of The King from places like Holland, Korea, Zimbabwe and everywhere in between, and then there's me, the one and only American... I really don't know why I'm here. I don't know what He has in store. But I'm thankful that He has not lifted/will not lift His hand from me until He's led me to the very streets of gold...

There is forever more to say!! But... too much is just too much so I'll have to save it for another letter another day. Thank you so much for all of you who pray for me. I can tell He's been hearing those prayers...

May you be so very richly blessed as you seek Him!
Leah <><

These Days...

Ahh, to be in England in the autumn... : )

It's lovely here these days. I find myself sprawled out on the grass in the afternoons and evenings just soaking up the sun and studying The Word. Little children run by and shout hello in sweet little accents : ) Or new friends pass by and invite me to this and that. Last night it was shopping so I went along and deepened friendships on the walk to Asda-- a store owned by Wal-mart!-- and back.

Last night Suzanne (Scotland) had a couple of us [me, Tabitha (Zimbabwe), Leticia (Brazil), Hot-Lin (Indonesia), and then Shemil (India) just sort of showed up and hung around : )] over to her room for tea so we brought our own mugs and sat about on the floor with warm, milky tea and interesting conversation. Some accents I can understand better than others, but everyone is so interesting! I've decided with certainty that I love having tea on the dormroom floor : )

Leticia (Brazil) is one of the greatest people I have met so far. We're becoming fast friends. Her heart for the Lord is so beautiful and she's wise beyond her years. We've decided to be prayer partners and hold one another accountable. I need to be in her room in 16 minutes for our first prayer time so I'd better hurry!!

We had a sort of church fair here yesterday, when representative from at least 30 of the area churches came here and set up tables and we got to go around and visit with them about their churches and get reading material and directions. One sweet lady named Skye even invited my friend Marge (Hasting, Sussex, England) and I over for dinner after church since Redcliffe doesn't serve meals on Sunday : ) She has a newborn baby, besides : ) So, next week I'm going with Leticia to Brunswick Baptist and then the Sunday after I'll try Skye's church which is a beautiful old cathedral called St. Catharine's. It's a Church of England (Anglican) church so that will be an experience in itself-- but one that I'm excited to have : )

Sunny (S. korea) has asked me to sing on the worship team for Wednesday devotions...

This afternoon one of my favorite (it's not nice to choose favorites, but I'm afraid I can't help it in this case!) people, Claire from Northern Ireland, ran up and down my hall calling us out to play volleyball and we struck up an informal game : ) I haven't played since Mrs. Goeden's gym class Snicker championships : ) But it was fun. The guys on my team were gracious and taught me all that I'd forgotten and jokingly voted me Most Valuable Player because I am so incredibly un-talented : )

Today is my baby brother's birthday so I miss him dreadfully...

This weekend I must think and pray about what classes to sign up for next week. By tomorrow afternoon I will have sampled them all...

My Abba reminded me of His love and care as I sought Him in the shade of massive Redcliffe Tree yesterday evening. Out of the middle of nowhere in Deuteronomy He brought me across a precious verse that I had completely forgotten about and told me it was for me : ) It was:
"Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for He sheilds him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rest between His shoulders." --Deuteronomy 33:12

And I so I quiet the anxious voices within asking me where I'm going with this, what I'm here for, and just rest in being His beloved and being nestled between His shoulders as He carries me...

May you seek after Him with all your heart,
Leah <><

I Love the King of England

Hello all : ) Just a little update for the interested:

For the past few days I have been waking up to the reverberations of guitar playing filling my room like angel's song. At first I just sort of smile and praise Him for it because only He could know how much I truly adore hearing the guitar and how frustrating it has been not to have music playing whenever I'm in my room because I love to have my music on in the background of anything. Then it happened again the next morning and again the next and slowly it dawned on me what a beautiful Lover I have and how He has been serenading me with this song... How beautiful is our God?? Just a little reminder at the start of my everyday that He is there and that He loves me and that He is with me and not to fear...

Then this morning I was out in the 'garden' (the lawn) with Claire and we were discussing which windows are ours, you know, and I asked who it was that was right below me and right above me (because from within my room I really can't tell where the music is coming from, it just fills it) and I told her about the guitar-playing and she told me that it was Emmanuel something-or-other (someone I haven't met yet) who was playing... It took me a few moments to have the thought register... but, do you realize what Emmanuel means?

'God with us'

I stand in awe, Perfect One...

Today, I love England. And its (and mine and yours) King. And all the people that I know within it.

We took a trip to the Forest of Dean this afternoon, a lovely, old, expansive forest with large trails through the dim wood and nature and fresh air and beauty. Those of us who don't have cars had to depend on the extra room in the cars of others and I was invited to ride along with the sweetest young family with a baby only a month older than my Abby : ) I am smitten. Grace is all chubs and smiles and soft, little hands, and fluffy, whisps of hair and angel-looks. Her parents, a young couple from Manchester, just took me in and made me feel so at home-- so gracious. I love them already.

We walked about the forest as a large group and just talked with alot of different people and got to know each other better. It was lovely.

After 'tea' (supper), Bethan, Marge, Claire, Christian, Silka, Adriaan, Hank and I went off to a supermart called Asda, owned by Walmart : ) We're having a picnic tomorrow and must have some kind of snack to share. So, Marge and I fumbled about in the student kitchen (well, I fumbled. Marge knew precisely what she was doing, bless her : )) and whipped up some 'crispy cakes'-- little chocolate rice crispy cupcake type thingies-- for the picnic tea, all the while Shemil mosied in and out, causing trouble, making me laugh, and helping me fill out a billion and one medical forms. Afterwards we all crowded into the Television room for Bollywood (hollywood, only, in India) night and saw 'Bride and Prejudice' and laughed and talked and basically snuggled, as we were all crowded in. Friendships are strengthened day by day and new ones are made as well. I am so blessed...

Some toppers on my lists of loves so far are, of course, the accents : ) They are so varied, as well, as you speak to different people from different parts of the country. And I love how at mealtimes, everyone serves eachother. It's just automatic. Where I'm from we sort of take care of ourselves. Here, if one person pours himself a glass of water, he pours everyone one as well. If one person goes for 'pudding' (dessert), he gets one for everyone else as well. If one person wants coffee or tea, he takes everyone else's order and basically serves us all. I'm shocked by it again and again and I'm afraid I'll thoughtlessly get up and get myself something and forget to ask everyone else : ) I love Michael Spencer's (English) storytelling, Isabella's (Romanian) sense of humor, Gracie's (Baby from Manchester) laugh, John Choi's (Korean) sweet, friendly nature, Ruth's (English-- Isle of White) smile, Adriaan Verkerk's (Netherlands) constant wearing of his nametag, Shemil Mathews (Indian) goofiness and friendliness, and David Kinghorn's (English-- Gloucester) accent no matter what the guy says : )

Today I just love it here. Thank you, Sweet Lord. For being with me...
And I can't wait until I can show you some pictures : )
Seek hard after Him...
Leah Pearson <><

Where to Begin...

Dear All,

I now make my home in Gloucester, England at a small, but lovely green campus. I had my first spot of English rain this morning, but could only watch it falling from the large, 19th century windows of the main lecture hall.

So much to say...

When I left my mom at the airport, I really wasn't sure why I was doing it. I sat down at my seat in the airplane, turned my face to the window, and cried and prayed and wallowed in my sadness-- all the while hating that I could feel sad over something as wonderful as the chance to study abroad in England!! Jesus cheered me up. I could feel His comfort literally and truly-- as I would go on to feel it again and again over the first few days.

The flight was long and very very uncomfortable, as I was quite sick when I left MN and would remain quite sick until... today really. I flew into New Jersey and changed planes and then flew into London early Tuesday morning-- the middle of the night our time-- and walking into Gatwick I was overcome by the horrible feeling of making the hugest mistake of my life. I believe the phrase, 'Look what you've done...' was playing through my mind over and over as I tried to gather my tremendously heavy luggage all by myself and manuever it through the airport all by myself. Then, my calling card wouldn't work and I wanted to sit down and cry. Finally I got through using money but they charge an arm and a leg for about 30 seconds... Anyway, some airport worker came up to me and asked, 'Can I help you, Love' and that made me smile. I love to be called Love and only God knows that. What a beautiful gift from Him.

I did find my way to my train into the city and a kind gentleman helped me get my luggage on as I honestly couldn't lift it myself-- that's how heavy it was. Once I arrived at Victoria in London, I had to find my way down the street and across to Victoria Coach station-- all the while hauling three suitcases, and the streets were busy and crowded and warm but the people were friendly and many greeted me with 'Cheers!' and smiles : ) I sat at the Coach (bus) station for three hours awaiting my bus, simply because I could hardly move with all that luggage. Plus, I hadn't slept much on the plane and I was sick so my energy level was nil...

My bus was pleasant. I'm afraid, despite all willpower, I fell asleep off and on throughout it and missed some of the lovely English countryside... When we pulled into Cheltenham, I knew we were getting close and grew so nervous... I was dropped off at Gloucester Bus Station and asked a sweet old lady the ins and outs of the taxi cab : ) Then a friendly, chatty, Muslim driver gave me a lift to the school, lamenting to me about the Katrina victims in America and assuring me of the safety of Gloucester (which, by the way, is pronounced 'Glosster', really, just so you know).

Shemil, Claire, and Beth met me at the door of my beautiful new school, and I was whisked away into winding corridors and brought to a lovely little square room with a long, tall window and antique oak dressers and closets. After calling my parents, I went back there to sit down and have a good long cry, wondering what in the world I was doing here. I unpacked, tried to make it as homey as possible, and fell asleep for 14 and a half hours : )

Admittedly rather silly, I was afraid to really leave my room the next morning in case of getting lost and because I knew no one but Shemil and Claire, really. But whatever it was that kept me in my room was good really. I needed that morning just to cling to my Savior and the promises of His Word and to look hard again at all that He had done to get me here and to teach myself, yet again, to trust passed what I can see. He placed Romans 8:28 in my reading : ) Very sly of Him : )

He also sent Claire and Shemil and they whisked me out of my room and through the rest of the college. Then other new students began to show up and I got to meet alot of people and have lots of interesting talks. We had a barbeque that night and I met the President's wife, who is American : ) The President's brother, actually, is a pastor in Rochester, Minnesota!

I'm being educated on the English words that aren't in my American vocabulary. It's so funny how two countries can have one common language and yet be so entirely different even in that commonality : ) My new British friends tell me they will send me back to America as a Brit : )

Today was orientation and more orientation... But it was in a lovely 18th century lecture hall done in lovely British accents! During our break, Adriaan, very very tall 'bloke' from Holland, another one of the younger students (younger being under twenty, of which there are only three of us), and I decided we ought to do something this afternoon and we planned a trek into the city of Gloucester. At lunch we got a whole group of others to come along and we all went 'marketing' in Britain : )

Tonight we spent hours just hanging out in the common room because we don't know what else to do. I'm holding out for the time when I feel so comfortable around these people-- praying it will come. I hate the lonliness of having friends but not friendships, conversing but not conversations. God's asking me to trust Him. So I'm hanging on. Sometimes by a thread.

So much to say... I'm still waiting on the right cords for my computer so I can have my laptop in my room. I also need a wireless internet card. I also need to spend as little money as possible. Ha! It is all a challenge, every last bit of it.

Oh... this makes me miss home and all the familiar people so much... May the Comforter of hurts and Dryer of all tears and Lover of our Souls be with you and reveal Himself to you ever deeper every day. Please continue to pray. It's a very tough adjustment. I'm not necessarily homesick, but lonesome. And of course there's always that feeling of not having what you expected to have. I've come to the conclusion that we shouldn't have expectations at all. God will only go on to exceed them if we're patient with Him : )

Love to all,
Leah <><

I'm Moving to England!

Dear Basically Everyone in my address book : ),

After an agonizing year of back and forths, hesitation, dodging, careful consideration, and tons and tons of drenching it all in prayer, I was accepted to Redcliffe College in Gloucestershire, England in May. But even after I was accepted I just wasn't sure and I was praying and considering other options for this fall-- because I pretty much knew since September that I wouldn't be called back to Concordia (there is some sorrow in that admission as I really began to find my niche there by second semester...) He began to burden my heart with the eternal as opposed to the temporal. The track to a level of success in the world's eyes began to fade in its merit. My Savior's face began to rise ever more boldly. He laid two things on my heart enduringly. Ministry-- a school that was all about that-- and Europe. So... I bulked. I was (am) frightened and overwhelmed. Unbelieving. And thrilled and excited. And scared and unsure. And... torn. Ha. Clearly.

I prayed and prayed that He would show me where He wanted me. I researched and researched bible schools, starting in Ireland and England because for some reason those countries are laid on my heart the heaviest. I prayed and prayed. I passed by the site for Redcliffe over Christmas Break at home-- at the same time having my first real sit-down with my parents to let them know how I felt God was moving in my heart. Dad was less than thrilled. I was less than convincing. It's hard to be, when I wasn't even convinced in my own heart yet. Mom seemed excited. She had wanted to go to bible school at Oak Hills when she graduated but hadn't been encouraged in it. I'm so thankful for Mom's encouragement, especially since dad's discouragement was, by all means, loving and in my best interest as well as being exactly what I myself considered sound logic.

So, as I was contemplating not only the idea of being called into some kind of ministry but also where to place my next "life step", all year I struggled with the thought of leaving behind all the ones I love. My family has been my most dreadful enemies and horrible foes (ooh, they'll love that line : )) as well as my most fostering environment and dearest loves. To leave them, especially with my first niece on the way, for such a far off uncertainty, was a torturous thought. Torturous.

And I'm such a faithless, untrusting thing as it is.

But He did not leave me be. Praise God, He will not leave me be.

I was in a week of intense prayer when the prospectus for Redcliffe arrived in my mailbox, but it was the state of being so prayerful that really mattered. That morning I had woken up to His face and had prayed specifically that THAT day might be the day He told me about my fall destination. Then I got the prospectus : ) So... I began to slowly, tentatively, fill out the application. And then I dragged my feet in sending it. So frightened. Of everything. Of obedience. Of His wild but good nature. Of my own not-good-enough-ness.

Hmmm.

Then began proceedings with the school and every time we'd hit a snag I would pray that He would either take it all away and show me I wasn't meant to be there that way or make it proceed and show me my next step.

And then I was offered a place at the school. Redcliffe College. In England. It still rather seems like a dream...

But, still, I held back in fear. I prayed that He would show me whether or not that's where He wanted me by making financial aid come through if He meant for me to go. There's a lengthy, drawn-out financial aid process with the US right now as they're trying to establish it with their school. So, it was very iffy. But I told Him I would go if He made the money come through.... shaking in my boots.

At this point, I was also looking at a few schools in the Seattle or Portland areas and loving that idea. But Redcliffe endured foremost on my heart. Strangely.

Then, mid-summer, dad seemed to... have a change of heart. Suddenly he decided that if this school in England was where I felt God wanted me, he would help me out. Take out a loan and let me pay him back later. He'd get me there.

So... basically, finances came through.

And I move to England in about a week's time.

Shock and awe.

Now my next huge life decision lies in what exactly I'm doing this for. Initially it was a year off of my English degree to get a firm foundation in bible and ministry and just soaking up the truest of all educations. But perhaps it's no coincidence that Redcliffe College is a centre for missions training... I can't say much on this yet because I don't feel God's revealed it all in full. All I can do is step out in faith on what I do know, and trust Him to reveal the rest when He says it's time. In the meantime, I believe to the core of me that all of those who know Him are embedded in missionfields whether or not we're aware of it and that I cannot go wrong with giving a year of my life to learning how better to serve Him for all the rest of it.

I can't say I know what He's up to. But I know unless He changes things awfully swiftly, I'm headed to mission school in England for at least a year. In a year I'll acquire a Certificate in Applied Theology. In three, should He choose to keep me there, a BA.

Naturally, it's always on my mind these days.

On a drive down to the Cities one weekend, it was the strangest thing. I felt a sudden command on my heart to turn off the music and shut down the thoughts and just listen. So, I sort of curled my lip in an "okay, weird, but okay" kind of manner and shut off the music. Thoughts aren't quite so easily shut down. But, slowly, everything seemed to quiet and there His words came. Gave me chills. I felt, "It will be costly."

It will be costly.

As if warning. As if saying, "Look, Love, here's the deal. I'm asking you to do this because I know what's best for you. I know My perfect Will and see it all spread out before Me. But, I'm just going to let you know right now, should you choose to follow Me on this, I'm not promising all rainbows and roses. Sometimes it's going to hurt. It's going to be difficult. It's going to be costly. What do you think?"

Um...

What I think is, I'm scared! I'm small, insignificant, incapable. I'm frightened. This is so much more than some girl choosing what to do about school for the fall. This is the unfolding of the greatest adventure I'll ever know-- following Him. This is a huge step up that mountain of Myrrh and my pathway to forever. Here I am standing at a great abyss. There He is reaching out and asking me to jump. I could turn around. I know what my perception of steady ground is. But turning around means distancing myself from Life Itself (What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul?) Or I could abandon myself completely (Whoever would save his life must lose it), jump into His arms and know throughout whatever costs (I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord) the deep intimate beauty of His embrace catching me (Trust in God, trust also in Me).
"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or feilds for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and feilds-- and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life." ~Mark 10:29-30

There's a cathedral in Milan, according to an Amy Carmichael biography called "A Chance to Die", with three doors. Over the first door is written simply, "All that pleases is but for a moment." Over the second, "All that grieves is but for a moment." And over the main doors, "Nothing is important but that which is eternal."

I want to live like nothing is important aside from what is eternal.

Please don't let this serious side of my heart deceive you into thinking I'm not absolutely thrilled by the fact that I WILL BE LIVING IN EUROPE! It is truly something I have dreamed of. I hope to travel on breaks and visit Tiphaine (my foreign exchange sister) and places I've only heard of and read about in books : ) I hope to forge deep friendships with people from all over the world, as Redcliffe is a very international school, and be stretched and challenged and given outpourings of grace to get me through my weakest spots. I can't wait to dwell among the accents : ) And every single person I've been in contact with at Redcliffe is just absolutely wonderful... The beauty of it all can far outweigh the sorrows in it as long as my gaze is fixed on my Author and Perfector!

But, He has made me aware of what I needed to be. It will be costly. My heart wonders how much more costly it would be not to seek to do His Will but simply to settle for the safety of what I've always known. Somehow, that lessens the impending costs...

"In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." ~Luke 14:33

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." ~Matthew 13:45-46

"Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." ~Mark 10:49

"God is greater than our hearts." ~1 John 3:20

And so, I write to all of you to share with you this tremendous bend in my life's road and beg for your prayers and also ask for any ways that I can be praying for you and yours. Orientation begins September 14th. I'm desperate for His courage and confidence, as well as His providence in letting my student visa arrive in time : ) I'm sorry I write such monstrously long emails : ) And, please have no qualms about asking me to remove you from this mailing list at ANY time!

I will most definitely be in touch...

Be blessed,
Leah <><