Autumn

I am back to my "normal" intern life after the craziness of the summer holidays and a short trip I took to Germany! After a day in Enfield doing our weekly training I stood crowded in the center of an isle on the train home during rush hour. Rush hour takes on a whole different meaning in London. Too many people get crammed together into a train because there are not enough seats or space for everyone to sit. Everyone stays in their own world, not acknowledging anyone around them, sucked into their own virtual lives. This is the perfect place for me to be nosey without others realizing because everyone has to stand in such close proximity to each other. I easily peer over the shoulder of the man sitting below me who is texting a friend, joking about a woman he should date. The man standing next to him goes from reading the political section of the daily newspaper to looking at a crossword puzzle. Behind me is a man reading an article on how to save battery on the new iOS update, beside me is a man peering over the shoulder of someone beyond my view. He is probably doing the same thing I have been - seeing just a tiny portion of someone's day. Seeing who these strangers are on our train ride at the end of the day. Nobody speaks. Nobody goes outside of the comfort of being silent and antisocial. THIS is London. This has become a part of my weekly routine. Every Monday I take this train home and people-watch to my hearts content. I am often torn between feeling like a local, and knowing that I am a foreigner to this fast-paced and crowded city. This has become my home in so many ways. These insignificant train rides don't seem special now -in fact they are often more tedious than anything-  but in a few months when I am back in America and stuck in traffic by myself, this will be something I miss...

I am starting to get to the point where returning home is looming over me. The counting down app on my phone continues to make me more homesick the nearer I come to the comforts of home. This whole year the idea of going home has been in the back of my mind and seemed so far away. But now with only two months to go I am getting more and more excited. I have so many things I am looking forward to and I have already started making plans for my return. I am also becoming aware of everything I will miss about England. Just next month will be a month of lasts: last toddler groups, last youth clubs, last sublime training days, last time seeing people I have spent this year working with...

It is going to be so bittersweet! Although all of this is constantly on my mind, I am still working hard to be present at my placement and for what is happening right now. I have returned to my weekly groups in the church that I help at which has been so great! My placement church also got its new sublime intern last month. She is one of the 6 new German interns at Sublime. It has been a lot of fun getting to know a fresh batch of interns. It is so odd being the one who knows my way around. But their excitement to be here has really encouraged me to appreciate the rest of my internship. I often have to stop and remind myself how awesome God is, and how much He has done to bring me here and how much more He has done throughout the year. It is so difficult not to fall into routine and miss what God is up to. So I am trying to be very intentional with the rest of my time spent serving in London.

Thank you all for your continued prayers! It has really made such an impact. Please be praying for my placement church. In the last few months a few families in our congregation have lost their mothers/grandmothers, including the grandmother of my host family. Please be praying for God to continue moving and doing good in this time of loss for so many.