Your mother is a hampster and your father smelled of elderberries. Really.

It's 4:30 pm on Sunday afternoon...and THIS is Warwick Castle, from which I have just returned. I met some really cool people at an open mic night recently that I'm getting to collaborate with (!), one of whom was a guy named Matt Burns, and he took Patrick and I today to Warwick. And now I'm at a loss trying to find words to describe the beauty of this place. Hundreds and hundreds of years of souls have walked those corridors I was in today; they stood atop the towers where I stood and their eyes took in the same land--however different it may look now. I wonder what thoughts they kept. Because, of course, people may wear chain mail or skinny trousers, they may accessorize with partlets or pocket watches or nose rings, but they each sweat and laugh out loud and fall in love and feel afraid. This pulls me forward.

I like sharing these episodes best. They aren't, of course, the daily grind, but these are the moments that inspire me and leave my heart reeling from the blow. And I want all of you to know that in between times of frustration or fatigue or loneliness I am overjoyed to be in this beautiful country, and God makes His presence known every day--sometimes, like today, He and I share the stricken silence of my mind and laugh together at the sheer scope of human nature. You and I worship an enormous, colorful God.

Back to Selly Oak life...furniture is in, sky sports and internet are up and running!, and the place is really looking cool. We keep going out most nights; I'm trying still to be patient remembering that friendships don't happen instantaneously. But they are happening!

I feel as though I've found my niche, which is the biggest blessing of all. All this has stretched me so much, and it's easy to feel sometimes as though someone else should have been here instead of me. But God orchestrated Canvas, I know it to be true, and playing music has proved to be the best way for me to get to know people. Seriously--I love it. I could do it every day for the rest of my life. And there's just no avoiding going deeper if you're going to share music; it comes from the core of who you are.

As for the actual music department at Uni, I went out with most of them Wednesday (a pub crawl). It's not a wide open door, that's for sure. But one really great girl in particular has actually reached out to me, and she invited me to go along.

All I really share with you guys are my stories, too...Patrick and Josh have other networks of friends, most of whom I've met--really awesome people, and Natalie and Robert do as well, and Kevin and Leah. So when you piece it all together, the web is actually pretty big by this point! Amazing!

And the sun has been shining like crazy. It completely transforms my attitude.

One more thing: Natalie had us little team members spend some time one morning evaluating our motivation in being here--our "pushes" and "pulls." Basically, people in our lives that have believed in us, friends that have poured into us, that we've seen come to Christ, ect. The first thing on my list was my parents' example in moving to Chicago 18 years ago, a really cold and foreign place far from home where they knew no one. And they stuck it out because God asked them to. They are amazing and I love them so much. And because of their obedience, the other biggest push on my list is the Parkview family that continues to encourage me (and me indirectly by caring for my parents). I held back tears for about a minute before they came on their own anyway.

This family is all we've got. Loving people--it's the only thing that's worth it. You all who care enough to even read these ramblings, let alone pray for me (adding to my armor)--you are amazing and I thank God for you over and over.