On this day, one year ago, we flew in to Belfast International Airport. The doors of the plane opened and we stepped out onto the stairs that lead down to the tarmac. It was windy and wet from fresh rain. There were green fields as far as the eye could see. We went inside to get in line for the UK Border Patrol.
The girl in front of us had been sitting next to us on the plane and she looked to be around eighteen. She was from Chicago and was on her way to do a six-month study abroad program at Ulster University. There was something she didn’t have quite right and the patrolman sent her back to the back of the line. I was terrified for her and I was terrified for us. She was alone but at least we had each other.
After multiple questions, the patrolman didn’t quite understand how our Visas worked and we had to explain most of it to him. I looked at his ID badge and it said “George Best City Airport.” He wasn’t even normally working border patrol. The city airport does mostly domestic flights. After getting our stamp, we walked into the next room. We were ready to face a headache of a time in Customs, but when we walked in there was not a soul in sight. The lights weren’t even on.
We went down to get our bags. Before we left Alabama, Harrison had gotten an old suitcase out to find that it already had a combination lock on it. However, he couldn’t remember the code. It was only locked on one of the tags and not the other, still making the bag useable. We bought another lock and had closed the suitcase up. The locks were the kind that TSA could open with a special key. When Harrison’s bag arrived around the carousel, we saw that TSA had opened and shut BOTH locks. We asked the people working at the airport and since the locks were designed for the TSA to open there was nothing they could do about it being outside the U.S.
We walked down towards the front to meet our cab driver that the University had provided for us. He was nowhere to be found. Our cellphones obviously didn’t work there and we didn’t even know any phone numbers to dial on the pay phones, so we waited. Then we waited some more. Two hours had passed by sitting in a cold receiving area not knowing what we were going to do. There was a nice old cab driver that came over to us and offered us his cell phone to call the University. We were told that our cab driver was there. Shortly after the phone call, our cab driver found us. Apparently, he had been waiting in a completely different section. He was very clearly upset with us and barely said two words to us on our cab drive that was close to an hour.
We arrived in Portrush to Judith’s house. The cab driver threw our bags down in the mud and drove off. We went inside. Judith is a school teacher and wasn’t going to be arriving home until later that evening. We had never actually met Judith before, but we had been put in touch with her because she had earned her MA at Westminster Seminary in Escondido. It was odd to walk around a stranger’s house. Especially, since I had never been over the Atlantic Ocean. She had memorabilia from her days in California. Her license plate, her “Vote Schwarzenegger” sign, and many books from her seminary days, made me feel a little more at ease.
We knew we needed to stay awake but we were so exhausted. The past week had been filled with sleepless nights, packing, my last day at work, selling our cars, and saying good bye to family. We needed a nap.
I will never forget that nap! It was the most glorious sleep I have ever experienced! We awoke that night when we heard Judith come inside. We met her for the first time as she stood inside her front door and we stood at the top of her steps.
There is really not enough ink or enough pages to tell you all what Judith means to me. She stepped in and helped two people that she had never met. It was purely based on the fact that she knew that we were her brother and sister in Christ and felt lead to be a blessing. I have no idea where would be if it was not for her kind and generous spirit that gave us a home and food for six weeks. We will forever be in her debt.
I say all of this to give you a good picture of what last February the fourth held for us. As I sit here tonight on my couch, I look around and see so many things that remind me of the blessings of this last year. I see pictures from Harrison’s research trips to Oxford and Cambridge. I see a small painting that I bought in a small shop in the middle of Venice. I see a coin jar in the shape of a London bus. I see a plaque that Judith gave us that says, “Bienvenidos mi Casa es su casa.” We have been so richly blessed. However, most importantly I see Harrison’s books and piles of research.
In the fall of 2010, when Harrison and I started dating, he told me that his dream was to earn his PhD from a University in the UK. He asked me if I could be on board with this dream. I was elated!
When I see his books on his desk, I think about that conversation and I think about how richly the Lord has not only provided for our needs but also for our dreams.
This year has not been without trial, adjusting to a new culture can be quite difficult and quite frustrating. You can prepare yourself for the cultural changes but sometimes people are not quite ready to accept YOUR cultural differences. There are times we don’t feel taken seriously because of our age. There have been times that we doubt what we are doing all together. It’s in those times that the Lord reminds us that he is faithful to those that love him.
The travel around Europe is so insanely cheap. I’m talking £10 flights to London. That’s about $13-15. I would spend more of that in gas just driving to Atlanta! We booked a few trips back in the summer for this winter. It’s even cheaper to travel in the off-peak times. However, when fall hit the University charged us for the 2016-2017 school year. Essentially, we paid a full year’s tuition for February-May. This was quite a shock and has been a struggle these last months. We are paying more that we had planned out and it has made us even more reliant on God. We feel so grateful to all of you and how you have helped us through this time both in prayer and financially. There is literally no way we could do any of this without all of you.
As I sit here and think about this last year, the first thing I can’t believe is that it’s been a year but I also can’t believe the experiences, the people, and the places that we have encountered. It has all been such a rich blessing. Here’s to another year on the Emerald Isle! Another year of ministering, studying, and exploring this side of the world!
Thank you again to all of you that have made this last year possible. We love each and every one of you.
