Just one pen

I am still surprised by many things as we take root here in England. One is the weather, and the consequences of it. Until recently in the stores, you could still buy freshly grown strawberries (because the weather never grew too hot to harm the plants). Now, the stores are selling primroses and pansies and I often have to stop and remember it is not Spring! I am currently surprised by how different it is not to be getting ready for a Minnesota winter~I love telling people here about how cold it is in Minnesota, what we would do in the winter, what our children needed to wear to school, etc.~the shock value is great.

Another surprise is still the ongoing saga of what things cost. The vast majority of things here are more expensive than the States, more likely at least double or more. We have had to be quite careful financially, and this has called for some creative thinking, and also some real thankfulness for simple gifts! Today, for instance, I realized that we only have one pen in the house. Crazy isn't it? When we packed up our house in Minnesota, I must have put 150 pens/pencils in different boxes. How we collected that many is beyond me, but we always had plenty. Since it goes against my grain to have to buy a pen, I was thrilled to discover two in my cosmetic travel kit. I am often very thankful for small things now!

I am blessed that here at Tyndale House we are all in similar circumstances. There is a great spirit of community helpfulness and we do need each other. We take a little girl to school and back every day (we need to drive because of distance) and because her folks don't have a car they offer to babysit when we need it. It is a great trade for us. Another friend gives a violin lesson to another little girl in exchange for dinner at their house every week. Another family has become the DVD library for much of Tyndale House, and we have enjoyed seeing a few films, (we just saw, "Amazing Grace.")

We are thankful for similar minded friends~often someone will say, "Hey, did you know that we can pick free apples at Newnham College?" or "There are a large group of blackberries I discovered on the way to the orchard--" or "Hey, someone sent me a huge box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and do you want several boxes? (this was a hit with our children!) We have discovered that God cares very specifically for us (and our children) in providing for us things that He knows we need, and even sometimes things that we want! Another big help for us has been "Boot Sales" (garage sales in the back of people's cars~this was a treat to discover, I have bought several key items for our flat through this endeavor.) We also often try to carpool to go to the store, or other places, to save money on gas (which is approximately $7 a gallon, can you believe it?)

Fortunately, there are a lot of free or very inexpensive things to do here in Cambridge, and we are taking advantage of them! (You have seen some of them already in our blog.) Sometimes I refer to living here as "Family College Life." Do you remember being in school and figuring out creative ways to accomplish things? They were sometimes quite makeshift, but you did them anyway? This is what I think of when I hang our clothes out in our living room at night (the driest, least damp area of our flat) Would I ever have done this in Minnesota? It would have been very unusual~! But, since we are all doing this, it becomes normal~

Living simply is very refreshing in many ways, however. Andrew has the most toys here of all the children. A bag of little cars, blocks and a little train. It is not hard for him to clean up his toys! It is possible to have four children in a two bedroom flat if you don't have tons of possessions. (And, ironically, not one of my children has missed a single possession yet) This is making me really rethink how much we still own that is in storage right now. Our children are not deprived, but they certainly do not have the amount of things that they have had in the past (I am seriously considering surreptitiously going through our storage when we are done here and giving some of it away before they remember that they "need" it!)

Although I do miss some of the things that we have put into storage, I am discovering that it is healthy for me to live with less as well. Alright, it is healthy, but I still do really miss my oven that can hold a 9 x 13 pan! (Ours is just an inch too small.) I have become creative with the pans that I use, adjusting recipes to fit a smaller size. I really look forward to having a normal size oven (and even refrigerator) again!

Alright, before my blog fills up four pages, let me say that we miss you dear friends and family, missing you has been the biggest adjustment of all for us. Thank you for writing us and keeping in touch with us, it is always a big encouragement. Thank you for praying us through this transition, for our children, for Jim's studies and for my well-being. Please continue to pray for us.