Lazy Sundays

1/19/14
Happy Sunday everyone! Today I got to worship in St. Paul's Cathedral and oh my goodness was it beautiful, the Lord's work in this city is astounding! This was one of the places that we got to briefly look at yesterday but experiencing worship there was totally different. When I'm at school in Abilene I go to a Lutheran church and so I was familiar with what was going on during the service, unlike many of my classmates. The church is Anglican and to spare you all a long history lesson you should just know that King Henry VIII split from the Catholic Church during his reign because he wanted an annulment...well more than one. Anyways, he formed the Anglican church or the Church of England, basically very very similar to the Catholic church differing almost only in the name. The building that we worshipped in this morning was a reconstruct (beginning in 1675) of the building that burned in the Great Fire of London in 1666. In this spot a church has been represented for over 1,400 years (and even longer if you want to talk about the Roman temple)! And here you thought you weren't going to be in history class today :).
Needless to say I felt like I was a part of a living history today! During the service, which was a sung eucharist, we prayed together, responded as a congregation, read from the New Testament and from the Gospels, shared the Peace "peace be with you!", listened to a sermon, said The Creed (although if I'm being honest I'll tell you that I always skip part of it that I don't feel is a true representation of the church), and partook of the Eucharist (yes mom, with wine!). It was such an amazing morning and I cannot wait to go back there for Sunday services. I love that people from all over the world gathered here today and proclaimed the Gospel of Christ! Today we were all a part of a global church, no matter if you were in Houston, in Abilene, or in Timbuktu I am comforted by the truth that our God transcends all oceans and borders of countries, that our God is greater than any man. Pray with me that the people of London would hear and see Christ in me and in everyone in our group. While this is a study abroad program we carry Christ with us everywhere! I'm going to do my best to have an adventure with purpose.

 This is the group of us from HSU on the steps of the Cathedral.

I set my phone in my lap before the service (as to not look like a tacky tourist) and took a picture of the ceiling! This is inside the huge dome on top. We're going back another day for an official tour and some better pictures.

Selfies at the tube station on the way home and looked like a tourist through and through. So what? I am one!
The rest of the day was pretty lazy, I had lunch with Emily and Dr. Woodfin and discussed some of the assignments for the Britain at War class. It sounds like it is going to be a great class, I can't wait to get started! Speaking of, class starts tomorrow morning, sadly I have to miss it to get my ankle looked at by a surgeon (remember, just a doctor!), we're thinking that it is probably sprained...terrific timing, right? My dad would probably just say to cut it off or offer to hit me somewhere else so that I wouldn't notice it hurting, sorry dad that's not going to work this time. I'll keep you all posted on what I find out, prayers for nothing serious!
After lunch I just hung out in my flat with the girls that live here: Rebecca, Stephanie, Lana, and Emily and we all shared some laughs. I also got around to putting up my bulletin board beside my bed (I think I only lost 1 tack in my bed...that should be interesting to find later) and its pretty snazzy if I do say so myself:

One last thing, Rebecca decided to send me pictures of Lily tonight and I seriously almost cried...it was a legitimate problem. Since you all come to read my London blog to see pictures of my dog ;) here's my favorite one.

My girl is so pretty! Okay, okay enough with Lily. I'll chat with you guys later!
Missing you all,
Lydia