O Come, O Come Emmanuel

On the first Sunday of Advent and the eve of December, I am looking forward to the Christmas season that is just around the corner. We had delicious cinnamon rolls and hot cider after 9@9 tonight. This was a lovely ending to our advent service that focused on hope. We sang my favourite Christmas carol and I am now singing it around the houses.

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel


"In His first coming our Lord came in our flesh and our weakness; in this middle coming He comes in Spirit and in power; in the final coming he will be seen in glory and in majesty. Because this coming lies between the other two, it is like a road on which we travel from the first coming to the last." ~ St. Bernard of Clairveaux

On the Wings of a Dream

All of us girls

One final out of the way and I finally have a little bit of time to write. Our OXTA test was this afternoon and I am so happy to be finished with that. I just hope I did alright. Now I have a tutorial paper to write, Greek to translate and a trip to Greece to plan. Last weekend I went to Switzerland with a few other girls, and we had a blast. The trip was so much fun.

Walking to the lake

We flew into Basel and had a little bit of trouble taking the train to Interlaken. When we got to our hostel after 2am we all crashed. Friday we just walked around Interlaken, which is a lovely little town at the foot of the Jungfrau.

We spent Friday just walking around and relaxing. I am loathe to admit that we ended up eating dinner at McDonald's in an attempt to eat cheaply. In my defense, however, I ate the McEmmentaler. In the evening we went to a chocolate show. Apparently their milk chocolate was voted the best in the world last year. I think I'd vote for it too. We each ate way more chocolate than should be allowed. And we went back to Schuh at least once every single day.

My friend Casey above Interlaken

Lake Thun from the air

Interlaken means "between the lakes" and we began our Saturday with a beautiful hike to one of the lakes. Because of glacial silt, the river and lakes are a surreal turquoise blue. After a picnic lunch on Lake Thun we headed off to meet up with our paragliding instructors. Paragliding was the most amazing experience! We drove up to Beatenberg and stopped at our takeoff point, a very steep drop off. After I was all strapped in with my instructor, we took about three running steps and we were in the air.

Me taking off

I'm the second from the left, in the middle

The feeling of flying, face open to the air, is indescribable and incredible. At one point a bird flew beneath me, above me and all around. Interlaken lay sprawled beneath me, Jungfrau towered before me and the crystal waters shone in the setting sun. Wheeling through the air I felt so alive and exhilarated. For so long I have dreamed of flying and to soar amidst the glory of majestic mountains ... Suffice it to say, I'm ready to take flight again.

Finally my instructor asked if I liked roller coasters. I do, so we did some tricks in the sky which included flipping almost upside down with the parachute beneath us. All good things must come to an end, and so we began to float down towards the ground. Landing was just as simple and we met up with some of our friends who also went to Switzerland.

Sunrise in the Alps

Sunday morning we woke up at 4:30 so that we could take the early train up to The Top of Europe. Jungfrau is the mountain that shadows Interlaken. The train was early enough that we witnessed the sunrise over the Alps. The train ended at Jungfraujoch, the highest train station in Europe. Here we looked out over the Alps once again as snow fell gently down. A bit of a storm blew in and the wind howled through the mountains, lifting snow up and throwing it in our faces. We slipped and slid through the ice palace and shivered in fifteen degree weather. I had a chai tea latte and Toblerone to warm up. It's so amazing to be up there, on top of the world.

On the train down we saw a St. Bernard with a barrel around his neck - so classically Swiss. We hopped off the train in Grindlewald and hung out there for a couple of hours. Because it was a Sunday in off season, the sleepy resort town was basically shut down. Once back in Interlaken we went once again to Schuh, this time for dinner. We had a classic Swiss cheese fondue that was delicious. Looking like bums we proceeded make utter fools out of ourselves, but that's a long story. Of course we ended our evening with more world-famous chocolate.

Delicious Fondue

Monday was our day of departure. We rose early enough to hike to the other lake, Lake Brienz, for another picnic lunch. The cows lowing in fields all have bells around their necks and every movement fills the air with music. With a little time to spare we made a coffee stop and yet another chocolate stop. We made it to the airport over four hours ahead of time, so we had a bit of a wait. In Gatwick the transit between our terminal and the terminal with the train suddenly broke. Over half an hour later we finally made it to the train station, but had missed our train. The next train, an hour later, was delayed so after all was said and done we were over an hour and a half behind schedule. We were all so tired by the time we made back to Oxford and so glad to see the houses. I flopped straight into my bed and slept late the next morning.

Aquamarine Waters

Now I'm preparing for my next trip, which is to Greece. It'll be another tiring trip, but I'm so excited. And now it's probably time to go finish up some more homework.

6 Seconds

A very short video that I took while paragliding. So much beauty to soak in even in these six short seconds. My twenty minutes in the clouds was absolutely amazing.

God Be in My Deciding

On this election day I pray that God be with our nation. We need Him so much. I hope that we will all ask for God's guidance as we put forth our vote for the next president of America. I have already made my decision, as I had to mail in my ballot over a week ago. Now I pray that God will work through our new leader. May He touch the hearts of those governing us. No matter the outcome of this election, may God display His glory through it.

Oxford University Press

Everyone may be interested to know that I love to read. Unfortunately I haven't got a whole lot of reading in lately because of homework and the beckoning of the city of Oxford. In fact, I've had to resort to reading miniature books just so that I can fit them in.

Today our Oxford through the Ages class went and toured the Oxford University Press. It was fascinating to see the progression of printing techniques. For one who loves books as I do, this was a delightful visit. Once again we saw several amazing things and even got to flip through a Geneva Bible that was printed in London. I just kept asking myself if it was "real" (aka from the 16th century), or just a copy. Very cool just the same. I enjoy this stuff a lot. Who knows, maybe I should look into a career in journalism?

A Geneva Bible and a book of prayer

Find Me Faithful

Once again I'm reflecting on 9@9. I really enjoy these weekly gatherings and always come away with some valuable thoughts. This Sunday is sandwiched by All Saint's Day and Remembrance Day. The planning team had us thinking of all who have come before us in the name of the Lord.

I wonder what my legacy will be, and how people will remember me. I so desperately want to be known for my love and for my devotion to the way of Christ. All of this once again brought a song into my head. I grew up listening to Steve Green (Hide 'Em in Your Heart!)
It's because of him that I so often burst out singing scripture. Another great song of his is "Find Us Faithful".

We're pilgrims on the journey
Of the narrow road
And those who've gone before us line the way
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary
Their lives a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
Let us run the race not only for the prize
But as those who've gone before us
Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through Godly lives

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift through all we've left behind
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find

This is my hope as well. "May all who come behind me find me faithful." Like I've said before, I need to open my heart and love. I think my next step on this journey is to constantly ask a question. What does love require of me? And only then will I truly be a faithful servant.