We arrived safely in Oxford in our sweet little one-bedroom flat in Summertown on Banbury Rd. (Just like in the nursery rhyme!). Nick and I ate toast and french apricot preserves and tea for dessert our first night and felt just the tiniest bit British. (Don't worry--we sing "Proud to be an American" to Liam every day.)
Liam spends his nights in his little sleeping bag that came with his stroller. We parked it on the dresser the first night, but have since moved it to the much safer location of the floor!
Fun British Fact for the Day: We are six hours ahead of Central Time. If you're having lunch in TN, we're having dinner in Oxford. (5 ahead Eastern, 7 ahead Mountain)
Vocab Lesson: The "checkout" or "cash register" is called the "till." I learned this when I went shop to shop asking for clothes hangers they want to recycle. One of my new friends told me this is a great way to stock your closet cheaply!
The Edwards Family
We are forever indebted to Timothy Edwards--a former professor at Oxford and a friend of a friend--who picked us up at the airport and brought us back to his house for breakfast.
The Edwards are a homeschooling family of six adorable kids who kept us in stitches with an endless creative agenda (in the space of two hours, 5-year-old Hannan made a hedgehog costume and a pirate outfit, mostly for our entertainment!).
I went grocery shopping with Anna Edwards to get a few things for our first week and she guided me through that first supermarket experience and softened the blow of sticker shock by showing me items that were "worth paying for." (Delicious jams, jellies and cooking oils were plentiful and lovely. Bone-in chicken, value-size anything, and cheap prices were noticeable absent.)
We prayed together, enjoyed laughing and comparing stories and accents, and visited church with them our first Sunday in Oxford. (Very solid, gospel-preaching church, super friendly. I met three other moms while I was in the back feeding Liam!). It's nice to meet passionate Christians from the very first day who know how to do family life well. Perhaps the Edwards will be good mentors for us. We love them!
A couple observations:
*In our flat, electricity's cheaper from midnight to 7am than during the day. A great reason to shower and do the dishes at 3am!
*In lots of shops, one long line of people wait for the first available cashier... no guessing which line will go faster ( the "choose which line" game used to be a favorite of mine at Walmart.)
Requests:
- Pray for us as we figure out how to do the basics of life with a new baby. Liam is such a blessing and joy to our lives and he is adapting amazingly. He is also another transition for us! I don't feel I accomplish things quite as quickly as pre-baby, but God gives us grace to adjust to all the new blessings He brings our way and I know we will figure out ways of making life work.
- Pray for Nick as he teaches Greek and begins researching. He meets his supervisor for the first time on Wednesday. He has quite a challenge as he is entering a very secular university as a strong believer, an American, and as a representative of one of the most evangelical of Oxford's colleges. There may be hurdles to overcome because of those three facts. But we are confident that God will work mightily and we are SO thankful for the opportunity to serve Him here.
- Pray for Nick to tackle his academics with excellence, and that we will both be respectful but bold witnesses as we meet people from all over the world. (Five different countries were represented in our laundry room just a couple nights ago!)
- Pray we will remember that the greatest wisdom comes from God and not any human endeavor.
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