Hello all. So I had a first yesterday. My first Thanksgiving with snow. It started snowing around 9 pm yesterday while Josh and I were walking home. It eventually stopped. Well after I got home I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up around 2 am and started up to my room. I looked out the window and it was snowing again. Now I've seen snow before. But I've never seen it snow so hard before. It was really beautiful to see it snow with the church across the street in the background. Most of it didn't stick, but about an inch and a half did. Thanksgiving with snow. Nice.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, it didn't really feel like Thanksgiving. We had class all day and then us Americans hung out. None of us realized that it was Thanksgiving until about 9:30. No dinner, no family, no Thanksgiving. I called Ginny and talked to her. She's at the beach. Thanks Gin. I'm stuck in the snow and you are rolling down sand dunes getting sand all over you. Way to be sympathetic. I also called the family. It was good to hear from them. I think they are what make the holidays for me. Ahh. Christmas is only a month away. So you hear that all my people? Only one more month for you to find my gift. Not you Ginny. You know what I want from you. (it's nothing bad) Early Merry Christmas everyone!! ( I have no idea why I wrote that.)
Well off to bed for me. My time here is rapidly winding down. I'll miss this place and the people that I met here, but I am SO ready to be home. Until I'm home, leave some love.
-Robert
Friday, November 25, 2005
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
blah...
Hello all. Another day, another dollar. Or is it pound here in Wales? Either way another day has come and gone. I've found that Tuesdays are the longest days for me here. With my accountability group, men's club, and then computer club it's a full day. I'm really sapped of energy right now. When I get tired I get homesick. So right now I just want to be home curled up watching a movie or Viva la Bam with Ginny. Maybe chillin at Struts eating a ribeye sandwich. Maybe Ginny and I would be grilling out with Val and Tj. I just want to be home right now. Sigh. My work here isn't done, so I'll be here a little while longer. This shall pass once I get some well earned sleep.
Things are actually wrapping up nicely here. I preached Sunday at church. It went really well. I had a lot of the members come up to me and tell me what a great job I did. I talked about how we've made duty and tradition the essence of what real Christianity should be. I talked about how we are commanded to be joyful and serve God with gladness. I thought I did a decent job. I gave myself a B-. The coolest part about it was I got paid!! I didn't know about the money before I spoke, so it was a neat surprise. £25!!!!
Josh has got me addicted to Soulcaliber 3. We go to the Virgin Megastore and play it. It's nice to have an activity that takes no brainpower. I know that Kevin would say that's why I'm good at it. While he may be right, I have a lot of fun playing.
Well, I hope that all of you have a great Thanksgiving holiday. I think that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Well, now that I think about it Christmas and Thanksgiving are tied. I just love the food and the time spent with my family. We are doing Thanksgiving at Rob and Jenny's on Sunday afternoon. Think of us as you stuff your face and watch the Falcons beat the Lions. Leave some love!!
-Robert
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Stonehenge: the story
Ok. Here is the story of our wacky and wonderful day.
We were supposed to meet at the train station at 9. This turned into 9:10 for me, 9:30 for Josh and 10:15 for Jeff. I wasn't happy with the way this day started. Well, we caught the 10:30 train to Bristol. We got there at 11:30 and walked outside the train station and said "what now?" Well we decided to go to Bath, a town about 15 or so miles away. It's famous for the only warm springs in all of Britain. The Romans built public baths there that are still in use today. We decided to go check it out. After a 30 minute bus ride that I fell asleep on ( I fell asleep on the train ride also), we arrived in Bath. It's one of the most lovely and charming places I've ever been. I think that it would be a great place to spend a honeymoon. But I digress. We walked around and looked at the town. Did I mention that it was amazingly cold today? I can't understate how cold it was today. For those of you that went to Philly, it was colder than the day we walked around the University of Penn. Anyways, we saw the abbey in Bath. It was amazingly beautiful. It was massive!! It was closed for a memorial service, but they opened the doors afterwards and we got some pictures from the doors. Then we went to see how much it would cost to see the Roman Baths. It would have cost us £9. We all decided that was too much to pay for that attraction. We went into a tourism office and saw tours to Stonehenge. For the price that they were offering we couldn't pass up the opportunity of a lifetime.
It took us about an hour to get to Stonehenge. Did I mention that it was cold today??? We had an hour to walk around and do whatever you like. I determined that it's almost impossible to spend more than about an hour and 15 or 20 minutes at Stonehenge. As cool as it was they are just rocks. They don't move, you do. They way that the tour went was this. They took you there and dropped you off. We had to pay to see Stonehenge. It's like a national park. You walk around Stonehenge in a circle and listen to an audio tour. It's really interesting and I can tell you a lot about Stonehenge now.
After we got back to Bath we stopped in a pub and just chilled out. It was the first REAL pub that we have been to. All of the other ones we more like bars, but this one was like the pub that I always imagined. It had a fire and wooden floors and everything. We chilled there for over an hour. Then we went to eat.
Burger King was good and we chilled there for a while as well. The reason for all of the "chilling" was how freakin cold it was today. Then we got back on our bus and headed back to Bristol.
About 8 miles out of Bristol I thought that we were at out stop. So we got off and quickly realized that I was WAY wrong. The reason I thought that we were there were two shops that were right beside each other. They looked just like the two across from the train station. Well luckily we caught a bus to the train station and managed to get home.
The reason that I was so detailed about today was simple. 30 years from now when I tel my grandkids about this I want to have SOME memory of it.
I hope that everyone has a day like I did today. It was amazing and I can't tell you how much I needed today. I'll see you guys in 3 weeks!! Leave some love!!
-Robert
We were supposed to meet at the train station at 9. This turned into 9:10 for me, 9:30 for Josh and 10:15 for Jeff. I wasn't happy with the way this day started. Well, we caught the 10:30 train to Bristol. We got there at 11:30 and walked outside the train station and said "what now?" Well we decided to go to Bath, a town about 15 or so miles away. It's famous for the only warm springs in all of Britain. The Romans built public baths there that are still in use today. We decided to go check it out. After a 30 minute bus ride that I fell asleep on ( I fell asleep on the train ride also), we arrived in Bath. It's one of the most lovely and charming places I've ever been. I think that it would be a great place to spend a honeymoon. But I digress. We walked around and looked at the town. Did I mention that it was amazingly cold today? I can't understate how cold it was today. For those of you that went to Philly, it was colder than the day we walked around the University of Penn. Anyways, we saw the abbey in Bath. It was amazingly beautiful. It was massive!! It was closed for a memorial service, but they opened the doors afterwards and we got some pictures from the doors. Then we went to see how much it would cost to see the Roman Baths. It would have cost us £9. We all decided that was too much to pay for that attraction. We went into a tourism office and saw tours to Stonehenge. For the price that they were offering we couldn't pass up the opportunity of a lifetime.
It took us about an hour to get to Stonehenge. Did I mention that it was cold today??? We had an hour to walk around and do whatever you like. I determined that it's almost impossible to spend more than about an hour and 15 or 20 minutes at Stonehenge. As cool as it was they are just rocks. They don't move, you do. They way that the tour went was this. They took you there and dropped you off. We had to pay to see Stonehenge. It's like a national park. You walk around Stonehenge in a circle and listen to an audio tour. It's really interesting and I can tell you a lot about Stonehenge now.
After we got back to Bath we stopped in a pub and just chilled out. It was the first REAL pub that we have been to. All of the other ones we more like bars, but this one was like the pub that I always imagined. It had a fire and wooden floors and everything. We chilled there for over an hour. Then we went to eat.
Burger King was good and we chilled there for a while as well. The reason for all of the "chilling" was how freakin cold it was today. Then we got back on our bus and headed back to Bristol.
About 8 miles out of Bristol I thought that we were at out stop. So we got off and quickly realized that I was WAY wrong. The reason I thought that we were there were two shops that were right beside each other. They looked just like the two across from the train station. Well luckily we caught a bus to the train station and managed to get home.
The reason that I was so detailed about today was simple. 30 years from now when I tel my grandkids about this I want to have SOME memory of it.
I hope that everyone has a day like I did today. It was amazing and I can't tell you how much I needed today. I'll see you guys in 3 weeks!! Leave some love!!
-Robert
STONEHENGE!!!!!!!!
Hello all. Just had one of the best days of my life. LOng story short some of our plans changed and we ended up going to Stonehenge. It was great. I'm posting pics right now so check them out. I'll blog more about to day later, I'm beat. Leave some love!!
-Robert
-Robert
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Georgia on my mind....
Hello all. It has been a cool and boring weekend. Friday night Stella and I went to the Wales v. Fiji rugby match at the Millennium Stadium. Usually national rugby matches are sold out months in advance but for some reason this one wasn't. We got really good tickets for only £10!! There are about 20 pictures from our night together on my photobucket account. Check them out!! I think it's a real shame that the USA doesn't have a national sport. The passion and loyalty that the Welsh people have for their national rugby team is really neat. 73,000 people were at this match!! Don't get me wrong, I love cheering for UGA. But it seems like every week I root against one of my friends. Tech, Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, I have good friends that root for all of these teams. I'd be really nice if we could all root for one team. That's all with my sports philosophy.
I have a flat tire. Ginny went to drive my car yesterday and found I have a flat. Great. I haven't worked in 3 months and I have to pay for a new tire. Fun. But it will be ok because I'll be back in the States.
Well only 3 more Sundays here in Wales. This time has really flown by, but at the same time it's been such a long period. I'm in a very reflective mood right now. I can't really go into all of it right now, but maybe later.
Off to eat lunch. I really miss you guys and can't wait to see you all again. Thanks to all of you who email and comment regularly. Leave some love!!
Robert
I have a flat tire. Ginny went to drive my car yesterday and found I have a flat. Great. I haven't worked in 3 months and I have to pay for a new tire. Fun. But it will be ok because I'll be back in the States.
Well only 3 more Sundays here in Wales. This time has really flown by, but at the same time it's been such a long period. I'm in a very reflective mood right now. I can't really go into all of it right now, but maybe later.
Off to eat lunch. I really miss you guys and can't wait to see you all again. Thanks to all of you who email and comment regularly. Leave some love!!
Robert
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
30 days and counting
Salutations. I guess this is the part of the trip where I should be saying things like, "Man, where did the time go?" or "Man, I'm really going to miss this place when I leave." Sorry to disappoint, but that's not what I'm feeling.
To be really honest I can't wait to come home. I really want to use so much of what I've learned in the BCM and at Jacksonville 1st Baptist. I don't think that I will miss Wales as much as I will miss the people that are here. I can't wait to have a "normal" relationship with Ginny. One that doesn't involve the phone or the internet as our sole means of communicating. It will actually take some getting used to for both of us, but I can't wait. I can't wait to have some food that I really enjoy. It's not that Welsh food is bad. It's just very monotonous. The same stuff over and over again. Blah. I need variety. Cracker Barrel, here I come on December 9th.
I think that a HUGE reason that God brought me to Wales is to refine my character. It's something that has been happening for the last 6 months or so. This is the part of the refinement that couldn't take place unless I was away from everyone and everything that I've ever known. If you've never been on summer/semester missions you can't understand what I'm talking about. It's just neat to look back at how I've changed and where I still need to change. I think the thing that I've learned over the past 6 months is this. Either your moving forward or you are moving backwards. I've heard it like this. Life is like a bike. Either you move forwards or backwards. When you stop you fall over. That's what the spring was for me. I got all happy and content and fell over. Things in my life started to suffer and I'm still suffering the consequences for it. It's ok though. I'm a better person now. I know that you can never stop growing. Forwards or backwards. I choose forwards.
This is a post that has nothing to do with the things that I do while I'm here in Wales. It's just a brief summary of the last 6 months or so. I'm really excited about the last month that I have here. I know that it will be very productive for me personally and for the youth ministry here as well. I love you all and can't wait to see you again. Leave some love!!
Robert
To be really honest I can't wait to come home. I really want to use so much of what I've learned in the BCM and at Jacksonville 1st Baptist. I don't think that I will miss Wales as much as I will miss the people that are here. I can't wait to have a "normal" relationship with Ginny. One that doesn't involve the phone or the internet as our sole means of communicating. It will actually take some getting used to for both of us, but I can't wait. I can't wait to have some food that I really enjoy. It's not that Welsh food is bad. It's just very monotonous. The same stuff over and over again. Blah. I need variety. Cracker Barrel, here I come on December 9th.
I think that a HUGE reason that God brought me to Wales is to refine my character. It's something that has been happening for the last 6 months or so. This is the part of the refinement that couldn't take place unless I was away from everyone and everything that I've ever known. If you've never been on summer/semester missions you can't understand what I'm talking about. It's just neat to look back at how I've changed and where I still need to change. I think the thing that I've learned over the past 6 months is this. Either your moving forward or you are moving backwards. I've heard it like this. Life is like a bike. Either you move forwards or backwards. When you stop you fall over. That's what the spring was for me. I got all happy and content and fell over. Things in my life started to suffer and I'm still suffering the consequences for it. It's ok though. I'm a better person now. I know that you can never stop growing. Forwards or backwards. I choose forwards.
This is a post that has nothing to do with the things that I do while I'm here in Wales. It's just a brief summary of the last 6 months or so. I'm really excited about the last month that I have here. I know that it will be very productive for me personally and for the youth ministry here as well. I love you all and can't wait to see you again. Leave some love!!
Robert
Friday, November 04, 2005
To my Bran Bran...
Salutations. I've talked it over with Rob, and Stella and I are coming home on December 9th. All we have to do now is talk to Gary and change our tickets. This is a huge relief and honestly feels like the right thing to do. It will allow us to go the wedding and also we get to go to Smyrna. I can't wait!!
I really feel good now. Ginny and I are happy. Things are going well in every aspect of our ministry here. Life is good and so is God.
This is the time in my posts that I'm going to dedicate to one of my friends. Today I dedicate this post to my Bran Bran:
Brandi,
You really make me smile. Even writing this thinking about you I'm smiling. You just have this aura about you that just makes people happy. You have a great sense of humor, and you can always make me laugh. You are just one of those people in this world that I love to spend time with, and to try and put words to it would only cheapen it.
You are one of the most caring and nurturing people I know. I guess the quality I admire most about you is your loyalty. I know that if I ever need anything from you, you'll be there for me. I just honestly love you and appreciate you. You make me feel loved. I can't tell you how many times I've needed you to cheer me up while I've been gone. But I know that you've prayed for me the whole time I've been gone. That cheered me up!!
Brandi, I am honored that you consider me a friend. Please know that I love you and miss you. 35 days till DUCK hair is back!!
DUCK Hair
Leave some love!
-Robert
PS- Don't I have the cutest girlfriend ever????
ARRRRGGGHH!!
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
New Plans (maybe)
Salutations. This has been an interesting week. I know, it's only Tuesday but I feel like this week has been going for a month. (that sentence wasn't supposed to make sense.) I have some good news for all of you in the Roberto fan club. I'm coming home on Dec. 9th instead of Dec. 17th. Val and TJ's wedding is the 10th and I just don't feel right about missing it just so I can go to one more class. This is still tentative, but I think it's going to happen. I've already talked to Troy about it and he was very understanding. [Just a side note- Troy is the best supervisor/mentor I could have ever hoped for. We have MANY things in common and he is honestly one of the most genuine people I've ever met. He is really helping me better my character and become the man I want to be. We've been through many of the same trials and have the same outlook on most things. I wouldn't still be here in Wales if it weren't for him.]
I also want to go to Smyrna REALLY badly. This prospect has really interested Stella, so help me convince her to leave early as well. If everything works out all of these things will happen. I can't wait to get home to all of my friends and family. I had no idea the amount of emotional strain that being on the mission field puts on you.
This leads me to my next point. I know that Stella and I have said that we need your prayers. We've needed them the whole trip and we thank you for them. They are the only things that have kept us sane during this trip. Well that time has come again. Troy and I are starting some really intensive counseling sessions this week. They will continue for the 39 days that I have left here. I don't really want to go in to details about it on my journal. I just really need prayer and support from all of you guys right now. There are things in my life that need to change. I'm tired of dealing with these issues and now is the time for change. It's going to be grueling and tough, but worth every bit of the hard work and stress. Thanks in advance!
As Stella said in her blog things are going really well with our youth. Thank God for the change in their attitudes. Last Sunday really made all of the trials and stress worth it. Continue to pray for our efforts with these Youth. Here are their names. Delasi, Makafui, Louis, Aaron, Timbali (sp?). These are our regulars on Sunday nights for our bible study.
Sorry that some of this post wasn't more cheerful. This place can really sap you of your joy sometimes. It's starting to do that to me, but I've started to put a stop to it. I miss all of you and can't wait to see you again. Leave some love!!
-Robert
I also want to go to Smyrna REALLY badly. This prospect has really interested Stella, so help me convince her to leave early as well. If everything works out all of these things will happen. I can't wait to get home to all of my friends and family. I had no idea the amount of emotional strain that being on the mission field puts on you.
This leads me to my next point. I know that Stella and I have said that we need your prayers. We've needed them the whole trip and we thank you for them. They are the only things that have kept us sane during this trip. Well that time has come again. Troy and I are starting some really intensive counseling sessions this week. They will continue for the 39 days that I have left here. I don't really want to go in to details about it on my journal. I just really need prayer and support from all of you guys right now. There are things in my life that need to change. I'm tired of dealing with these issues and now is the time for change. It's going to be grueling and tough, but worth every bit of the hard work and stress. Thanks in advance!
As Stella said in her blog things are going really well with our youth. Thank God for the change in their attitudes. Last Sunday really made all of the trials and stress worth it. Continue to pray for our efforts with these Youth. Here are their names. Delasi, Makafui, Louis, Aaron, Timbali (sp?). These are our regulars on Sunday nights for our bible study.
Sorry that some of this post wasn't more cheerful. This place can really sap you of your joy sometimes. It's starting to do that to me, but I've started to put a stop to it. I miss all of you and can't wait to see you again. Leave some love!!
-Robert
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