Ahhh...Church!

Quick couple of side notes before I go on to the main idea of this post:
1. Last night we went for gelato at La Margherita, an Italian place that has great take away (carry-out) pizzas, a restaurant, and yummy yummy gelatos.

As we enjoyed our creamy coffee/tiramisu/rum-raisin/chocolate dessert, we had plenty of people watching opportunities. I guess Saturday night is the night to party for the "uni" (university) students. There were droves of them walking/stumbling down the street, liquor in hand, and very scantily clad. Some of them legitimately looked like they were 12 years old. The legal drinking age is 18 here, but I am sure we saw some under-agers. Most things that British people say and do seem infinitely superior and posh to the equivalent American things. When they sneeze, it sounds sophisticated! However, you cannot make drunken revelry seem anything but trashy, no matter how cool your accent is. It reminded me of the things you see when walking around tailgates before a football game.

2. The girls walking down the cobblestone streets had on the highest heels I have ever seen paired with the shortest shorts or skirts or dresses. It was interesting to say the least. I do commend them for being able to walk on their own despite the height of the their shoes and the amount of alcohol they had consumed. We have noticed a short shorts phenomenon here. I guess because the current 80 degree weather is setting heat records for this time of year, people are doing their best to soak up all the sun they can. But here is a picture I found online that demonstrates the popular style of shorts we are seeing:

It's like a high-waisted Daisy Duke, which might look ok on some people, but mostly just gives unsuspecting passersby a glimpse of your jiggly butt cheeks. The ones we have seen are most like the far right pic. Not attractive, but kudos for having the confidence to wear them.

So anyway, after we finished our gelato, we got up from our people-watching bench because two guys smoking something other than cigarettes came and sat by us. We decided we had had enough adventure for the night, so we came home and crashed...which leads me to this afternoon's entry...

Didn't think we were going to make it to church this morning. Matt woke up with a headache, predicting it would soon explode into a migraine. So we left for Holy Trinity Church 10 minutes later than we wanted to expecting to turn around when we had made it about halfway through the roughly 1.6 mile walk there. He took his medicine, which brought the pain to a bearable level, and we surprisingly made it to church before the service had started. It was filled with mostly students, so we weren't the only ones running late. Holy Trinity is the church that our friend Renee recommended we try. She's the Allen Scholar who studied here last year. Below is a picture of the church.

It is right in the middle of town, and I just assumed it was a Church of England or a Catholic Church based on its name and appearance. However, it was more or less a non-denominational Bible church! I must say that I am kind of excited because it surpassed my expectations. There was a band that sang contemporary worship songs, including a few recognizable Hillsong songs. It was kind of funny to experience such a modern service in such an old building. The plaque on the wall next to where I was sitting designated a grave from 1779, and it looked fairly new compared to other things in there. There was beautiful stained glass everywhere and high vaulted ceilings. It was just what you'd expect to see but exactly the opposite of the service you'd expect.

They seem to attract a lot of university students and offer many programs like small groups and international student tea times. I'm going to look into some of those things. We are a little odd in that we are graduates instead of undergraduates, so that changes the things we are qualified to be involved in. But it looked like they had a group or a class for people in the post-graduate/pre-children stage of life. I'm looking forward to investigating that one a little more.

The sermon was also very good, even though I was having a heat stroke the whole time and sweating conspicuously. I picked out a few of my favorite points that the pastor made. He preached over the Great Commission at the end of the book of Matthew.
- First, he said, you must come close to God before you can go out and make disciples for Him.
- Second, God called you to Cambridge to shine for Him and to help people see Jesus. I found a lot of comfort in this. I felt like he was talking to us. Not that Matt and I are single-handedly going to come bring salvation to a godless academic city! No, just more like we knew God had opened the way for us to come here, and it wasn't by accident. We do have a purpose here besides Matt's Master's program. My time here will not be wasted if I let Christ's love take precedence.
- Third, God and Jesus will always be with us until the end of the age. No matter the circumstances. No matter the political/academic/social/spiritual environment. No matter how unfriendly our surroundings seem to the Message. No matter the mistakes we make. "...I will be with you always, even to the end of the age." -Matthew 28:20

So, that is our day so far. I hope I didn't come off as preachy or arrogant or judgmental. I realize that my comments about last night's festivities and fashions could have come off as harsh and condescending. But that was really not my goal in this post. I'm just being honest with the way I feel about the things I see. I'm relieved to know that the work of the Lord is alive and well in Cambridge. I guess I suspected that finding another believer was going to require as much effort as hauling our groceries on foot. Fortunately, it didn't. I miss my Beth Moore Bible study at Allison's house. I miss the familiarity of our loved ones who understand what we believe in and encourage us to be better. But I already see opportunities falling into place. We will not always live in the "Bible Belt," but that's ok. God is not restricted by regional or national boundaries. He is much too big to be contained, but not so big that He overlooks me. What could be more comforting?

Finally, shout out to Mama Grant! Happy birthday!!! Hope it is terrific. Miss you and love you!