I Love London

I really, really love London. It's my favourite place in the whole world (with Banff in the Canadian Rockies a close second!).

I love the buzz of the City, I love the history and the landmarks. I love the vast array of people that London attracts. I love the parks and the stately homes. I love how one culture gently blends into another as you turn a corner into a different street. I even love the Tube!

I, unlike Tim, have not lived in Norfolk all my life. I grew up in Luton and as my Dad worked for what was then British Rail, we enjoyed free train travel. This meant that visiting London was quite a cheap day out and consequently, I spent a lot of time there as a child and teenager. As an adult, I studied at London Bible College, which is towards the North West end of the Metropolitan Tube line and then, after feeling the call to church plant aged 20, helped to plant a church in the Borough of Hillingdon. I love London.

So why am I telling you this? Well, I felt it was important to be honest about how God's call last year made me feel and part of the story is me working that through. But, I think it might be worth highlighting the fact that I have felt excited about the thought of being in London since that moment in my kitchen. The fact that it's London in and of itself is not what I have found hard. It's the fact that I cannot make that move happen myself because of all the impossibles. That's what is hard.

To know that you have to fully rely on God sounds good - if you're a Christian, it would be something that I'm sure you have said; 'I'm trusting God for...' I have said it a lot in my life too and have known God's provision at just the right time, His grace for every situation, His peace when there seem to be no answers and so on. When I think about it, most of my house moves have been in complete faith that God will provide for me. When I first lived in London, I and my ex-husband had nowhere to live until two days before we got married and God provided. When we then moved to Harpenden having lived by faith for two years in London, we had no money, no jobs and nowhere to live but God provided each of those things quite miraculously. When we moved to Norfolk 13 years ago, we had no idea what was in store but knew that God did and trusted Him.

So if I have known His provision in every circumstance in the past, why was I so freaked out this time? Maybe there's a few reasons. It's big - knowing that houses in Camden cost around £1m felt beyond what I had faith for. We had been going through a really traumatic time as a family and it honestly felt as though every prayer that was prayed wasn't heard. I have children now. The previous house moves I have mentioned all took place before my children were born so the pressure of making responsible decisions is bigger.

But God is incredibly kind and patient and as a loving Father, knows me well. He knows how I process things, He knows the things I rise to and the things I struggle with and He loves me the same whether I am walking with strength or living in weakness. That's my Father. How kind to call me to a place that I love, to a place that sends a flutter of excitement to my heart when I think about it. I am not a country girl and have found this 'season' in Norfolk an interesting twist in the story of my life. I am definitely a city girl at heart and...I love London.

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