This holiday to England has been all about presence. Presence with our own hearts, presence with each one we were privileged to spend time with and presence with what gifts life brought to us each and every day. Christmas Presence is that time when we all join together in that beautiful presence of love that is always within us. We have met numerous people who celebrate Christmas and the deeper meaning of “God-With-Us” in Emmanuel’s birth without knowing very much about the original Christmas story. The Bible tells us “You will know them by their love.” Indeed we have. This post is dedicated to the scores of people who have poured out their hearts and kindness to us in myriad ways. This is how Jesus is known in the world; by the love we show one another.
In no particular order of unfolding, these dear ones have extended love to us in every way. The Course In Miracles tells us that “All expressions of love are maximal.” When love is extended and then received, could there be any sweeter experience in life?
Dear England, thank you for all the love! This one’s for YOU:
“The English Extending Love Honor Role”
The Vicar who hailed a cab for us at 1:30am.
1. The priest who hailed a cab for us on Christmas Eve from All Hallows
2. The secretary who extended such warm invitation through her email from All Hallows
3. The woman in the Pizza Express who found my husband’s wallet on the floor and caught up with us to return it as we were about to leave
4. The taxi driver who gave us the best mini tour on the way home from the Long Armour Course reunion in the Tower of London
5. An old friend we hadn’t seen in 30 years who welcomed us into their home to celebrate the First Sunday of Advent
6. The guy in the phone store who told us his phone wasn’t what we needed and sent us to a competitor
7. The man on the train who helped us shift our bags so we could make the tight connection in Crewe
8. The man who carried our daughter’s bags up the equivalent of 10 flights of stairs in the underground
A Christmas stocking full of love.
9. The Directors and staff of UK BNI who invited us to join them for their Christmas do and meeting
10. Our dear friend who gave up his bedroom for a week and ferried us all over Norfolk and welcomed us with opened arms and heart
11. The friends we had never met in person sharing their home, leaving gifts on our pillows and loving us as their own
12. The policeman who gave us safe directions on the icy road incident night
13. The unknown driver who came up behind us and literally showed the way with his headlights so we could turn around safely
14. The clerk in the Tesco Express who had a stack of shopping bags ready for us when we checked out (you sack your own groceries here) because he could see what was coming
15. The young woman in Marks and Spencer who loved my red lipstick and scarf and just beamed when she told me how beautiful I looked on Christmas Eve
The Ayrlington in Bath
16. The night manager of the Ayrlington Hotel in Bath who let us double park our car in their tiny lot 12 hours before check in(“Just leave the keys here and I will move the car when a few guests leave.”) while we went to London for the rugby
17. The two people responsible for getting us tickets to see Australia play England (a story in itself)
18. The couple that squired us all around Twickenham and booked a fab restaurant
19. The cheeky guy who sold us half price scarves when he didn’t have to
20. Every taxi driver we have had who took us exactly where we wanted to go but didn’t know how to get there
21. The owner of the small pub hotel we stayed in near Bath who made us breakfast “to go” (take away) at 6 am with a smile on his face
22. The woman who waited (and waited) for us to arrive in our Christmas house when our train was late
23. The nice lady who lives downstairs that asks after us and our holiday each time we meet in the hall
24. The guy who helped us sort out our tickets to see the View at the Shard (three phone calls and his system going haywire and he was still pleasant)
25. The woman at Lancaster Station who stopped and said “Can I help you in some way?” who pointed us in the right direction
26. The train station staffer who allowed our daughter to board early after finding her exhausted, sitting on her bag waiting after her flight from San Fransisco
27. The waitress in Norwich who was so helpful and and attentive (and managed to get our buddy and his date in on a very busy pre Christmas evening)
Trying on Eva’s glasses.
29. The dear little girl (our friend’s daughter) who taught us the words to “A Little Bird Told Me A Baby Had Been Born” and her brother who was looking forward to Farmer Keesmas (Father Christmas)
30. The incredible Castle BNI chapter who welcomed and feted us in Norwich
31. The BNI London chapter who made us feel included and welcomed (and the Arbonne gal who said she would send me a drink mixer if mine wasn’t in the shipment waiting in the next town)
32. The manager of the car rental place who genuinely listened to our complaint about the incorrect listing of his office being listed as at Bath Station when it was plainly several miles away and had been for years (“Which site did you see this on exactly so I can tell head office?”)
33. The darling young woman who kept her shop open late (look for “Bath House” soon in USA) in Windermere so we could do our bit of Christmas shopping even though she had a Christmas party to attend soon
Love is everywhere!
34. New old friends who traveled from Oxford to have lunch with us in London two days before Christmas
35. The dear sassy friend who drove four hours round trip from Scotland the the Lake District in the driving rain to have lunch with us
36. The owner of our first flat in London who answered our accidentally dialed call at 1 am just in case something was wrong with the flat
37. Our new English Facebook friends we have gained on our travels who have continued to enrich our journey
38. The man who let us use his cell phone in Bath when we couldn’t find the rental car office
39. The Uber driver (a civil engineer by day) who arrived in two minutes flat to take us to church on Christmat Eve
40. The motorcycle policeman in Devon who made polite conversation when we were stopped (for a large load coming, not for a misstep on our part;)
Thank you ONE in ALL for your grace, love, help and humor. Jesus in alive and well and living in the UK.
That’s a whole lotta love!
Blessings abound!
😉