potted plants & circumstance

I’ve never been to London. It was definitely a city under consideration when I was choosing where I wanted to study abroad. But God was pretty clear on Paris, so I ended up there for the Spring and London for the weekend. 

After a night with an elaborate bus ride, a ferry (which was legitimately a cruise ship with 7 decks consisting of bars, restaurants, & slot machines), and a train, I made it to London at 8 am. 

The weekend was lovely and full, and with a little planning and about 40,00 logged steps, I was able to see the sights I wanted to see all in a matter of three point five days. I adore this city and its rich history. There is a feeling of royalty and grandeur as you traipse through the major sites, and it makes you feel big and small all at the same time.

I stayed with a friend who I have known for years through church back home (yay California friends) but with whom I haven’t hung out with much until now (0 to 100 real quick am I right?). She was gracious enough to let me stay in her room and eat her apples and stay up late talking about distance and being away and drawing near. 

We visited the Buckingham Palace - beautiful, but when you’ve seen Versailles, it makes everything a hard comparison. We attended a service at Westminster Abbey, beautiful choral music floated around and above us as the small boys choir sang the Psalms, and deep voices echoed in the famous building as we read the Lord’s Prayer. It was pretty surreal. 

We saw Company with Patty Lupone, a theater queen, and dined in the West End afterwards. We went to a little Harry Potter shop with all the original book props housed inside it. We saw the London Eye and walked the Tower Bridge. We ate at the Borough and the Camden Market - overwhelming but full of options for a Whole30 doer which was beautiful. We visited the grand National Gallery and the colorful Notting Hill (and watched the movie for reference) and the Brexit-ing Parliament and swan-infested Kensington Garden (travel guide to come).

And while I got to see some sweet spots in London, which reminded of New York (though London is much more posh & polite & their buses are way cooler), some of my favorite moments happened as Jenna and I strolled along the Thames, as we sat on the tube, as we tiredly got ready for bed each night. Sometimes those are the real gems of travel - the in between. It’s maybe what floats around the sightseeing & what happens when all the movement ceases.

One of my favorite conversations was one we had about setting roots, digging in, and not writing off our time abroad as unimportant. It’s easy to feel like these transitory few months don’t matter in the long term - that they are simply to travel, to experience new things, and move forward. That the relationships we make here stay here. That it will be a great few months to look back on in the scheme of things, but maybe it didn’t carry as much weight, because we weren’t forced to set deep roots the way we do when we are staying somewhere long term. 

But potted plants still give off oxygen. 

And this was something we realized as we sat on her bed last night eating dried fruit. That just because we aren’t in the soil and in the ground, doesn’t mean there isn’t value, and that we are excused from loving on the people around us, or taking on this time with a level of intentionality and purpose. Plants and trees are still fruitful and life-giving, even when they are potted, and maybe that’s exactly what we are supposed to be in this season too. Maybe we are never excused from being sources of light and color and life.

Purpose in a place can look like a lot of things, and I think we both are still figuring that all out. We both realized that maybe what led us here isn’t what will end up being the reason we are here. But God has a funny way of getting us where He needs us to go. Even if given circumstance isn’t ideal, or it’s tough, or it’s lonely, sometimes we are asked to pray for stronger faith, and not for changed circumstance. Circumstances change, but faith carries.

Jenna told me that something she loves about London is that the old is intermixed with the new. A city of rich history and new people, both adding life and vibrancy to each other. There is always reason to where you reside. Sometimes it’s to set deep roots and dig real deep and stay for a while. Sometimes it’s simply to be a sweet little potted plant and to give off life and color to what’s around you. Either way, it’s beautiful.