It's official. I'M GOING BACK TO MANCHESTER!!!
As many of you know, it's rare for me to hold a conversation without the phrase "When I was living in England" or "When I was living in Manchester" coming into it at some point. Ever since I left the incredible place that is the UK, I've been aching to return. God has placed an undeniable passion on my heart for England, and He's made a way for me to go back! Let me tell you how.
First, I need to take you back to the awful day that I had to leave London. The whole process of getting to Heathrow and getting on the plane had me choking back tears, and once our plane started moving, I couldn't hold them back anymore. I absolutely did not want to leave. But as hard as it was for me to leave London, it was even more heartbreaking leaving Manchester. As I was on the coach bus about to pull onto the motorway, we happened to be driving past the Merseybank estate, where I lived for those two weeks there. Immediately, the tears just started flowing. I couldn't help it. I didn't even care if other people on the coach saw or heard me. As much as it hurt, however, this was a confirmation to me that I really had found my mission field. Those two weeks in Manchester had been the best of my life. I felt more at home there than I had anywhere else, and I knew that I would do whatever I could to go back as soon as possible.
Now, let's fast-forward again to my return to the States from London. I was so desperate to find a way back to England that I did something drastic - I did MATH. I wanted to figure out how much I would have to save a week to have enough set aside to get back to Manchester by the following July, without stretching myself too thin. By then, I was at the end of July, so I had to do less than 52 weeks. I settled for 50 weeks and decided I would start that week. Then, I estimated what I would have spent on air fare for this past trip, had the miracle situation not worked out the way it had this time around (which I would love to tell you about if you haven't heard this story!). I added in a little bit for spending money, but mostly wanted to focus on the flight since that would be the biggest thing. My wonderful, amazing host families also invited me to stay with them again, so I didn't figure in hotel - I decided I would worry about that if it came up since I didn't want to spread myself too thin. Now, I probably could have found an easier day to do this, but I started multiplying dollar amounts by 50 to see what I would come up with. After a few tries, I multiplied $25 by 50 weeks and came up with a total of $1,250, which seemed like a good goal to me that would definitely cover a round trip economy flight. I then created a spreadsheet for myself to track my progress, and also committed to putting in extra whenever I could.
Since July 24, 2016, three days after returning from London, I've stayed faithful to this plan. I put in my leftover spending money from my first trip to get a head start and consistently set aside at least $25 each week to meet my goal. Now, as many of you know, I gave myself a concussion at the end of December and had to take some time off of work. Since it was over Christmas break and I don't get paid over breaks, I went a month without a paycheck and had to pull from savings to make end's meet. Right after I started getting paid again, I had a dogsitting job that paid me a very generous amount that, since I couldn't put in my weekly Manchester savings during that time due to doctor bills and things, helped me get back on track. Since then, I've been able to stay consistent! Praise God!
Now, as I said previously, I had estimated saving $1,250 by the beginning of July. By the end of April, however, I had already saved $1,190. So, since I already had the funds set aside and had just confirmed the dates of the trip with my host families, I decided it was time to book the flight! Which, as of yesterday evening, is exactly what I did! I will be leaving on June 28th and arriving back in the wonderful city of Manchester the following morning, and staying until July 14th. This trip will exclusively be for Manchester, so there will not be any side trips to London, but that is a-okay with me since I want as much time as possible in Manchester. I can't wait to be back with Ivy Church and the Eden Network, and all of the wonderful people that I met from both!
Friends, God is so faithful. He made a way for me to return to this amazing place that I love so dearly, and I can't wait to return and have so many more wonderful stories to share with you. God is moving in Manchester, and I am so humbled and thankful to even have the tiniest part of it.
Thank you to all of you who have prayed for me, supported me, and who have let me share my heart with you.
Blessings,
Lindsay
