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Pancake Update #5. En SWEET!
By DnA | June 7, 2008
About pancakes, Operation World and new living quarters.
Those wily pancakes have met their matches! (You remember that matches were the last missing ingredient for a successful pancake feast.) As it turned out, the first pancakes were made by a colleague of ours from
The second batch was Joanna’s and Dad’s Favorite Banana Pancakes (recipe from the internet.) We picked them because of the name since Jo-Anna is one of Dad’s favorites with or without pancakes, and they did turn out marvelously. We followed with corn fritters, cheese blintzes, fruit pancakes and eventually good old regular pancakes. We didn’t have any syrup (or clotted cream or Nutella as suggested by a reader—both great ideas, by the way), so we put orange marmalade on them. Wonderful!
We are enjoying our work here tremendously. We have a most harmonious team: Jason, our team leader, has a depth of knowledge that is astounding. Twelve years of full time study of the nations of the world does add up. His knowledge is matched by his patience, thank goodness, and we find him to be an excellent mentor in the myriad processes involved in getting the research info we need. Fiona is our Scottish teammate. Her upcoming marriage keeps that starry look in her eyes, but it doesn’t slow down her impressive research skills. She works from home and comes in once a week to work here and answer questions for the rest of us. Lisa is a fellow-American whom we have known since we did candidate orientation together in
So what do we Helblings actually do here? The basic answer is research. Recent study has included
A couple of weeks ago the head of accommodations asked to speak to us. I was sure we must have stepped on some rule we were unaware of, and I mentally prepared my apologies and promises to do better. But she had an offer to make. There were two apartments coming open, and she wondered if we would like one of them. (What she actually said was that she had 2 flats coming open, and would we like one of them. But we knew about the flat/apartment thing, so we were not thrown off.) Anyway, we did a quick tour and fell in love with #411. (What full time information gatherer would not like to live in 4-1-1?) This is a “morning” apartment. It is relatively small by American standards, with the exception of the windows: an entire wall of them reaching about 12 feet high and facing east. Breathtaking. But the biggest jewel in this little treasure is the “en suite,” as they call it here. That’s pronounced “On Sweet,” and it means “bathroom-right-in-your-own-flat-instead-of-way-down-the-hall-somewhere.” That’s right, our very own bathroom! These private ones are few and far between in Bulstrode, and we figured we would have to put in some good years before we ever got to the front of any lines. (Or the front of any queues as they say here.) Once again God gives way more than we could ask or think!
Since our last update, the Operation World team was in charge of a half day of prayer. The last hour of it was spent praying in the beautiful gardens here. You will love walking and praying in the gardens.
Praise God for gardens. Praise Him for pancakes and apartments. Praise Him for His love for all the peoples of the earth. Praise Him for His sweet presence that floods our lives more than the sunlight floods through these 12 ft high windows. He is good; yay God!
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June 9th, 2008 at 8:14 am
I don’t know which makes me happier, that you finally had panckaes or that you finally have your WC! I think the WC will prove to be the favorite over time, but congrats on both! : )
June 9th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Hi Guys,
So thankful you are drinking deeply of the Lord’s goodness! We are currently enjoying the beautiful mountains of Snowbird, Utah.
July 1st, 2008 at 11:12 am
Awesome flat with en-suite. No translation necessary for me! We arrive in Scotland on the 16th, but probably won’t get further south than Turnberry:)