MARY BETH HAS LEFT THE COUNTRY - FINALLY!

Yes, I'm sitting in a quiet corner at Heathrow Airport, feeling quite chipper, actually (note the smile on my face and not too much of that "deer in the headlights" look), and I thought it would be a good time to post my first official blog. It's not as if I don't have some spare time - my flight to Entebbe leaves at 9:10 pm, and it's 4:15 am now. Well, okay, it's 4:15 am Fort Worth time, and it's 10:15 am London time. But that still gives me ten hours to play with.

So I am branching out, technology-wise, taking little baby steps. I bought 24 hours of internet time from Boingo Hotspot - Heathrow does not have free wifi - and I have felt quite proud of myself for figuring out how to do that AND how to upload a photo of myself from my phone. I would be even more proud had I remembered to pack the digital camera cable in my overnight bag instead of somewhere in my 200 pounds of checked luggage so that I could have uploaded a good photo from the beautiful digital camera my family bought me just for that reason, but, hey - baby steps, remember! Well, I gave the man sitting across from me something to laugh about as he watched me try to get a decent photo from a razr phone.

The flight from DFW to Heathrow went well and actually seemed shorter than it was, probably because I spent much of the time trying to sleep ("trying" being the operative word.) btw, I knew I was on British Airways when I asked for tea and they gave me a cup of freshly brewed hot tea instead of a cup of hot water and a tea bag. Also btw, perhaps it's the accent, but the British flight attendants all seemed so polite!

When I did my Bible reading this morning, the first words of the Psalm I was on (I try to read one Psalm a day) were these: "Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples." (Psalm 96:1-3) Wow! I feel as if the Psalmist wrote it just for me. The Lord is giving me a new song and He is sending out to the nations. Thank you, Lord! Please pray that I am faithful and that I am a good servant.

I'm not going to talk about my actual leave-taking on this blog. It's still too recent, and I don't want to cry anymore right now. I'll talk about that later, but thanks to everyone who participated in that leave-taking. Thanks for your love and your well-wishes and your prayers. A special thanks for my darling daughter Jenni for getting us all together on fairly short notice.

I think I'll go wander around and see what cool stuff the shops at Heathrow have to offer. Talk to you again soon!