Close encounters of the relational kind...

Living in England is wonderful. Gorgeous vistas, lovely little villages, and rolling green hills. But my favorite part must be the amazingly friendly people. I live in South Yorkshire, above the midlands, but not far enough north to be called "The North" (or at least that's what some of my friends tell me!). Where I live is actually on the boarder of Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire, so I'm never quite sure which "shire" to claim.

Mr. Shop Owner, and his very beautiful Lurcher.

Anyway... basically, I live in the middle (or North!) of this beautiful country.

One thing that Brits love to do is take nice walks. And they are so keen on this that there is a national "right of way" law that allows the public access by means of public footpaths through private land. It's wonderful! I've been exploring all of the footpaths in my village and have had some good walks through unconventional territory.

Just the other day I tried a new footpath that looked a bit ominous at first as the entrance was quite covered by brush, however, it opened up to a beautiful field by a lake and I was able to take a few pictures along the way. On the journey I passed the lake, several fields full of sheep, three very friendly dogs taking their owners on a walk, two bike riders (where they came from I have NO idea!), and the owner of the local shop. The shop that I have not visited yet. And yes, he knew it and pointed out the fact to me. (I guess no one quite forgets the foreigner in the village.) But he was very friendly and very helpful, especially when I realized that the footpath had no exit to the area of the village I needed access to. We had a nice discussion about the "right of way" of this particular property, and how I should hop over this fence, walk through this persons back garden (noting that the owner of said garden might yell at me!), and you'll find your way to your neighborhood. Simple, right? Well maybe not so much.

Where did they come from?

First of all, the land owner did not come out and yell at me. That was good. Second, I think I missed one of the steps of Mr. Shop Owner's directions as, after passing through 2 sheep fields with quizzical sheep wondering what I was doing in their field, I had to hop over yet another fence to get out of the property. Finally, my trek was a success as I found the access to my street and made my way home. What an adventure!

Brenda & Ella Jane

Yesterday I found yet another new footpath by talking to a lady I met along the journey: My new neighborhood friend, Brenda. She's the mum of my next door neighbor and has lived in my village all of her life, as did her parents before her. She was lovely to speak with, and she had a beautiful dog named Ella Jane. She pointed me in the right direction to another lovely path which required absolutely no fence jumping (I may or may not have been disappointed by this!). By talking to Brenda I learned that she is recently retired, and when she retired she had 3 goals: 1) join a gym, 2) relax, and 3) get confirmed in the local Anglican Church. I found this third point to be very interesting. She had not been confirmed as a child and as she entered the final portion of her life, she wanted to learn more about God and do it properly. So she became like a child, a learner, and took the confirmation classes.

Not many people attend church in my village of 700 people, but Brenda does. Pray with me that I will have the opportunity to make more relationships along the various footpaths. Pray that I will have meaningful conversations about life, God, family, and eternity.

These are close encounters of the relational kind, right here in South Yorkshire, along a footpath.

Have a great day friends.