Monday's Memories: St. Mary's + Christian Martyrs

 

Going through these pictures and thinking about all the important events that happened here makes me wish I was more of a historian, makes me want to read more to understand.  Being there made it even easier on the imagination.  But here's a little traveler's tip I just thought of:  Walking on Oxford's cobblestone streets is kind of painful and difficult in flats.  You should wear sturdier shoes than I did if you ever visit.

  I loved that.

above the altar

  All Soul's College from the tower

In 1555 St. Mary's Church was the scene of the trial of Bishops Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley.  Queen Mary had them arrested for heresy, and they were examined by the Lord's Commissioner of Oxford's Divinity School.  Ridley refused to acknowledge the Pope as the head of the Church. 

"Therefore Christ said unto Peter that upon this rock,

that is, upon this confession, that he was Christ the Son of God,

he would build his church; to declare that without this faith no man

may come to Christ:  so that this belief, that Christ is the Son of God,

is the foundation of our Christianity, and the foundation of our church."

from Foxe's Book of Martyrs

They were sentenced to death by burning, and it's a terrible thing to read a description of, but their faith was amazing.  They were taken outside the city to be burned, but today the spot is marked on what is now Broad Street.

The night before his death Ridley observed his hostess weeping and said, "Though my breakfast be somewhat sharp and painful, yet I am sure my supper shall be most pleasant and sweet."  And then there are Latimer's famous, faith-filled words:

"Be of good comfort, Mr. Ridley, and play the man:

we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England,

as I trust shall never be put out." 

There is also a monument with statues of Latimer, Ridley, and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer.  

I'll leave you with the words on the monument, which I loved:

To the glory of God, and in grateful commemoration of His servants,

Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley, Hugh Latimer, Prelates of the Church of England,

who near this spot yielded their bodies to be burned,

bearing witness to the sacred truths which they had affirmed and maintained

against the errors of the Church of Rome, and rejoicing that to them it was

given not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for His sake... 

On Cleaning My Bathtub

A few months ago I apologized to KJ about how dirty I let the tub/shower get.

"I'm sorry I haven't cleaned the tub yet.  I know it's getting gross."

"Um...I can't really see anything in there with my glasses off."

Earlier this week I mentioned to him how happy I was that I'd scrubbed the tub a few days before.

"Aren't you glad I cleaned the tub?  It was so dirty..."

"Um, thanks!  But I really can't see anything in there with my glasses off."

Clearly, I clean the tub for myself.    

Friday's Flashback: Day 5!

Saturday morning dawned cold and clear.  We were very much refreshed after our stay at Blenheim Edge Guesthouse and excited about the new day.  KJ found a car park, and while he was figuring out how to pay for it (always a challenge because the meters accepted credit cards but sometimes had trouble with ours) I ventured into a public toilet.  Eww.  There were individual rooms in a permanent structure, and I guess it was because it was closed in, but, oh my, the smell.  It was so gross.  

Now that you're kind of grossed out, we'll move on to the fresh new day on the streets of Oxford.  We walked across a bridge and came upon Magdalen College, where C.S. Lewis taught.

It was really wonderful to think about the people who regularly walked these streets over the past hundreds of years.

 

"Firs' Years!  This way!"

{That's what my husband said when we saw these guys.}

I mentioned in my post from England that we found out we were there on Matriculation Day.  This prevented us from going inside a lot of the places we were hoping to, but that was probably for the best.  We had a 1 p.m. appointment at C.S. Lewis's home that we were slightly late for as it was.

 

 Famous Bodleian Library

I do wish we'd been able to go inside; there were scenes from Harry Potter filmed here.

 St. Mary's 

KJ paid for me to climb up to the top of St. Mary's tower.  I began my journey with these stairs.

 

Next I had these steep stone stairs to climb, finally emerging through a small opening at the top, which quickly became very crowded and somewhat claustrophobic.  The ledge was very narrow.

 

 at eye-level on one of the little landings

It was a steep climb, but I think it was worth the view.

Click on the picture for a beautiful look at Oxford.

 You can see how little space there was between the wall and railing.

I'm glad I went to the top.  St. Mary's is a beautiful (and very old, of course).  I'll have a few pictures from the inside on Monday.

Just a Little He said/She said

I get to be mama to those two little darlings, and I love it.  I also really want to remember all the little daily conversations that make life fun, like...

James and I made an early-morning Wal-Mart run yesterday.  My car has been in the shop, so when I opened the door to the garage an unusual sight met his eyes:  KJ's car.  

"Woah!  A race car!"

"That's Daddy's car."

"Da-da's race car!  Awesome!!"

I guess with a little imagination a 2000 Mazda Protege can look like a race car?  Walking into Wal-Mart the first item we saw was a box of Angry Birds band aids.  

"Ang-y Birds!  Awesome!"

Awesome was evidently the word of the day yesterday.  It was the first time he used it, and he got his money's worth.  Later in the morning when we'd made it safely home he climbed up in my lap and snuggled in.  I asked him if he was tired.  "Yes."  Then he looked up and said, "Kiss."  He got one.

* * *

Tuesday night I went out with a bouncy, happy girl clad in graduation garments to take a few pictures to include in her invites.  She was in a perfectly cooperative mood until I told her she couldn't play on the playground in her graduation robe.

    

"Ella, what's wrong?  I really need you to smile."

"I just...I just didn't have a good day."

"What happened?"

"Well, some of the girls were fighting."

"I'm sorry, but listen, school's almost over, and the sun is setting, so we really just need to take a couple of pictures so we can go home.  Maybe if you can smile you can have a treat when we get home."

 

Hopeful smile

Things got better after that, and we had some fun.  Later in the car on the way home, I asked:  "So, what were the girls arguing about?"

"I don't remember."

"You don't remember??  You were just acting so upset about it!  How can you not remember?"

"Well, when you told me to smile, I just forgot."

 

Smiling.  That's the answer to forgetting your troubles, I suppose.          

He's a knight!

When I travel home with the kids I usually make one stop at a Super Target to go to the bathroom/change diapers and let the kids walk around a little bit.  On Friday Ella asked if they could pick out a prize from the $1 bins, and they each walked away with these crazy, squishy balls.  

When the kids and I went outside Saturday evening Uncle Judson made a little challenge to Ella.

They were having a fun time playing, and Ella started kicking and showing off her kung fu moves.

 

James, however, seemed to think his sister was in distress, and he charged off the front porch with a snarl, entering the fray of battle.  The expression on his face slayed me.

To the winner belongs the spoils.

Clearly anyone intending to mess with Ella will have to get through James first.

Pants are overrated.

We spent the weekend with my parents.  James looked like this 60-80% of the time.  Pants just aren't that necessary for a two-year-old, I guess.

Monday's Memories: Blenheim Edge Guest House

I took a few pics of our guest house in Oxford because up until that point it was the nicest and most modern place we stayed.  But before we go there, KJ came through for me with iPhone pictures of our dinner Friday night!  He told me he thought I was confusing Disney movies with pubs by saying we ate at The Fox and Hound, but I really think I saw one of those.  Every pub I saw had names like that.  We passed a lot of them as we drove.

I think KJ was in search of a barbecue pizza, but I can't remember what kind he actually found there.  My chili was so hearty and satisfying after our long day.  It was the first time I ate chili with a fork.  I love the UK.

Our night was made even more pleasant when we made our way back to Blenheim Edge Guest House.  The outside was unassuming, but they had updated all their rooms, and it was so nice.  I was tired, and after having to walk down the hall or sit in a public place to access the Wi-Fi at the two previous bed and breakfasts, it was pure luxury to settle down amongst down pillows and blankets to go through pictures and blog.  In addition, they had a movie collection for their guests.  In keeping with our location we watched The King's Speech and enjoyed our relaxing evening.

 Cozy and luxurious bed

Mini-flat screen and tea accessories
We were also excited about fresh water bottles.

 clean and new shower

 hot towel rack

Saturday morning dawned cold and clear, and we ate an English breakfast in the small dining room downstairs, cooked by Tanya.  Her sauteed mushrooms were the best of the entire trip.  As we left Simon graciously gave me a Diet Coke to go.  I just need my cold drink to fully wake up in the morning, I'm afraid.  I took a picture to remember my many glass-bottled, made in the UK, Diet Cokes.

Then we were off to find a suitable car park and to explore the streets of Oxford.