Good Afternoon all! I have had a great day with a fun discovery but I did have a little bad news and was not able to go to church, I couldn't find it!! Anyway it's a long story but I will make sure I can go either sometime this week or possbily just next Sunday. At least this has been the only time I have gotten lost though!

My fun discovery was a place called Temple Church. My dad had mentioned it to me and said that he had never been because it was pretty hard to get to, but he had always wanted to go. So I went for him, but I ended up enjoying it a lot! The Temple Church is one of the oldest and beautiful churches in London. The Church was built by the Knights Templar, the order of crusading monks founded to protect pilgrims on their way to and from Jerusalem in the 12th century. The Church is in two parts. The Round and the Chancel. The Round Church was consecrated in 1185 by the patriarch of Jerusalem. It was designed to recall the holiest place in the Crusaders' world. The circular Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The tombs of the Knights are are still in the Round Church. Here are some beautiful pictures....

It was really an amazing church, and I think what I liked most about it was it was not very many tourists there like me...haha. I only say that becuase sometimes when there are so many people around you are distracted by them instead of the beauty of the church. There were maybe 3 people there the whole time.

Also a cool thing that happened was I was talking to the main minister at the church to see if they had any more services that day and he told me that they had already had them, anyway so I was leaving the church and there was this little plaque outside that gave the name of the minister and then who he was and what he did. Come to find out he is one of the main ministers that speaks directly to the Queen! After I saw that I went back in and asked him and he said yes, then I tried to take a picture with him (so much for the lack of tourists...lol) and he said that he couldn't. But I was so excited that I got to meet and talk to someone who speaks directly to the Queen of England! Ok here are some more pictures!

I loved the Stain Glass Windows...they were incredible

This was the garden of outside the Temple Church....so peacful

I was really upset that I couldn't find my church this morning, and it was becuase I thought I was going on one street but I remembered they have two different locations and the 4 oclock service was at another location, so I was scrambling to find it and couldn't. :-(

Anyway I will do it again soon, but on my walk back to my hotel I began to think of how much I was craving worship. I came home and decided to have my own time with the Lord and I put on a song by Kari Jobe called Sanctuary. I thought about the beautiful church that I was at this afternoon, and I thought about why I loved it so much and it was because it seemed like it was hidden away. There are many beautiful churches here in London but many are populated with crouds and are on every tourist map out there, with the Temple Church you had to dig to find it.

There is a part in this song Sanctuary that says: Sanctuary, Pure and Holy, in a Secret Place I will find you there. When I went to this Temple Church today, I felt like I had found a hidden treasure and I began to think about the Secret Place that we can come to and meet with the Lord, and how much more he can move in us when we meet him in a secret place of brokeness. Today my secret place with him was in the Park Plaza Hotel in London, England. It doesn't have to be in a beautiful cathedral, it can be wherever you want it to be as long as you are humble. To be washed with the Lord's prescence was exactly what I needed. I feel renewed after meeting him in my own Secret Place.

I love you guys!