What would my dad say?

It's day two in London, and I have really begun to settle in to my quaint little room. I'm not a very good sleeper when I am in a new place, but I thought I would be dog tired after the day before. God has blessed me, or cursed me, with an internal alarm clock. I'm usually up by 6 am, not matter what timezone I am in. Of course this plays into my favourite time of day, the morning. There is something about the morning when everything is waking up, there is fresh dew on everything, and the smells are crisp as a spring rain. I love it!! The only thing that would have made my morning more amazing, would have Admiral Boom firing off his time gun to signal the morning.
The rest of the group was up and ready to go a little before the house had prepared breakfast, so we set out to find a traditional English breakfast at a local establishment. My bacon, egg, and cheese muffin was like no other I had tasted. Real farm fresh eggs, fresh English muffin, real cheese, thick crunchy bacon; is this heaven? No, it's government mandated, locally sourced, McDonald's!! Boy do I feel jipped. All these years content with a breakfast substitute, and I discover in one morning what is truly possible. Now I know why the Brits use words like, Brilliant!!
I suppose I should tell you, I am from the Mid-west. This is the home of McDonald's. You would think we would have the better options. Anyway, enough about my religious experiences.
That day we met a new friend, who was a church historian and pastor, at St. Paul's Cathedral. Before you ask, I was hoping to see the old bird women selling bird seed for Tuppence a bag, but she must have stepped out.
Now the Mary Poppins overtures were mushrooming in my mind, and I could have just walked around this magnificent place dreaming of popping in and out of chalk drawings, but we had other things on the agenda.
Not to get whisked away, we walked into the nearby courtyard. We all stood at St. Paul's Cross and listened about it's history. Before William Tyndale translated the Bible from Latin into common language, this is the place where the priests would preach to the crowds. You see, no one owned a Bible. They would come to this place to receive God's word from the church. Needless to say, things weren't always interpreted accurately. This was also the very place many Christians were martyred for taking a stand against the heretical ways of the church.
We then travelled to one of the best kept secrets of London, Postman's Park. This also marks the site of John Wesley's conversion, the father of Methodism. What makes Postman's Park particularly special is what it represents. This place is no bigger than a postage stamp compared to all of London, but within it lies a monument erected by Queen Victoria and George Fredrick Watts as a memorial to those who had given their lives while rescuing others.
 ^"He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them." 2 Cor 5:15
After learning how so many have gone before us and paid the price so we may understand our faith, it humbled me.
We then went up to Loughburough and met with a great group whose mission is the equip kids to be missionaries on their college campuses. This really captured my attention. What a fantastic idea!! The energy they brought to the meeting was just the kick we needed to keep going that day.
On our way back, we met a few random people on the train. It was awesome how God connected those lives to us, and how receptive they were to our discussions about faith. Pinch me!! I am I really here? Wow!! Could it get any better?
That afternoon it did. We met a new friend at Parliament; and not only was this guy a Christian, but he is a doctor, an accomplished recording artist, and a parliament member. Oh yeah, he's only 35!! As we ogled at Big Ben, we discovered we were going to go inside. Excuse me? What?
This was all making my head a bit dizzy. Soon we were through security and we were standing in the lobby between the House of Commons and the House of Lords. I could see the queen's seat on one side and the Prime Minister on the other. Then we began to pray over the country. Amazing!!
After dinner and some more touring the city, we returned to our new home for the night. That night God would speak to me and mess me up forever.
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23
Am I willing to die for my faith? Am I to walk away from everything I know and follow? Am I really willing to go "all in"? What would my Dad say?