Concerning a Very, Very Obscure Link Between Gladys Aylward and The Tower of London...Day 5m

Writing this blog has been a delight and will be a treasure for me to read in the years to come! It has been so much fun revisiting in my mind the places we traveled to, viewing photos of the things we saw and remembering all those *special* moments, some of which may never make it into this blog. (don't thank me yet,  chums, and don't heave a sigh of relief, you're not out of the woods yet because, after all, I am only on Day 5 of the 13 day trip...)

But, making this even more fun, are the serendipity moments I have experienced in the research I am doing to make sure I am referring to each tower by its correct name or accurately identify each restaurant or tube station or verifying that all my facts are correct such as when Handel lived in London or how Queen Victoria met Albert, you know, important stuff like that.

Since I have been writing about the Tower of London, one of my favorite sources on the Internet has been a fascinating old book The Tower From Within, written by George Younghusband who was a cavalry officer and major-general in the British Indian Army. He served in several wars, and retired in the middle of the First World War when he was severely wounded. He recovered, though, and here is where the fun begins. He was appointed as keeper of the Jewel House at the Tower of London and subsequently wrote a book about the entire history of the Tower. which is actually on the Internet if you have a few spare hours (and the interest) (and the intestinal fortitude) (and a love of Victorian literature) to read it.

  The link to The Tower From Within by George Younghusband
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=iYNnAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22The+Tower+from+Within%27%27+by+George+Younghusband&hl=en&sa=X&ei=D8wWVbPqLuzZsATaiIDIBw&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22The%20Tower%20from%20Within%27%27%20by%20George%20Younghusband&f=false

What does this have to do with Gladys Aylward you ask? Well, I am glad you asked... George's younger brother, Francis Younghusband, was a British army officer as well and an explorer and an author. When he wasn't out exploring China, India, Tibet and other regions in Asia, serving in the army or researching spiritual new age stuff for his books (yes, he was a bit of a hippy way before the 1960s) and mystical pantheism, he lived in London. And like most well-to-do families of the era, he hired domestic help for his wife. One housemaid is of particular interest: Gladys Aylward who saved every penny she earned working for this family in order to fund her journey to Yangcheng China.

And there you have it, the very, very obscure link between Gladys Aylward and the Tower of London. Isn't it just the way God works? He used a non-Christian to help His daughter fund her dream to become a missionary in China. And I love the fact that the cherished dream of Gladys Aylward was to lead others to God, rather than go to college or become a concert pianist or paint a masterpiece...just to humbly serve God in China.