i'm in czech.
whenever i come here it feels like i never really left, and so it does now.
so i'm done with the amazing race (finally). my team came in last...well, we were disqualified because we got back late. none of us minded at all though...we spent our time mosying along eating food and sleeping in. details will come eventually but for now this will have to do.
hope you don't all miss me too much!
Friday, May 30, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
i think a change will you do good.
well, lots of changes have been occurring in the past month or so. several friends have graduated or left pbu, making me realize how many friends i don't have ;-)
tomorrow i leave for czech. tonight my mom made an awesome fare-thee-well meal - steak. that's always what i ask for when she wants to make me a meal. in light of all this, i'm realizing that it's my first summer spent away from home, and i'll be somewhere in the vicinity of 4000 miles away, with people who i don't really know.
not to say i'm not excited. i'm not the biggest fan of change, but i've never tried to stop it from happening. and i think that this change may be one of the best yet.
so...i'm leaving tomorrow. i feel unprepared, but never more ready to go. i've wanted to do this for four years, and now i'm doing it. it feels good doing something i've always wanted to do, rather than just letting it go. i've done that too many times. last summer i had a whole list of things to do and didn't do half of it...needless to say, last summer was pretty disappointing.
sooo, this summer will be different. i have many hopes that i'm sure won't be fulfilled, but the biggest one of all is for God to change my heart. for too long i've been in limbo with Jesus; concerned about my relationship with Him but not willing to change my stubborn ways. i pray that this summer will be filled with His word and His love. i pray that i will be a part of His love [this semester, while speaking with a friend/counselor, i finally realized that we see God's love through His people...but am i showing His love to my brothers and sisters?]
i'll be arriving in czech on wednesday afternoon (their time), and right away will head out into the depths of the czech republic in a great amazing race, where we will do who knows what - last year they had to de-feather a turkey. hmm. so for 2.5 days we'll be running around. when we head back to our training at a hotel owned by Josiah Venture [the organization i'm working with], we'll finally rest and have a week of apologetics, culture, and fun.
right now, though, my hiking backpack is partly-packed and adds about 40 ell-bees to my weight. i will come back a hunchback.
and i'll be in touch.
tomorrow i leave for czech. tonight my mom made an awesome fare-thee-well meal - steak. that's always what i ask for when she wants to make me a meal. in light of all this, i'm realizing that it's my first summer spent away from home, and i'll be somewhere in the vicinity of 4000 miles away, with people who i don't really know.
not to say i'm not excited. i'm not the biggest fan of change, but i've never tried to stop it from happening. and i think that this change may be one of the best yet.
so...i'm leaving tomorrow. i feel unprepared, but never more ready to go. i've wanted to do this for four years, and now i'm doing it. it feels good doing something i've always wanted to do, rather than just letting it go. i've done that too many times. last summer i had a whole list of things to do and didn't do half of it...needless to say, last summer was pretty disappointing.
sooo, this summer will be different. i have many hopes that i'm sure won't be fulfilled, but the biggest one of all is for God to change my heart. for too long i've been in limbo with Jesus; concerned about my relationship with Him but not willing to change my stubborn ways. i pray that this summer will be filled with His word and His love. i pray that i will be a part of His love [this semester, while speaking with a friend/counselor, i finally realized that we see God's love through His people...but am i showing His love to my brothers and sisters?]
i'll be arriving in czech on wednesday afternoon (their time), and right away will head out into the depths of the czech republic in a great amazing race, where we will do who knows what - last year they had to de-feather a turkey. hmm. so for 2.5 days we'll be running around. when we head back to our training at a hotel owned by Josiah Venture [the organization i'm working with], we'll finally rest and have a week of apologetics, culture, and fun.
right now, though, my hiking backpack is partly-packed and adds about 40 ell-bees to my weight. i will come back a hunchback.
and i'll be in touch.
Monday, April 14, 2008
kicked in the butt by Jesus
well, i have been kicked in the butt once again by the Lord...it never fails for me in my humanity to stop trusting the one who provides for me.
i've been having trust issues about going to czech this summer...is this really what i should be doing? how will i raise the money? i haven't been trusting in the provision of Christ in any way. i haven't been trusting that he would raise support for this summer, and after this summer financially. it's something i'd been thinking about because i was get discouraged with having the same amount of support and no one sending any in. when i checked the other day, i had received $500 more than the previous day, and this weekend i found out that my sister and church are giving me a big chunk. i started crying. thank you Lord, for reminding me that you're in control.
oh, and another thing, my team is going to Pardubice...the church i've worked with for the last coupe years!
i've been having trust issues about going to czech this summer...is this really what i should be doing? how will i raise the money? i haven't been trusting in the provision of Christ in any way. i haven't been trusting that he would raise support for this summer, and after this summer financially. it's something i'd been thinking about because i was get discouraged with having the same amount of support and no one sending any in. when i checked the other day, i had received $500 more than the previous day, and this weekend i found out that my sister and church are giving me a big chunk. i started crying. thank you Lord, for reminding me that you're in control.
oh, and another thing, my team is going to Pardubice...the church i've worked with for the last coupe years!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Moonflowers and Band of Horses
Right now I am in this strange mellow mood which won't last all weekend, I'm sure of it. but i'll try to enjoy it while i can.
there's some new things in my life.
first, check out the Band of Horses myspace. listen to their song No One's Gonna Love You. it sounds like an awful, sad song, right? but it's beautiful. i have listened to it over and over, and each time i am serenaded even more. it gets stuck in my head and i love it. the way that the song is sung is so different, and it is all just so pleasing. the best part about the song is that it's "no one's gonna love you more than i do," so much more beautiful th
an no one's gonna love you...and i love that the title challenges the beauty of the song.
secondly, i've been gardening. nothing new, but i remembered why i love it so much, and i will sorely miss it this summer. i love watching the seeds sprout and grow, and knowing that i am responsible (partly) for whether they continue to grow or whether they die. it may sound old-ladyish of me to say this, but it is so exciting to watch them get big and grow into something beautiful. but as my good friend jaci reminded me, it's not me - it's God.
jaci planted sunflowers and some other kind. i planted moonflowers and seashell flowers. we've been keeping them in a "greenhouse" and already we have to pot some of them because t
hey're getting too tall. here are pictures of them from yesterday. today they've gotten taller and some more have sprouted. we only planted them 6 days ago, and look at them now!
the top one is tuesday, the bottom is wednesday. and today we've taken the top off so they don't hit it!
i love it.
there's some new things in my life.
first, check out the Band of Horses myspace. listen to their song No One's Gonna Love You. it sounds like an awful, sad song, right? but it's beautiful. i have listened to it over and over, and each time i am serenaded even more. it gets stuck in my head and i love it. the way that the song is sung is so different, and it is all just so pleasing. the best part about the song is that it's "no one's gonna love you more than i do," so much more beautiful th
an no one's gonna love you...and i love that the title challenges the beauty of the song.secondly, i've been gardening. nothing new, but i remembered why i love it so much, and i will sorely miss it this summer. i love watching the seeds sprout and grow, and knowing that i am responsible (partly) for whether they continue to grow or whether they die. it may sound old-ladyish of me to say this, but it is so exciting to watch them get big and grow into something beautiful. but as my good friend jaci reminded me, it's not me - it's God.
jaci planted sunflowers and some other kind. i planted moonflowers and seashell flowers. we've been keeping them in a "greenhouse" and already we have to pot some of them because t
hey're getting too tall. here are pictures of them from yesterday. today they've gotten taller and some more have sprouted. we only planted them 6 days ago, and look at them now!the top one is tuesday, the bottom is wednesday. and today we've taken the top off so they don't hit it!
i love it.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Czech out Grace
yes, yes, yes - I do have homework. but sometimes, homework has to come second. like right now.
there's lots that i want to talk about.
i'm gonna start by putting the cutest video of Grace on here. she's started this new thing where she scrunches up her whole face - kinda creepy, but since she's only 7 months old it's actually cute.
well i sure hope that worked! here's another one of me feeding her about a month ago when she started eating "big girl food" [coming soon! i can't find it on my computer!]
of course this is a big Grace post because i just came from being with her. it's always hard to leave her! today was a gorgeous day, so julia and i went for a walk to cvs with Grace. she's definitely a head turner, and she's already got the fellas opening doors for her ;-)
but moving on - i wanted to talk a little bit about czech since that's mostly why i created this blog. here's some facts about the country:
-it's surrounded by Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Poland (one time when I was there, we hiked into Poland!)
-it used to be joined with Slovakia - hence why some people still refer to the country as "Czechoslovakia." they hate being called this because they are a republic now. this is because...
-Czechoslovakia had once been taken over by Soviet rule, and for decades they were under communist rule. i have friends (in their mid-20s) who still remember these communist camps that they had to go to, and they had to pledge to the communist party. but in 1989, the Velvet Revolution began, and by 1993 Czechoslovakia split into the Czech and Slovak Republics. They are very much two different countries.
-Czech Republic is about the size of South Carolina, and it is split into western Bohemia and eastern Moravia (many gypsies still reside in Czech, if Bohemia gave any indication of that). Apparently, there is a certain dialect of the Czech language within these two sections.
-politically, Czech Republic is a very neutral country. they don't want to take any sides. recently, the US wanted to place a military base in CZ, and many of the locals were unwilling because they didn't want to seem to take sides.
there's not much more to say right now, but there's so much about the culture to appreciate. i hope that my journey will help you to understand and know more about Eastern European culture!
there's lots that i want to talk about.
i'm gonna start by putting the cutest video of Grace on here. she's started this new thing where she scrunches up her whole face - kinda creepy, but since she's only 7 months old it's actually cute.
well i sure hope that worked! here's another one of me feeding her about a month ago when she started eating "big girl food" [coming soon! i can't find it on my computer!]
of course this is a big Grace post because i just came from being with her. it's always hard to leave her! today was a gorgeous day, so julia and i went for a walk to cvs with Grace. she's definitely a head turner, and she's already got the fellas opening doors for her ;-)
but moving on - i wanted to talk a little bit about czech since that's mostly why i created this blog. here's some facts about the country:
-it's surrounded by Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Poland (one time when I was there, we hiked into Poland!)
-it used to be joined with Slovakia - hence why some people still refer to the country as "Czechoslovakia." they hate being called this because they are a republic now. this is because...
-Czechoslovakia had once been taken over by Soviet rule, and for decades they were under communist rule. i have friends (in their mid-20s) who still remember these communist camps that they had to go to, and they had to pledge to the communist party. but in 1989, the Velvet Revolution began, and by 1993 Czechoslovakia split into the Czech and Slovak Republics. They are very much two different countries.
-Czech Republic is about the size of South Carolina, and it is split into western Bohemia and eastern Moravia (many gypsies still reside in Czech, if Bohemia gave any indication of that). Apparently, there is a certain dialect of the Czech language within these two sections.
-politically, Czech Republic is a very neutral country. they don't want to take any sides. recently, the US wanted to place a military base in CZ, and many of the locals were unwilling because they didn't want to seem to take sides.
there's not much more to say right now, but there's so much about the culture to appreciate. i hope that my journey will help you to understand and know more about Eastern European culture!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
thoughts.
blurry picture and a hand in the way but i love it anyway.
lots of things have been happening lately. and i've been very emotional on top of it.
grandma died a little over a week ago and i've been thinking about her a lot.
she was the mother of 6, grandmother of 22, and great-grandma of 2. and i think it's because of her faith that her whole family are Christians. what a wonderful woman who honestly loved Christ. i hope that one day i can resemble her. and i hope
that when it's my time to have children i can raise them as well as she did. i will miss my prayer warrior.
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