The Next Steps in This Journey

     It's been a while. Hello. I am still here....and today, I have a story to tell you, so grab a cup of joe and take a seat. Comfortable? Good because this is a long one.
     The week after my wonderful little trip to Opole for Easter, I was still off from work here in Warsaw. Although, I was thrilled for another whole week to be free to explore and settle in more, the week actually turned out to be really difficult. The reason for this struggle seemed to be that all the mental and physical exhaustion from making this move so quickly and trying to figure everything out here decided to catch up to me all at once during this week off when I was completely alone in Warsaw without even my colleagues with which to connect. Don't get me wrong, I am not at all complaining, but it was definitely the most difficult week of my time here so far. God has been so clear all along in His guiding me here to Warsaw and I knew through this week I just needed to continue to trust Him and get through the time of adjustment. Well, as many of you know, I have also been having a challenging time finding a church to attend and during this particular week just passed Easter, I was really struggling with not really feeling connected with local believers. Since I know God has called me to Poland to minister and reach out to the people here, I knew God must have a plan for me, but I couldn't seem to make the connection. One afternoon, I had planned to go to the center of the city to do some exploring; but I was feeling very discouraged, so before I left my apartment, I prayed something desperate sounding like "God, please just do something in my time out today." While I was downtown, I was thrilled to find a British-themed pub (no, I don't drink, but have you tasted pub food?....seriously.). This did cheer me up a bit and I ordered some food to take home and enjoy, but then in my mind I said something like "Okay, God, umm, thanks, this is nice, but I guess I was hoping for something a little bigger to happen today than just finding British food." Well, as I was heading to take the subway back to my apartment, I heard Christian music playing loudly at the metro station. It is always surprising to hear Christian music playing in such a public space, so I made the decision not to be shy, but to just go up to these people and find out who they were. It turns out, they are from a fairly new local church and were doing an evangelistic outreach that day. I was so excited! I was able to introduce myself a bit and get some information on the church. God provides hope exactly when we need it. Thank you, God.
     It took a few weeks for me to make it to a service, but this morning I was able to find this church and get a little more connected. I found out that the mission of the church is to reach out to the lost in Warsaw, but specifically the homeless and hurting in this city. "Oh, what's that God? You brought me to a church that is seeking to do the exact ministries that I am most passionate about?" I don't even know how to express in words my amazement at this. God is so sovereign and so good and how can we be anything but thankful for Him? After being called into missions many years ago, I felt more and more strongly to minister to those "on the outside" or those who are abandoned and need healing both physically and spiritually in their lives. To be honest, it really brings me such great joy to work with at risk youth that it is so much fun for me to minister in this way. I have no idea how long God will have me here in Warsaw or even at this church, but I am so excited to see how God will answer my desire to do both missions and inner city work here in Poland. I don't know how long this chapter will be or even what will happen tomorrow, but I know today God gave me another (huge) glimpse into the big picture of His sovereignty over my life. Decent story, aye?

     Currently, I am reading this book called Death By Living by N.D.Wilson and it has been a great follow up to the Ravi Zacharias book I just finished (The Grand Weaver). Both books focus on viewing each life as a story woven into a larger picture designed by our Creator.
     For those of you who are praying for my time here, I would ask that you please be praying over the next month or so for my continual adjustment here. The first several weeks in a new place is such a whirlwind, but as I started explaining in the beginning of the post, recently I have started to feel a little more stress in adjusting to cultural differences and in remembering to focus on the big picture of why I am here. Please pray that God would continuously remind me to keep Christ as the one main focus in my heart and mind. Also, please be praying that I can be a patient, kind and compassionate minister to my colleagues and students as the work days can feel long and exhausting to all of us. This past week felt a bit rough as several of my colleagues were somewhat ill and the children seemed extra tired as well. Blame it on the rain, I guess.
     Anyway, if you've gotten through my ramblings up to this point and are still reading, please enjoy these two photos. I apologize for not having more photos to post, but I honestly haven't been out exploring much in the past couple weeks. Thank you to everyone who is keeping in touch with me and encouraging me on this new adventure. You are each such a blessing in my life.

Stained glass window in a bank where my students, my colleagues and I went for a field trip :)

Easter Holidays

    The school where I work is currently closed for a couple different spring holidays, so I am in the middle of two full weeks of time off work. This time has been exactly what I needed to begin to feel really settled in to life here in Poland and also to reconnect with close friends I met back in 2012. The first several days of my holiday were spent near and in the city of Opole in the south of Poland, where I lived my first time here. I am still so incredibly grateful to have been able to spend time with good friends and in familiar places. In a lot of ways, I felt like I was able to go "home" for Easter and it was such a blessing.
     I've decided to share my holiday time through the photographs I've captured thus far. Enjoy!
     On Easter Sunday, a good friend of mine Anna, her brother, niece and myself went for a long walk in the forest near their family's home in a small village outside of Opole.
The weather was perfect and we had so much fun!
    

Take a look at this big funky tree! How cool is this?

      On Monday, Anna and I enjoyed a slow morning, breakfast and cake with her parents and then took off for an afternoon at Moszna Castle. This was one of my favorite places I was able to visit in 2012 and so, actually getting to visit this place again was surreal and awesome and wonderful. The day was perfect to sit in the sun, read and just be still before God, so that is exactly what we did all afternoon.

Horse stables on the castle grounds.

      After a few days at Anna's house, I was able to stay in the city with another good friend of mine, Ola. Tuesday we took advantage of another beautiful day and went for a visit to the zoo. We had so much fun looking at and talking to the animals. The animals seemed to enjoy acting quite smug and aloof towards us. So basically, everyone was happy and content.

"Come at me, bro" is the only statement I have to make regarding this photo.

      The little city of Opole is absolutely lovely in every way. I just love this place and I really do feel at home here. There are so many ways to volunteer and connect with the community there. I was so excited and grateful to spend Easter morning at the local Christian church, to be a part of the Easter breakfast, and really just to say "hello" to some of my very favorite people. There are so many locals I missed seeing this time, but hopefully will see again in the future. Opole is a place I look forward to going back to as often as possible.

The best place in the city to sit inside with a good book and watch the town bustling around outside.

      On Thursday, I returned to Warsaw via a very long train ride. Don't get me wrong, I think trains are great, but seven hours on a train requires some new ideas for making the time pass. During this last ride, I decided to stick my head out the window and take a couple shots of the countryside.

      This upcoming week is still open and free before work begins again on the 5th of May. I am looking forward to hopefully getting out and exploring this city a bit more. If you are among the people praying for my time here, I do have one request for this week. I am in the process of looking for a church in Warsaw with which to connect and serve. So far, I have tried two places, but I am just praying for peace and guidance from the Holy Spirit on exactly where God has set for me to be during this time. Thank you, so very much to everyone who has been praying, emailing, texting or writing. All your support and communications make this transition time feel much more calm and peace-filled.

The Palace of Culture and Science in the center of Warsaw

Getting On With Things

     This past week has been simultaneously filled with challenges and blessings. I began the week by being couch-bound for three days with a horrible cold and no voice. Obviously, I felt really bad to be calling out of work so soon after arriving here, but there was no way I was fit to be teaching. Still a bit in recovery mode today, I am hoping all the resting up I've done this weekend will provide me with the strength to get back into full swing this week.
     The blessings that occurred this week quickly overshadowed the frustrations of being sick. I was able to get the washing machine situation sorted out and I also finally was able to get a real bed set up in the bedroom. The apartment came fully furnished (which is common here), but for some reason there was only a thin mat on the bedroom floor for a bed. God really worked in this situation by providing me a free, almost brand new bed that my employer happened to have in storage at the school. Her brother was able to bring it over and do the assembly. Now that I am sleeping much better at night, I can feel a sense of energy and normalcy returning to my mind and body.
     Thankfulness and amazement are honestly the two words that come to mind when I look back over the almost three weeks of living here thus far. God has worked out one situation after another and has provided me with so much strength and guidance along the way. I am starting to feel quite comfortable with finding my way around and getting to know the area. It is a really peaceful feeling to watch God take control and know that I am exactly where He wants me to be at this point in life. I'm so excited to see this part of my journey unravel.
     Well, with any new step it is always fun to also take the time to learn new things. Two things I've decided to start bettering my skills in are baking and taking care of plants. Both of these activities have much, much room for improvement in my life. I know it's silly, but for me it is really helpful to have a couple hobbies to work on outside of work and adjusting to the different culture. When I moved into this apartment, there was actually already two plants living here. At first, I was like "oh boy...I kill all plants that are given to me",  but then I decided to take on the challenge of keeping these little guys alive and healthy. It's been going well, so today as I was walking home from church, I couldn't resist adding a new member to the plant family since so many fresh flowers are for sale on the streets here.

Yes, that is a tiny gnat already checking out the flowers.

What a happy little plant family

    

     As far as baking goes, I have been quite surprised at my relative success (so far). Friday night, I made this lovely little strawberry cake and it turned out well enough for me to comfortable share a food photo. Anyway, if you are still reading this and have gotten through my ramblings on plants and cakes without falling asleep, I would really like to once again thank each and every one of you who has been praying for me the last three weeks. Your prayers mean truly so much to me and I can feel His presence all the more because of your intercession. Thank you for walking this journey with me.