It Was Like...

Okay, so last night, it was like the transformation of the Beast into the Prince in that Disney classic, "Beauty and the Beast", not literally--because i definitely am not a beast!--BUT!  I felt so excited and filled with hope and joy from the Lord that blinding light may have been escaping from the tips of my fingers and toes.  :)  How do you keep that kind of energy contained?  You don't! My fingers were typing a mile a minute on Instant Messenger to my Dad, and then to my mom, and then to my friend here, Stephanie, about the conversation i had with one of my friends--Pawel-- from that party not too long ago.
So last night, i was on Facebook--yes i know, big shocker, but hey, i have an excuse here!  It's like my connection to America!  So i saw that Pawel was on, and normally, i just talk to Dagmara--they are a couple--but she wasn't on so i thought i would just say hello and joke with him about working on his English since the party.  And right away, i prayed that God would just give me an opportunity to invite him and Dagmara to church or talk about godly things....and his first comment was, "i want to ask you, are you a Methodist?"  BINGO!  My response, "No, i am just a Christian, i don't call myself anything specific really.  Are you a Methodist?"  To which he responded, "Well, yeah!"  i asked him about church and learned he goes with his father, but only sometimes and he made the comment that he is not "very religious" to which i said, "well, that can actually be a good thing not to be too "religious" because sometimes that keeps us from what Jesus really wants for us."  And then Dagmara got on for a quick sec, so it kind of diverted the conversation, but i kept lookin' for another and it came quick!  "I love the energy you have!"  he wrote.  "Dagmara and i both feel it when we talk to you and even while i write to you, i feel it"  My heart totally did somersaults as i felt the "energy" could only be the Lord in me!  "do you know many people who have this kind of energy?" i asked.  He told me that there were a few others and we laughed as i told him that maybe i was an alien.  :)  Still looking for the perfect way to invite them to church, he provided it for me: " how was your day today?" he wrote.  I told him about the 24 hour worship thing and then about the grocery shopping i had done for the Valentine Day Lunch at church the next morning...."HEY!  Would you and Dagmara like to come to church and lunch after?  Or if you wanted you could even just come to the lunch!"  I wrote.   At first he responded how great that would be, but then he remembered they had made plans to go swimming and visit his mom....but then he said, "let me ask Dagmara what she thinks. :) ".  I jokingly said i liked that answer better, but in the end he decided that he should spend the day with Dagmara doing what they had planned.  So then i remembered that Tuesday nights we have our college fellowship nights (FOF) and i asked him if htey would like to come to that!  And he was like, "Absolutely!  That would work out good for our schedule."  So now he and Dagmara will come to their first FOF event--a movie night--which i hope will draw them into coming more in the future when we do our actual Bible studies.  :)  We wil be watching "Surrogates", which i hope will open up some awesome opportunities for discussion. 
The reason for my joy, hope and excitement, is that i have been praying for these friends of mine so much, and i am so confident that the Lord is wanting to do some awesome work in Pawel and Dagmara's heart.  And i am stoked beyond words to know that He is giving me an oppurtunity to build a friendship that i hope will bless them to know Him as i know Him!  And i know that i seem to be a real outgoing person, but it is really hard for me to pursue relationships because i am afraid of being rejected, or afraid that the other person will not respond.  But the Lord has given me a boldness to pursue friendships with these people, an energy with which to pursue the friendships and a love and hope with which to encourage and bless them.  God is so good, and is completely fulfilling my prayer for ministry--that i would know the hope of His calling and i would grasp the power that He has given me to accomplish what He has prepared for me to do.  (Ephesians 2)
Today--Sunday--was awesome because i got to record some of the kids to make a little movie about "missions" for our Sunday's Study of Ephesians through the month of March.  So cute!  And then, we had our Valentine's Day lunch--for which i was so proud of my "red" food item.  I got some tomato sauce and a jar of marinated red bell pepper, put it in a food processor together with some herbs and spices and garlic and made a sort of dip for these little breadstick crackers i found at Alma.  It was actually really tasty!  At church today i had the pleasure of meeting two young men:  Jason (from Australia!!!  LOVE the accent!!!) and Damien (from Gdansk Poland).  Jason is here for his "gap year" (one tradition i think America would really benefit from to adopt) and will study Polish language while he is here.  Damien is studying English!  So he finds PIC to be a perfect opportunity for his studies and practice.  Both of these guys will be joining our FOF movie night this Tuesday, so hopefully they keep comin back for the Word too!
After church i did my grocery shopping, my shoe squeaking all the bloody way.  i apparently am going to need to get a new pair of shoes, which stinks because i am not impressed by many of the shoes i have seen--quality wise.  Karolina offered to take me shopping though, and she is from here, so she will know where the good places to buy things are.  :)  Praise God.
Well, thank you for enduring my dialoging!  And i hope you can, "feel my energy".....i am no "alien" to you after all !  And just remember as you go through your week, how much God gives us so that we can be a gift to others.  And the greatest gift we can give, is His love, which He has lavished on us.