Polish Easter: Part Two

Well, last entry i left off with Saturday evening (be sure to read part one that i posted earlier today!)...so wake up early Sunday morning to get to church to make ready and rehearse the Easter service.  :)  First things first.....i was actually dressed up--a sight that had yet never been seen in Poland, lol.  All the clothes were borrowed!  A dress from Brooke, shoes from Steph, a jacket from my roomie, i was a walking collage.  Is it fun to dress up every once in a blue moon?  Yes; it is dealing with the blister after that i don't appreciate.  My feet were miserable.  LOL.  But at least for three hours before service actually started, i was able to walk around in some socks instead of wearing those heels!  The service went great!  The dramas, the sermon, the worship was all very unique and new!  And the theme that carried and resounded throughout was just the amazing promises that Christ fulfilled in His life and death and the confidence we can have that His promises of return and our eternal life with Him are true and we have that hope to look forward to.  I was so excited to even see Pawel there with his brother and father!  :)  I got to meet them shortly--unfortunately they had to leave early so i did not have much time to spend with them, but i was just thrilled that they had come.  And they invited me to come to church with them in the future.  :)  They go to a Polish Methodist church but Pawel was thinking they could find someone to translate the service for me if i did come.  I do hope to meet them more in the future though.  Pawel told me in a text later that every time he goes to church, he feels good about it, but even this and feeling like he should go to church isn't enough because he is still too lazy to go regularly.  So it is like he wants to go !  He enjoys it !  He just needs the encouragement i think.  And unfortunately, i don't think he gets that from Dagmara--in fact, i know he doesn't because when he wants to go, she always resists and does not want to.  :(  But my hope is that the reason for this is becuase the Lord is knocking so obviously on the door of her heart, and she is doing her best to resist it, BUT GOD! is going to continue to pursue her, despite it.
After a fabulous service, we headed over to Coralanne and Eyrek's house for an Easter lunch.  :)  there was so much good food, but alas, i wanted to be hungry for the dinner i was to have with my Polish friend Zofia and her family later that evening.  :(  But i of course HAD to have a cookie that Coralanne made--snickerdoodles!  Coralanne is perhaps one of the best cookie makers in the world.  I am not joking.  Her cookies are ALWAYS fabulous.  And she makes "girl scout cookies" (thin mints)....better than actual girl scouts do.  LOL.  the kids had an easter egg hunt and we were just hangin out and eatin.
When 5:30 rolled around, i was at the tram stop, catchin my ride out to my friends house.  She and her father picked me up at Os. Lecha and took me a short drive to their lovely neighborhood on the outskirts of Poznan.  :)  They have a very comfortable and inviting home in this neighborhood that is very peaceful and calm and just nice.  There is a pond nearby that we took a walk to and there is an old brewery factory closeby that is quite an interesting building to see.
I walked in the door and was greeted so warmly and kindly by her mother, with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  Their little dog was excitedly barking and pawing the door to be let in.  It was a really cute and sweet dog!  I was shown into the dining room where we sat down to the table to begin our meal.  First, Ula had Zofia explain to me the tradition of the baskets and why there was butter, bread and eggs on the table to be served.  And on Saturday-the day before Easter-families put different things in a basket to take to the church to be blessed by the priest.  Most traditional is bread, ham, salt and pepper, butter and eggs--since these are the staples that no one would want to ever be without.  But they explained that some people add much more and bring large baskets to be blessed, but they are happy to just bring in these staples.  the food that is offered and then blessed on Saturday, is then eaten Sunday Easter morning with the family.  The blessed food can also be shared with close friends and family whom they want to share it with.  :)  That's ME!  Yay!

And they have these butter moulds that they use for Easter that are so cool!  It is a wood block that inside is shaped like a lamb and so you fill it with soft butter, put in the fridge for it so set and then they serve it on a plate with peppercorns for eyes and this special kind of leafy plant that is popular here for Easter as the ears!!  I wish i would have got a picture of THAT!  But i didn't.  :(  I am hoping to find one of those molds to buy....
So we had chicken noodle soup, and chicken with rice and a green salad and a traditional potatoe/egg salad.  hte meal was delicious and the conversation was so cool since Ula is a teacher!!!  We were having "teacher talk" lol.  It was really interesting to hear about education and beign a teacher from her Polish background and her expereince as a teacher in Poland and under the ideas of a Polish society.  But really, we were very similar on so many things!!!  I was so happy that her mother spoke such wonderful English!  Her dad, Pawel, was  a little more quiet since he doesn't speak as much English as Zofia or Ula--but i still felt very welcomed by him and like he could understand all that was being said, even if he wasn't doing so much talking.  After we finished with dinner, Zofia and i went for a short walk around the neighborhood.  :)  Zofia is a really special girl--she is about ready to graduate highschool and has a life full of oppurtunity before her and she realizes all the amazing possibilites before her!  She has so many different ideas and hopes and directions....she reminds me of me!  LOL.  I love her to death and we are very similar in many ways and think alike in many ways.  :)  I hope that she makes it to the US sometime so i can host her in Arizona!!!  She is talking about going to a college in England that specializes in translating and dubbing movies!  Isn't that crazy?!!?!?!  i never even knew such a program of study existed!  LOL.  But that would be a cool job--and hey, someone's got to do it!
After our walk, we had dessert at home with tea.  :)  I love tea and dessert!  LOL.  It is so quaint and makes me feel like...i don't know, it is just very traditional.  So we had some traditional cake for Easter time and just continued to talk til it got late and we were all getting tired.  Zofia and her father kindly drove me home--so i did not have to take a tram.  Her family was very adament about me returning to their home....SOON. :)  And in May they told me to mark a weekend in my calender for them to take me to some different places close to Poznan that i MUST see before i go.  So i look forward to spending more time with them in the future!  They even told me that my mother and i should stay with them when we come back in July!  :) I would love to, but i told them i would have to see about the arrangements we already made. But that would be so cool!  their family is just wonderful.  I can't imagine having had a better Easter....unless they had been able to come to MY family's Easter celebration in the states!  Maybe someday!!
Well, today is a day when people are free to throw buckets of water on perfect strangers, so i have kept myself inside all day catching up on cleaning and blogs and pictures and such.  But i reeeeeeeally, need to get outside and breathe some fresh air and stretch my legs.  Unfortunately the sun is taking a holiday.....a little chilly and looks like rain.  Ah well, as long as it ain't snowing.  LOL.  I hope i didn't just jinx the nation of Poland.

Polish Easter: Part One

One of the tables at Holy Start: Easter Edition.

This Easter weekend has been a really memorable time--lots of "firsts"!  First Friday....lol, it was Good Friday, and it was an extra special day for Holy Start because it was the "Easter Edition"--with all the traditional food for the Easter season: white sausage, eggs, various salads (not lettuce salads, these are "salads of substance" i like to say, lol), bread, cake....The tables were decorated gorgeously with candles and flowers and table cloths and little Easter decor.  I had the pleasure of sampling some of the food....amazing.  I just love the salads they have here.  This carrot/corn/chicken salad that Karolina had made was mouth watering and i probably could have eaten an entire bowl....but i resisted.  LOL.  So it was a real blessing to many and a real blessing to see the smiles and faces of people as they saw all the wonderful food.  :) 

The Polish neighbors with with Pig Farm.  :)

View of Nungesser's place where we will be having our ALIVE retreat for church in May.



The eldest son showing us his pigeon coop.
He raises pigeons; the value he places on them
and the passion and knowledge he has of them,
is very much like what I imagine Jesus is like
with us, His "sheep".  Most people don't see
pigeons as anything but he really loves HIS
birds. 



After serving the Holy Start Easter meal, i skipped merrily on my way to the train station for an exciting excursion to the Polish countryside--Gniezno--where i would get to do some manual labor.  Christian, Juice and I came out to transform the backyard of Rich and Brooke's house into a "retreat hotspot" for the ALIVE retreat coming up in a few weeks.  :)  We had a lot of fun, and got a lot of work done!  We were going to take a "short break" to go next door to see the "pig farm".....but of course there is no such thing as a "short" visit when it comes to country Polish hospitality.  :)  We saw the pigs, but then we were invited to see the new grand-baby, and then to stay for a quick cup of coffee, and then they were placing food before us and then the eldest son invited us to see his pigeons....hahahaha, oh it was a LOVELY afternoon and a GREAT memory i will have.  As you can see form the pictures, Juice is black.....well in Poland--especially out here in the country--seeing a black person is quite an occasion!  And when Juice was introduced to the wife and mother, he got a surprise!!  Here it is customary to give a kiss on the cheek when you greet someone; so Juice went in for the customary kiss on the cheek, but.....!!! She offered him her lips!!!  LOL.  All

of us were trying to contain our laughter and surprise, Juice did an EXCELLENT job of keeping his cool, but it was something we will laugh about and talk about for a long time! I am thinking back on the few minutes i spent inside the barn where the pigs are kept....i actually had to exit the building becuase for some reason--even though i typically have a very strong stomach--my brain would not communicate to my senses that it needed to get over the smell.  there was something about that smell that my body was just not able to handle.  Seriously.  I tried.  And now it makes me think about the parable of the Prodigal Son....and how it says he lived with the pigs and actually envied their food--wishing he could eat as well as them.  It gives me a new image and understanding of just how far lost and gone that man must have been.  And what a wonderful appreciation he must have been able to find in returning to his father.   And it also just gives me a tangible understanding of what it is like for God's aversion to evil and wickedness--this impossiblity to be near to it because of just how much it is on every level something that is completely repugnant to His being. 

We spent the night at the Nungesser's and had a great evening--us girls watched "Tangled" while the boys went down the road into town to swim at the pool and relax in the sauna.  the next morning we had French Toast!!!!!  It was so amazing and seriously the first time i ever really wanted more breakfast!!  It reminded me of my Dad making French Toast back home!  Brooke helped me play dress up to find a dress or a skirt i could wear for Easter Sunday.  :)  She has SO many cute clothes, and i found the perfect dress she let me borrow--for the rest of the time i am here!!!  Yay!  I may need it to go out to the theater--if i go to the nice theater to see a Polish production, which i HOPE i get a chance to do!  Or even just to go out with the girls.  :)

Saturday evening i was invited to an Easter dinner at Sweet Surrender with my friends Britt and Aaron (who volunteer at Holy Start with me) and Josh and Paige (who are here from North Carolina serving at Sweet Surrender).  I also went to the Easter fair with these two couples!  And had a marvelous time with them.  :)  So of course i made my potatoes for the potluck...and i was overhearing all the Polish people around me as they questioned what my dish was....the conversation sounded something like this... "Co to jest?" as htey pointed with a fork to eachothers plate where my potatoes were piled.  "Niewiem." the other replied wiht a shrug of their shoulders and put one on their fork to pop in their mouth.  "Jest dobre?" the first would ask. "Tak...myślę ziemniaki." then the other would spear a potatoe, pop it in their mouth and nod in agreement.  LOL.  So they liked them....it seems my Polish friends always do.  The tables were decorated beautifully, the food was dleicious--Britt made this vegan meatloaf that was SUPER good!  I was really surprised, but it serioulsy was great....quite the oxymoron though....vegan meatloaf??'?  Who'd a thunk it?  :) I met a splendid gal from Krakow who is studying Psychology and we had some delightful discussion and exchanged FaceBook information--OF COURSE!  We hit it off right away when i complimented her in her jacket--it was a gorgeous red color and looked really lovely on her....so i just walked up to her and told her i thought so!  LOL. 

In the book i am reading--and going to re-read--about 1 Corinthians 13(the love chapter), the author points out the sad fact that many times because we are raised a certain way, we don't share compliments or voice our appreciation of things in other people simply because we don't "know" them.  If we aren't close to someone, or if they are a stranger, it is like we don't feel comfortable to share with them something that may genuinely come to mind when we see them.  Like if i were in line in the grocery store and the lady in front of me had on a shirt that i really liked, i would not share this with her, i would  keep it to myself and just think how much i liked it.  But just think of how wonderful that lady may feel to know that someone noticed her shirt and took the moment to compliment her on it?  I mean, why do we withold that from the peopl around us anyways?  Are we afraid the other person may think we are a weirdo?  Let them!  LOL.  I mean, people think i am weird for many other reasons anyways, so i would love to be thought weird becuase i have this tendency to share encouragments with random people out of a genuine heart!  And who knows maybe YOU or I could be the encouragement that person needs in sucha  moment and it oculd even open up doors for further relationships to be built and then....who knows what one genuine word of encouragement or appreciation could do for someone. 

After the dinner, i walked home expecting a call from my Mama!  I got to talk to her about some things that i felt the Lord was showing to me about my heart and some of the situations i have intentionally put myself into while i have been here in Poland.  While i have been here, i have been in the company of people and in environments that are very new to me.  I love it when Jesus touches my heart with insight from HIS own example.  There is something very special in that, and it is a real conection of the verses that call us to be imitators of Christ, with the Gospels.  So when Jesus puts Himself in the company of sinners, He does not do it to become one of them, He does it for them to want to become one of Him (so to say).  His presence in such places is always for a higher purpose and always an act of love and desire to share His love with those HE is surrounded by.  He desired to reach them and teach them where they were, because they would not be the ones to come to Him.  In and of itself none of the "festivities" He would have partaken in would have been enjoyable for Him, apart from the hope that by being present with these people He loved, they would recognize that they were invited to be a part of an even greater "party".  I think in my "youth", lol, i lost sight of this partially for a little while--it was hard to come to a point of admitting this to myself.  And when i did, i felt the immediate reaction to flog myself for the inadequacy and question "what in the world kind of a missionary am i?".  I was feeling very, very discouraged, confused and frustrated--wondering how i could have possibly been so foolish and so wrong when i am here because of how much i love God and want to serve Him.  Feeling so screwed up and needing assurance of who i was in Christ.  And i was so thankful that my mom was there to give me the  encouragement i really needed.  SO yes, a very humbling experience, and one that the Lord definitely matured and grew me through. 

I am certain God has me in these peoples lives, and i am as confident that He would want me to reach out to them where they are.  But i must also follow His example of making my presence about them wanting what i have, not me wanting what they have.  My presence with them must be intentional to be impactful.  My hope is to impact them--for them to desire the love/satisfaction/fulfillment/joy/energy i have in Christ more than what they are settling for in life right now.

So yeah, this was part one....the next entry will be about Easter Sunday--church and my Polish experience with my friend Zofia and her family.

Blur

My o my, this past week has flown by.  The weather has really been so nice....actually, a little on the hot side!  I shutter to think of what it will be like in Phoenix after this....this weekend is Easter weekend and i am very excited to be able to spend Easter evening with a Polish family here in Poznan.  :)  My friend Zofia has invited me over to have an evening with her family--whom she tells me are very anxious to meet me for the first time.  Zofia is a gal i met through FoF, and she is actually still in highschool and will be taking her maturas here shortly.  We met up and walked around Cytadela a while back, whcih was so much fun and we learned through our talks that our family relationships were quite similar.  She also invited me to attend a Saturday evening mass with her and her family....but i don't think i will be able to make that because i already have plans to go to an Easter dinner at Sweet Surrender Cafe that night at 7 and the mass is at 8:00.  Hmmmm...we will see.  And today i realized that i should have been looking for some nicer clothes to wear for Easter, becuase i have ONE pair of regular shoes and my snowboots and NO dressy type clothes.  Fortunately, Brooke has offered to lend me one of her many beautiful and stylish dresses.  :)  I hope i can find once that looks decent on me!
Tuesday night we had a FoF movie night that was really awesome!  We watched an episode of the "Cosby Show" and an episode of "Monk", LOL.  And we ordered pizza--the biggest pizzas i have ever seen in my life!  On slice of this monster was like....TWO Costco pieces!!!  We just had a great tiem hangin out and four of my Polish friends came and had a really great time they told me and Aga particularly seemed to really be blessed by the kindness and warmness of our group.  :)  Marcin, Ola, Zyta and Aga (Ola and Zyta's roomate who they brought with them!) were all there and got a chance to meet the FoF group.  And the Lord totally had His hand in that because that night, Theresa talked to Marcin and in talking with him, she approached me with an idea she had while talking with him.  "How cool would it be for Marcin to start up a Bible study for Polish guys using the Discovery Bible Study" kind of method we used in 4 W's!" and she asked me what i thought he might think about it.  I totally caught her enthusiasm and thought it would be a great oppurtunity for Marcin if he were willing and wanting.  I thought maybe this could be an oppurtunity God put me in his path for!  Because as he has already expressed to me, and as i have heard from others, being "born again" in Poland is not an easy decision with family relationships if your family is Catholic; they see it as a betrayal.  :(  So i talked to Marcin about it the next day and he was really honored that Theresa would think of him to lead a study....but he said he was a little nervous, that he doesnt feel he knows enough about the Bible and he would be a little scared to do that.  I encouraged him that he doesn't have to be a theologian to lead a discussion of the Bible!  And Theresa would help him with materials that he could use to lead it.  Of course, i also expressed that it would be a big responsiblity--any leadership role is when you are leading people in spiritual matters--so in a way that could be a reason to be "nervous".  But really, i just encouraged him that if he is seeking the Lord in his life, and he is wanting to grow closer to God and help others to grow closer, he doesn't have to be a seminary graduate to lead a Bible study.  And then he told me that he would love to do something like that, but that he would rather wait til the next academic year just because of all he already has on his plate the remainder of this semester.  So Theresa and i are very excited about the prospects of a Polish guys Bible study being possible next academic year.
well, the flat is so quiet because all my roomies left to go to their hometowns for Easter!  So i have the place all to myself, lol.  Lots of stuff going on this weekend though, so i won't have the chance to be "lonely", haha.
Today i met with Ola--a friend of Dagmara's.  We took a walk and i treated her to icecream.  Last week we met up and we had a great talk..she is considering converting to Judaism.  And the story about her search forthe Truth and what led her to believe that Judaism is the right way, is very interesting.  And it got me to really thinking about her and praying for her and wondering how i could give her the Truth in a real way that communicated it meaningfully to her.  And i made her this card for Easter and i wrote something for her inside of it that i hope the Lord uses to touch the part of  her heart that still feels there must be something more than what she has found in Judaism. 
the prayer pictures i am making for many of my Polish friends are coming along very nicely.  I do hope they are a blessing to my friends and that it opens them up even more to Gods love and His truth and an openness to me sharing with them more directly the Gospel.

A Splendid Weekend

Just got back from a country Easter Fair!  So much fun and so many crafts and stuff made by locals!  It was great.  I wish I could trust that the real eggs that they paint would make it in one piece back home....they were so pretty, but no way would they make it in one piece.  But i got some other really neat stuff!  And of course i had some Polish fair food--Bigos!  Potatoes!  This weird candy that looks like a cord of wire and tastes like Coke! And soft serve icecream!  Spent almost the whole day out there.  I bought this very special kind of cheese that is very traditional and made in the mountains.  It is SO good, but really strong.  It is like a smoked cheese, so it is very interesting.
Saturday was an awesome day!  It was SO beautiful and Diana (one of my roomates) and I took a walk for like three hours!  Just enjoying the sunshine and not having to wear a jacket of any kind!!  It was amazing.  It was so nice to actually spend time with HER because even though i have been living with her, we have never really gotten to know eachother.  We are just so busy , each doing our own thing.  So that time together was real special.  And when i saw her the next morning, she was just beaming and said how much she enjoyed that time because she doesn't get out with people a lot and she just had such a great time meeting all the new people i introduced her to and doing the things we did that day.  I was doubly blesssed to hear how such a small thing could bless her so much!!! And of course NO girl time is complete without the involvement of FOOOOOOD!  So we had Stephanie over and i made them my potatoes and secret sauce and my carrot salad for dinner!  It was scrumptious. And i was live entertainment!  LOL.  Apparently, i get very crazy in the kitchen when i am excited by my guests!  It was Amanda's Crazy Kitchen, but hey, we were all laughing, and that is what i was goin for!
Marcin SMSed and asked if i wanted to meet him and some of his freinds for pool, so Diana and I packed it up and headed out for the club.  :)  Diana had never played pool before!  So as it was her first time...it was like watching a movie...you know, how the guy helps the girl learn to shoot a bow and arrow, or a gun or....a pool ball?  LOL.  Not that there was love in the air, but it was just cute.  Unfortunately we only had the pool table for an hour....sadness.  So Marcin took Diana and i for a walk to two different bridges and we circled back towards downtown so i could meet up with Dagmara and Pawel to watch the "football" match between Real Madrid and Barcelona.  But of course....as i have learned, Marcin has a sweet tooth....maybe two or three!  LOL.  SO we stopped in at Piotr i Pawel and got something to drink and of course chocolate.  :)  Marcin so generously shared his Oreo's with Diana and I. At the pub watching the match, Dagmara and i talked pretty much the whole time though, LOL.  Which was really nice because we had a lot to talk about since we hadn't seen eachother for like almost a week. 
Pawel was telling me that he and his father and brother may come to PIC for Easter service.  :)  Dagmara will be in her hometown with her family for Easter. And my friend Zofia has asked me if i want to spend Easter with her and her family.  :)  So excited to spend Easter in another country with different traditions!
Friday after my day with the kids i got to meet up with Emi and her family for FILIPPINO food!!!!  So cray to meet a Filippino lady here in Poland!  LOL. She came here for missions, met a Polish guy and got married!  Htey lived int eh states for a while and just recelty moved back here to Poznan.  She has such a heart for students here in Poland.  It was relaly encouraging to be around her and just hear her stories of what her time was like when she was first over here and what she hopes for the future with her ministry.  Her encouragement to me about what i am doing here.  :)  Her kids were the cutest!  And so goofy and silly!  She is really wanting to meet Dagmara and Pawel and any other Polish friends i have so that maybe she can begin to make connections with them too.  that would be good.....because, i have been trying to get my friends here to go to FoF stuff but a lot of times they don't get too plugged in to that or church.  :(  I really want them to have more friends in PIC or FoF because when i leave, i hope they arre comfortable and want to keep in contact with people from PIC and FoF.  Man.....holy cow....i am really going to miss these people. 
Been talking to God lately about where it is He is leading me.  I still am really unsure.  i feel like i would LOVE to come back here.  I really love it--the people, the oppurtunities to serve, the growth.  This is the best expereince of my life so far i feel like.  But at the same time, i dont want to get tunnel vision and put out other possibilities of where God  might lead.  And then there is the whole problem of there are more than one option and God would bless the following of any of them--it is really just fully up to me.  OI. 
Friday night i met up with Marcin at this "party" type of thing for his English studies class.  They were all a part of this program in which they were paid by the EU to teach English in smaller towns and villages here in poland.  So this was kind of a farewell, and job well done, kind of thing.  Greg and Konrad were there too--who are friends of Marcin.  And i got to talk with them and also the head guys for this program!  They asked me what i was doing in Poland and their eyes definitely grew in size when i told them what i tell people when they ask me why i chose to come to Poland.  LOL.  You see, people are amazed that i am here volunteering my time to teach English becuase it is something i could easily make a lot of money from if i went about it the right way.  And then when i tell them that i had never thought of Poland before, and it was actually God who led me here and how, well, they kind of scratch their heads but smile.  :)  It was relaly great to hang out wiht all these people but I actually had to get up an go outside because i was feeling quite lightheaded from all the smoke and how hot it was.  So that night i met some new friends of Marcin's that i hope i get to see more and i hope will come to some FoF nights!
Marcin and i took off from there and just walked over to McDonalds....because as you may remember he has a sweet toooth and he was craving some icecream.  LOL. So we sat and chatted while he ate his icecream.  He heard about this oppurtunity to go to Harvard and he is goin for it!  He has to write an essay and if his essay is chosen, he goes to an interview and if he is chosen from there he goes through more intereviews.  It is only for Polish people and you have to make 16,000 zl annually or less (which i guess isn't that uncommon).  their tuition is paid, their room and board is paid, their trip to US is paid.....it is an amazing oppurtunity!  And Marcin has this personality where he is SO optimistic and energetic it is unreal sometimes!  LOL.  And he goes for things "taking life by the horns".  And if they fail, he is okay with that, because he knows he gave it his best. 
So this weekend was just a really great weekend and i got to spend a lot of time with great friends.  :)  There was a gorgeous full moon the other night!  Made me so happy to see!  Alright, i am totally wiped out from all the late hours and early mornings i have been having.  Need to sleep.  Must.....go....to.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Snake Eyes

That is two great days in a row!  Tuesday was a sweet day with the kids; we had our normal dance class for the afternoon, which is always a lot of fun.  There was a girl there who i don't see very often but she is always very enthusiastic about everything and seems like a "helper".  After working with the kids i had college group with FoF and a missionary from North Carolina who is here with his wife working at the coffee shop, "Sweet Surrender", led the Bible study.  It was really a great discussion about living like the saved.  Juice--a fellow FoF student--led us in an opener:everyone wrote a fear and put it in a hat, then we each drew a fear that belonged to someone else, and tried to describe what it was they were feeling or what kind of person they were.  It was VERY interesting.  My fear was: making the SECOND best choice.  That truly is a fear for me!  I hate thinking i have made a good choice, but not the BEST choice.  Not sure if anyone else is like htat, but it is a serious problem at times, lol.  Paralyzing. 
After FoF i met up with Marcin and his roomate, Gregory, and we walked to downtown and met up with Ola and her best friend Zita.  The evening was just awesome!  I mean, anytime i am with these friends i just have such a great time.  they are so interesting, and they are so interested in English and cultures and....yeah, so we just always have such interesting conversation.  We went to this really neat little place that is kind of hidden away.  I never owuld have found it at least!  We enjoyed drinks and conversation until it closed, and then we headed for the night bus stop.  :)  Riding night busses is always.....interesting.  LOL.  You never know what might happen!  Sometimes it is completely uneventful and other times....haha.  Yes, mucho interesente...if only i could say that in Polish rather than Spanish......Bardzo interecujacy.  Fajne!
I am finally starting to get some words down--beyond the very typical ones!  it takes me a super long time to try to say small things, but...i am happy with baby steps.
And then Wednesday night i got to hang out with some of my girl friends and hear about their recent travels.  :)  We went ot  a place called Weranda, which is "smacznie"--tasty.  the food is so tasty there!  And just the ambiance of the place...i love it.  So yes, we went there and i got grilled pears with blue cheese over arugula and this cranberry marmalade.  It was to-die-for.  :)  it cost a pretty penny--or grosz, hahaha, but hey, it was good and it was a special night. 
Then on our way home, we had to jump off the tram becuase it was smokin like it was on fire underneath!  LOL. It was pretty nuts!  First one guy jumped off and was yelling to the driver in the section ahead and then we were wonderign what he was doing and then we saw the smoke!  It wasn't so ba, we just started to walk instead, and so glad i am that we did!  Becuase who should we run into???  Marcin and Gregory!!!  they were just standing on the street outside their flat--which is conveniently located above a LEGO store!  LOL.  So we chatted with them for a while and were on our merry home.
Tonight i had a wonderful lesson with Gosia!  I never realized before just how difficult it could be to desrcibe and teach how we use the work "like" in so many contexts!  And for her, it was difficult to grasp some of them.  But she did an excellent job and we are well on our way to mastering "like".  LOL.
then i went to meet up with Steph, Teresa and Natasha at Teresa's to watch TANGLED !!!!!  Excitement!  It was SUCH a cute movie!  Loved it.  I am a total fan of Maximus--the dog/horse. hahaha.  He definitely made me laugh.  A lot. 
And now i need to go to bed becuase my roomate is ready for bed.  :)  Of course i am too!  Tomorrow is working in the kitchen, working with the kids and then dinner with my Filippino friend!  Emi!  She is having me over to meet her family and have.....ADOBO!  I know, so crazy cool.  I am excited!  Well, alright i better sign out now. 
Dobranoc.  :)

I Had A Polish Dream

So I am sitting here wondering what I actually did last week…..lol, because it is a very strange thing when time seems to move so quickly you can’t remember anything!  And when time is so full you get every day mixed up, even though you follow a pretty set routine,, there are always those small things that get thrown in all around.  And then there are all those little thoughts I know I had through each day.  Little thoughts that really struck me at the moment, but which I cannot remember now to share them with you.  I do a lot of walking.  And when I walk, I just think of lots of things.  It’s usually a time of prayer, praise and thoughts that stem from those prayers.  It is a really valued time for me.

Ok!  So my time in Gniezno with the Nungessers was pretty much AWESOME!  Adelyne and I had a ton of fun playing dressup and reading Magic School Bus and watching “A Bugs Life”.  And we all had a wonderful dinner and played YAHTZEE and Go Fish!!  And Rich made some really tasty Oreo  coffee drinks.  I had a fish aquarium to keep me company in the living room…lol, the bed was SO comfy but those darn fish!!!  I thought they would be SO relaxing and soothing to go to sleep to…WRONGO!  I was up like every half hour until finally at 4 am I decided it was pointless and I could watch a movie instead.  It was nice.  And actually…I was still functioning through the day!  Rich and Brooke asked me if I could drive the second van into Poznan…., now, you have to understand that I do not drive stickshift.  I mean, I try to drive my parents xB and that is already hard enough on familiar roadways that follow certain rules….but HERE!  In Poland!!!  Driving a stickshift plus add in the crazy way these people drive plus the fact that these roads are totally unchartered territory for me……I just laughed.  Rich told me his story of being in Africa and how within the first few hours of being there he was handed the keys to a safari style jeep and told to take it home!  I was like, “Ok Rich, what are you trying to say?  Is this supposed to be inspirational for me, that you think I should go for it???”  LOL.  He just laughed and said no, it was just he knew where I was comin from.

Thursday I went over to Steph’s flat with some Dr. Pepper and soup…..she went to Spain and came home SICK!  Ugh.  It really stinks to go on vacation and come home from it sick.  :(  So I brought her some dinner and we got to just chat a little about things going on in life.  I really love this girl.  She is just, one of those people that I just click with, and really enjoy to be around.

Friday night I got to meet Dagmara’s brother for the first time!  I went with Dagmara and Pawel to a get together Kasper and his girlfriend, Agnieszka, were having at her home. It was very small, just a few other couples and me.  We sat and talked and played karaoke…and I sang…in POLISH!  And I pretty much shocked myself and everyone else at how well I did!  LOL.  It was just really nice to hang out with Dagmara and Pawel after so long of not seeing them I felt like!  I am really going to miss them when I go home to Arizona!  But we were talking and they had this great idea of being able to get a bunch of people together to go to Dagmara’s home town and her dad owns this big field area that we could have a day of different activities and then spend the night out there in tents if we wanted!!  I thought that sounded very cool!  So I am going to be talking to Teresa (the leader of FoF) about possibly trying to do a FoF event out there of some kind for like a day!  But I could see that being a really cool opportunity of doing a day of activities and ending the night with worship and a Bible study and doing a campfire and stuff!  It could be really awesome.  :)  So we shall see.  But anyways….Dagmara was telling me how excited her parents are to meet me and Pawel was telling me how his brother might want to go to the Tropical Island ALIVE retreat too!  And I was so excited because….they talk to their families about me!  And it was so cool to me.  :)))))  I was smiling so big on the inside.  So my evening with them was great and grand and I made it home real late but!!!! I actually slept in until like, 10 am the next morning!!!  It was AAAA-mazing!  Well, first I woke up at 7, but then I made up my mind it was much too early and I had to sleep more whether I was already awake or not……lol, and sure enough my body agreed.  :)

And on Saturday I got to spend the day at Chata Polska with Pan Wojtek (who speaks no English!) collecting food for the Polish Food bank!!!  It was awesome and if I could say nothing else in Polish….by the end of that day I sounded like a native with hello, please, thank you and goodbye.  LOL.  Seriously!  I think I said that order of phrases maybe 200 times!  Phew.  Surprised my mouth muscles weren’t sore.  ;)  but I guess they do get plenty of exercise, hhahahaha.  I just managed to laugh at myself and with myself all at the same time!  I love it when that happens!  So yeah, I even got to talk with this guy who came in with his friends because he had dreadlocks and I just randomly said, “So how long you been growing your dread locks?”  And he looked at me funny for a moment—totally caught off guard that I had just spoken English—and told me three years.  And so began our conversation.  Apparently, it is a dream of his to come to Arizona, rent a mustang and drive Route 66.  Hahaha, oh man I thought that was just funny.  Totally a “dream” inspired by movies I am pretty sure.  :)  So the collection went great….i wish I could speak Polsih—this is not the first time, or last time I am going to say this—so I could have chatted with some people more and especially to have been able to visit with Wojtek those 6 hours we were together!  But….that sweet old man cannot speak a word of English, and I unfortunately cannot understand a word of his muffly Polish.  And even if I could, I could never say anything back.  *sigh*

I don’t remember when, but I had a dream I was speaking Polish!!  If you have ever dreamed in a foreign language…it is the weirdest thing.  Because, it was like I knew it was Polish, and it had rhythm and everything of what I hear here in Poland, but I couldn’t distinguish words.  And the way I was talking was like I actually knew more than what I feel like I know!  So it was exciting!!!.......until I woke up.  And then my hopes were dashed once again.  Polish is HARD STUFF. 

Well, I guess that pretty much catches you all up.  I just spent like a few hours uploading pics….yeah, it is a long process.  Slow. Haha.  And now I get to read my book.  :) It is about the Love chapter in Corinthians and it is really, inspiring and challenging and eye-opening.   

Halfway Mark....

So i am beginning to realize that my time here in Poland won't last forever!  LOL.  It is a little more than halfway through my time here....it seems i forgot to celebrate my 2 month anniversary like i wanted to!  I can't believe how fast time goes, seriously!  I mean, i don't even feel like i have been here for nearly 2 and a half months!  And just in this short amount of time how much the Lord has done in my life!  I was talking to a friend the other day and it feels like my relationship with God has grown in a new and different way than it has ever had the oppurtunity to before because of the whole situation.  It is really amazing how our relationship with God is like that....we can have tons of different kinds of experiences with Him and learn and grow in different ways through them, just like with our relationships to people.  This is a dimension of God and an experience of Him i have never had before.  And now that i do have it.....it is like, i want to keep having it!
I was talking with another friend, and i believe the Lord has helped me in a major way since i have been here with discovering my testimony.  HE has used a friend here, Stephanie Warren (a fellow missionary) to help me with this.  I know it may soud strange..."discover your testimony? What in the world do you even mean by that???"  What i mean is, since i grew up in a "christian home", it wasn't like the world could see this HUGE tranformation overnight from a life of total sin to a life of "good".  By the wolrds standards, i was already a "good" person.  So i think there has always been this itch for me of, am i really saved?  And was it really God that worked in my life?  Or has this just been a natural progression for me as an individual who is maturing?  Was it God's power in my life that makes me who i am?  Or is it just something that happened?  And Stephanie gave me this mind picture of a tent, and how a tent is held down by all the pegs...and she was talking about her own faith and asking herself what pegs she had in her life that let her know for sure without a doubt that God was real and He was evident to her in her life.  And i began to think of my walk with the Lord, adn what "pegs" i had--what expereinces i have with Him that give me no room for doubt of His charge over my life and the direction of it and of who He is.  And i think a testimony is a crucial part of the confidence we have in God.  that time of change in your life when you meet God--or He meets you!--and there is a change from that point forward.  And the Lord has just been revealing things to me about my own life!  Imagine that--HA!  Learning from another person about MY LIFE!  LOL.  It seems so crazy, but now i know what God means wen He says He knows us better than we know ourselves.  :)  HE DOES.....not just figuratively, or as a way of exaggeration to make a point.  He really does know us more htan we know ourselves, and even from the time we were born, and even before, He knew the life we would have, the expereinces we would need, the places we  would need to go, the people we would need to be in contact with, the mistakes we would have to make....ALL so that in the end, we could turn to Him and say, "YOU are so good!"  So i am just rejoicing in this, that MY GOD, knows me better than i even know myself! And he is helping me discover my testimony of how he has worked in my life in the past, how it is affecting my present and the knowledge that He will continue the work in the future!
So just a fun event....last night i got to hang out with Marcin--one of my Polish friends who is studying English and is also almost ready to become a teacher!!!  We kind of just walked around a certain area of Poznan that has just really cool architecture and we just talked--a lot about language and just the differences in American culture and Polish culture, about teaching, about growing up and all sorts of stuff!  And he took me for my first pizza here in Poland!!!  And o man!  The pizza here is pretty much fantabulous!!  The crust is really good!  And the toppings are fresh and the combinations we got were excellent.  And before, i thought the white sauce i saw squeezed on the top of pizza was Mayo--becuase Polish people put mayo or ketchup on everything it seems like!  LOL--but it is actually this really tasty garlic sauce!  So yeah, it was great.  And he seriously didn't even think twice about the fact that both of us ate half a pizza.  LOL.  It was great! But we walked it all off!  *wink* thats how i justified it!  You can't not have a good time with Marcin becuase he is just funny and fun.  He has a real sincerity and genuineness about him that is just so nice and he is really high energy--like me!--and smiling all the time. And his views and thoughts on things are really honest and simple and he communicates with English REALLY WELL...sometimes better than me!  LOL.  So it was just real encouraging to be around him and talking about things that i can relate to with him--since we both want to be teachers and we both are "learners".  :)  And of course, we both love the Lord which makes it all that much better!
And now i am getting ready to head off to catch a train for Gniezno to spend the night with the wonderful Nungesser family!!!  It is going to be a fun night filled with LOTS OF Make Believe, stories, Barbies, Imagination, Excitement and Blessing....and of course Training for when my own little sister gets to be the same age as Adelyne!!! ;)  So take care everyone!  Hope the Lord is blessing you right this moment!

Exciting Sunday!

First things first, if you want to see pics and hear some stories about my adventures in London, i finally had enough time to make a video for that too!  That is a hyper link for all of you "tech immigrants" (a phrase i just heard today which refers to anyone born before the 1980's and is therefore an "immigrant" to the realm of technology since not born into a time when it was prevalent) so all you need to do is click on the phrase "Adventures in London" and it should take you to the video.  :)  Rozumiesz?  that means "Do you understand?" in Polish.  :)  Yes i know, impressive aren't I?  I can deliver simple one liners and suddenly i know another language.  *wink*  *sigh*  Oh , if only.

So now onto the good stuff!  Imagine it is 6:44 and you know your bus is supposed to come at 6:51 to take you to a location you MUST be at, at a specific time or else the whole world order will collapse....(well okay it wan't THAT dramatic, but picking up a guest speaker is pretty high up there).  You think, "Oh, i have plenty of time to tie my shoes, check my bag one last time before i go, etc etc etc".  And then as you walk out the door and are locking it, you hear a sound that should bring comfort, but instead delivers a stream of adrenaline not-quickly-enough to your legs, as you are attempting to sprint towards the bus nearest bus stop  with a full backpack and the props for your Sunday morning skit.  The adrenal gland seems to be far less active at this time of the morning i found out....since by the time i made it to the actual stop, my knees were knocking like Bambi's.  "I made my way to the front of the bus to where the driver sat, "Dziekuje bardzo!" i tried to smile.  I was thanking God he waited, becuase he easily could have taken off and left me in the dust!  I met our guest, Charles Dibie, at the train station and shared a froothie with him at Coffee Heaven.  "How did you know it was me?  Had you seen a picture of me or something?"  He asked as we sat down to our froothies.  I felt my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth because i wasnt sure how to tell him...."Well, no, i didn't see a picture....I just knew you were.....African."    It is certainly hard for an African man NOT to stand out among the pale Polish, so i figured it was him.  "So if there were another black man standing next to me, you would not have had a clue which one was actually me?"  he smiled and laughed as i shook my head no.  I was definitely glad he laughed; i don't know why i would have expected him to take offense to it. 
I rarely let myself get something in the bakeries here, just because i know once i start, it is so cheap, AND SO FLIPPIN DELICIOUS, that i will just want to get it all the time!  But this morning i got this pastry that was SO good.  And now, i am totally out of luck if i ever crave it in the future, because it is definitely not something any bakery i know of in the US could satisfy.  I almost think i may miss hte Polish food as much in America as i miss the American food here in Poland.
The skit was.....so much fun!  I just LOVE that kind of thing.  :)  Our skit was for the ALIVE retreat--which i think i shared before, but just in case, i am so psyched because like, 8 of my Polish friends really want to come!  I think the Lord gave me this inspiration and i have begun working on it.....i am keeping a "picture prayer journal" for each of my Polish friends who i feel the Lord lead me to do this for.  I took just a piece of paper and wrote out their name on it really cool. And now each day i am adding a picture to it that relates to what i am praying for them about.  And when i leave, i am going to give each of them their completed picture.  :)  I hope it turns out really cool and is a huge blessing to each of them.  I want it to just be something tangible that i can be like, "You think this is big?  That i would take the time to do this for you?  That i would have these thoughts or hopes for you?  GOD is even BIGGER in His thoughts towards you!  And HE wants to give you so much more than what i have shared with you!"  So yeah, i hope that it helps them to realize that what they experience of God's love through me, is only the tip of the iceberg!  But the rest is fully accessible to them just beneath the surface!!!
And then.....wow, talking with Rich and Brooke after church!!!!  I have been thinking more and more about going to every major region of the world as a missionary for a period of time like what i have spent here in Poland.....i said this at a staff meeting a while ago and now!  Rich and Brooke were talking about me traveling to visit PIC and Bread of Life Alumni to get the news about life and ministry on the field and then promoting their ministries and getting supprt for hteir ministries through writing and video and intereviews and .....just!  AHHHHH!  it seems so crazy that maybe, the Lord could lead me down a road of extreme adventure like that!  And then i started to think, how if i did that, i could turn "Couch surfing" into a ministry. Or staying at hostels!  I mean, think about it! If i were travelling abroad, that would give me an awesome oppurtunity to just meet so many people and along the way.  Young people who are exploring the world with just a backpack and the clothes on their back--going from hostel to hostel.  Or young people in their gap year.  ERASMUS students.  I mean, the possibilites are endless.....have i convinced anyone to come with me yet?  Leave it all behind for 6  months and live out of a back pack?   Just meeting people and loving people and investing in people?  Coming alongside of them and sharing in the freedom of the kind of life Jesus lived!  He was a traveller!  He roamed from town to town, meeting with strangers and being invited into strangers homes and eating and drinking with them.  But all with the purpose to invite them to come to Him.  He went out among them, and drew them to Himself.  I want to be a magnet for God; just drawing people in because they see His light in me. 
I realized today that God is the perfection of every human role.  The perfect father, husband, teacher, master, judge, etc.  He is everything.  YES, he literally IS everything.  We are just trying to imitate Him through everything that we know as the world.  We are trying to find satisfaction in the fractured pieces and not in the perfect whole.  We are satsified way too easily, we need to learn to want more of Him and remember that He wants us to want more from Him!  He is the one thing He wants us to be greedy about!!!
Well, my friends, it is time for me to get some much needed sleep.  I hope you have enjoyed/been encouraged/been challenged/ or at least made it through without the need to skip chunks--the last thing i want is to be  a Melville....a literature joke, pardon me.  *wink*  Goodnight!

The adventure began before i even got to the zoo...I was meeting Judit at the Fredry tram stop when i saw her tram approaching....the tram stopped and the doors opened and out popped Judit, smiling as usual.  Her smile lasted a split second before i heard a scream and suddenly realized it was me and i was frozen as i saw a car smash into Judit as she stepped off the tram.  Had she stepped a few inches further, she would have been in the path of the whole car front, but as it was, she only got hit with the side and the mirror.  Her foot didn't even get run over, which was a miracle.  Both of us still shaking, we boarded the 17 tram, on our way to the zoo here in Poznan.  The two young girls driving the car were told to pull over to the side by the tram driver, so that he could get their information.  It was crazy.  It was really crazy.  I mean, nothing like that has happened before--to me or to her the whole time we have been here.  And seeing that, was...nuts.  Just thinking about it now....what if she had been hit, and hurt, really bad?  I was, AM, just so thankful that God gave her safety in that situation.  And then i got us lost....LOL....got a little too confident with my "locator" skills and thought i could do things without consulting the map.  Never a good idea when you are visitng a NEW area, no matter how well you know the familiar areas.  But, we eventually made it to the zoo where we met up with Dagmara, Pawel and Ola and a little later Amelia and her boyfriend Gino.
The zoo is HUMONGOUS.  we walked around in it--and still didn't see EVERYTHING--for 3 hours about!  Everything is just really spread out, and we weren't moving too fast, so that may have been why 3 hours went by and we still hadn't gone through the whole thing.  They even had a bald eagle there!  Two actually, but i was not too impressed with the area they were enclosed in.  When you think about it....and Judit and i DID think about it...zoo's are unfortuante places almost.  Because of the limits the animals are given.  I don't know, it is important and cool that we can observe them, and in some ways this helps sustain a certain population, but....like this bald eagle for example...was NOT impressed with what it was provided.  And i am NOT typically one of the "animal rights" kind of people who goes overboard on the issue.  The elephant area is the main attraction and is pretty impressive, i must say.....but then, elephants don't fly,a nd a simple wall can easily keep them from escaping.  It would be much more difficult with birds to give them a large area.
Tomorrow i get the honor of picking up our guest speaker form the train station and treating him to breakfast before church!  He was a student here in Poznan and went back to the Ivory Coast and began a Bread of Life foundation there!!  And now he will be speaking at our church tomorrow morning.  :)  I look forward to talking with him and hearing about how the Lord led him to do what he did!
Just finished Skyping with the family for Aryanna's birthday party....*sigh*  Sure do miss home and family and friends.  I guess that is all i really have to say about that.  In many ways i can't wait to be home, but at the same time, i would not trade a moment of my time here.  I am enjoying this time far too much, and am way too convinced that i am right where i am supposed to be for this time.
Dobra noc.