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| One of the tables at Holy Start: Easter Edition. |
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| The Polish neighbors with with Pig Farm. :) |
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| View of Nungesser's place where we will be having our ALIVE retreat for church in May. |
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| 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.
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