Me? A Blogger?

I find myself so drawn to this concept called blogging, although I make no time for it in my life. I told Cory in Poland that he could hold me accountable about blogging because I feel like it is important. Not so much because I have anything profound or wonderful to share, but because it is good for me! So here I sit two months later finally writing. I recently watched Finding Nemo with my sweet Evan and got so much revelation out of it. (I know you moms out there understand the world of insight you get from cartoons!) We were never meant to be ruled by fear, and sometimes it takes a journey where you are repeatedly forced out of your comfort zone to release the real you that has been hiding in captivity! Take Marlon (Nemo's dad), for instance; he was a fearful, over-protective, nervous fish at the beginning of the movie. After his only son gets captured by divers, he goes on an epic journey to find him at all costs! His adventures land him in some very scary places, but he conquers them with courage. After finding his son and returning home, Marlon is completely different. He is full of joy, completely at peace and able to be in relationship with others. Even though tragedy had struck in his life and he experienced great loss that forced him to that fearful life, that was not who Marlon really was! When the movie ended and I was thinking about this idea, the Lord so gently came upon me and said, "That is what I did in you in Poland.". I was moved as I began to see myself as a closed and cautious person after a year of heartache and loss. But the Lord took me on a journey across he ocean and pulled courage and confidence out of me. He healed my heart and awakened my true identity! I came back different. Changed. And I like it. May you too experience this freedom! May you be so taken in to the fullness of God that your fears are stripped away and your true identity is released!

Wrecked Without Crayons

I am completely overloaded. I can't even put words to what is happening in me. Even as I write this I am tearing up. I will post a few pictures from the day so maybe you can catch a glimpse of what is going on here. I think I am going to paint what is happening in my heart today. I was going to sketch it out, but believe it or not, I have no crayons with me.

The events of the day included a visit to Hurnhut, Germany. This is the place of the Moravian revival. We also visited a family in the church that just had a baby. What an honor to sit at their table and then pray for them and baby Michael. Then I went to visit Dominika and any part of my heart that was left was definitely ruined there. Then we had a dinner with Marek and his staff that was wonderful. Very powerful.

I am a wreck. I will try to put more into words later.

The Little God Moments

Today has been a day full of God moments for me. If I recorded all of them, you would be bored and my fingers would be tired! We had a church service this morning and once again I was amazed at God's goodness to break down cultural or language barriers. There are none in worship! It is fantastic to join with these wonderful people and worship Jesus together! Sweet Natalia sat with me and whispered to me in Polish on and off through the service. I have no idea what she was saying but I used the opportunity to whisper words of life and encouragement back to her in English. Dominika was there and she has grown sooo much! I look forward to spending time with her tomorrow. Her mom has invited us into their home for coffee tomorrow!

After the service we drove through the mountains. It was breath-taking! God is so amazing and I just could not help but feel His presence in such a beautiful place. We ended the drive at Peter and Anya's home. They are the youth pastors in Marek's church. I am so moved by the hospitality of the people and the slow pace of the culture here. I love not having an agenda. I love sitting with coffee just for the sake of being with people! Spending time with Marek and Marcia is so good for me. I feel like I am being impacted on a leadership level that is not really definable yet. God is indeed moving!

Am I Hearing You?

The youth meeting was good. I spent about an hour or two preparing a message only to have it scrapped at the last minute. I was jotting down a new sermon on the way to the meeting after a fresh download from God. (those are usually better anyway) It was one of those times when you wonder if you are even hearing from God at all. I was reminded to think and analize less and just follow the Holy Spirit. My heart was so moved for the young people. I shared what was on my heart and then we had a time of prayer over each one of the youth as well as Peter, the youth pastor. It was so fun to watch God move and speak!

I have been so captured with God's love for these people. He is doing something wonderful here, and I am being so blessed to just be a part of it...just to watch it!

Balloon Art

This is our team as balloon dogs (or pies in Polish). I am the pink one. :) Thought it was amazing that they stuck to the back of the couch!

The Sweetest I Love You

This morning was so fun! We went to the church building and helped out with the children's club. Dominika was not there today becuase she was with her dad in another village. I was soo sad to miss her, but Swavek said she would probably be at the service in the morning. I found out that I was teaching the Bible lesson while the kids were eating breakfast. In my head I was thinking it was no problem because I have been teaching kids for so long. So I asked Swavek what the lesson plan was about. He told me they were teaching about paper...how paper was different when people were recording the bible,how they had to make their papyrus, ect. I can honestly say that I have never taught a lesson on that and, in fact, it has never even crossed my mind. So I had all of ten minutes to figure out how to teach children about this. It went just ok.

Gary came in as a clown and the kids loved it. We made balloon creations and painted faces. It is always amazing to see how God crosses culture barriers and knits hearts together. There was this sweet little girl named Natalia. She was probably four or five and she just latched on to me. She held on to my leg and then did something that absolutely melted my heart. She kissed me on the cheek and said in the best english she could...I love you. It was one of the sweetest 'I love yous' I have ever heard!

It is cold here! Today it was around 13 degrees. We spent the morning cleaning the church building instead of working outside because of the cold. It was such a neat experience even though it was just cleaning. I think the whole team would agree. For me personally it was more than just serving that church...it was serving the Lord. Cleaning became a joy and I had so much fun mopping. While we were there a man came with a bunch of bread. The church hands out bread every day to the poor people in Gryfow. We didn't actually get to be directly a part of that, but we saw it and it was powerful! Something amzing happens when the church serves people in need!

After cleaning we went to lunch at Marek's house. Marcia prepared the most wonderful soup for the first part of the meal!! It was enjoyable to be in their home and to visit with them for a couple of hours. When we got back to the center, Melissa, Laura and I walked down to the river. (I don't really know what we were thinking with it being 13 outside) It was really neat. You could see where people had been ice fishing and the snow was beautiful. The second picture is me standing on the frozen river. Never done that before!!

The guys are at the men's meeting. We ladies are hanging out and working on face paint and balloons for the kids tomorrow. Should be a good time!