The entries below share a bit about what is happening in my life as I walk the journey that God has placed before me. I am excited to share these thoughts with you and would welcome your comments. May God grant us each the grace to follow Him more closely each day.
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Neverdiditoccurtomethatwhen I foundthetrailagain, itwouldruinmylifeforever.
For onceyoufeelthebreath of Godonyourskin,
youcannever turn back, youcanneversettle for whatwas; youcanonlymoveonrecklessly, with abandon, yourheartfilledwithfearandyourearsringingwith the constant words of encouragement, "Fearnot."
It's done...My testing appointment was for 9:30 this morning. I was told to arrive no later than 30 min before testing was scheduled to begin. I decided to leave my apartment at 7:45 to give myself plenty of time. Since I don't use public transportation during the day, I wasn't sure how long it would take. I was pleasantly surprised with the time it took to get to my stop. I walked for a bit and found the testing site well marked. I wandered into the testing center just before 9:00.
I greeted the woman who graciously explained (in Romanian) that they had been having technical difficulties for the past 2 days and she wasn't sure if I'd be able to take the test today. She didn't expect to know anything before 10:00. I could wait in the hall. I pulled out my vocabulary flashcards and waited...and waited...and waited. Three other examinees arrived. She kept telling us she hoped it would only be a few minutes longer. Two examinees decided to leave and come back for the 1:30 testing time.
Just before 11:00, she called me in to register and assigned me a computer--only an hour and a half behind schedule. I was thankful the exam was computer based so when I finished sections early, I didn't have to wait on anyone else to finish. After 2.5 hours, I finished. The woman 'proctoring' the center was a little shocked that I had completely finished the test. Apparently, most people use 4 hours. I was thankful to be walking out the door when I did...hungry and ready to stop thinking! I'm thankful to have this step done in the process of applying for grad school.
I had the privilege of traveling to Budapest, Hungary for Thanksgiving break this year. My parents also arranged to be in Budapest so we were able to enjoy some time together! We all stayed with another missionary family with ReachGlobal who graciously welcomed us into their home. It was wonderful to leave my computer at home and just enjoy being with people.It was fun to be around young kids again. We spent lots of time sitting together reading books!
This is all of us headed into downtown Budapest on the train.
In front of St. Stephen's church. The designs on the ground were beautiful!
Some things I'm thankful for:
God's still at work in my life and in the lives of those around me
warm weather so far this winter which makes traveling to/from school pleasant
On the last day of my time in Budapest, we drove to Szentendre, a small town near Budapest with lots of fun little shops and beautiful scenery. We walked around enjoying the sights and stopped in to look at numerous shops. This town claims the world's only Marzipan museum. Their collection includes the Hungarian Parliament, beautiful wedding cakes, Walt Disney characters, furniture replicas, and so much more, Additionally, you can watch them create new things.
Because of a Romanian national holiday on December 1st, we had Monday and Tuesday off this week as well. Because of the shortened week, I knew I'd need to spend some extra time at school to be ready for next week. As I left school Friday evening, I was thankful for my warm coat and gloves. I trudged down the street about 10 min to catch the tram. The first one came and it was packed so I decided to wait for another one, figuring it'd be coming soon. Two rounded the corner just a few minutes later. I passed up the first, hoping the second one would be emptier and I might end up with a seat. I was thankful for the seat and the warmth. Before arriving at the next stop, we came to a halt. I didn't really take much notice of it (I was reading a good book), until I realized we'd been sitting for some time and people were starting to walk to the front of the tram to get off. I decided to give it another five minutes (or until everyone else left the tram) and then make a decision. Five minutes later, we were still sitting in the same spot. I trekked to the front of the tram and exited, seeing 6 trams lined up in one direction and three coming on the opposite tracks. Blocking the path was an ambulance. I snapped the picture below (I know it's blurry...) just as the ambulance began to move. So instead of taking the metro or walking, I ran back across the street and got on a tram for the remainder of the trip home. Over an hour after leaving school, I walked through my front door thankful for a beautiful, warm apartment, safety, and a quiet evening ahead.
Last fall, I found myself frustrated with the Harvest Party that's turned into tradition for BCA. It felt too rushed, frenzied, and like way too much work. I loved that families were together, except that with limited space it ended not working out quite so well, and what adult really wants to bob for apples, have their face painted, or color a fall picture. So, I was watching for other ideas for that Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving.
God provided the answer in the form of an advent celebration. My heart was for families to spend time together and to give families tools that perhaps they weren't familiar with that might help them in guiding their children spiritually. With those hopes in mind, I started brainstorming and researching. I landed on a simple event--time together with a story (one of my family's traditions) and some sharing followed by time spent with other families working on a couple different activities. Students made ornaments and cards and worked with their parents to create an advent calendar made of construction paper rings labeled with verses.
The afternoon went better than I could have anticipated. Rooms were filled with laughter, conversation, and Christmas music. I wandered between the rooms helping answer questions and interacting with parents who I don't often get a chance to talk with. I'm thankful for the staff that was willing to help and for families that were willing to try something new.
With the daughter of one of our elementary aides.
EuJin and her family working on their advent calendar.
Rose working to make her family's advent calendar.
Working together to make a 3D snowflake--no matter the ability of the child, they turn out great!
There were a couple options of style for cards families could make. Some are visible in the picture below.
The afternoon ended with a couple families playing "6-square" in the courtyard of one of the buildings. The 4th-6th graders have adapted the game "4-square" to allow more people to play in the limited space they have.
I had a very special birthday! I'm so thankful for the family and friends God has blessed me with who encourage me and stand with me in the joys and the pain.
My day started early--Monday morning:)--and with flowers from a friend that graced my office until I left town later in the week. Before the kids arrived, the elementary staff came to sing to me and we enjoyed coffee cake. As I came downstairs from teaching geometry, gathered my things, and prepared to head to my office, I was greeted by all the elementary students outside my building singing "Happy Birthday" in two languages and three different versions. What fun! They'd created a book for me as well, with each student preparing a page with a message and/or picture. I've been through it a couple times and truly treasure their words. The afternoon went quickly with preparations for the advent celebration. That evening I met a friend for dinner out at a Mexican restaurant near my apartment. I felt loved and cherished.
Not only was my birthday a joy, but the days leading up to it and following it were very special as well. My mailbox (both real and email) were flooded with cards, notes, and gifts. It was a very special reminder of all the people God has placed in my life!
They finished the resurfacing/insulation of my apartment bloc. They relocated the scaffolding to the rear side of the building (closest my apartment) and began work there not much later. It's a little disconcerting to be walking around my apartment working on things with a group of people right outside my window installing insulation.
I wish there was a least a little logic to the color scheme/location. I do have to say that it looks better than the bloc just up the street which has the same colors with the addition of brown. Yikes! Here's the up close picture to show the three colors...such a strange combination, but it seems to be the color scheme of choice for this winter. I've seen blocs all around town with similar colors. And as my sister graciously reminded me, at least it's color:)
Just in case you haven't yet seen these... Here are some neat ways to help BCA.
1. igive.com: Make money for BCA while you shop online at no additional cost to you. When you shop at one of over 700 participating stores (Gap, Old Navy, ITunes, Amazon, etc.), a percentage of your purchase comes to us! It’s anywhere from 3% - 26% of what you spend. Free money for BCA!
2. isearchigive.com: Make money for BCA while you do internet searches. It's not quite up to Google standards, but for free money, I spend a little time using it.
3. idonate.com: Turn cars, boats, jewelry, land, timeshares, overstocked inventory, and much more into donations for BCA.
I stopped by Mr. Bricolage after school yesterday hoping to pick up a few items for school projects and some things for my apartment. I found the first thing on my list and then went to ask for help to find two other things (of which I'd gotten the Romanian translation figuring that would make things easier). I went up to one of the salespeople and asked if he could tell me where the razor blades were (lame in Romanian). He proceeded to ask which type of razor blade I wanted to which I had no reply. What did I want to do with this item? Scrape things off of glass. I drew a picture and then proceeded to demonstrate with the small piece of paper I had my list on. He got this look like he knew what I wanted and proceeded to show me putty knives. Not what I was hoping for and they didn't look anything like my drawing. So, since I couldn't come up with any other words to explain what I wanted, I decided to ask for the next thing on my list...sand paper (hârtie de şmirghelui). He didn't understand it the first or second time I said it (not surprising) so he finally tried to decipher my writing. He led me over to the small selection of sandpaper and asked what I wanted it for. For a school project I explained so the color is important. At this point I was hoping he would just leave me to look at the options, compare prices, and make a selection, but he kept picking up items for my consideration--all the wrong color. I finally took one of the things he offered, thanked him, and started walking off. When I saw he had left the aisle, I returned to the sand paper and took my time picking out what I think was the best option considering my needs. I had also noticed the razor blades on the way to the sand paper so backtracked a bit to pick those up. Having completed my shopping list, I headed toward the check out, being only slightly distracted by the Christmas display on the way there.
