My next great adventure...

Well, I'm getting married. Off on another great big adventure I suppose! Here's to picking out a date, pretty fall colors and a dress! :-)

Lucenec and Cinobana

Our team arrived safely in Budapest, Hungary, early last week. Our first week in Slovakia was spent living in Lucenec with a host family. We commuted about twenty minutes each day to Cinobana in order to teach English each weekday for three hours. I taught a beginner English class of eleven children (ages 10-12). The teacher spoke English well enough to translate; however, her German was much better as she is a German teacher in the school. Along the way, the children insisted that I learn basic Slovak, and they spent some time teaching me my numbers and a couple of different greetings. After several days (and lots of giggling), they were almost satisfied with my pronuciation of their Slovak numbers.

During the afternoon from 2-5 pm, our team hosted a camp for both Roma and Slovak children. Each day we had about 35-45 children show up for games, crafts, Bible stories and singing. For the final day of camp, we partnered with local translators and affiliates to host a carnival for the children during the early evening. With face and fingernail painting, fishing for candy, painting, relay games and a bucket toss, there was a lot for the kids to do and enjoy.

This weekend we will be living and relaxing in Nesvady, Slovakia, before moving on to another week of camp. Please continue to pray for us as we travel and share the love of Christ!

Tomorrow's the day!

Tomorrow the Roma Road Team will be leaving from the Atlanta and flying to Europe! Please keep us in your prayers as we travel and complete our assignment this summer.

God Bless!

Another adventure...

This summer I and four other students will be traveling to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland to work with CBF personnel on behalf of the Roma gypsies. Together we will be hosting English camps, backyard Bible clubs, and learning more about the Roma culture and people. As we travel, internet access will be limited, but don't worry, I plan on taking plenty of pictures for the return home to Missouri. My updates will be few and far between, but I do ask that you remember to keep us in your prayers as we travel and share the love of Christ.

Pictured above: CBF Student.GO - Roma Road Team 2011

Below I have listed a brief schedule so you all will be able to keep an internet eye on us. :-)

June 21 - Depart STL, MO USA

June 22 - Arrive in Budapest, Hungary

June 23 - Relocate to Lucenec, Slovakia

June 24-29 - English Cam

ps in Lucenec and Cinobana, Slovakia

June 30-July 3 - Nesvady, Slovakia

July 4-8 - Vazec, Slovakia - Roma Camp

July 9-10 - Prague, Czech Republic

July 16-21 Brno, Czech Republic and Auschwitz/Berkinau Concentration Camps, Poland

July 22 - Return to Budapest, Hungary to return to USA

Our Daily Bread

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42

While thumbing through a magazine this afternoon, I stumbled across a recipe for banana bread. And, being the impulsive baker that I am, I went to the store to grab some buttermilk and shortening to try out the recipe. Upon returning home, I dragged out the bread pans and kitchenware necessary, cranked up the Johnny Cash and went to work. Stirring this and mushing that, the mixture was finally poured into the pans and placed into the oven with care. And then, the most difficult part.

I waited.... and waited. Impatiently. Checking the timer every two minutes.

As I waited, self-doubt showed up to assist me during the baking process.

Did I mess something up? How many bananas did I put in? What's the oven temperature set on? Did the recipe call for baking soda or baking powder?! It shouldn't be taking this long!

And finally.....BEEPING!

I pulled the first pan out, stuck in a knife and.... still squishy. Placing the pan back in the oven,

self-doubt and I spent another ten minutes together before the bread was thoroughly baked.

This time, I pulled the bread out of the oven, and my fears nearly vanished. I had what smelled like and looked like banana bread. Cautiously tasting a bite, my concerns dissipated. I even called my mom to celebrate in my banana bread success. However, hanging up the phone, I realized that I had a problem.

Okay. Great. Now what? I have two pans of banana bread. I can't eat it all. What should I do with it?

Not a second later the light bulb above my head came on, and I had my "Ahah!" moment. Perhaps I should share my bread. I should take it to others and let them have some. Maybe we could talk about the impending snowstorm, Cardinals baseball, iPhone apps, or just life in general. Perhaps we might even share parts of our lives and build life-sustaining friendships with others.

Its no secret that some of the best relationship building happens over a delicious morsel. The disciples and apostles were constantly breaking bread together in the New Testament. In fact, the word "bread" appears in the King James Version of the Bible nearly 360 times. People are created to be together, build relationships, and share their experiences. So this week, sit down with someone over a tasty treat and simply share.

Stayin' Alive

"...Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

Oh, don't worry about that noise. That's just life throwing lemons at me again. It's not really a big deal, you know. What life doesn't know is that I'm going to take those lemons and make an exceptionally delicious lemon meringue pie. Doesn't that sound fantastic?! Really, who doesn't like pie?

This semester, life decided to throw curve-ball lemons my way, BUT life has also thrown some yummy stuff to make pie with as well: sugar, butter, salt. Sugar and butter are great, sure, but you just can't have lemon meringue without lemons. So I will take my sugar, butter, salt AND lemons, and I will make an awesome pie that I can share with others and sustain life. I will take those bad life experiences and I will turn them into something that Christ can use to touch the lives of others. I will use those experiences (both good and not-so-good) and share them, learn from them, and grow from them.

A lot has happened in the past few months, and in fact, only one word could describe it accurately: chaos. Before you can understand why I'm making a lemon meringue pie, it's essential for me to summarize where I've been and what has happened in my life over the last few months.

While in Atlanta for the end of the summer Student.GO retreat, I received a telephone call from my mother telling me that my grandmother Margaret was dying. Some very caring friends on the Atlanta side made sure that I made my flight in order to go home and tell her goodbye. After being out of the country for most of the calendar year and in Virginia for the summer, it was a relief to see my family at the airport. They took me to the hospital to see my grandmother, which was one of the most heart-wrenching, gut-twisting visits and goodbyes that I have ever spoken. After seeing her, I finally went home and slept for a long while.

I stuck around Cape for a few days, and each day that I was there, Grandma kept improving. She was finally sent home on hospice, and I returned to Virginia to say goodbye to all of the LUCHA folk that I had worked with over the summer. I had a great time seeing my girls again, and Sue and Greg Smith had a cookout for Kyle and myself. I left F'burg two days later and drove home through West Virginia and Ohio.

Sadly, I had no time to recover before SEMO started the fall semester, and my other grandmother was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. Thankfully, I have an amazing family and a couple of epic friends who helped me to cope with what was happening to my family and how disheartened I truly was.

However, this fall hasn't been a complete lemon. As the semester progre

ssed, I spent most of my free time at my grandmother's apartment watching Cardinals baseball (how unfortunate that they couldn't have gone all the way this year). Things continued to look up, and my relationships with my family and my amazing friends (one in particular) began to deepen. I also started working at Cross Point and SAQ again. Lindsey, Eric, Aaron and I started working with the kids on Wednesday nights, and Lindsey and I are still currently teaching basic Spanish at the Nazarene Church.

On October 28th, I had to have my horse, Little Bit, put down. I miss her terribly, and her departure has left a gaping hole in my heart.

Two days later, my SEMO advisor informed me that I should be gr

aduating in December....THIS December! That's only a semester ahead of time. Goodness, I'm glad they let me know about it. I'm also grateful that the Registrar's Office managed to figure out my life situation and accept my application to graduate. I'm only a few weeks away now, and I'll be extremely happy to have SEMO behind me.

So there you have it. Now you know why I've decided on baking a pie.... My grandmothers are still with me, I'm graduating in December, and the relationships that I have right now are deeper and stronger than they've ever been. I'm alive and eating a delicious life, I mean, lemon pie.

Almost done!

Our trip to Passport Camp in Wenham, Massachusetts, flew by at warp speed. The youth had a great time, and no one died (that's the most important thing). They worked at several different mission sites, held daily Bible study and worship, went to the 60's dance and participated in the HeeHaw talent show. On the way home, we accidently ended up in Manhattan, so we decided to visit the John Lennon Memorial in Central Park and Times Square. Overall, an amazing time.

This is my final full week in Fredericksburg, and it's going to be a busy one. On Monday we're taking everyone to the pool. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday we are distributing children's books and taking people to their doctor appointments. On Wednesday, Kyle and I are taking three of the older youth to the University of Maryland. And on Sunday three of us are driving to Alabama for the end of summer retreat. Should be a great time!

Pictures soon!