Womens' Day

Who ever heard of a holiday celebrating women, other than Mothers' Day? It wasn't until I arrived here that I learned of such a day. :) I have to admit though, being a girl, I kinda like it! Flowers and chocolate - what could be better?

I got a beautiful red tulip on Sunday during our partner church's Agape meal. Instead of a more traditional service, we all bring food and have a meal with fellowship, worship through song and a short message along with testimonies from those who feel led. It's not terribly different from most Sundays, except for the food! It's one of my favorite times because I can watch the congregation gather and enjoy each other as we celebrate our Lord. As usual, I hardly know what is really going on, but I can feel the Spirit moving.

That evening, a group of ladies from our English Club decided to get together to watch a movie. They chose a Polish film - written in Polish, produced in Polish, filmed in Poland. How much did I understand? More than I thought I would, but still not a lot.

The evening, overall was a struggle at first. I had spent the entire day in Polish and was trying my best to keep up but failing quite quickly. I really wasn't sure that I could handle an entire movie in Polish - especially a chick flick, as those are not my favorite type of films to watch. We started with coffee and a social time in which a dear friend recognized the others around me were pre-occupied and I was left to observe. He came and joined me and we caught up on some good conversation. It was light, but still fun and something I had missed recently.

A little later that evening, God answered a prayer of mine in a way I didn't expect. I wondered why I was supposed to be there - why did I say I would go to a Polish film? Why was I not understanding? Oh.... one of many frustrations. All the sudden, it was like God truly just dropped the answer in my lap. An incredible question from someone gave me assurance that I was supposed to be there and an energy I was lacking all day. With everything appearing to be "wrong" or inconvenient, I was told that its not my burden. I felt like God just took the reigns and said, OK child.... let me drive a while. 

It's not always easy here. Life in general is difficult and just harder! It takes longer to get things done and the language barrier is unbearable sometimes. It's frustrating when I can think of every word I need except one!

So tomorrow I go to get my local residency card (again) and then to the Visa office to pick up my card. :) FINALLY! After Monday, everything will be finished and final and done done done! I can stay and don't have to worry about going to the Visa office again!

love to you all,

Kay

Another Snowy Day in Warsaw

It's been snowing...for days now. It started on Friday (the 13th). I've never had a bad Friday the 13th before, but this one was. First off, I lost my metro card with over a month still left on it. Not only did I lose it, but I lost it the day it began snowing....and it kept snowing and keeps snowing!

I've decided there's no hope for my poor metro card - oh well, such is life!

However, over the past few days as I wake up to big white, soft looking flakes, the snow has accumulated to a pretty nice height on my porch. It was flawless....a blanket of white splendor. I thought, "hmm, I should take a picture of this" .....then my doorbell rings. It's my language teacher ready to start lessons.  So we do. 3 hours later I had forgotten all about the photo I wanted to take until I looked out my window at my still perfect, snow-covered porch while I prepare lunch. 

"oh, I'll get the photo after I finish eating" I think to myself. 

Nope. Within minutes, I look back up and there are 2 lines of bird feet prints! "What!? Why?" Saddened, I continue working and look up now to see 4 lines of prints, now going in all directions. Then I spotted the culprits! 2 pigeons have decided to explore my balcony for a bit. I watch them roam around for a while and shake my head. "There goes the one beautiful bit of untouched snow left..." 

So, you get to enjoy the bird prints with me. At least something got to enjoy the snow! I have been tempted though to go outside and make a small snowman with what's there. And for those of you who know me and how I don't really like the snow, that's saying something! 

Fortunately, clear skies are in the forecast for the next few days but I fear snow will soon return on Monday. 

Otherwise, things are going well...we will have a time of worship and fellowship on Sunday together. Then, we are getting together for some FUN with the girls from English Club! Games? Movies? Food? who knows... Whatever it is, I hope a lot of laughter and smiles are included.

So with this I leave you... enjoy your warm, sunny days, rainy, cold or snowy ones... whatever the weather, whatever the temperature... have fun this weekend and find some smiles and laughter somewhere, dear friends!

Everyone can use a little sunshine in their life

It's the middle of winter in Poland, but you can see signs that it's starting to fade. Yes, we will probably have another good snow or cold snap before it is truly over, but at least there is hope! There's a touch of light in the sky... the sun actually does exist! I believe that everyone can use a little sunshine in their lives now and then. It just adds great color to everything around you, is bright and just makes me want to smile! The opposite is true with grey or rainy days... those are times you want to stay in, curl up under a blanket and not move. At least I do anyway! I have no desire to leave the comfort of my home, my blankets, candles and book. I mean, why go out? It's messy!  

I guess I truly am a summer girl! Considering I was born in the middle of summer, always had access to a pool, grew up in the beautiful and warm SOUTHERN state of North Carolina, and always preferred to go barefooted; summer just has my name written all over it! Therefore, its natural to also say that I don't like winter very much. It was cold and wet - 2 things I hated, especially when combined. 

Winter here has been symbolic of my life recently. I have had a lot of adjustments to deal with; some very difficult. I've struggled, questioned and have striven to find who I am in all of this. (thanks to a good friend who was a little needed sunshine) 

God talks about refining us by fire... sounds fun? nope... kinda scary actually. I mean, really, who wants to be thrown into a fire?!?!? Not me! ... but wait ... doesn't God have to throw us into the fire at some point? A lot of things get put in fire in order to come out "right". I think His children are included in the list of things that get put into fire... see:

The List:

clay

silver

gold

God's children

I was listening to one of my favorite artists, Shane and Shane, and probably my favorite song of theirs came up on my list. It's  called "Burn Us Up". It's a song about the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I keep thinking of how they got thrown into the fire, and survived. They came out unharmed. Man, just thinking of that makes me want to praise God and say, THANK YOU! Because I have hope that when I get thrown into the fire, I will survive because my God is big enough to do that!

It is only because He loves us that He will put us into the fire. It is only because He loves us that we will come out like He wants us to.

So, anyway, new perspective helps...and sometimes you need someone to tell you where to look. Now that I know where to look, things aren't so bad. With God's help, I'm pulling strings and straightening out the mess I have in front of me.

Anyway, here's a little something to show you what it's been like lately. These are all off my balcony. Snow....snow.... more snow... and in this picture, its actually snowing...

then, yesterday, this is what I got :) It got up to almost 40 degrees! wahoo!
a gorgeous sunset that only got better with time.
unfortunately though, there's still a little bit of Warsaw in it.... you just can't get away from the construction and cranes! They're out every window I look... 

so I took a picture of them. They don't seem such a bother when there's a gorgeous picture behind it. I just keep looking past the distractions and onto the sunshine in life. 

cuz like I said, everyone can use a little sunshine...

Castles and Snow covered mountains

Hey everyone! Sorry for such a late update... 

Happy 2009! I know it's almost Feb and I haven't updated this thing in forever. I apologize. Time just gets away, especially over the holidays! They were good though! It was my first Christmas away from home, so I decided to treat myself to a little vacation to Romania to see a friend. We had a lot of fun and it was a great time to fellowship and catch up!

We traveled a few hours away to the mountains. There were beautiful snow-capped mountains that we were able to enjoy for the day! My teammate went to see his friend, so the 4 of us hung out for the day and just enjoyed some of God's creation. 

We went part way up one of the mountains in this cable car. It was a gorgeous view (through the dirty windows) but a little frightening. They cram it full of people and I don't do so well with heights anyway.

  

You could see where the snow stopped, almost in a perfect line part way down the mountain. I had never seen snow covered trees like I did there... I had no idea they actually existed outside of movies!!!

New Years was also an adventure. They shoot off fireworks much like we do for July 4th, but they go off all over the city rather than just one show like we often have in the States. Imagine over 2 million people shooting off fireworks at the same time! We stood and watched the sky light up in every color. It was quite beautiful and although cold, definitely worth standing on the balcony for almost an hour. They continued shooting them off for 2 solid days and were shot off as early as 11am.

Just recently though, I had a chance to travel a little more through Southern Poland. We went to Częstochowa, a place that many Catholic Poles will pilgrimage to in order to worship in a church that has the Black Madonna, a portrait of Mary and Baby Jesus. This is a picture of it found outside the church in an arch way.

People will fill every empty space surrounding the church in August when the protective covering is taken off once a year. It was definitely an eye-opener into the culture here to watch the attitudes of people coming in such reverence to Mary. The church was packed, considering the time of year and we watched as people flooded in and knelt down at the beginning of Mass.

After that, we took back roads on our way to Kraków and stopped at a few castles. We did the same route coming home and stopped to see more castles. We saw 7 castles in 3 days! It was totally awesome. We would drive down the road, stop at a castle for a little while, drive a few more kilometers, turn the corner and there was another one. Some were rebuilt, some were original and some were in complete ruins. It was amazing to see how they built level buildings on top of uneven rock faces. I didn't realize how huge they were until you stand at the bottom and stare up this rock face that turns into a tower and walls. It totally rocked!

we had the chance to climb up some of the rocks surrounding the castle and got a great view of the courtyard side. This thing was huge and we spent all afternoon there! 

This was one of the castles we saw on our tour home. Thats me with 2 of my teammates.

The lighting was just so great that I couldn't resist doing some cool portrait shots with me and my teammates. We stood in one of the holes in the wall with one of the main towers directly behind us. You can see how the tower looks like it comes right out of the rock.

Yet another portrait... Im teaching my teammates how to use my cameras :)

Of course, I just had to have a shadow shot when we were climbing all through the rocks behind the castle!

This one had a cool legend where a priest apparently asked for a stone to be put in the ground like that. I'm not entirely sure of the legend or if that's even correct, but we referred to it as the "toothpick castle" ... you know, the one with the big toothpick rock sticking out of the ground next to it!

So those are just some of the adventures I have had in the past month or so. I have another one tomorrow morning with the Visa office. I will be going to ask for another extension. I turned everything in at one time; or so we thought. Then I go back to receive my decision of whether they will approve a 2 year visa so I can legally stay and they said I was missing 3 or 4 documents. We have turned everything in except 1 letter which is somewhere in the mail. I have to go tomorrow and ask for more time and pray the letter arrives quickly!

On that note,

PRAYER REQUESTS: 

- for my continued adjustment in Poland

- to stay grounded in God's Word daily

- opportunities to build relationships

- opportunities to share my faith

- Visa issues - I'm asking for the extension tomorrow, however they could at any point decide not to approve it and I would have to leave the country for 3 months. I have faith that God knows what he is doing, but please still lift it up!!! 

Thanks!

me

Shoeboxes

Photos from my latest email update, just incase you can't get them...

The Chistmas tree with all the gifts.

Santa giving out presents to each child.

The little boy who carried around his box just hugging it for 20 minutes without even knowing what was inside.

while others opened their boxes immediately.

All Saints' Day

I wish I could have had this up earlier, but none the less, here is the promised post on All Saints' Day in Warsaw on Nov. 1.

One of the major Catholic Holidays celebrated in Poland is All Saints' Day. Instead of celebrating Halloween on Oct. 31, as Americans do, Catholic Poles will participate in the Day of the Dead and visit graves of relatives. It is a time to remember. They will clean the graves the week before and on Nov. 1, will journey to the cemetery to place flowers and light candles on the graves of loved ones. 

It is a major religious holiday in which almost everyone will participate. Streets near the cemeteries are shut down and busses re-routed as people flood the streets and pathways, making their way to their loved ones' graves.

Our team took time to go to one of the largest cemeteries in Warsaw to walk through and pray for the people as we watched and experienced what this holiday is all about. I saw mothers teaching their children why they come and why there are so many candles at the memorials.

As I walked through the cemetery, there was a slightly eerie feeling as a faint glow from each headstone rose to create enough light to see fairly well, even though the sun was long gone. 

Some people just stood at a grave and stayed there for a while as the candles burned.

 In other places people shuffled by, stopped for a moment at an important grave site and kept moving to light yet another candle at another grave. 

The cemetery was full of people that evening. Entire families came.

I spoke with many of the people I have met here and everyone told of how important this holiday is to them. They can remember going ever since they were young children. Many will also travel to outlying cities to visit and clean parents' graves.

It is a time for us to pray and to reach out to these people who don't have the everlasting hope we do in Christ.

Pumpkins and Prayers

Hello all!

So I sent out a brief message to many of you yesterday about how you could be praying for me this evening. I am sitting down at my computer, 5 minutes before midnight to begin this post... who is staying up way too late again? me! 

However, I had to give a quick update on how things went this evening with a little background first. One day I spotted pumpkins on the road and decided I just had to have one...it's 

not fall without it, right? 

And since autumn is so short here, I figured a pumpkin would help extend the season a little. My language teacher saw it and asked, "will you eat it?" 

My first thought...well, no. It's decoration. It got my wheels turning though and I looked up what it would take to make a pumpkin from scratch (aka, a real pumpkin) since, of course, they have no canned pumpkin here. I found this site: www.PumpkinPatchesandMore.org. It seemed easy enough to make a pie, so I decided I would. Then  got the brilliant idea to open it up to others at English Club to come and cook one with me! 

Yes, I have to admit, I wasn't thinking at the time about the fact that I had never made a pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin before and have no idea how to do it, nor have I ever made a pie period!

Everything went well and I am proud to say that here is pie number 1 and 2...and they're from scratch! crust and everything...there was NOTHING from a can in this pie (including the evaporated/condensed milk - that comes in a box).

I wanted to have a pie prepared before guests arrived for 2 reasons, 1 so I could do it once and actually have an idea of what to do, and 2, so if the pie we made together didn't finish cooking in time, they could still taste one. 

Overall, the evening was much a success. A good number of people showed up and things just played out so smoothly. I tried making a pie crust earlier this afternoon and it just wasn't coming together - it was clumpy and sticky and not mealy like it should be. This evening, I had a beautiful example in no time at all. Praise God for small miracles. Everyone seemed to be having fun and it was a great chance to enjoy conversation with those we have met, outside of the English Club setting. 

Does it look like I know what I am doing now?

We are scooping out the seeds and plan on roasting those later. :) yummy. 

God gave me a calm spirit and a LOT of help! The Browns were amazing and spent their afternoon helping me prepare the first pies and my apartment for guests. My other teammates helped clean up and show parts of the process.

By the end of the evening, everyone was very tired and just sat and talked about upcoming holidays, traditions, and cultures, among various other topics.

So thank you all for your thoughts and prayers as our evening progressed. They truly were felt and answered. If you would like to try making a pie from a real pumpkin, its a little mess but a lot of fun. Its actually quite easy and tastes amazing! You can't beat it when it's fresh!

I will update with more stories soon of our time during a major Catholic holiday, All Saint's Day which took place Nov. 1 and of a recent baptism of 3 new believers. 

Until then, thank you again and continue to keep us all in your prayers.

- open hearts

- opportunities to share

- relationships to be built

- needed rest

- Language