Random comment before I begin...the blog page came up in English. Wahoo! (Usually it comes up in French and I have to guess which button to push.)
Do you ever have those days when you wish you were a little kid? When you just want to fold your arms and ignore the world around you? As an adult, those days stink because you know you can't do that. Christ still calls us to be righteous, to turn the other cheek, and to keep living for Him. I must admit, I have had days here when that's tough. For perhaps the first time in my life, I really have to rely on the fact that my worth is from nothing else but Christ. His opinion of me is the only one that matters. While the barrage of opinions, advice/criticism, etc pours in, I must find myself in His arms. That's hard for me. As a people pleaser, it's painful to know that I can't please everyone. No matter how hard I try, I can't do it here. And perhaps that is one of the biggest lessons God is trying to teach me.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
I am here...or there
I know, I know. I never seem to have time to do this anymore. This is a belated blog about Europe.
It was green. It was cool. The end. JK
Here are the highlights:
Our flight was delayed out of Dakar so we missed our connection in Lisbon. No fear. TAP gave us vouchers-16 Euros each (which I think is about $24). The catch-We had to spend it in one spot. My friend Danielle and I scoured the Lisbon airport looking at all of the eating spots. Then we saw it--McDonalds. We shared one voucher (with two other people) for breakfast. Three hours we were back on the hunt. Again, we ended up in front of McDonalds. We spent another voucher, this time with no help.
I think that's the first and last time I'll eat McDonalds twice in a day. Aren't you proud Schmoe? ;)
We got to Kandern around 10:30 pm, only 5 hours later than we planned ;). The next day, my super, awesome friend Anne took Danielle and I around a neighboring town where we hiked up to castle ruins, ate Doner Kebap (German style with lots of cabbage) and went shopping. Can you say H&M?
The best speaker at the conference was Wess Stafford, the president of Compassion International. What an amazing testimony. Book recommendation-Too Small to Ignore
After the conference, Danielle and I spent time in Zurich. We just wanted some first-world living. I was quite proud of us and the Swiss transportation system. We took a train, tram, and bus to get to our bed and breakfast.
Our bed and breakfast was a new one so we got a pretty good rate. Let me tell you, it was fancy. There were more switches than we knew what to do with.
Our Zurich adventures: shopping, “hiking” around a mountain, lake cruise, AND seeing snow. The views were amazing. We could see the Alps from our bnb window. We kept commenting that they looked painted. They were just so picturesque.
The thing that surprised me the most about Zurich were the costs. A McDonalds value meal was approx $15, and that was one of the cheapest meals we saw. We got creative and went to grocery stores most of the time but still…
Last adventure-landing in Zurich. After going down the steps onto the runway, we saw a man with a sign that read SAL-Dakar. Danielle and I debated about asking if it was for us. Finally I worked up the courage and it was. We (and a few others) got to take our own van and enter in our own door in order to make our connecting flight.
Lesson learned-Don’t be afraid to ask the “dumb” questions.
Well, that’s the shortened version of our trip. Feel free to ask about our adventures such as seeing an adult onesie on a rack in Zurich.
It was green. It was cool. The end. JK
Here are the highlights:
Our flight was delayed out of Dakar so we missed our connection in Lisbon. No fear. TAP gave us vouchers-16 Euros each (which I think is about $24). The catch-We had to spend it in one spot. My friend Danielle and I scoured the Lisbon airport looking at all of the eating spots. Then we saw it--McDonalds. We shared one voucher (with two other people) for breakfast. Three hours we were back on the hunt. Again, we ended up in front of McDonalds. We spent another voucher, this time with no help.
I think that's the first and last time I'll eat McDonalds twice in a day. Aren't you proud Schmoe? ;)
We got to Kandern around 10:30 pm, only 5 hours later than we planned ;). The next day, my super, awesome friend Anne took Danielle and I around a neighboring town where we hiked up to castle ruins, ate Doner Kebap (German style with lots of cabbage) and went shopping. Can you say H&M?
The best speaker at the conference was Wess Stafford, the president of Compassion International. What an amazing testimony. Book recommendation-Too Small to Ignore
After the conference, Danielle and I spent time in Zurich. We just wanted some first-world living. I was quite proud of us and the Swiss transportation system. We took a train, tram, and bus to get to our bed and breakfast.
Our bed and breakfast was a new one so we got a pretty good rate. Let me tell you, it was fancy. There were more switches than we knew what to do with.
Our Zurich adventures: shopping, “hiking” around a mountain, lake cruise, AND seeing snow. The views were amazing. We could see the Alps from our bnb window. We kept commenting that they looked painted. They were just so picturesque.
The thing that surprised me the most about Zurich were the costs. A McDonalds value meal was approx $15, and that was one of the cheapest meals we saw. We got creative and went to grocery stores most of the time but still…
Last adventure-landing in Zurich. After going down the steps onto the runway, we saw a man with a sign that read SAL-Dakar. Danielle and I debated about asking if it was for us. Finally I worked up the courage and it was. We (and a few others) got to take our own van and enter in our own door in order to make our connecting flight.
Lesson learned-Don’t be afraid to ask the “dumb” questions.
Well, that’s the shortened version of our trip. Feel free to ask about our adventures such as seeing an adult onesie on a rack in Zurich.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
I guess there is something to write about after all.
I just finished my monthly update letter. It’s funny. I always think I have nothing to blog about anymore, and then I spend a page of my update letter talking about all of the events that have occurred in the last month.
We had Junior Carnival on Friday. I’m just happy the community had fun. I’m not going to lie. It was a lot of work. Life would be so much easier if there was a Wal-mart here. (Perhaps I should be their advertising manager.) Someone pointed out that Carnival wouldn’t be as special then. I guess that’s true. We did request a large amount of food from the States-Velveeta for mac-n-cheese, sliced American cheese for Big Macs, Oreos, and M&Ms for McFlurrys, etc. I believe our menu was a hit.
Some things that stood out to me:
The most popular booth was my favorite as a kid-throw a dart at a balloon and win a prize. I still remember trying to win those mirror pictures at Hoo-Doo days.
I asked one of our Embassy kids to help with dishes. I asked if he could dry them. He said yes, and then proceeded to ask how to dry dishes. I was proud of him though because he didn’t shy away from the task. He jumped right in and worked with three mothers.
I didn’t get to see this but I guess we had chameleon races. They were supposed to be frog races but the frogs escaped/were stolen.
A six pack of Root Beer went for $20 in the silent auction. Enough said.
On a totally unrelated note, I have received encouraging messages from students in the States. They are really living for the Lord and it makes me smile. It can be tough to do this in the States and I love hearing from them. I hope I can have an impact on students when I return to the States. I sometimes fear that Tipton was this special school and I won’t find a place like it again. What if the kids don’t like me at the new school (wherever that may be). I guess that’s a worry for another day. Or better yet, a big prayer request.
Until next time
AP
We had Junior Carnival on Friday. I’m just happy the community had fun. I’m not going to lie. It was a lot of work. Life would be so much easier if there was a Wal-mart here. (Perhaps I should be their advertising manager.) Someone pointed out that Carnival wouldn’t be as special then. I guess that’s true. We did request a large amount of food from the States-Velveeta for mac-n-cheese, sliced American cheese for Big Macs, Oreos, and M&Ms for McFlurrys, etc. I believe our menu was a hit.
Some things that stood out to me:
The most popular booth was my favorite as a kid-throw a dart at a balloon and win a prize. I still remember trying to win those mirror pictures at Hoo-Doo days.
I asked one of our Embassy kids to help with dishes. I asked if he could dry them. He said yes, and then proceeded to ask how to dry dishes. I was proud of him though because he didn’t shy away from the task. He jumped right in and worked with three mothers.
I didn’t get to see this but I guess we had chameleon races. They were supposed to be frog races but the frogs escaped/were stolen.
A six pack of Root Beer went for $20 in the silent auction. Enough said.
On a totally unrelated note, I have received encouraging messages from students in the States. They are really living for the Lord and it makes me smile. It can be tough to do this in the States and I love hearing from them. I hope I can have an impact on students when I return to the States. I sometimes fear that Tipton was this special school and I won’t find a place like it again. What if the kids don’t like me at the new school (wherever that may be). I guess that’s a worry for another day. Or better yet, a big prayer request.
Until next time
AP
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)