Christmas Season 2010

I have been home for 2 weeks now. I have loved visiting family and friends. Please be in prayer for some of my family and friends. Losing someone is never easy, but around the holiday's it makes it even harder. The Blake's and the Morrison's, even friends of these families, will need some extra prayers for right now.

Well, Christmas has came and went. It is such a busy time of year. My sister and I were still shopping for our parents gifts on Christmas Eve. What saddens me the most is how people have lost the real meaning of Christmas, even myself. I was looking around on Facebook and realized how selfish I was. My status was all about our family traditions- when and where I was going. Not that it is not bad, but I had honestly put Christ birth on the back burner in my mind. Sure, I went to Christmas plays about Jesus, even a happy birthday Jesus party, but my heart had let the real meaning fade. I quickly changed my status on Facebook to a song I had recently heard on the radio. "Where’s the line to see Jesus? He was born for me. Santa Claus brought me presents. But Christ gave His life for me. In the blink of an eye, at the sound of His trump, We’ll all stand in line at His throne. Every knee shall bow down, every tongue will confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord! Where’s the line to see Jesus? Is He here at the store? It’s Christmas time, it’s His birthday. Why don’t we see Him more?" This song spoke exactly what my heart was feeling. Christmas isn't about Santa, presents, or even family for that matter. Christmas is about Jesus Christ who was 100% God. He chose to come to this earth as 100% man, as baby and live, so that He could die a horrible death in order to save me and you. So much of Christmas is about His birth, but we must consider His death because that is the whole reason He was born.

With this in mind, on Christmas Eve, The Herndons, Matt came over for a delicious dinner and we opened gifts together.

Christmas Morning we went to my mama's side of the family get together for breakfast. It was lots of fun. The children were all told to make a homemade gift for the cousin that they had drawn the name of.

For dinner we went to Mema's house for Daddy's family get together. It was a lot of fun with some good food. We didn't take a picture with everyone, but here is one of "us".

Well thats not all that took place. We actually got about 9 inches of snow :] So here are a few pictures of us having fun.

what a trip...

Well, I have finally made it to NC after a long closing week in Hungary and then an even longer trip home. The last week of school for the students was a hard one. The Lord allowed some trials which we grew through. It was awesome to see the Lord provide strength and wisdom for the staff.  My trip home was horrible. I left WOL at 8:30 am. My flight from Budapest to Paris took off at 10:50. We didn't take off the runway on time, therefore I missed my flight in Paris. Many people would say, "Wow, at least you were in Paris," but I must say the only place I wanted to be was in NC with my family. The next morning I flew out Paris, had a lay over in Ohio and finally around 5pm on Monday I landed in NC. When I reached baggage I didn't find my luggage which I was fearful of because I missed my flight.  I love flying because I love the view. It's beautiful. Below is a picture I took while flying.

Since I have been home, I have been pretty jet lagged, finally it seems to be a little better. 7am isn't too bad for me taking a 2 hour nap around 8pm. I have spend lots of time with my family [Below is a picture of Jordan being silly in Papa's huntin' boots]. I am looking forward to seeing people from my church too.

I also had the opportunity to speak to a girls group at a local church. I was able to share my heart. I spoke about Word of Life, Hungary, and what God was doing in my life. I enjoyed it so much. Below is a picture of the group.

picture post

hello beloved readers,

Below are the pictures I have taken of the village. I will try and explain them the best I can.

The main entrance gate to Word of Life Castle.

The road leading right in front of the castle.

Everything is gated here. 

Most "roads" in the village are dirt paths.

A little farm.

An old general store

I love this house. It is one of my favorites.

House right across the street. 

Bikes lined up out side of one of the many PUBS.

Hungarian flag flying high.

The villiage ATM.

Post office

The Restaurant

The yummy bread shop.

Below are the pictures from the Christmas Market. My friend Yana and I took the girls we are mentoring. It was so much fun. Yes, even if it did snow. 

Before the Christmas Market, we ate at TGI Fridays. 

Sorry this is a little blurry.

I don't know what this man is cooking, but it smelled good. The market kind of
reminded me of the state fair, with all the food and people. 

The lights and crowds... 

SNOW!

"Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas."

Nicole and I freezing waiting outside to meet our friends.

Yummy funnel cakes, but they are like a tower not flat. haha. 

Anyone wanna ride?

Waiting for the last bus of the evening... cold, wet, and tired... but had an amazing day.

SNOW!!! again. Im not really this excited, but it was all right.

Well, that is all the new pictures I have to share. But I'm sure with all the festivities going on I will have plenty more in the days to come. 

Tonight will be a campus wide decorating party. We have our last RA fellowship for this quarter on Thursday evening. We will be going to the Dean of Men's house, Randall Stone.  We will be having a staff Christmas Banquet this Saturday. We invite a lot of people from the town, such as the mayor and contractors who work on the Castle. This is a big out reach event for us, so please be in much prayer for this. Also on Sunday all of the interns will gather for a White Elephant Christmas Party. If you have any ideas of funny gifts, let me know. Then on monday evening the deans staff will be having dinner together, then Yana and I must rush to the Director, Al and Pam Konya's home. They will be having the interns over for a fellowship. Not to mention lots of cleaning and packing getting ready for the break. WOW that's a lot of things. I'm sure I will be more than ready for the long plane ride.  :]

Just a random bit of information: I typically do not like Christmas music... I feel like people begin to play it as soon a Thanksgiving is over, and therefore it last way to long. But this year I am in addicted. I have bought music on itunes and that seems to be the only thing I want to listen to. Even as I type this "Little Drummer Boy" is playing. It makes me frustrated with myself, honestly, but what can I do? 

I hope everyone has a good rest of the week. I will post more festive pictures soon so be ready.  12 DAYS!!! but who is counting?

give thanks with a grateful heart.... give thanks.

Psalms 111: 1-2 says, "Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart... Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them." I have so much to be thankful for. God has done great works and has truly blessed me. Below is just a small list of things I am thankful for, but there is so much more.

1] Salvation

2] For Jesus dying on the cross for my sins.

3] For God's forgiveness when I am disobedient.

4] God's love and the love He provides through others.

5] My Mama and Daddy.

6] My sister and her husband, Lisa and Tj.

7] My other sister, Jessica and her soon to be husband Matt.

8] My pride, pains and joy, Makalah and Jordan.

9] My Mema.

10] All my family... it's so big i can't name everyone.

11] Fellowship Baptist Church

12] Sunshine

13] Word of Life

14] People who have influenced my life.

15] People who pray for me.

16] My supporters

17] God's Word

18] Bojangles

19] Housing

20] Food

21] Water

22] Facebook

23] Skype

24] Trails

25] Grace Bible Fellowship

26] Grahams recovery and healing.

27] Snow [sometimes]

28] Christmas Break

29] Pastor Jay and Dianne

30] Pastor Dave, Melody and Adelyn

31] Missions

32] Rainbows

33] God's provision

34] God's faithfulness

35] BI students

36] WOL staff family

37] Friends

38] Rain

39] Cold drinking water and Hot shower water.

40] Dr. Pepper

41] Chocolate :] 

42] Schedules- its all about time management.

43] Communication

44] Pens- especially colored ink ones.

45] Music which also means my ipod.

46] Candles

47] The ability to talk to God whenever I want.

48] All the little kiddo's I love and enjoy babysitting!!!

49] Good books on a lonely day.

50] Laughter-  anytime, anywhere...

I had a great Thanksgiving in Hungary. Although it is not a holiday here, after work a bunch of American's headed to a friends house and had great fellowship, lots of food, many laughs while playing a game. It sure wasn't home, but it was such a blessing to be surrounded by great godly friends. I hope each one of you had a good thanksgiving as well. Even though there is no black friday deals here in Hungary the Christmas Market began last weekend. I will be going on Sunday to see if I can find any good Christmas presents. And you know what that means??? The Christmas season has begun. 

and...

Jeremiah 29:11-13 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."


Many people love these verses or they quote verse 11, but fail to mention verses 12 and 13. I have always knew them, but it wasn't until today when i actually looked to these verses for a glimpse of hope.


I have been thinking about what future holds for me. Will i be a oversea's missionary or stateside? Where? Will i be single? And the list goes on. I know God has great plans for me. His plans are far greater than my own. Jeremiah 29:12 says to call/pray to the Lord and He will listen. So that is exactly what i am doing. I am praying that the Lord will clearly show me where He would have me serve Him.


If you keep reading in verse 13, it says, "You will seek Me and you will find Me when you seek Me with your whole heart". WOW. I want to seek the Lord with my whole heart. Today i was journaling and I realized that more than being a missionary, more than being a wife or mother someday; I long to serve my Savior. I want to please Him in all i do. I want to fall more and more in love with Him. I want to grow daily in His word. The more i grow the more i will know Him, the more i will love Him. That is my one and only desire. I could careless where i am at while i am doing this. 


Things here in Hungary are going great. This past week we had a group at MIT. After a long week of interviews, seminars and more, we have added 2 couples, 3 single women to the missionary staff here. 


This week has been back to normal with the Dean of Women back. I spent all day monday grading evaluations on the students ministry, work and quiet time. Today has been a little more relaxed, but i did have Hungarian class today which was a little difficult, but thats expected.


Thursday we will be having a Thanksgiving dinner at a staff members house. I will be making mashed potatoes and a chocolate chess pie. Yum. I sure it will be lots of fun, but it sure wont be my Mema's cooking and for anyone who knows her knows what i am missing out on.


Also the Christmas market began last weekend. I am looking forward to going on Sunday! Oh and they are calling for snow this weekend. I pray it doesn't happen. 


Lastly i have been able to take a few pictures of the village. I hope to put these in a post real soon, but for now they are on Facebook. 


So many things are happening, and i'm sure there will be another post this week. 

O ye of little faith... [Matt 16:8]

I want to be honest, coming into this whole missions trip i was worried about raising support. You hear of the awesome stories of how God provided, but you also hear of so many people struggling. I work with many people who are below 10% on their support. I have always said God will provide, but deep down in my heart i had a hard time believing it. To His honor and glory i have almost reached full support for the whole year. This is such a God thing. I would like to thank everyone who has prayed and who has given. This is such an encouragement and a blessing to me. My God has done far more than I could ever ask or think [Eph. 3:20] Below is an update on my support.

Raised: 7, 340.00

Remainder of known monthly support: 900.00

Amount left needed to raise: 478.00

MY GOD IS SO GOOD! TO HIM BE ALL THE GLORY!

Time sure does fly when you're having fun.

Hello Readers,

Last week I mentioned that I was given the opportunity to go with our second year students on a field trip. It was so much fun to spend time and fellowship with the class for the day and go to the Synagogue and the museum. Here are a few pictures.

 It's really beautiful.

 I wanted a kippah [also known as a yarmulke].

 This makes me smile.

Our group standing outside the Synagogue.

This weekend was very eventful. On friday night we had a surprise birthday party for one of the students who was turning 18, and then saturday morning we had another surprise birthday party for a MK who was turning 4. All the celebrating made me very tired. Below are pictures of the 2 birthday girls.

Allysa blowing out her candles.

Princess Novie blowing out her fireworks on the top of her castle cake.

A group of interns/staff went to the Ukraine for Missionary In Training [MIT]. For them, the week is full of seminars, and interviews. At the end of the week they will find out if they have been accepted as a full time Word of Life Missionary. Because they will be gone a little over a week, I was able to 'house sit' / stay at the Dean of Women, Monca's, apartment. She lives in the castle, so I am loving it. :] This also means that I am 'THE boss' this week! Please be in much prayer for me, although i am sure things will be great because we have an amazing group of girls.

I am ahead in my monthly support, so the fact that I am not seeing much come in doesn't worry me too much. I have this encouraging break down I would like to share with you.
Total amount needed: 8,818
Total amount raised: 6,340
Total amount left: 2,578
Remainder of known monthly support: 900
If the known monthly support is subtracted I only need to raise: 1,528

PRAISE THE LORD!


I hope everyone has a great week.
See most of you in 26 days!

"if you have an issue grab a tissue" -Dan Koontz

Szia [Hello], 

I love the way the Lord chooses to teach His children:

I just wanted to say köszönöm szépen [thank you very much] to all my supporters who have been praying for me. This may sound like a basic principle of the Christian life, but I have really realized the importance of praying. As every "jó [good] Christian" I knew that the Lord communicated to His people through His word, and we communicate to Him through our prayers.

The Lord has really been dealing with me in this area. My prayer life has been an mindennapi [everyday] struggle. The Lord put a situation in my life and I knew I didn't like the way things were going, so I knew I needed to pray about it. I told others and prayed 'occasionally' about it. The situation only seemed to get worse, so at my breaking point I cried out to Isten [God]. "Why are you not listening? Why are you not answering? Do you even care?" Moments later after God and I had this hour long conversation, I got on Skype and began to share these feelings with a friend. She then asked me "Why do you think God is not listening? Is it because He is not answering in your time table, or the way you deem best?" 

Later that night I was thinking about what my friend had said and then also about my prayer life. It just so happened that the next day my quiet time was in 2 Samuel 12: 13-23. This is after the Lord sends Nathan to confront David. David's son was very sick, so he fasted and prayed instead of spending his last few days with His son. David believed God could change the outcome. We see that God chose not to change the outcome, but then David gets up and ask for dinner and he worshipped God.

From this I see David praying continuously until he got an answer, nem [no] it wasn't the answer he wanted but then he chooses to praise God for it. I am working on my prayer life. I have put very practical steps in place to make sure that I improve in this area. It isn't always easy, but it is very rewarding. Today I was given a portion of a book to read. Jerry Bridges states in his book, How to Get Results Through Prayer, "True prayer is not just asking; it is asking and receiving. If you were to write a title for your prayer life, would it be Prayer: asking and receiving? Or would it be Prayer: asking and hoping? For many Christians, I fear, the latter is a more accurate description. They pray without confidence that their prayers will be answered. They hope a few request will be granted by God, but they couldn't tell you why they will be. I was really convicted of praying with an attitude of unbelief. Hopefully you will also examine your prayer life. 

My life in Magyarország [Hungary]:

I must state the truth... there is nothing really exciting going on. No new changes to update on, but some cool facts, if you will, you might like to know.

This past saturday, the interns had a progressive dinner. We had about a 25 min walk to the first house from campus. The first house provided the appetizers. They were amazing. Then we walked back to the castle to a home on campus where we had our main course. Lastly we finished up the evening with another 15 min walk to eat süte [desert]. It was such a great time of fellowship. Below are  few pictures: 

walking to the first house 

everyone at house egy [1]

everyone at house kettő [2] 

and house három[3]

we made cupcakes

i loved my fish cupcake. there were some pretty creative ones.

This friday I have the honor of going with the second year class to a Synagogue and a Holocaust Museum. I am looking forward to posting pictures!

Here in Hungary it is very, and I mean VERY common to have meat, cheese, a slice of bread, some tomatoes and onions for a meal. Typically this would be served for breakfast and dinner. It is very easy to get tried of this meal. The other day I just wanted a hot meal for dinner. I walked in to the dining room... and guess what we had; igen [yes] you guessed it- meat, cheese, a slice of bread, tomatoes and onions. I was really struggling to have a thankful attitude as I ate my dinner. 

Also many people have been asking for pictures of the village and around campus. So if it ever stops raining I will try my best to take and post some.

Other means of business:

More support came in. I am only in need of another 2,478.00

Also since were talking about support. The ladies in the deans office are trying to come up with 500$ in addition to our support. In the spring we would love to take the girl RA's for a weekend getaway. We are looking into wellness hotels near Lake Balaton in Hungary. For all five of us to stay we need around 100$ per person. We had some work lined up, but it fell through, so I am going out in faith asking that maybe one of my readers will have it laid upon their hearts to give specially to this need. If so please email me for further instructions. 

Hungarian classes are very nehéz [hard]. But as i am sure you noticed, i have added a few words that i do know to this post in Hungarian. We actually had a test today and i'm pretty sure i didn't do well at all. I sort of understand the sounds each letter makes and can read okay, but as far as translating what i read or making sentence... eh we will just say i need to work on that some more. 

Well, thanks for reading everyone. I hope you are having a great week.