What Did You Do for the Holidays?

Many people have asked, "How did you spend your Christmas and New Year's? Do Czechs celebrate Christmas? Were you homesick?" To simply answer these questions: I spent Christmas with a wonderful Czech family from my church (therefore, yes, Czechs do celebrate Christmas), I spent New Year's with 28 young adult Czechs and I wouldn't have done it any other way, and I wasn't as homesick as I thought I would be. I am coming to realize that homesickness can sometimes be a choice. I am grateful I was able to communicate with my family over the holidays but I chose to focus on making the most of my holiday time in the Czech Republic. And I'm very glad that I did.

So...how did I celebrate Christmas and New Year's CZ style? I'm going to try to tell you...

Czechs celebrate on the 24^th and then the 25^th is a laid back day. Sandra, Honza and I decorated the Christmas tree which, in some homes, will be left up in until February. We hung chocolate wrapped in colorful tin foil on their tree. Peki, Honza and I went to the town square (the family lives outside of Prague) to take home Bethelem's light and sing Czech Christmas Carols. I then helped wrap presents. There is no Santa Claus here. Ježíšek (little Jesus) brings the gifts so you never know who gave you the gifts you receive. As a family, we sang Czech Christmas songs and read the Bible out loud. We sat down for the big Christmas supper of fried Carp (fish), fish soup, and potato salad. Carp has a ton of bones in it so you have to be very careful while eating. I didn't choke on a bone and the meal was delicious. We then sat around and opened gifts. The oldest person opens their gifts first. I stifled the realization that I was the oldest young adult after parents and grandparents and opened the gifts that I was not expecting to receive. They were very heartfelt and I will cherish these gifts. Still recovering from a sinus infection, I went to bed before 10pm. The next morning, Sandra informed me that they stayed up until 1am talking. I then went to church with Honza, Sandra, and their grandparents.

And this is how I spent New Years’ Eve. I was with my Mládež (all 29 of us in one medium size house in the snowy mountains). We had a Wild Western themed party and at 11pm we put on our winter clothes and walked in the snow to an open field. We set off fireworks and lit sparklers. We sent a Chinese lantern up into the air as well. We prayed in a circle and sang a praise song in Czech. All across the countryside you saw fireworks going off. It was beautiful! We went around hugging each other wishing a happy new year. It’s the most hugs I’ve received at one time in a year and people were saying “I’m so glad you are here!” I’ll never forget this experience. We then walked back to the house and were told to choose a bookmark with a verse on it that will be our verse for the year and then took time to write compliments on papers for each other.

A verse for the year... I have never heard of this custom but I'm learning to love it. My verse is Žalm 119, 18 Otevři mi oči, at' mám na zřeteli divy ze Zákona tvého. Now for the English speakers: Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law - Psalm 119:18. I am excited to focus on this verse for the year and see what God has to show me.

Our Mládež has also chosen a theme verse for the year. To je 1 Tesalonickým 3, 13 at' posílí vaše srdce, abyste byli bezúhonní a svatí před Bohem, naším Otcem, až přijde naš Pan Ježíš se vsšmi svými svatými. It is 1 Thessalonians 3:13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. Pray for our group as we discover what this means for us.

I'd like to encourage you to find a verse to focus on this year. I think I'll be keeping this Czech custom in my life.

God's Number is NEVER Busy

Aren't you glad that God's number is never busy? We can dial Him up to chat, plead, praise, confess, and any other reason you can think of praying and He is always there. It's not like the skype call the drops every 5 minutes due to a poor internet connection. It's not like being on the metro and losing your cell phone service mid-SMS or phone call. It's a constant, open connection with our Heavenly Father 24/7.

I've known this for quite some time but like always, reminders are needed. This past week I have had the honor and privilege of being a part of a constant stream of prayers going up to the Father on behalf of a family here in Prague. I work with this family in my volunteering with Young Life. A member of the family has been diagnosed with leukemia. He has a good prognosis but a long 6 weeks of chemotherapy ahead of him. I've seen the body of Christ actively engaging to support, encourage, and intercede on behalf of this family. It's been powerful to witness. As I visit with the family and talk to others connected with them I'm moved to tears at how God is using this valley to change all of us. He's moving and stirring a deeper passion and love for Him and others in this community of faith.

The leader of our Young Life team told us in our meeting earlier this week that, "we pray until the angel comes to tell us that we can stop". Let that sink in...

A few days prior to this news, I read James 5. I'll close this blog with a few verses that struck me on the subject of the prayer of faith:

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray.

Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.

Is anyone of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well;

the Lord will raise him up.

If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Elijah was a man just like us.

He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain in the land for three and a half years.

Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

You Won't Relent

You won't relent
Until You have it all
My heart is Yours

I'll set You as a seal upon my heart
As a seal upon my arm
For there is love that is as strong as death
Jealousy demanding as the grave
And many waters cannot quench this love

Come be the fire inside of me
Come be the flame upon my heart
Come be the fire inside of me
Until You and I are one

 

"You Won't Relent" -Misty Edwards

 

I remember when I was growing up, my mom would put songs on repeat always or we would listen to the same Brooks & Dunn cd in the car for over a month. It drove me insane! Apparently, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree because I have been listening to this song on repeat for over a week now. Each day a different section speaks to me. How do I treat Jesus? Is this what I say to God? Come be the fire inside of me, until You and I are one. Do I truly say this? If so, what does it look like?

 

Many people who know me, know that I tend to use the emotional side of my brain more than the intellectual side. I've never had the strong desire to know all the details. "It is the way it is; I feel this way about it; I can't explain it, it's just a feeling I have; God gave you a gut for a reason." These are all catch phrases that I use. I find myself in a culture that wants to know the intellectual side of God and struggle to explain it. The need is to first rationalize God intellectually and then emotions can follow if they want to. It's challenging. How do I show the emotional side and be open to learn from the intellectual side? I am commanded to love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Therefore I need the intellectual AND emotional side.

 

I believe I'm going to be learning more about the need for both of these sides. God made us complex. He is complex. And He won't relent until He has all of us. This is a comfort to me and excites me for the life long journey of learning ahead of me.

Retreat = Rest

I spent the past week in Lithuania with other EMM Workers for our annual Missions Retreat. Coming from a frantic, exhausting week, I was ready to put some distance between my schedule and myself for a week.

After a long and hilarious journey, Stacy and I arrived late at night in Klaipeda, Lithuania. We were warmly welcomed in by the Brubakers (missionaries living there). The following day we went to a gorgeous retreat area, filled with wood carvings, cottages, and pumpkins. In a word: tranquility. This required photoshoots throughout the week.

Our time together was wonderful! We were a small group but all got along well and were able to share openly about what we have been experiencing, as well as our hopes and dreams for the next year. I loved when all of us gathered around to pray for one another. I loved having people speak into my life and being given the opportunity to do the same for them. I also had the chance to lead some worship sessions which I had forgotten how much I love doing it! I have to chuckle at myself...I had Czech worship songs in my head most of the week.

God knows how to bless His children. Marsha and I were blessed by a day visit with our friend Sarunas. He was in training with us at HDC. We couldn't visit Lithuania and not see our friend who lives there! We had a blast walking around Nida, seeing the great sand dunes, and looking at videos and pictures from Sarunas' life. He encouraged me a lot just by driving 3 hours to visit us!

Another way God blessed me, was allowing me to see the seaside twice in one week. I love the ocean and beach. It's a place of rest for me. I felt all stress wipe out of my body as I laid eyes on the Baltic Sea. The women who were with me said I was glowing.

Stacy and I finished our week in Lithuania resting after the retreat. It was nice to just be and have no expectations. Our flight was moved up one day, so we spent Saturday relaxing in Prague.

It is time for the schedule to pick up again. But I feel at peace about the upcoming weeks and I am looking forward to how God will work in the days to come.

God Celebrates YOU

Zephaniah 3:17 is one of my favorite passages. It's also a song that I sing to people as a blessing and to my little brother, Maclane, as I rocked him to sleep so many months ago. "The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will take great joy in you. He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing." The NIV version says "He will take great delight in you." God delights in me, in you, in us.

Have you ever stopped to think about this truth? The God of the universe delights in you! I have been reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan for the second time. He reminds us throughout the book that God loves us and desires to be in relationship with us. Now I think during this year in the Czech Republic I've missed/will have missed approximately 9 weddings. My friends are getting engaged left and right! When I talk with them the story is always similar, "I can't believe he chose me!" is the feeling most women have. I realized that this is the same feeling that I should have about my Heavenly Father. "I can't believe he chose me! I can't believe He wants to be in a relationship with me!" So ladies and gents, if you have ever been in love or are in love right now, take that emotional feeling and magnify it by 10 and that is the overwhelming joy we should feel by being chosen by God.

Marilyn Meberg says, "Knowing He delights in us allows us to feel secure about who we are and Whose we are." As I wrestle with homesickness, almost constant gray and rainy weather, and balancing the many demands of life, I am re-discovering what it means to be a delight to God. It's an active, constant delight. Just like his unconditional love is constant and active. Everything else around me may be in complete chaos but He delights in me. I'm His and He is in control.

Crunchy Leaves & Deer

A little less than two weeks ago, Stacy and I were graced by the presence of our dear friends Dave, Marsha, and Zane in Prague. We went exploring around the city and they joined me at CISP to help with grading some paperwork for a dear friend of mine. Embarrassing stories were shared, deep and meaningful conversations commenced, and laughter abounded. I'm so thankful for the visit and the opportunity to let others into my life here in Prague.

I have been fairly successful in working from a place of rest. Some weeks seem busier than others but I can always turn back to the Father and say "uh..help please?".

Last Wednesday, September 28th, those of us in the CZ celebrated St. Wencelas Day. Most businesses and all schools were closed. Stacy and I took our time exploring the city since may people vacated it's premises. The leaves are beginning to turn colors and fall here bringing much joy to my life as I love to go out of my way to step on a crunchy leave. This also brings much laughter among my friend who are with me to be conversing as we walk to see me side step to catch a leaf.

The karate club in the school has not worked out. Currently, I'm teaching two missionary boys karate and keeping it open for others to join. We discussed the importance of focusing and balancing. I have very intelligent students who answered my question on what else do we focus on with God, parents, and teachers. I'm looking forward to more classes with them.

We are experiencing a lovely Indian summer right now (which unfortunately will end soon) and I could not resist a prayerwalk through the greenway near my flat. It was a time of asking God all my questions concerning the present, the next 6 months, and beyond. On the way back to my flat I decided to be quiet and let God do some talking. I was startled by a noise to my left. Turning, I saw a deer eight feet away from me. We locked eyes for a while and then she decided I wasn't life threatening. Wow! How often does one see a deer that close up and so close to the city limits? I love God's gifts of creation when in quiet introspection.

It takes a process to get a product

Since I last posted, my visa is now in the process of being renewed, I have started my fall schedule, and my teammate Stacy has arrived.

Stacy arrived 10 days ago and it's been a joy to have her here! You can find us frequenting a kavarna, walking around, being tourist with our cameras out, and laughing at the crazy things that seem to happen to us. Last week, while crossing a busy intersection, my flip flop broke so we did an immediate shoe shopping trip. I ended up purchasing sweet purple shoes! We've also had some meaningful conversations and I am loving how the people in my life are accepting her with open arms. I'm truly blessed with incredible people here in Prague.

God has taken the time before Stacy's arrival to remind me again of his faithfulness. That when I feel alone it's a lie because He's there with me. I've been learning what it means to surrender to what He is doing in my life. I've been studying, in a sense, about what it means to work from a place of rest at Jesus' feet. I've spent the past few weeks allowing God to pour into me. In the beginning of September, I went on a leadership retreat with Young Life and felt God telling me in my quiet time that it's time to work. It's time to take what I've been learning from God about working from a place of rest and apply it. It's been great! There are some days where I'm gone ALL day from home and other days that are slower paced that I can rest and be with God.

There are some changes to what I'm doing for the next 6 months. I'm coordinating with Young Life Praha to start a martial arts club hopefully in October. We've been having some issues with finding a location. I will also be helping them with some weekend events throughout the next 6 months. I am also a service project supervisor for a small group of high schoolers from Christian International School of Prague. We go to Teen Challenge once a week and work with their after school program. Yesterday was our first day there and I'm looking forward to this time during the week.

Next week, Dave Harnish, his son Zane, and Marsha Kanagy arrive for a cohort visit! I'm looking forward to showing them life here in Prague and seeing God continue to work here. There are so many random encounters that continue to happen here and I'm praying they continue.