It has been 2 weeks since school started and I am just getting to know the crazy first graders that I have in my class. They are like little excitement bubbles that burst in every morning and they TOTALLY can't sit still. It's great! Tiring, but great. If only I could have half that excitement for life, I think I would have a deeper definition of the word "abundant"...
Needless to say, after 2 long weeks, I have been relaxing after school the last couple of days (trying to rid the song "Annie Apple, she says, /a/, she says, /a/" from my brain) by doing one of my favorite things--sitting at Barnes & Noble, drinking a chai latte (with all fat...I mean, milk), and reading a whole book that I never intended to pay money for. Man, I feel so much better! Maybe you are thinking what a nerd I am right now. Maybe you think it now that I said it myself. :P
My sister came in town for a few days and it was glorious! I was supposed to be spending time doing the "blitz" with my church (which equaled living in a gym for 5 days while going out to share the Gospel on campus every day), but my sister seemed to really need the encouragement. We got to see 4 friends that I haven't seen in years and I stayed up late talking to her every night. She kept feeling bad for "taking me away from my activities" and I had to keep reassuring her that I operate under the "people over activities...ALWAYS" motto. Mainly I just realized that loving someone requires sacrifice of some kind; and, if you really love them, it rarely FEELS like a sacrifice.
Friday, August 26, 2005
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Ahh...Paris! (and beyond)
I am definitely back in Texas (or should I say baked in Texas?), but I wanted to give you closure with my summer in France before I excite you with the daily news from DENTON! (that was sarcastic) Seriously, though...
I confess that I was really ready to leave Nice. Not because of any one thing, but just the drain of weeks away from your home base and friends. Don't get me wrong, I ADORE some of the people that I met on project, but I hadn't spoken to my sister in 2 and a half months! Our team finished strong with worship on the beach in Nice, and a guy from Ohio accepted Christ that night. It was exciting to see that Jesus will bring you across the world if that is what it takes to meet Him.
We traveled as a group to Paris to debrief and talk about transitioning back to our "normal" lives in the States. Can I just say that I love Paris?! I got to hang out with some awesome people, see the Impressionists at the Orsay, walk a ton, trespass in the "Phantom of the Opera" Opera House (thank you again, Jon), relax by the grand canal at Versailles, climb the Arch de Triomphe (not sure how to spell that one...), eat the best fondue--well, the ONLY fondue I've had, go with my team to the top of the Eiffel Tower at night, lay down and watch the Tower sparkle from the lawn with all the sprinklers, and say some teary goodbyes to people that I truly love...
The longer I am away, the sadder I get. I really miss people--partly because I know that I may never seem some again, partly because even if I do, it won't EVER be the same. But, such is life...I can appreciate my experiences even when I know I can not have them back again.
My flight home was a mess and I had to stay the night in Chicago. I talked to my sissie for 2 hours and that helped my massive crying episode subside. I spent a weekend in "project immersion" where I ate just about everything, and then I started work again. I have been abnormally calm and think I am freaking some of the other teachers out. They are stressed that I am not stressed. Does that make sense? I went to my church's leadership retreat this weekend and it was pretty exciting but VERY intense and long. I love being back with my peeps, but I was frustrated at the lack of excitement a few times. I think it is hard to come off of a summer with about 40 excited people to a place where there are maybe 10 total. I can't blame the ones who are not that passionate, but it was sort of a buzz kill for me. All the more reason to stir up the passion...I think I am just annoying them. :P
I confess that I was really ready to leave Nice. Not because of any one thing, but just the drain of weeks away from your home base and friends. Don't get me wrong, I ADORE some of the people that I met on project, but I hadn't spoken to my sister in 2 and a half months! Our team finished strong with worship on the beach in Nice, and a guy from Ohio accepted Christ that night. It was exciting to see that Jesus will bring you across the world if that is what it takes to meet Him.
We traveled as a group to Paris to debrief and talk about transitioning back to our "normal" lives in the States. Can I just say that I love Paris?! I got to hang out with some awesome people, see the Impressionists at the Orsay, walk a ton, trespass in the "Phantom of the Opera" Opera House (thank you again, Jon), relax by the grand canal at Versailles, climb the Arch de Triomphe (not sure how to spell that one...), eat the best fondue--well, the ONLY fondue I've had, go with my team to the top of the Eiffel Tower at night, lay down and watch the Tower sparkle from the lawn with all the sprinklers, and say some teary goodbyes to people that I truly love...
The longer I am away, the sadder I get. I really miss people--partly because I know that I may never seem some again, partly because even if I do, it won't EVER be the same. But, such is life...I can appreciate my experiences even when I know I can not have them back again.
My flight home was a mess and I had to stay the night in Chicago. I talked to my sissie for 2 hours and that helped my massive crying episode subside. I spent a weekend in "project immersion" where I ate just about everything, and then I started work again. I have been abnormally calm and think I am freaking some of the other teachers out. They are stressed that I am not stressed. Does that make sense? I went to my church's leadership retreat this weekend and it was pretty exciting but VERY intense and long. I love being back with my peeps, but I was frustrated at the lack of excitement a few times. I think it is hard to come off of a summer with about 40 excited people to a place where there are maybe 10 total. I can't blame the ones who are not that passionate, but it was sort of a buzz kill for me. All the more reason to stir up the passion...I think I am just annoying them. :P
Thursday, July 28, 2005
A New Sister
Just a praise...
I met a Russian girl who is studying in Nice for 5 years. We were doing our outreaches on the beach Promenade these last couple of weeks. We have a drama set to the Skillet song "Locked in a Cage" (or something like that) that is awesome and then I danced on the hip hop team to the remix of "Stomp". Another girl did interpretive dancing to a Christian song that was very beautiful. While all of these outreaches draw a crowd, the other 25 team members are initiating conversations with the bystanders. It has been very effective in building friendships, meeting people, etc.
I can not initiate convos until the end because we dance every 8-10 minutes or so. This is my favorite type of evangelism, so I was kind of bummed at times watching all the great interactions. So, I prayed last Tuesday that I would be able to have 1 conversation at the very end of the night.
Once the night ended and most people left, I saw a girl on a bike. I hesitated to talk to her, but as she geared up to drive away, I ran up to her and started talking. She spoke some English as I asked her about her life. I shared the Gospel in English, but she seemed to want to hear it in French. I asked her if she saw the drama (thinking that she would understand the non-verbal Gospel) and she said no. She just stopped for the crowd. I got her e-mail and invited her to the drama/dance on Thursday, but she said she had to work till midnight and couldn't come. Thursday rolls around and she shows up to the drama! I realized with language that I misunderstood her and she works AT midnight. Before I noticed the language mistake I made, I thought she left so I went about my business. Because I wasn't with her, one of our Chinese-French-speaking students saw her and shared with her for 2 hours! In the middle of all this, I realized that if I had known she was still there, I never would have left her side. It was neat to see how God moves things to work out His will.
At the end of the night, I was feeling sad for other reasons and I sat down next to the two girls. My Chinese team member said, "Good news, Katie, she has just asked God to be in her life." It is also neat to see that after my Russian friend left, my team member and I just cried because we both needed the encouragement that night AND we had a new sister in the Lord!
Both of our friendships with her are solid and she has already come to one of our team family dinners. Please pray for solid discipleship and a good church for her (those are hard to come by). This has been an answer to my prayers because I had asked God to allow me to meet one girl here in Nice that I can keep in contact with and build a friendship. I was starting to doubt Him with 1 week left but He is faithful in His timing. He gave me more than I even asked or imagined.
I met a Russian girl who is studying in Nice for 5 years. We were doing our outreaches on the beach Promenade these last couple of weeks. We have a drama set to the Skillet song "Locked in a Cage" (or something like that) that is awesome and then I danced on the hip hop team to the remix of "Stomp". Another girl did interpretive dancing to a Christian song that was very beautiful. While all of these outreaches draw a crowd, the other 25 team members are initiating conversations with the bystanders. It has been very effective in building friendships, meeting people, etc.
I can not initiate convos until the end because we dance every 8-10 minutes or so. This is my favorite type of evangelism, so I was kind of bummed at times watching all the great interactions. So, I prayed last Tuesday that I would be able to have 1 conversation at the very end of the night.
Once the night ended and most people left, I saw a girl on a bike. I hesitated to talk to her, but as she geared up to drive away, I ran up to her and started talking. She spoke some English as I asked her about her life. I shared the Gospel in English, but she seemed to want to hear it in French. I asked her if she saw the drama (thinking that she would understand the non-verbal Gospel) and she said no. She just stopped for the crowd. I got her e-mail and invited her to the drama/dance on Thursday, but she said she had to work till midnight and couldn't come. Thursday rolls around and she shows up to the drama! I realized with language that I misunderstood her and she works AT midnight. Before I noticed the language mistake I made, I thought she left so I went about my business. Because I wasn't with her, one of our Chinese-French-speaking students saw her and shared with her for 2 hours! In the middle of all this, I realized that if I had known she was still there, I never would have left her side. It was neat to see how God moves things to work out His will.
At the end of the night, I was feeling sad for other reasons and I sat down next to the two girls. My Chinese team member said, "Good news, Katie, she has just asked God to be in her life." It is also neat to see that after my Russian friend left, my team member and I just cried because we both needed the encouragement that night AND we had a new sister in the Lord!
Both of our friendships with her are solid and she has already come to one of our team family dinners. Please pray for solid discipleship and a good church for her (those are hard to come by). This has been an answer to my prayers because I had asked God to allow me to meet one girl here in Nice that I can keep in contact with and build a friendship. I was starting to doubt Him with 1 week left but He is faithful in His timing. He gave me more than I even asked or imagined.
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