Day 5:
At this point I only have 3 days left until I am home. That means panic has set in to get everything accomplished! This verse that I am putting up today came from my friend Sara Jane. It has been a favorite of mine ever since she showed it to me. It it such an encouraging verse to know as we live our daily lives. Hopefully glorifying Him in every thing we do, failing sometimes and accomplishing sometimes. It is so good to know that He is everywhere we go, leading the way and going before us. I hope you know that His promise is very real and that He wants so very badly to give it to those of you who have not let Him give it to you yet.

Remember that I have commanded you to be strong and brave.

Don't be afraid, because the Lord your God

will be with you everywhere you go.

Joshua 1:9

Day 4:
I wanted to thank all of you that are sharing my blog with other people. Thank you for sharing it with people in your offices, work places, and your friends. I do appreciate your efforts in getting other people to intercede for us. So today's verse, here we go!

He has not punished us as our sins should be punished;
He has not repaid us for the evil we have done.
As high as the sky is above the earth, so great is His love

for those who respect Him.
He has taken our sins away from us as far
as the east is from the west.
The Lord has mercy on those who respect Him,
as a father has mercy on His children.
He knows how we were made;
He remembers that we are dust.
Psalm 103: 10-14

I think that these verses may have already made a run on here, but I figure even if they have He can show us different things every time. I pray that you are reading these thoughts everyday and that they are taking there proper place in your life. Whether you are still searching for peace or you are one of His children. I am praying for you!

Day three! Today we only have five days left in our city. I know that you are interceding and we are so thankful for it! I hope that the GRACE trip is going successful. Hopefully my Momma, Mrs. Carolyn Ciak, and Adriana were able to find a quinceanera dress for Adriana. I can't wait to go in October to see everybody at Casa! I miss them so extremely much!
Alright thought for the day...

15. Nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings on earth will honor You.
17. He will answer the prayers of the needy;
He will not reject their prayers.
18. Write these things for the future so that
the people who are not yet born
will praise the Lord.
22. People will come together,
and kingdoms will serve the Lord.
Psalm 102: 15, 17, 18, 22

Well hopefully yesterday was successful! This is so cool that it is doing it for me! This is a verse I found a few weeks ago thanks to Beth Moore's The Patriarchs study. I also meant to give my Daddy this verse in a card that I sent him but I sent him the wrong verse. Later when I looked up the verse that I sent my Daddy to make sure it was right, it was a verse about being stupid! Whoops...sorry!

You are my hiding place.
You protect me from my troubles
and fill me with songs of salvation!
Psalm 32:7

I was so comforted when I read this verse for the first time! I don't think I have ever found a better verse for wrapping Him up in two sentences! He is everything His book says He is! How awesome He is! I am praying for you!

So this is day one of the blog spot blogs that it is posting for me. Hopefully it works, I guess we will find out! While I was listening to my iPod on the way to the lake I just happened upon a song by Big Daddy Weave. I haven't listened to this song in probably two years, but He just spoke to me through this song and I wanted to share the chorus with you:

You may think I am sounding all too prideful,
but let me tell you something true.
The very one who lives inside of me right now,
wants to live inside of you.
Instead of searching any longer,
you can have peace today, you can take hold of the answer!

What true and awesome lyrics! They are so very true! I am praying for those of you reading this that don't have a personal relationship with Him. I hope that your eyes are being opened and that you will find peace!

Back in town

We got back from our debriefing in Greece last night. We had such a good time! I LOVE Greece! I told my Momma I thought that I may not come home from Greece, of course I was told that I better come on back to our city, and then come home! We got to spend time at the beach and eat good Greek food! We are down to our last few days here in our city. I can't wait to come home and tell you stories of my summer. We worked on our stories while we were in Greece. I am prepared now to come home and take up most of my 45 minutes! We are taking a hiatus from Internet and phone this week to spend as much time as possible with our friends. I am taking full advantage of my blog though. Blog spot will allow me to write blogs for each day this week and it will post them daily for me. PTL for blog spot! It won't be informational stuff about my trip, just thoughts and verses that He has given me for you!
I am excited and jealous that my Momma and Mark are going to be in Guatemala this week. Please be interceding for the GRACE college and career trip.
I am interceding for you and that these blogs will bless you! I can't wait to see y'all, I miss you more than you could ever know! Don't forget about us this week!

We are back in the 'ole city, but not for long! We are heading out in the morning for Greece!! We are going with the wife of our boss couple for debriefing. We sure are roughing it I know! We really will be having daily meetings. The most important item on the checklist is working on what God would have us share when we get home. Since Bro. Teddy has GRACIOUSLY given me 45 minutes to speak, I have some work to do! I probably won't get to a computer to blog again until Saturday. Hopefully all of you can find something to do to fill the empty few minutes that you have taken each morning to read this blog while we are gone. The countdown is unbelievably under two weeks now, it has flown by! Please remember us as we are still working hard to show His truth! Don't forget about us the last two weeks! We are going to finish strong!

For the word of the Lord holds true,
and everything He does is worthy of our trust.
He loves whatever is just and good,
and His unfailing love fills the earth.
Psalm 33:4-5
Something cool for you to see, my boss sent me this verse in Albanian (the language of the people group we are working with). Isn't it amazing that His Word translates the same to every person, with no bias or favoritism shown.

4 Sepse fjala e Zotit është e drejtë dhe të gjithë
veprat e tij janë bërë me saktësi.
5 Ai e do drejtësinë dhe barazinë; toka është
e mbushur nga mirësitë e Zotit.
Psalmet 33: 4-5

Sad to leave...

Today we leave the lake and head back to the city. I am not wanting to leave my friend from school here! She has another year left here and it has been so much fun hanging out with her. Our time is passing fast here in the country. We only have 8 full days left in our city! We have our debriefing in Greece for 3 nights/4 days this upcoming week! Boy let me tell you we are roughing it! Sorry I have not been doing so well keeping up with e-mails. My time has been limited on-line, I usually only have time to blog and call home. Please don't think I don't appreciate the e-mails! I love hearing from you! Please remember our friends here. We hate to leave them, we have built such good relationships with them. Have a good weekend! More to come later once I have more exciting such to tell you!

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the the world through Him might be saved.
"He who believes in Him is not condemned;
but he who does not believe is condemned already,
because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
John 3:17-18

Another day at the lake!

All is well at the lake! Last night we got to go on a night cruise. It was the best $2.50 I think I have ever spent. All of our tickets were 100 dinar ($2.50) a piece! We laughed because there is pretty much no such thing as a seating capacity. By the time we got on the boat there was only standing room. They filled every corner and seat possible. It has been fun hanging with an old friend from Carey. Her and her partner work at a coffee house in town. They have done such a good job playing tour guides and hosts. Tomorrow night we will go back down to our city. Back to the real world! Please remember our friend Alayna, she is flying back from Jackson, MS to our city (her home) Sunday. Her family will be so happy to have her back! She has been at a ballet camp for four weeks, I know that the summer girls have for sure missed our American friend! I hope all of you have a good weekend! I am praying for you!

Sorry there was a brief pause!

I am sorry I have not written in several days! I have not been able to get to a computer to write. Last week was so busy! But I have come to realize that busy weeks are a good thing at this point. I am still not home sick (when I think of being home sick I think of somebody laying around crying and being miserable). I am just getting excited about going home and starting grad school in New Orleans. So busy weeks make the days go by faster. We had the paint team here last week, they flew out today. We had so much fun painting the school. The only bad thing was that we painted with oil paint. Most of you probably have experience with oil paint and know how nasty it is. That is some strong stuff! We exfoliated our skin with turpentine and laundry detergent everyday! I am sure that is very good for the skin. We really enjoyed having the team, there were three from Longview Heights (North MS) and one from Arkansas. Things are unfortunately starting to wind down with our friends. Several of them are starting to leave town for vacations and won't be back until after we leave for the states. We are in another city right now with one of our friends and also visiting a friend of mine from college. The city is a HUGE tourist spot. It surrounds a spring-fed lake. The water is gorgeous, but chilly! We did eventually get our whole bodies in just so we could say we did. Tonight we are going to try to take a night cruise around the lake. We are taking the bus back to our city Saturday.
Saturday is the big day for Pam (my best friend from church, haha!) and B! I wish I was going to be there! I know things would run smoother with Mrs. Myrtle's protege there! Oh, and I also need to tell my Aunt Patty thank you for printing my blog and bringing it to my grandpa! Thanks for keeping him up to date!
In three weeks this journey is over and I move on to another journey. I will continue to pray for those of you who are still searching for the answers. I pray that you will find them ASAP. Open your eyes, the answers are right in front of you. Chances are, He has already told you what you need to do...listen to Him. You will NEVER regret the life change!

For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who serve Him;
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed His transgressions from us.
As a father pities His children,
So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
For He knows our frame;
He remembers that WE ARE DUST
Psalm 103:11-14

Not much to say for once!

Today was our first work day with the paint team. I stayed back to watch kids so painting could go quicker at the school. It was fun getting to keep the two boys, I had a 2 year old and an 8 month old. They are sons of our of 2 boss couples. It was nice to do something that I would have done at home. I was told the painting was successful and it is going quicker than planned! We are now going to have shorter days so that we can yarp walk in the afternoons. We yarp walked in the neighbor around the school this afternoon, we got into pairs and split. It was very interesting how things look different when I was walking around with intentions. I noticed more things than I normally would have.
Tonight the team was making another airport run to get a lost piece of luggage. Of course it was a suitcase with some things that my Momma had sent me. I am not sure how many of you know my package/luggage history. Both pieces of my luggage got here two and three days late (I was the only one that happened to), and then a DHL package we shipped early never got released from customs (I think they wanted my peanut butter!), and then this suit case got lost! Somehow they figure out it is mine and then they keep it! I do hope that someone was blessed through my DHL package and it wasn't just thrown away. I hope all of you have great Sunday afternoons and weeks! I am interceding for you!

Trust in Him at ALL times, pour out your heart before Him, God is a refuge for us!

-Psalm 62:8

I hope all of you know what a great refuge He is!

Our usual group of friends getting ice cream/coffee at Gino's, our favorite ice cream place!

Summer Girls hanging out at the Kay getting coffee with friends!

In case any of you were wondering what the speed limit for tanks was. It was very sad to see the aftermath of the war still present almost 8 years later.

A walking street in the capital city of Kosovo...

And now a driving street! :) It just all of the sudden changes from a driving street to a walking street!

One of the mass graves in Kosovo. This mass grave had been dedicated to the men and women from a nearby village who fought in the military against the Serbs who were trying to cleanse Kosovo of Albanians. One of the women who had been killed was only 17.

We got to spend the afternoon at one of our friend's homes. She lives here with her parents and four siblings. We drank Turkish coffee and chai, and ate pretzels, peanuts, and ice cream all afternoon long!

Samira, she is one of our friend's cousins. We had so much fun with her!

Our bosses' oldest daughter. Their two daughters got to spend the weekend with us while they brought the soccer team back to Greece. Who got the short end of that stick!! :)

We learned just how shady European washing machines are a few days ago. We heard the washing machine making awful racket and walked down to find half of Jessica's clothes dumped on the ground and half still flapping around! The door had somehow come open but the spin cycle had not stopped! There was water everywhere! Haha!

The Summer Girls plus two eating out after fellowship at a Cuban restaurant. It is a rare occasion to eat any other food than local food.One of the four Military guys that were at the picnic. They had come in for the day from Kosovo.

I was so excited to FINALLY eat my first American hot dog for the summer! I ended up eating two before the picnic was over!

Our bosses' youngest daughter at the 4th of July picnic happily sporting her balloon hat!

Down to 3 weeks

We are are the point in our summer where we are beginning to evaluate things. We have started looking at friendships to see where we think they can go and also at new friendships to see how deep we can go in such a short time. It is also sad to know that I can only provide you 3 more weeks of entertainment through this blog! I know it is a daily high for some of you! :) (Probably only my parents!) I don't think any of you will be interested in my day to day life once I get home, trust me its not that exciting!
Tonight we are going out for coffee with the son of the director of one of the schools we taught at. His father is also the director of the school we will be painting next week. We have a team coming from North Mississippi to paint the hallways at the school. At the beginning of the summer I had a conversation with my bosses about possible colors that could be used. I even pulled out the "appropriate colors to encourage learning" card! Haha! The school was very excited to get rid of the gray walls that were painted during the communist period. We were surprised to find out a week later the colors the artist they had hired chose as base colors. Are you ready for this...the colors the artist chose were grey and brown!! Wow, who would have guessed those colors were considered friendly colors as the school director put it! We never figured out how those colors were picked!
Next Thursday night we are going to take a bus to a lake here that is a big tourist pull for our country. We are taking a friend with us so we are all VERY excited. I have a friend from Carey that has lived there for 8 months so she is going to be our hostess! We are also going for our debriefing/get away a week from Tuesday! The summer girls and the wife of our boss couple are going to Greece for three nights! It is a much needed send off for us. We were told at the beginning of the summer that if we could keep our team money/budget under control we should have money left for the trip. Needless to say we watched our spending! I figure this is probably the only time I will be close enough to take advantage of these places so I am very excited about our two trips!
As I was journaling last night I got to thinking about something when I read Romans 12:1. I have traveled across the world to tell people about what I know is true and real, but how many people do I know that don't know what is true and real. According to statistics, several of you reading this have never accepted that relationship. It is so discouraging to know that. I am ashamed that I can take 4 planes to a place to tell people, but I don't have the courage to tell people at home. So for those of you who know and those of you who don't here is what got me thinking, let it make you think also: Romans 12:2 And so, dear brothers and sisters,I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.

I am interceding for you!

I think yesterday was one of the most amazing days I have had here. We went to Kosovo as a team with our bosses for a day trip. It was awesome to be in the newest country in the world! It was extremely eye-opening and sobering to see the aftermath of the 1998 genocide of the Albanian people there. We saw one of many mass graves. I told my bosses that things like genocides are unfathomable, they aren't supposed to happen in my lifetime, it should be a thing of the past. It is crazy to know that the same thing is happening as I write this and you are reading this, in the Sudan. It is something that we should all intercede for. It was upsetting to know that almost every one we saw in the city had family members raped, mutilated, and then murdered during the genocide. Unfortunately, the Kosovo genocide reached almost every family.
We did have a good Mexican lunch in the capital city. It was by no means Aztecas, but when you haven't eaten it in 7 weeks, you forget a little what Aztecas tastes like! Oh and no queso dip either! :(
We are not holding English classes anymore, but have no fear, we are not sitting around twiddling our thumbs! Most days we meet several friends and have coffee or visit them at home. Tuesday we met with 7 friends in one day at three different places and times! We were worn out Tuesday night! Please begin interceding that our conversations will begin turning towards Him and that we will have chances to share with our friends. Things are looking good and we are excited about the next few weeks! Don't forget about us! I can't wait to show y'all pictures and hopefully share celebration stories!

Things have slowed down tremendously, but they are still busy. We have decided that a busy summer life is never a bad thing. Yesterday we got to fellowship!! So exciting! It has been a blessing to be back in it the two times we have gone. I am telling y'all I don't know what I would do without it. You are my support system! Today we made a home visit. We went to a friend's home to have coffee/chai. It was so neat sitting there and seeing the open door policy. All of their family lives around them and they just come and go as they please. Aunts and cousins were in and out the entire three hours we were there. Not sure that policy would be enjoyed all the time! Haha! No privacy! :) Tonight we had red beans and rice with our bosses'. They were delicious! They even surprised us with a cherry pie! We were all very pleasantly surprised! This week we don't have classes, we are taking the week to try and go deeper with relationships we have already established. We are making home visits and getting coffee everyday this week. We have a good group of friends. We have made about 12 friends that we think we can go deeper with. Pretty impressive if you ask me...12 friends in 6 weeks! Haha!
I have a huge interceeding request. I got a very numbing e-mail tonight. I considered not telling my family about it, not wanting them to worry, but this request deserves your time. I got an e-mail from our program's state director with a news release. A student summer worker in Peru was killed Saturday in a car wreck. The student (a guy) attended Ole Miss and is from Glen Carbon, IL. PLEASE intercede for his family. His body had to be transported 19 hours to Lima and then flown home. It was a very real and rude awakening to read the e-mail, my stomach dropped. I think I have gotten somewhat arrogant in my confidence that my Father is going to keep me safe because I am in His will this summer. I am still shocked about the e-mail. I can only imagine what his family and friends are going through. Going back 2 and a half years, I can't imagine throwing in a transport from a foreign country to the grief of the situation. Please join me in interceding.

Happy 5th of July, or at least here!

Well our 5th of July picnic was very successful! When we arrived we saw stacks and stacks of Wonder Bread hamburger and hot dog buns, which was super exciting! We were disappointed to find that the rumors of Dr. Pepper and Root Beer was nothing more than a rumor. :( Everyone we talked to was disappointed, they said that in the past there was a limited supply of Dr. Pepper at the picnic. It was a very fun, relaxing evening. It was from 4 to 8 because of hot temperatures. There is no way that we could have done it any earlier in the day. It was nice to be surrounded by people speaking English! Most of the people there were American Embassy employees and their families. The neatest part had to be when the Marines presented the colors. They came from the base that is located in a neighboring country. It is one of the biggest bases in Europe. There were several members of the Marines and Army that were there. The craziest thing was the military from the country we are in protected the area where we were all evening. They were posted like every 100 feet around the perimeters of the park. It made us feel safe to have military from two countries there! The girls had fun, several of their friends were there and there was water balloons! The deal was they could get the front of their clothes wet, being that they had to sit in somebody's lap on the way home in a taxi.
I was glad to hear from my Daddy tonight about the GRACE trip. Congratulations to all of those who began relationships with our Father! That is so exciting for all of you! I can't think of a better place for that to happen than Guatemala. PTL!
*I got an e-mail about one of the pictures I posted. I put a picture up of me and two other girls spelling a word and I was told it was questionable what we were spelling. Alright Mrs. Diane here it is...bus! :)

Some pictures of a VERY busy week!

Me and my taxi team, Hudson, Mr. Mike, and Drew. I did my best to find the smallest taxi possible so the three of them could squeeze in the back seat. All three of them were the biggest guys on the team so it quickly turned into a joke after I did it on accident the first time!

Kimberlee getting the last chance to tell the kids how she met her Father.

Mr. Scott and Alby (translator) thanking all of the people who participated in the camp.

Casey broke/twisted his ankle one of the first nights they were here. I won't tell you how, its not that good of a story! :)

The summer girls, plus Stephen, at the fort looking out over the city.

Jo Beth, Ashley, Kimberlee, Mr. Scott, and Stephen trying to fit as many people as possible on the corner of the house where Mother Teresa was born. She was born here in the city where we live.

The Birthday boys, Michael Paul and Stephen, celebrating their birthdays at Amatti's. The were trying their best to look like so many of the men here do. Stephen really got the look down!

We took the soccer team to Amatti's so they could eat palachinkis. Palachinkis are thin pancakes that they fold into in a pie shape and stuff with all kinds of good things! My favorite is stuffed with Eurocream and bananas!

The soccer team had the amazing idea to pick up the large amount of trash around the soccer field, they even got the kids involved! Somehow Drew managed to get a fan club during trash pick-up!

Summer girls at the top of the fort. We took the guys site seeing this day. Let me tell you we could barely drag them away from all the shopping!! Haha!

Drew and Caleb getting brave and climbing stairs to the top of the entrance to the fort.

One of the boys at the soccer camp wanting his picture taken!

The three girls that were able to come to the soccer camp. They represented well!

All of the kids with the soccer team. The kids behind the fence are the ones that were too young/old, but still showed up everyday to watch the camp.

We had a scavenger hunt Tuesday night with our advanced class. Can you guess what word one of our students, Mckensie, and I are spelling?

The soccer team + the summer girls + the translators. We really did have a successful week!

Having a picnic in the city park with some friends. McDonalds was our picnic food of choice, our friends love it! Any time we ask where they want to eat, McDonalds is where they choose.

Us eating lunch at our neighbors' home, after lunch we watched Step Up.

Happy 4th of July

Lots has been going on in the past three days. Things have just now slowed down! Our bosses took the soccer team to Greece this afternoon after their last soccer session this morning. We are all worn out after our busiest week yet. The poor soccer team is just now recovering from jet lag from coming over and now they are fixing to head back. I don't know if I mentioned it in an earlier blog but the team we had was from Bellevue. It was a high school trip, there were 19 people on the team. They were really great! They handled every change of plans graciously and were as "fluid" as they could possibly be. Us summer girls are baby-sitting this weekend for our bosses' two oldest children who are 7 and 6. As of right now we just finished our third movie. We have all taken turns using our super power abilities to watch movies through our eye lids (as we have ensured the girls we have) so we can spread naps out. I didn't catch any of Princess Diaries 2 and Katie has been, and still is, using her powers to watch Madagascar! Our bosses' interns (who have been here almost 2 years) just invited us to eat hamburgers with them tonight for a 4th of July supper. So we are excited about that! We are fixing to make peach cobbler and cut a watermelon. We have watermelons here, they are just smaller than they are at home. We bought a pretty good sized watermelon two days ago for less than $3! Tomorrow we are going to the American Embassy's 4th of July (on the 5th) picnic. It sounds like it should be fun! We are getting real American hamburgers and hot dogs and there are rumors of Dr. Pepper and Root Beer. We are even more excited that we get to wear our American clothes, we don't have to cover knees and shoulders tomorrow. Don't worry though, I don't think any of us have short shorts and tube tops! Haha!
Later on tonight I should be able to get back on and load some pictures from this past week!
Oh yeah, thank you Bro. Teddy for letting my Daddy read my blog this week. Could you please tell Bro. Terry the web site for it. I tried several times to e-mail Mrs. Cookie and him, but it always came back. Thanks!

All is successful around here!

Last night went so well! Our speed conversations went so much better than we could have ever expected! The soccer girls helped so much! All of us were able to get at our station and each of us had a different question. All of the students were able to be by themselves. The one on one helped us get to know each other so much better! Katie's topics were so good! They loved talking about everything Katie had thought of. After class we went out to eat with the soccer girls and some of our friends. Our friends were so shy with the new girls around. They didn't want to speak English around the new girls. After eating dinner we went back to the futball field to watch the soccer boys play local teams.
We have been so excited watching our friends translate for the soccer team. (We have three guy friends translating for the soccer teams.) They are hearing so much of our Father's word this week. They have to translate everything for us. They are even hanging out with the soccer team. They translate in the morning, eat lunch with us, come to English class, and then play soccer at night with the boys. They are getting a good dose of Him this week!
Tonight our landlord and his family are opening a coffee bar. They have invited us to come and get coffee with them tonight, so hopefully we can bring the soccer girls down with us. This week has already been so much fun! I can't wait to see what the rest of the week holds!