PolskaPhotogirl

A conversation that makes me happy

2010-09-10T18:59:00.003-04:00

I know the following copied conversation will drive some of my friends nuts, but I want to share it anyway. I also took a quick trip down memory lane to the difficulty of language learning. I'm not sure if I ever told about this frustration, so its also included.

This is a friend that I relate to really well...from our list of overseas experiences to growing up in the same hometown. Half our conversations now start with "where are you in the world?" We were almost in the same time zone for about a week, but that didn't pan out.

We started talking about a culture we had recently experienced and the difficulties we found within it. We both found the same solution to the problem. Ignore, and keep walking. This then took us to the topic of language. Where he could get away with speaking another language, where I was, they just knew too many... in fact, they know more languages than I do.

I can't master a 2nd much less a 3rd language when I have difficulty with my first language!

When I had a tutor in Polish, she had to teach me English grammar first.

I'd love to give you an example, but honestly I can't remember exactly which form of verbs in Polish was like one of our English tenses. Anyway, I looked at her dumbfounded and asked her to explain. Sadly, she had to give me an example sentence... then I knew what she was talking about.

Its really sad when a foreigner has to "teach" you your own language before you can learn theirs... (aka, remind you what English grammar terms actually mean.)

My friend had a similar experience when he was learning another language. At this point, I was already laughing out loud, even though I'm in the apartment alone and typing on Skype.

So, this led up to our conversation via Skype about comma usage... :)

~~~~

My friend "K": one day in college my prof (who was the campus paper staff guy) asked me to come on staff and write articles because he said i had a really good "writers voice"

K: and i told him i would make a terrible reporter because my grammer is so bad

me: hahahaha. You just need a script to read.

K: well, he said he would proof my articles for me

K: and then he told me i had a pretty bad comma splice problem

K: to this day i can't define what a comma splice is

me: HAHAHA

me: its ok, neither can I. I use too many commas

K: it has something to do with an independent clause, but i don't really know what that is either

(side note: at this point I was almost in tears laughing so hard because I totally feel the same way. I was actually thinking...whats a comma splice?)

me: in my head, a comma means pause, or emphasis when Im typing something.

K: ME TOO

K: if i would pause when i'm speaking it, that's where i put my commas

me: YES!

K: apparently, i am WRONG

me: LOL its a shame we don't talk like we should... or write like we talk... or whatever it is

~~~~

For all my English savvy and reporter friends, I apologize...lol, but Im glad I'm not the only one who doesn't have a clue about grammar anymore.

I do know that Poles spend more hours in school on grammar and language than we typically do in American schools. Although they do have a more difficult language, it is taught longer. Where we turn to literature and reading, which I did love, they continue to hound on the basics. After a certain point in our education, it kinda feels like teachers seem to expect you to just know it. Somewhere in the 1 year grammar was taught, I managed to miss comma day. Every paper I ever had critiqued had commas taken out (among other things). I never knew exactly why they were taken out...they just were. On occasion I would have them added in, but that was rare. Maybe one day it will all make sense...

From the land of 7 tenses, masculine, feminine and neutral endings; animate and inanimate objects that also affect endings, and 2 words for every verb - I say goodnight.

may musings

2010-05-26T07:39:00.004-04:00

Dear God,

Why is it still cold outside? You know I have a very hard time keeping warm on my own... I need some help! Will you please bring out the sun, warm up the earth and let me sweat a little? I really do miss it. Honest. I like my jacket, but currently prefer not to wear it. It's almost June. Please, can you make it feel like June?

There really are a lot of other things I'm thankful for - my girls I do Bible study with, home group, English Club... all those are going great! I got to see friends, travel a little and we have a busy summer coming up. Its all very exciting. Can we have sun to match our smiling faces? We even had a picnic in the rain because we wanted to go outside so badly.

Thanks,

picnic in the rain... sat on and under tarps. ... and our shoes sat under an umbrella.

the blessing of children

2010-05-05T16:27:00.005-04:00

A few months ago, I received an email from the first-grade Sunday School teacher at my home church in NC. She had been teaching the kids about Lottie Moon and the Christmas offering. Its an offering that goes directly to overseas missions. They wanted to talk to someone in the field and contacted me.

I told them a little of what I do (with photography and English clubs, etc) and they did an amazing job teaching the kids. They pulled up a map of where I am, showed them photos of my family and of me in the church directory, and pictures of what I do here. They prayed for me, and often do. One girl asked her father to take her to meet my parents...now to the first-grade class, they're "Kaylin's parents" instead of "Mr. and Mrs. B..."

All this touched my heart when I received the email telling me how things had gone.

However, I didn't know there was more in store...

Tonight, I received a little extra blessing that I did not know was coming. I went to the mail box after a long day out and received a number of cards from the kids! I opened them one by one and just had to cry because they are so sweet. I love the pictures and what the kids said, so I had to share them with you.

Plus, who doesn't love getting hand made cards on brightly colored paper?

I can't wait to get home this Fall and hug each and every one of those kids. I know they probably have no idea how much something like this means to someone so far from home, but it means the world.

Their hearts are pure, their love genuine, and tonight, I feel the arms of my Lord around me through the words and pictures from these kids.

Lord, give me your eyes please

2010-04-18T16:55:00.003-04:00

So, this has kinda been my prayer this week. I stumbled across this song in my iTunes and love it. As I pray for the people I live among, I pray that God would allow me to see them through HIS eyes. I pray that I can view everyone I meet that way! (regardless of where I meet them or who they are) Think of how much God loves each of us...and if we all had that view of each other. We wouldn't be able to help ourselves, but to love others.

I come from a small town, so living in a city with close to 3 million people is a bit overwhelming. I tend to create my own little world and live within it - dismissing the hundreds of faces that pass me by each day - the ones I sit across from on the metro or bus... that I watch walk through the bazar outside my apartment... that stand in the lines in the stores I go to.

Maybe my eyes will be a little more open to the needs around me.

The song is:

Give Me Your Eyes by Brandon Heath

Looked down from a broken sky

Traced out by the city lights

My world from a mile high

Best seat in the house tonight

Touched down on the cold black tar

Hold on for the sudden stop

Breathe in the familiar shock

Of confusion and chaos

All those people going somewhere

Why have i never cared?

Give me your eyes for just one second

Give me your eyes so i can see

Everything that i keep missing

Give me your love for humanity

Give me your arms for the broken hearted

The ones that are far beyond my reach?

Give me your heart for the one's forgotten

Give me your eyes so i can see

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Step out on a busy street

See a girl and our eyes meet

Does her best to smile at me

To hide what?s underneath

There?s a man just to her right

Black suit and a bright red tie

Too ashamed to tell his wife

He's out of work he's buying time

All those people going somewhere

Why have i never cared?

Give me your eyes for just one second

Give me your eyes so i can see

Everything that i keep missing

Give me your love for humanity

Give me your arms for the broken hearted

The ones that are far beyond my reach?

Give me your heart for the one's forgotten

Give me your eyes so i can see

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

I've been there a million times

A couple of million eyes just moving past me by

I swear i never thought that i was wrong

Well i want a second glance

So give me a second chance

To see the way you see the people all alone

Give me your eyes for just one second

Give me your eyes so i can see

Everything that i keep missing

Give me your love for humanity

Give me your arms for the broken hearted

The ones that are far beyond my reach?

Give me your heart for the one's forgotten

Give me your eyes so i can see

Give me your eyes for just one second

Give me your eyes so i can see

Everything that i keep missing

That i keep missing

Give me your arms for the broken hearted

The ones that are far beyond my reach?

Give me your heart for the one's forgotten

Give me your eyes so i can see

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

check out: http://www.kovideo.net/give-me-your-eyes-lyrics-brandon-heath-207439.html

It has the lyrics I posted here and you can listen to it at the bottom of the page.

My thoughts on snow

2010-03-06T08:26:00.004-05:00

snow snow snow snow snow LOTS of snow snow snow

a little bit of snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow

snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow big fluffy flakes snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow

snow snow snow ice pellets snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow

snow snow snow snow snow snow snow ----it comes down sideways---- snow snow snow snow snow snow snow

it sticks to your face snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow

Since I can't seem to get away from the snow, I thought I would talk a little about it and give some of the thoughts I've had throughout this winter season.

First of all, it will end...eventually.

The winter we have had here has been a doozy. I hate being cold and wet. I really don’t enjoy the snow at all, yet I’ve had to live in it since before 2010 started. The snow finally melted mid-late Feb, except it came back the past 2 days. Since Warsaw never got warm enough for the initial snowfalls to really melt, it kept piling up – eventually to a few feet that just stuck around. Sometimes life is like trudging through that snow. Each step gets harder and harder. After a while, you have zero energy to do anything, period. Then comes the question, do I stand here freezing in this cold, or do I find a way to keep moving? Sometimes I just want to stay put and quit, but then I remember how much I hate being cold and find a way to move again. Sometimes that’s how life is…you just have to try to keep moving. Mostly, I’ve realized that its not by my power that I am able to find energy, but it’s my God who picks me up and walks forward.

Only then, do I really see how this beautiful pristine snow covers a dirty city. It’s kinda refreshing. It’s like the city is being washed and cleansed. It doesn’t always stay pure though. With sand and soot piled up, it makes for some pretty nasty looking snow. However it seems that without fail, just as it gets dirty a new snow falls, covering the old again and making it new. That’s how God works in our lives – covering the old and making it new. He keeps forgiving me for what I do wrong and makes me new in Him.

Then, it MELTS! What do you get with melted snow? Water, and lots of it. Puddles everywhere. I can't tell you how tempted I am to just jump in them sometimes. However, its far too cold to do that, so I choose to take pictures instead.

Maybe the rest of it will melt soon and Spring will come. I'm so ready for Spring, warmth and flowers. It will be nice running errands and not have to take 30 minutes just to bundle up before you walk out the door. It will be nice to not have to wear so much and be so weighted down.

........ ahhh, the freedom that Spring brings with it.........

Laughing at capitalism in its finest (Warsaw) moment

2010-02-16T08:32:00.007-05:00

I had a good little laugh today. It was the first in a while I think.

I went to get a personalized metro card since its a new requirement. (Yay for new/ changing Polish laws) Often they will have guys on the metro checking for valid tickets, and if you dont have one, you pay big time. Anyway, the guy checked mine as I got off the metro...I go get my card...10 min later I was waiting for the metro and the same guy walks up and checks my card again...I was slightly stunned because he had literally JUST checked it. ... so Polish. AND, since I happened to have my brand new personalized card in my hand that he barely noticed, he started to walk away, turned around and asked for BOTH cards this time - checks my name on my current, valid (non-personalized) card against my new, photo-id and everything card that isn't even activated yet. Then he lets me go...WOW

Also, when I was walking back to the metro after getting my card, there were 2 guys standing in the hallway and one of them says "czesc!" as I walk by. It's an informal "hi" - in a kinda flirtatious way and I had no clue what to do. I just kinda kept on walking and didn't say anything. That was definitely a first.

After all this, I decided since I was only 1 metro stop away, I would go to Starbucks and get a coffee and sit for a little while - to think, to relax, to just enjoy a few minutes with a cup of coffee and sudoku. I was enjoying my bagel and window-side seat. I watched people walking by, waiting on trams, etc and just relaxed. For a moment, I could slip into my own "coffee heaven" and back into the world of coffee shops I love so much. Now, granted, Starbucks is not the ideal of my little heaven. I prefer local shops to chains, but considering they aren't that popular here, I have to settle for Coffee Heaven, ISpot, Starbucks and Empik Cafe - all chains.

I've only seen this once or twice here, but one of the workers walked outside with mini promo cups of hot chocolate and an entire tray was gone in like 2 seconds. She came back in, got more and walked out right before I did... before I even reached her -only a few yards from the door - the second tray was almost gone when an older man hurried up to her and was like COFFEE!? its free? ohhh, yes, please...

I just had to laugh because it was so opposite of what I had just seen in the metro! Where down stairs, a guy is standing at the only exit checking and double checking cards...and then right upstairs, capitalism being embraced at its fullest. Something's free!? Leave it to Starbucks... slightly ironic considering they are one of the most expensive coffee chains I know of!

Sadly though, it was back to Polish reality when I had to wait 30 minutes at the post office to get a package my parents sent me. There was only 1 person in front of me too! Oh well. At least I laughed today.

On another note, I'm so TIRED of it being white outside! The piles are almost my height now! They have no where to put the snow, so they just scrape it to the side, pile it up and keep piling. The sidewalks get smaller and the snow has only gotten deeper. sheesh....can I come back to the South now? lol. I want warm! sun! no snow! There's been a rhythm here - it snows, they scrape it to the sides and put down sand, the snow gets dirty, it snows again covering all the dirty snow with fresh white stuff and it starts all over again. fun. When will it end?

this is outside my apartment complex. The paths are slowly being cleared with a cool snow blower thingy. :)

Do not worry

2010-02-03T17:56:00.003-05:00

Matthew 6:25-34. Great verses right about now when everything seems to be so crazy!

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I want to pull 2 things from this -

1, Its amazing that if God takes care of the birds the way he does, he will take care of us. I was thinking about this verse over the past few days and then I had a pigeon land on my balcony again...I thought I had been rid of them...but apparently not. I proceeded to the balcony door and scared it off. 'No nest for you!'

Then, I kinda had to laugh.... God still provides for the birds - even when we aren't helping him out! I wonder how many times we get in the way of God providing for us.

2- I love the last part - therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. HAHAHA - noooo kidding! Sometimes I can't even worry about a full day -only the next hour, or minute...because the following hours and minutes within that single day have enough trouble of their own.

Speaking of which...I just forgot about the laundry I did earlier thats STILL in the washer. One more trouble to handle before bed tonight...

then tomorrow awaits.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-06T15:44:00.006-05:00

Oy vey - I'm terrible at keeping up...

I hope everyone is having a wonderful new year so far! I know that ours is filled with snow. You can tell I'm thrilled. haha. Actually this was me walking in the stuff today. It was still falling, or should I say blowing...right into my face. There was about 6-8 inches on the ground after I finally got home this evening.

As winter has definitely set in, English Club came to a close for the holidays but now we are back in the swing of things. In the mean while, I took advantage of a few free days to see some friends in Prague, CZ. It was a blast! The city truly is beautiful, but more than anything it was good to see friends. It helps having something to look forward to when you can't be with family for Christmas. I was back in Warsaw for the new year and spent it with friends.

There are a lot of great ideas and goals in mind for the new year and my last 8 months or so in Warsaw. (crazy how time flies) Anyway, here's just some photos from recent times. :) Enjoy!

At New Years here, everyone shoots off fireworks.

We didn't go into the center to see the city shoot some off because we were all too exhausted and didn't feel like being cold.

So we just watched out Susan's 3rd floor balcony and watched locals shoot them off.

Sadly this year wasn't as spectacular as last, but it was still enjoyable!

Now Prague :)

A view of the city from a hill across the river. We had to take a car up it and then walked back down.

The astronomical clock in the Old Town. The characters move on each hour and its got sections that tell you which month/ season, day (by names) and of course the hour and minutes.

The castle and Charles Bridge at night. So beautiful!

More adventures to come, but until then, I'm staying busy busy with English Club, a teammate leaving to go back to the states, a volunteer coming in to help, media stuff, people stuff, and just stuff!

Adios :)

There's no use crying...

2009-11-29T17:35:00.003-05:00

...over spilt coffee!

So, I'm sure at least some of you are familiar with the phrase, "no use crying over spilt milk." Well, I would never do that because I don't really like milk to begin with. The only thing it's actually good for is coffee and cooking. Technically, I spilt the milk that was inside my coffee, yet I was beyond crying at that point because my list of mis-haps had gotten so long, that I laughed and headed for a camera instead.

(I'll explain the glass jar inside the coffee cup later)

Have you ever had a day like that? Where everything just seems to go wrong? Well, I've had a series of them and thought I would share some of them with you and a little of what I have learned thus far. Hopefully you will get a chuckle out of most of them. For those of you who really know me, know this is normal. Those of you who know me only through Poland have been somehow spared from my clumsiness so far. (until Thanksgiving, that was)

Happy Birthday: Joshua's birthday (my bro) was Nov 14 and I called to wish him a happy birthday only to get his voicemail. I started into the song and got through "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you...." and totally blanked on the words. All I could remember after that was monkey and too...not gonna call him that. Who forgets the words to Happy Birthday!?

Pumpkin Pie Party: We were going to start at 4 and the first people showed up at 5. Lots said they would come and then a number of them ended up sick. Sad! We still had a lot of fun - just a lot later than expected! Just one thing on top of others that didn't go as planned.

The Rotten Egg: My first and hopefully last experience ever! It was my turn to make Sunday lunch - and I decided to make quiche. It's easy, right? Got to the 5th of 6 eggs and it was ROTTEN. It squirted and landed on my upper arm, running completely down it, while the rest ran through my fingers and the crushed shell ruining the other eggs already in the bowl. With the overwhelming smell, no more eggs and quite grossed out I threw it away, opened the window washed off, etc. and ran out the door down to the bazaar for fresh eggs and finished making the pie filling where we have home group.

No Walnuts, Soup or opening car doors for me: I went to the dentist to get fillings (that should be one in it's own - can we say ouch?) and decided eating solids might not be the best idea that evening. I headed to a store to get soup - nope - it didn't want to scan so no soup for me. The lady tried explaining and asking if I really wanted it and I couldn't respond because my tongue and mouth were still numb from Novocain. (Not that my Polish is good enough anyway) The following day, the same thing happened with a bag of walnuts at another store. Was already a little bummed and went to get in the car. I kindly waited as this lady was trying to park next to us and she pulled in soooo close. I figured she would back up and straighten out but NOPE. My friend actually had to pull the car out before I could get in it.

The Kicker:

All this happened in a matter of ONE day -

- I fell out of bed while trying to stand and turn off my alarm, hurting my wrist and foot because my entire left leg was asleep and I didn't know it.

- made coffee and tried to open a small jar of sugar and the whole thing, jar included, fell into the coffee cup, splashing everywhere. (yes, that's what is in the coffee cup above if you were wondering)

- went to get the pie crust dough to start making the pumpkin pies for our Thanksgiving meal only to find the birds had gotten into it while on my balcony the night before. (There was no room in my fridge and this usually works just fine for free refrigeration but not this time!)

- was on the 2nd to last spice for pumpkin pie and dropped the thing into the mix. That was fun fishing it out of egg, milk and spice goop! Thankfully everything including my hands were clean.

Then the phone rings and I ran some stuff down to a friend, came back up to finish the pie... only to realize the following day during our Thanksgiving celebration meal that I FORGOT THE SUGAR after over half the pie was gone!!! OOPSE. I felt terrible. We had some of our Polish friends with us who had never had a traditional Thanksgiving meal before. Most had never seen a turkey cooked whole. lol... Out of all the things I could have ruined, I ruined the pies. Hopefully another first and last.

After all these things happened, at least I understand that it's so much better to laugh than to cry. You get out just as much emotion but you don't feel half as bad. These were all minor instances and distractions...but even those - over time - can become very overwhelming.

When you feel like nothing is going right or will go right.

When you add up the time spent fixing them or cleaning it up and you have lost almost an entire day of ministry because of timing setbacks.

When you have to ask "why!? why me? why now?"

When it's embarrassing or frustrating.

When you want to crawl in a hole till better luck comes your way

When it's topped off by you inbox being flooded with more bad-news emails.

When it's out of your control...

If laughter doesn't feed your soul, this knowledge will:

God is bigger than all of it and in complete control.

What is above our heads is under his feet and well within His capability to handle it.

That through everything, my needs are still met.

Forgetting the words to Happy Birthday and stumbling through the message actually caused a good laugh followed by a reminder of "yep, that's my sister". Family ties span oceans.

It's ultimately not my timing, but His. It's not my will but His. That because fewer showed up, I could spend more time talking with each person than feeling too stretched. (pumpkin night)

That when we run across a rotten egg in life, the smell doesn't last forever. And, that sometimes it creates a good reason to start fresh.

Although Novocain may numb the immediate pain, sometimes the pain is deeper than a quick-fix. Also, things don't always go my way, or the way I think they should. Accept it and find another way.

It can be one heck of a wake up call, but at least I'll be more aware, more cautious, and won't do that again. (falling out of bed)

As for the coffee - When my attitude is a little too bitter, add some sugar and everything smoothes out nicely.

And the pumpkin - sometimes we need to be humbled. We all make mistakes...I'm not perfect but as soon as I start acting perfect, I'm bound to screw up somewhere because you can only go so long without making a mistake - innocently or intentionally.

Some things have disaster written all over it from the beginning...do you take the challenge and learn through the process? or do you give up before you start and never find out what you can accomplish?

I still ask "WHY?" a lot...there's nothing wrong with that. Just know that you may not always get an answer...there may be no apparent reason that is revealed to you at that moment, or it may come years later. We may never know why things happen, but there is a reason.

I know who knows the reason, who can explain the why.

I know the Lord my God is in control - and in that, I find peace.

Pumpkins and Photos!

2009-11-24T06:57:00.009-05:00

So as you all probably remember, last year I decided I wanted to learn how to make a pumpkin pie from scratch. Everyone enjoyed it and I just couldn't help myself so we did it again this year!

We combined photo club with the event. Those who were interested in learning how to tell a story through pictures, had an opportunity to document what went on as well as participate in the process. The following Tuesday during our English Club/Photo Club, we gathered all the images and put them together in a series to tell the story.

We did have our minor glitches as a number of people were unable to come because they got sick. The others ended up showing up almost an hour later than expected although it all turned out fine...we just started later!

I wanted to share a short slideshow of clips I put together from the evening. I hope you enjoy it!

And, as a little humor clip... someone sent this to me in an email. I can't find the original source, but it was titled "how the pumpkin pie was born". I got a kick out of it!

If you are interested in knowing how we did it, there is a great website that we used both years. Click here or go to http://www.pickyourown.org/pumpkinpie.php to check it out and see all the other awesome cooking and canning information she has!

Random adventures

2009-11-09T14:51:00.006-05:00

Here's some of my recent stuff. Life is good, hectic and I've traveled a lot lately. Here's some of my favorites over the past few months... since my last update anyway. More explanations later.All Saints Day in Poland. Every cemetery is lit with candles and decorated with flowers. Its one of the major Catholic holidays, and always a big to-do in Poland.
Night shots right before All Saints Day in Poland.
All Saints Day in Poland.
View of Heidelberg, Germany from the castle. I had a chance to spend the day in this quaint, fairy-tale like town! It's gorgeous and this was about all the fall colors I get this year.
Watching the sun go down while hanging out at a castle on a hill in Heidelberg, Germany.
Frankfurt skyline - I like this city.
a sticker stuck on a pole in Frankfurt Germany...how pleasant.

Feeding the gulls at the Baltic Sea in Gdansk, Poland. Although quite windy, the weekend was good and relaxing. I enjoyed seeing another part of Poland!
sunset in Ursynow - a district in Warsaw after a nice bike ride. Always gotta put up my sunsets...
One of my favorite works of graffiti art on Pulawska Street. There's a street that has this long section of wall that people can graffiti. It has some of the coolest images.
A day out of Warsaw at a polish actor's home. He's got all kinds of cool and crazy old-timey things on his property.

Hope you at least enjoy the photos! Sorry I haven't updated in some time...

xoxo

Summertime Blues

2009-08-13T13:46:00.011-04:00

Well, the summer isn't technically quite over yet - it's still pretty hot outside; but the hustle and bustle of groups coming in to do various service projects is. Since that hasn't allowed me much time to update, I get to bombard you with some of my favorite photos from the summer. I hope that you will make it through and read some of the stories, even if it's not all at once.

To start, of course, a sunset from my balcony. Yes, these seriously are the colors that showed up that day. I just couldn't believe it. I had a number of people over for my birthday just to hang out and they all got to see how gorgeous it can be. The last people left at 1:15am. Fun times :)

One of the things we did this summer was help at a kids camp in a neighboring town. A father and son came from the States to help teach the kids American sports. We taught them baseball, kickball, ultimate frisbee, disc golf, etc. On the last day, the kids went to a local castle for the day. The theme was fairy tales, so they acted out their stories on the castle grounds. The kids had a chance to dress up in baseball gear and/or football pads. I took portraits of whoever wanted one.

The very next week, we took our English Club to Zakopane, the mountains in Southern Poland. We had a blast. I had been in 2005 for a week, but we did almost entirely different hikes this time. One of my favorites was to a glacier lake, Morskie Oko. It means Sea Eye.

My friend, John Mark took this one of me. It was getting a little chilly and started raining right after this was taken. I'm actually surprised I managed this smile. I think I just finished exclaiming how cold it was!

So I grabbed my jacket. At least we had a little fun before the drops came down though.

This is a view with the waterfall that feeds the lake. It was such a magnificent view and the perfect breather half way up to Black Lake. God truly is creative in His beauty.

On one of the latter days, the Americans copped out of a hard hike and took the "easy hike" to Black Lake - above Morskie Oko. (Where these 3 pix are taken from) Needless to say, it wasn't necessarily easy. Just easier than the hike our Polish friends took to Five Lakes. Here's what part of the trail up to Black Lake looked like. I think half those steps up my knee made a right angle. At least the end was rewarding! A dip in cold glacier water will certainly numb any pain in your feet. So, off came the shoes...then the socks... followed by an "OOOOHHHH!!!! that's cold!"Not only did we have a relaxing time at the lake, but we had a few "cultural moments" too. It's not uncommon to see women hiking in their bra, bikini top, etc. and men in just shorts. Well, apparently one guy was quite hot...and I turned my head in time to get a full, bent-over shot of his olive underwear. My teammate, Joe got the best shot expressing the situation I think. My face says it all. We laughed for days at this!

We had barely a week before the next group came in to work. The team of 8 was helping to clear brush in a Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw. However, before they began working we took them around the city to various areas of Jewish importance. Included were part of the Ghetto wall, the only surviving Jewish Synagogue in Warsaw, the "train station" where Warsaw Jews were loaded into cars and taken to Treblinka, Treblinka itself, and finally the Warsaw Uprising Museum.

As it would happen, we planned to go to the museum on the 65th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. I had one of the coolest experiences ever. We stood in line to purchase commemorative coins and they closed the window for a moment of silence. One of the Americans walked up and pointed to a gentleman sitting on a bench and said that he was a survivor of the uprising. His daughter, standing in front of us said it was her father and to go talk to him. So we did!

84 year-old Wladsylaw Mazur was shot 3 times, twice in the neck and once in the arm. He worked in a machine shop in Warsaw before the war. Recalling what happened, he explained that he laid very still at first and they thought he was dead until they noticed he had moved closer to a puddle of water. After shooting him again, they left. Still alive, somehow he managed to crawl to a place where he was rescued. As his brother had always told him, beautiful nurses took care of him until he was well and then transported to Flossenburg concentration camp in Germany for 8 months. Mazur made his way to Italy and eventually England where he met his wife and lived for 4 years before moving to the USA in 1951 where he lives in New York to this day. Talking with this man made the walls of the museum come alive. I've always walked down the streets of Warsaw's Old Town with some understanding of what had happened so many years ago. To hear it from the lips of someone who survived was a treasure I will hold to for many years.

We took the group back across the Wisła river into Praga to their hotel behind this church. I just had to dig my camera back out when I saw the golden light make the bricks seem to glow.
It only got better that week. We drove home in time to see the sunset over Warsaw. I didn't have my long lens with me, but the tall building near the center is the Palace of Culture and very much in the heart of Warsaw's center. It was a "gift" from Stalin, showing his power over the people.Now for some fun stuff. The group worked in the Jewish Cemetery clearing off gravestones so they can be photographed and documented before the jungle of weeds and trees grows back up around them. The cemetery covers over 70 acres (33 hectares) of land. The longest stretch of Ghetto wall still stands, separating the Jewish and Catholic cemetery. A bunker and tunnels in back sections were used to enter and exit the Ghetto.

The stories continue...

But, this is what struck me most this time. These are photos of the most harmless yet most interesting of the bugs and icky things we found in the "back 40". I sadly discovered that ticks like me, that snails make sad crunching noises if you accidentally step on them and that orange slugs aren't as gross as they are fascinating.The light hit just perfectly after clearing off the stones. Then you get some beautiful images.At the end of the week, we took the group to Treblinka and to Sucha - the Wood Architecture Museum. This is of some of the buildings at the museum by a lake where some guys were fishing. It was quite relaxing after visiting such a hard place to see like Treblinka.On their last night, we went back to Old Town for some last minute shopping. I grabbed a cup of coffee and started people-watching. The evening grew darker and things got interesting. I noticed spotlights not normally there but didn't think much until we were bombed with poems on bookmark type flyers. Thats when we noticed the red mood rising.It's the best I could do but you can actually make out the shapes in the moon when I pull it up a little larger.After catching the moon, I photographed the flyers falling into the Old Town streets. One hundred thousand fell; red or black with poems in Spanish and Polish on the back. Warsaw is the 4th city to take part in The Bombing of Poems. Cities that have experienced ariel bombings in the past have taken part in this. We found something about it on facebook explaining the event. Here's a link - it's in Spanish, but there's a few videos of the event. I was right there near the flame throwers. http://www.loscasagrande.org/

People scurried about the streets trying to catch them in the air and gathering as many as they could. I think it's a neat concept. I can't really read what is on the back of my flyers, but I will probably keep them as a reminder.

Anyway, sorry if this was long, but I hope you enjoyed the new photos from the summer!

Blessings,

Kay

More about Greece

2009-07-11T16:05:00.023-04:00

Hey all!

There has been so much going on lately - I love it! I just spent 2 fabulous weeks in Greece. One for work and one for vacation. While I was there, I saw some of the most amazing sights and had some of the most incredible experiences. I highly doubt that I will forget the journey.

I felt that I had white feet for a week from all the marble. My stomach was full of olives, my ears full of languages foreign to me, my eyes full of wonder and my heart full of joyous adventure. I discovered intricately built marble temples to various gods of ancient Greece, as I hiked up the back slope of the Acropolis. I was in complete awe. I've always heard of this stuff ... I mean, Greek Mythology was one of my favorite sections in school. You can get lost in the stories. But thankfully, thats all they are ... stories. For I know that I serve the One True God.

Yet, who wouldn't appreciate the magnificence of such architecture? It truly was beautiful. As we hiked up the southern slope, I wondered what it would be like to live there. At first, it was cool but by the time I got to the top I had decidedly changed my mind and am very appreciative of elevators.

I didn't realize how huge Athens was until I got to the top. Buildings seem to stretch as far as the eye can see, until you reach the mountains anyway. You could spot temples, the original Olympic Stadium and churches everywhere.

We looked down one side to spot Mars Hill. We hiked down the front of the Acropolis (the easy side) and made our way to the top of Mars Hill. Although insignificant to those who haven't read Acts 17 or are unfamiliar with Paul's missionary journeys, this was my favorite.

To stand on top and imagine seeing what Paul did - to look around and to begin to hear, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands..." (Acts 17:22-24)

(view from the top of Mars Hill)

Open the Bible and keep reading if you will... but for now I will continue on -

After a full day of museums and hiking around, we continued our adventures. My vacation consisted of time on Crete and in Athens.

We visited various beaches - some rock and others sand

found and walked over huge rocks to a teeny tiny church (so small I totally hit my head on the doorway when I was exiting)

had some of the most amazing olives ever

wore a miss-matched bathing suit after half mine got swiped while drying

discovered how awesome overnight ferries are (like a plane but cooler)

watched the sun rise over a harbor

did laundry by hand

got sick on a bus

puked in a squatty potty

laughed at misspelled menus

ate the biggest baklava I've ever seen

took a boat out to 2 islands

went snorkeling

and enjoyed relaxed evenings as the sun set.

I could have chosen to have Glilled Lamp in lemon saus with shrimps in flowr for dinner one night. (actually, that's a lie - thats just a combination of my favorite misspellings but lamb was readily available as was shrimps but they looked at you funny from the plate before you ate them.)

I was informed by a restaurant owner on Crete that the pieces of the Parthenon in London should be returned to it's rightful owners in Greece, I mean "we built the Parthenon when you were, oh I don't know, living in caves and maybe not discovered fire yet!"

oh, it was just too much fun!

To top it off, after running from gate 18 to 35, we missed our flight back because it left 5 minutes early and we were over an our late leaving Athens. We ended up staying in a 5 star hotel in Munich. At least I can honestly say I've been to Germany - and not just the airport!

Now back to work and reality I guess. It's rained almost every day I've been back in Warsaw. Crazy. It's like the eternal winter cuz it's July and C O L D! It barely hit 70 F today! Not normal. My birthday is tomorrow and I'm having a bunch of people over to just hang out. It beats being alone, especially when your family is in the place you love most in the world (Litchfield By the Sea) without you! (shrug) I hope the weather is warm.

If you get a chance, check out my facebook album, It's all Greek to Me.

Greek vacation

2009-06-29T06:18:00.003-04:00

So, I have been highly entertained on my Greek vacation. I have so many stories and so many photos its not even funny!

However, in the few minutes I have of working internet, I will give you just a taste of what is to come :)

1. Greece is amazing! It's so warm and absolutely beautiful. (see sunset below for proof!)

2. My feet stay white because of all the crushed white marble in Athens

3. Overnight ferries are even cooler than flying.

4. Why it's good to bring more than 1 bathing suit...

5. Quotes, quotes, and more quotes

I am seeing some of the coolest things and having an absolute blast! Aside from having the bottom half of my bathing suit stolen, that is. It was great to see friends and co-workers and am now relaxing from having too much fun ;) We hiked up to the Acropolis the other day and walked all through parts of Athens. I got to see Mars Hill - where Paul spoke to the people on one of his missionary journeys.

Greek beaches are rocky... and the water is really clear.

More to come :)

Photo Club and a grumpy Polish lady

2009-06-02T16:15:00.010-04:00

Ah! So many stories to tell... where do I start? I think I need to blog more, haha.

So, I participate in an English Club every Tuesday night. For the month of May we decided to do a series in photography. Everyone seemed pretty interested, so I planned out 4 sessions.

First, we talked about getting to know your camera - you know, all about the fun little settings that no one ever really knows what they mean. Then compositional elements that make better photos followed by choosing your subject and a little about style. I loved this because we got to look at some of my favorite photographers and their work.

We took a Saturday to go practice what we had learned and the last session, which was stretched into 2, was critiquing our images and narrowing them down to the top 2-3 photos.

After we had discussed everyone's pictures and picked out our favorites, I quickly stuck them in an iMovie file and threw them up on the projector for the group to see. They did so well! I think we will continue meeting about once a month! I'm so excited about this opportunity!

But, I want to tell you about our Saturday out. Unfortunately, it was raining, so we went to our second choice - Zołte Terasy - a mall in the center of Warsaw rather than a park.

This place has some awesome architectural design though. Unfortunately, I didn't get to shoot as much as I wanted, but I was teaching and answering a lot of questions.

However, in the one down time that I had, I got chewed out by an old Polish lady. Now, this has happened before - that was no surprise. The shock was when I told her in Polish that I didn't understand what she was saying and she started speaking English! OOPSE!

I understand enough Polish, and am learning, but usually when I say I don't understand, they stop....or, if they don't I still don't know exactly what they want, but at least they realize this now.

No, this lady was different - not only did she proceed to say that it was inappropriate to be taking photos in a Polish restaurant, aka mall food court, but then reprimanded me for living here and not knowing Polish. I tried to tell her I was learning... It seemed to ease the burn a little, but not enough. She wasn't satisfied with me sitting at that table either. I was taking up too much space and what if someone wanted to come eat?

Anyway, I sit and endure this woman for what seemed like eternity but was probably only about 10 or 15 minutes. Either way, it was long enough for some businessman to come and lightly put his hand on the table and say (in English) 'you have every right to stay here, don't listen to her'. I replied with a brisk 'Thank you, I know, but thank you!' I realized that sadly a small scene was being created and I was unwillingly in the middle of it.

Finally, this woman pointed out that my friends had been gone for more than "a few minutes" and asked again how long until their return... fortunately, someone rounded the corner at that moment and I was off the hook - yeessss!

As we left, someone looked over at her as she was still griping at all of us and said they hoped she had a better day...

Sometimes I wonder about that woman...I wonder if she ever has better days. Of course, knowing the Lord, even my bad days are probably 'better days' than she will ever have. I kinda feel bad for the woman, even though I was quite uncomfortable for a good 20 minutes that day! My heart was touched and I know that even in being griped at and being really uncomfortable, that I had more joy than she probably ever will unless she comes to know the Father personally. I realized again that the world is full of people who need 'better days'. Also, I hope that my actions reflected my faith...I hope others who saw, noticed that I didn't fight back or yell - hopefully that I handled it differently than most.

Things like this happen on a regular basis. At the time I was flustered and just endured it, but now I get a good laugh out of it and add it to the list of embarrassing moments, cultural fo-pas and crazy stories that I wonder if anyone would actually ever believe.

Łazenki Park

2009-04-27T18:11:00.004-04:00

This is some stuff I shot today while meeting a friend for ice cream and a walk through the park on a beautiful day.

They are actually backwards from the way I shot them, but I don't feel like re-arranging.

Enjoy! :)

us :) in "that's not traffic" aka, it gets worse than this - a lot worse!

pretty duck! with a not so pretty duck and pigeon behind him. Someone said his name comes from mandarin. I guess because of the orange color.
their squirrels are red instead of grey. This one let me get about a foot away and just stared at me while he ate his bread. I love his fuzzy, pointy ears!
a bad attempt at a good idea. I liked how he matched the hole in the tree with his shape, but he wasn't being a very good model. Plus I probably needed my other lens.
the ice cream :) mint - yummy

Easter

2009-04-17T08:17:00.011-04:00

First off, I hope everyone had a very happy Easter!

I am thankful that my God had a plan and has the power and authority to raise his Son, Christ from the grave so long ago, so that I might have the ability to live in Him.

For me, this year was a time of reflection in a way. This was not my first Easter away from home, but it was my first Easter in another country. The traditions are different. They seem more aligned with what the holiday is all about, however it also seemed quite distant from the heart.

Easter is one of the most celebrated holidays here. For some families, it is even more important than Christmas. During the weeks leading up to Easter, I found people participating in various ways. I had seen these things being sold in my bazaar and almost everywhere I looked for some time. I had no idea what it was until shortly before Palm Sunday rolled around. With the help of a friend, I learned they were palm branches.

We left for church on Palm Sunday, and almost every Catholic church we passed had people flooding out the doors. They each had palm branches in their hands that they had either made themselves or bought.

Palm branches were even being sold right outside the church that day. Some walked by as they already had a palm branch and others stopped to purchase one before entering the church doors.

After a while, once the mass had started and the church was full, people stood outside and listened.

If only people gathered like that each week...where would our world be today? What would it look like if people gathered in groups all over the world to worship Christ, not just in buildings, but anywhere?

I saw children, each with their own branch standing outside the church. Some were playing and others stood and listened.

That morning as we drove to Otwock, I saw an old lady on her bike with the palm sticking out from one of her handle bars. Not long afterward, a family crossed the street, palms in hand.

I found out later from talking with some people that in the villages, people will go into the forest and make palm branches from what they find. They make huge ones - some as tall as a person - and take it to the church. It's almost like a contest to see who brings the biggest and best palm that morning.

The traditions continue and the Saturday before Easter, people will take baskets of food to their church to be blessed by the priest. The baskets contain sausage, eggs, bread, and a "sugar lamb" made of cake, sugar or chocolate, among other items. After it is blessed with holy water by the priest, they take it home and will eat it the following day.

On Easter in the States, I can remember going to our favorite Chinese restaurant because it was one of the only restaurants open. Here, not even a McDonalds was open on Easter Sunday. I think that as we drove around I saw 1 small food store open and maybe 2 street vendors. Aside from that, every major store, mall and restaurant were closed. Half were still closed on Monday. So, people took the opportunity to go to local parks and enjoy a beautiful day.

I took the opportunity to enjoy the silence locked bazaar doors brings and catch a Sunday afternoon nap. :)

There is one thing I missed about being home for Easter, that I always miss when I am away. When I was a kid, my dad brought a dogwood flower to me Easter morning and put it in my hair. It's always been a sure sign of spring, and an early bloom. Each year following, another dogwood would be placed in the clip as I pulled my hair up for our Easter service. It would last long enough, until after I returned home. I found out they do have a type of dogwood here, but I haven't seen any of my most treasured blooms from home yet.

I hope to update soon about some exciting things coming in May.

love!

Womens' Day

2009-03-11T10:51:00.003-04:00

Who ever heard of a holiday celebrating women, other than Mothers' Day? It wasn't until I arrived here that I learned of such a day. :) I have to admit though, being a girl, I kinda like it! Flowers and chocolate - what could be better?

I got a beautiful red tulip on Sunday during our partner church's Agape meal. Instead of a more traditional service, we all bring food and have a meal with fellowship, worship through song and a short message along with testimonies from those who feel led. It's not terribly different from most Sundays, except for the food! It's one of my favorite times because I can watch the congregation gather and enjoy each other as we celebrate our Lord. As usual, I hardly know what is really going on, but I can feel the Spirit moving.

That evening, a group of ladies from our English Club decided to get together to watch a movie. They chose a Polish film - written in Polish, produced in Polish, filmed in Poland. How much did I understand? More than I thought I would, but still not a lot.

The evening, overall was a struggle at first. I had spent the entire day in Polish and was trying my best to keep up but failing quite quickly. I really wasn't sure that I could handle an entire movie in Polish - especially a chick flick, as those are not my favorite type of films to watch. We started with coffee and a social time in which a dear friend recognized the others around me were pre-occupied and I was left to observe. He came and joined me and we caught up on some good conversation. It was light, but still fun and something I had missed recently.

A little later that evening, God answered a prayer of mine in a way I didn't expect. I wondered why I was supposed to be there - why did I say I would go to a Polish film? Why was I not understanding? Oh.... one of many frustrations. All the sudden, it was like God truly just dropped the answer in my lap. An incredible question from someone gave me assurance that I was supposed to be there and an energy I was lacking all day. With everything appearing to be "wrong" or inconvenient, I was told that its not my burden. I felt like God just took the reigns and said, OK child.... let me drive a while.

It's not always easy here. Life in general is difficult and just harder! It takes longer to get things done and the language barrier is unbearable sometimes. It's frustrating when I can think of every word I need except one!

So tomorrow I go to get my local residency card (again) and then to the Visa office to pick up my card. :) FINALLY! After Monday, everything will be finished and final and done done done! I can stay and don't have to worry about going to the Visa office again!

love to you all,

Kay

Another Snowy Day in Warsaw

2009-02-20T09:50:00.004-05:00

It's been snowing...for days now. It started on Friday (the 13th). I've never had a bad Friday the 13th before, but this one was. First off, I lost my metro card with over a month still left on it. Not only did I lose it, but I lost it the day it began snowing....and it kept snowing and keeps snowing!

I've decided there's no hope for my poor metro card - oh well, such is life!

However, over the past few days as I wake up to big white, soft looking flakes, the snow has accumulated to a pretty nice height on my porch. It was flawless....a blanket of white splendor. I thought, "hmm, I should take a picture of this" .....then my doorbell rings. It's my language teacher ready to start lessons. So we do. 3 hours later I had forgotten all about the photo I wanted to take until I looked out my window at my still perfect, snow-covered porch while I prepare lunch.

"oh, I'll get the photo after I finish eating" I think to myself.

Nope. Within minutes, I look back up and there are 2 lines of bird feet prints! "What!? Why?" Saddened, I continue working and look up now to see 4 lines of prints, now going in all directions. Then I spotted the culprits! 2 pigeons have decided to explore my balcony for a bit. I watch them roam around for a while and shake my head. "There goes the one beautiful bit of untouched snow left..."

So, you get to enjoy the bird prints with me. At least something got to enjoy the snow! I have been tempted though to go outside and make a small snowman with what's there. And for those of you who know me and how I don't really like the snow, that's saying something!

Fortunately, clear skies are in the forecast for the next few days but I fear snow will soon return on Monday.

Otherwise, things are going well...we will have a time of worship and fellowship on Sunday together. Then, we are getting together for some FUN with the girls from English Club! Games? Movies? Food? who knows... Whatever it is, I hope a lot of laughter and smiles are included.

So with this I leave you... enjoy your warm, sunny days, rainy, cold or snowy ones... whatever the weather, whatever the temperature... have fun this weekend and find some smiles and laughter somewhere, dear friends!

Everyone can use a little sunshine in their life

2009-02-09T07:57:00.006-05:00

It's the middle of winter in Poland, but you can see signs that it's starting to fade. Yes, we will probably have another good snow or cold snap before it is truly over, but at least there is hope! There's a touch of light in the sky... the sun actually does exist! I believe that everyone can use a little sunshine in their lives now and then. It just adds great color to everything around you, is bright and just makes me want to smile! The opposite is true with grey or rainy days... those are times you want to stay in, curl up under a blanket and not move. At least I do anyway! I have no desire to leave the comfort of my home, my blankets, candles and book. I mean, why go out? It's messy!

I guess I truly am a summer girl! Considering I was born in the middle of summer, always had access to a pool, grew up in the beautiful and warm SOUTHERN state of North Carolina, and always preferred to go barefooted; summer just has my name written all over it! Therefore, its natural to also say that I don't like winter very much. It was cold and wet - 2 things I hated, especially when combined.

Winter here has been symbolic of my life recently. I have had a lot of adjustments to deal with; some very difficult. I've struggled, questioned and have striven to find who I am in all of this. (thanks to a good friend who was a little needed sunshine)

God talks about refining us by fire... sounds fun? nope... kinda scary actually. I mean, really, who wants to be thrown into a fire?!?!? Not me! ... but wait ... doesn't God have to throw us into the fire at some point? A lot of things get put in fire in order to come out "right". I think His children are included in the list of things that get put into fire... see:

The List:

clay

silver

gold

God's children

I was listening to one of my favorite artists, Shane and Shane, and probably my favorite song of theirs came up on my list. It's called "Burn Us Up". It's a song about the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I keep thinking of how they got thrown into the fire, and survived. They came out unharmed. Man, just thinking of that makes me want to praise God and say, THANK YOU! Because I have hope that when I get thrown into the fire, I will survive because my God is big enough to do that!

It is only because He loves us that He will put us into the fire. It is only because He loves us that we will come out like He wants us to.

So, anyway, new perspective helps...and sometimes you need someone to tell you where to look. Now that I know where to look, things aren't so bad. With God's help, I'm pulling strings and straightening out the mess I have in front of me.

Anyway, here's a little something to show you what it's been like lately. These are all off my balcony. Snow....snow.... more snow... and in this picture, its actually snowing...

then, yesterday, this is what I got :) It got up to almost 40 degrees! wahoo!
a gorgeous sunset that only got better with time.
unfortunately though, there's still a little bit of Warsaw in it.... you just can't get away from the construction and cranes! They're out every window I look...

so I took a picture of them. They don't seem such a bother when there's a gorgeous picture behind it. I just keep looking past the distractions and onto the sunshine in life.

cuz like I said, everyone can use a little sunshine...

Castles and Snow covered mountains

2009-01-28T17:15:00.020-05:00

Hey everyone! Sorry for such a late update...

Happy 2009! I know it's almost Feb and I haven't updated this thing in forever. I apologize. Time just gets away, especially over the holidays! They were good though! It was my first Christmas away from home, so I decided to treat myself to a little vacation to Romania to see a friend. We had a lot of fun and it was a great time to fellowship and catch up!

We traveled a few hours away to the mountains. There were beautiful snow-capped mountains that we were able to enjoy for the day! My teammate went to see his friend, so the 4 of us hung out for the day and just enjoyed some of God's creation.

We went part way up one of the mountains in this cable car. It was a gorgeous view (through the dirty windows) but a little frightening. They cram it full of people and I don't do so well with heights anyway.

You could see where the snow stopped, almost in a perfect line part way down the mountain. I had never seen snow covered trees like I did there... I had no idea they actually existed outside of movies!!!

New Years was also an adventure. They shoot off fireworks much like we do for July 4th, but they go off all over the city rather than just one show like we often have in the States. Imagine over 2 million people shooting off fireworks at the same time! We stood and watched the sky light up in every color. It was quite beautiful and although cold, definitely worth standing on the balcony for almost an hour. They continued shooting them off for 2 solid days and were shot off as early as 11am.

Just recently though, I had a chance to travel a little more through Southern Poland. We went to Częstochowa, a place that many Catholic Poles will pilgrimage to in order to worship in a church that has the Black Madonna, a portrait of Mary and Baby Jesus. This is a picture of it found outside the church in an arch way.

People will fill every empty space surrounding the church in August when the protective covering is taken off once a year. It was definitely an eye-opener into the culture here to watch the attitudes of people coming in such reverence to Mary. The church was packed, considering the time of year and we watched as people flooded in and knelt down at the beginning of Mass.

After that, we took back roads on our way to Kraków and stopped at a few castles. We did the same route coming home and stopped to see more castles. We saw 7 castles in 3 days! It was totally awesome. We would drive down the road, stop at a castle for a little while, drive a few more kilometers, turn the corner and there was another one. Some were rebuilt, some were original and some were in complete ruins. It was amazing to see how they built level buildings on top of uneven rock faces. I didn't realize how huge they were until you stand at the bottom and stare up this rock face that turns into a tower and walls. It totally rocked!

we had the chance to climb up some of the rocks surrounding the castle and got a great view of the courtyard side. This thing was huge and we spent all afternoon there!

This was one of the castles we saw on our tour home. Thats me with 2 of my teammates.

The lighting was just so great that I couldn't resist doing some cool portrait shots with me and my teammates. We stood in one of the holes in the wall with one of the main towers directly behind us. You can see how the tower looks like it comes right out of the rock.

Yet another portrait... Im teaching my teammates how to use my cameras :)

Of course, I just had to have a shadow shot when we were climbing all through the rocks behind the castle!

This one had a cool legend where a priest apparently asked for a stone to be put in the ground like that. I'm not entirely sure of the legend or if that's even correct, but we referred to it as the "toothpick castle" ... you know, the one with the big toothpick rock sticking out of the ground next to it!

So those are just some of the adventures I have had in the past month or so. I have another one tomorrow morning with the Visa office. I will be going to ask for another extension. I turned everything in at one time; or so we thought. Then I go back to receive my decision of whether they will approve a 2 year visa so I can legally stay and they said I was missing 3 or 4 documents. We have turned everything in except 1 letter which is somewhere in the mail. I have to go tomorrow and ask for more time and pray the letter arrives quickly!

On that note,

PRAYER REQUESTS:

- for my continued adjustment in Poland

- to stay grounded in God's Word daily

- opportunities to build relationships

- opportunities to share my faith

- Visa issues - I'm asking for the extension tomorrow, however they could at any point decide not to approve it and I would have to leave the country for 3 months. I have faith that God knows what he is doing, but please still lift it up!!!

Thanks!

Shoeboxes

2008-12-16T03:40:00.006-05:00

Photos from my latest email update, just incase you can't get them...

The Chistmas tree with all the gifts.

Santa giving out presents to each child.

The little boy who carried around his box just hugging it for 20 minutes without even knowing what was inside.

while others opened their boxes immediately.

All Saints' Day

2008-11-26T11:00:00.011-05:00

I wish I could have had this up earlier, but none the less, here is the promised post on All Saints' Day in Warsaw on Nov. 1.

One of the major Catholic Holidays celebrated in Poland is All Saints' Day. Instead of celebrating Halloween on Oct. 31, as Americans do, Catholic Poles will participate in the Day of the Dead and visit graves of relatives. It is a time to remember. They will clean the graves the week before and on Nov. 1, will journey to the cemetery to place flowers and light candles on the graves of loved ones.

It is a major religious holiday in which almost everyone will participate. Streets near the cemeteries are shut down and busses re-routed as people flood the streets and pathways, making their way to their loved ones' graves.

Our team took time to go to one of the largest cemeteries in Warsaw to walk through and pray for the people as we watched and experienced what this holiday is all about. I saw mothers teaching their children why they come and why there are so many candles at the memorials.

As I walked through the cemetery, there was a slightly eerie feeling as a faint glow from each headstone rose to create enough light to see fairly well, even though the sun was long gone.

Some people just stood at a grave and stayed there for a while as the candles burned.

In other places people shuffled by, stopped for a moment at an important grave site and kept moving to light yet another candle at another grave.

The cemetery was full of people that evening. Entire families came.

I spoke with many of the people I have met here and everyone told of how important this holiday is to them. They can remember going ever since they were young children. Many will also travel to outlying cities to visit and clean parents' graves.

It is a time for us to pray and to reach out to these people who don't have the everlasting hope we do in Christ.

Pumpkins and Prayers

2008-11-15T16:53:00.015-05:00

Hello all!

So I sent out a brief message to many of you yesterday about how you could be praying for me this evening. I am sitting down at my computer, 5 minutes before midnight to begin this post... who is staying up way too late again? me!

However, I had to give a quick update on how things went this evening with a little background first. One day I spotted pumpkins on the road and decided I just had to have one...it's

not fall without it, right?

And since autumn is so short here, I figured a pumpkin would help extend the season a little. My language teacher saw it and asked, "will you eat it?"

My first thought...well, no. It's decoration. It got my wheels turning though and I looked up what it would take to make a pumpkin from scratch (aka, a real pumpkin) since, of course, they have no canned pumpkin here. I found this site: www.PumpkinPatchesandMore.org. It seemed easy enough to make a pie, so I decided I would. Then got the brilliant idea to open it up to others at English Club to come and cook one with me!

Yes, I have to admit, I wasn't thinking at the time about the fact that I had never made a pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin before and have no idea how to do it, nor have I ever made a pie period!

Everything went well and I am proud to say that here is pie number 1 and 2...and they're from scratch! crust and everything...there was NOTHING from a can in this pie (including the evaporated/condensed milk - that comes in a box).

I wanted to have a pie prepared before guests arrived for 2 reasons, 1 so I could do it once and actually have an idea of what to do, and 2, so if the pie we made together didn't finish cooking in time, they could still taste one.

Overall, the evening was much a success. A good number of people showed up and things just played out so smoothly. I tried making a pie crust earlier this afternoon and it just wasn't coming together - it was clumpy and sticky and not mealy like it should be. This evening, I had a beautiful example in no time at all. Praise God for small miracles. Everyone seemed to be having fun and it was a great chance to enjoy conversation with those we have met, outside of the English Club setting.

Does it look like I know what I am doing now?

We are scooping out the seeds and plan on roasting those later. :) yummy.

God gave me a calm spirit and a LOT of help! The Browns were amazing and spent their afternoon helping me prepare the first pies and my apartment for guests. My other teammates helped clean up and show parts of the process.

By the end of the evening, everyone was very tired and just sat and talked about upcoming holidays, traditions, and cultures, among various other topics.

So thank you all for your thoughts and prayers as our evening progressed. They truly were felt and answered. If you would like to try making a pie from a real pumpkin, its a little mess but a lot of fun. Its actually quite easy and tastes amazing! You can't beat it when it's fresh!

I will update with more stories soon of our time during a major Catholic holiday, All Saint's Day which took place Nov. 1 and of a recent baptism of 3 new believers.

Until then, thank you again and continue to keep us all in your prayers.

- open hearts

- opportunities to share

- relationships to be built

- needed rest

- Language

Dzień Dobry Pani!

2008-10-31T06:44:00.002-04:00

I stayed up a little late last night trying to finish my Polish homework, in hopes to sleep in a little and go food shopping this morning before language. However, as simple as that plan seems, nothing ever works out exactly the way you planned yet still can put a smile on your face! Leave it to a beautiful little girl to put one on mine!

I woke up this morning at 6am to construction. Okay, no biggie...I've gotten "used" to it by now. Aka, when I wake up to it, I roll over and start praying that God will help me sleep a little longer. However, this morning that request was not answered. I laid in bed tossing and turning, practically wide awake until oh, my alarm went off around 8am. "Reallly?? gosh...okay, okay...im getting up!" The construction was still going. It sounded like a jack hammer, drill or something that just...wouldn't...stop!

Well, I decided at least I had ample time to go shopping. I went to my favorite little bread place and got 2 fresh loaves of bread (I have guests - volunteers for a week, so we can finish it!) The lady helped me learn how to pronounce the types of bread I was asking for...vysh...vzys...wysh... ugh - maybe one day!

Polish lesson #1 for today - take advantage of those who will help you learn.

Then I walked around the corner and to my surprise found clementines! aaah! my favorite! mmmm... breakfast!

After some time watching CNN, one of 2 English speaking channels and waking my guests up at 10, helping them get breakfast, out the door we went at 11. They were fortunate and fell back asleep after some of the construction. We went back to the market and shopped for dinner - what kind of meat do you want? This is chicken, duck, pork - what looks good? Nice Polish lady and free samples = perfect!

Joe (a teammate) took the volunteers to get a few things, I walked back up to my apartment. As I entered the building, the cutest little girl about 2 years old maybe, hollers out, "Dzień dobry pani!" in the most beautiful small voice. Good morning, Mam! - as her mother puts another arm in the coat and adjusts her hat before heading into the cold. The little girl kept babbling on about something as I made my way to the elevator. "Do widzenia" I responded and waved goodbye. "Do widzenia!" they both respond.

Polish lesson #2 - be humbled...even children know more of the language than I do! Yet you can still find joy in the smallest "Hello".

Now, I have 30 minutes to rest before Polish lesson #3 - Language with my tutor for 3 hours. Nouns, verbs, adjectives, masculine? feminine? what - neutral? Sure, if you say so! Chcesz - still can't say it... is there another word I can use? chiałbyś - good I can say that!

So I leave you with this question. This is the question I have asked many times and will probably ask again today.

Wait, that's a real word? How in the world do you say that!?

Do widzenia!

Kay

Where I live!

2008-10-27T11:51:00.013-04:00

Hey all!

So, I had a free day and decided to use my time wisely. After waking up and shopping for food in the bazar outside my apartment complex, I decided to clean up a bit and take some pictures of my place and finally post them! So here's the grand tour...

The entry way. The door is to the left, looking into the living room. The mirrored doors are a coat closet. My office, bedroom and baths are to the right.

My living room. Behind the tree is the door to my balcony. The kitchen is to the right.

My living room from the other side. Kitchen to the left, through the entry way would go to my office, bed, bath.
My kitchen. Its very open and I love it. The fridge and freezer are all the way to the right against the wall.
My kitchen again. The window looks out to my balcony. I also have a really nice sized dish washer and oven. :)
Kitchen looking back to the living room.
My office! With a big crazy orange couch. It's really not that bright...but it's pretty bad. I need to find some cover for it. haha.
My office from the couch - i have lots of storage behind the door. Directly across the hall is bath #1.
Bath #2 - this is my sink, shower, and washing machine...
Here's another view. Thats the washer in the bottom right corner.
My bedroom. The window looks out over the bazar.
Bedroom from the other side. Bath #2 is to the left, Bath # 1 to the right.
Bath #1 - the toilet. Yes, its common to have the toilet separate from the other stuff here.
The view from my balcony. These are the construction workers that often wake me up in the morning.
Looking over part of the bazar - this is the part that stays and is open during the week.
More bazar.... and the white building in the center across the street is where the other j-man lives. It's nice being close!

More bazar (the last of it) This area is where rows and rows of vendors set up tents starting at 4am every Saturday and Sunday. They are open till about 2pm.
This kinda gives you an idea of what it looks like from my balcony. From the left to right.

The bazar is where I do most of my shopping especially for food. There are rows and rows of vendors selling everything you can imagine - fresh veggies, fruits, meat, breads, sweet breads, spices, etc. They also sell flowers, clothing, kitchen stuff, laundry/soaps, candles, antiques... It's quite the collection. Imagine going to your farmer's market..it's like that but better. There's still dirt on it sometimes. Everything is fairly cheap in comparison to the store and better quality.

Anyway, this is just a quick post to let you know a little about where I am! I hope you enjoy.

love,

Kay

1, 2, 10, 54, 37, 99, aaah!

2008-10-23T17:37:00.004-04:00

Numbers, names, food, family, jobs...would you like coffee or tea? yup! That's about the extent of my Polish vocabulary at this point. Things are going well though for the most part. I am over the emotional state of the Reece family leaving for the States and adjustment to Warsaw life in the process. They were good friends of mine and Steven wrote my job request...so having him leave was very difficult.

However, I am pleased to say that I finally have an idea of how to shop for food without pointing and holding up fingers! **smiles!** My language teacher took me to a few shops and we practiced buying something. I have been in there many times and the owner asked if I was learning Polish... I went in again yesterday and was able to practice. He was incredibly patient while I struggled through my few sentences. All I have to say is praise God for patient people.

Tonight, in small group discussion, we were talking about some things in the OT and how many years the Israelites wandered, etc...time lines. Anyway, it was enough for me to pick up on the numbers every so often... 2000 years... 40 years, 1 month. I was thinking, "I understand stuff!! woohoo!!" It's not much, but its a small victory. I've realized the importance of taking hold of the small victories. By the end of the day, they are often larger than I initially thought.

Soon, i will post some photos of my apartment and various other things, however until then...this is a view from my balcony. On a good day, I have the most gorgeous golden light flood through my kitchen window and balcony doors into my kitchen and living room. I am often preparing dinner and just soak up the sun (while it lasts). Soon it will be dark in the early afternoon. Now it sets around 6. I am very lucky because my balcony looks over one of the few undeveloped sections in the area. I don't face another apartment building, only this...

Anyway, here are some things you can keep in mind when you talk with the Father...

- Continued adjustment to life here. I have only slept a few nights the entire way through.

- Language - It is clicking, but I often have headaches in the evenings after full days of Polish, English, Polish...

- That I will remain close to the Father and in His Word

- Relationships to form with Nationals who are open to the Word.

- That my supervisor and I can find time to finish my orientation

- My supervisor - she fell and twisted her ankle bad enough to be on crutches. It's not broken, but this definitely prevents her from moving around well. Pray that she can rest and will heal quickly and not worry about all that needs to be done (apartment hunting, my orientation esp driving in Warsaw which is yet to be done), prep for a short term couple coming in.

Love you and hope that you are finding peace in Him!

Kay

bread and pierogi

2008-10-17T16:12:00.004-04:00

A quick update until my schedule doesn't have me on 12 hour days...

Please pray for my continued adjustment. I am experiencing some culture shock and it is adding a lot of stress to an already busy schedule. I have experienced many emotions so far and will continue to do so until I become a little more settled. My apartment is coming together slowly, I have started language lessons (which can be frustrating sometimes!) and am learning my way around where I live and how to do things when I don't speak the language. I point and say "prosze" (please) a lot. The lady at the bakery and the man at the pierogi place see me come through the door and start pointing to bread on the shelf or holding up fingers to ask how many I want... maybe soon I can actually tell them what I need instead of not having a clue how to say it!

I have met a few people and have started to get to know them some. Pray for those interested to be open to further conversations and for God to begin working in their lives.

Love and miss you all -

Kay

Im here

2008-10-03T09:29:00.003-04:00

I arrived safely in Poland today. I will update soon on some of the adventures I had in getting here, but until I have internet again, know that I am safe and absolutely exhausted! Staying up until 3am and waking up at 6am before traveling for 24 hours was not a great idea. lol...

be blessed and I will post soon!

Kay

Last post from the USA!

2008-09-30T23:35:00.004-04:00

So this will be my last entry from the US...I have been running around packing, cleaning, sitting in more classes, and trying to say goodbye...

Tomorrow is my Commissioning Service. My parents and youngest brother are going to drive up to see it! I'm very excited to see them and to close out my time here. I have my tickets in hand, my bags mostly packed, and an ingenious scheme for how to get more stuff to Poland without going over baggage limits. (pockets and layers of clothing rock)

During Commissioning, I will be signing with 2 other ladies to the song, He Reigns by Newsboys. It's a perfect song for the event and such a motivation and encouragement when I hear it. Here are the lyrics:

It's the song of the redeemed

Rising from the African plain

It's the song of the forgiven

Drowning out the Amazon rain

The song of Asian believers

Filled with God's holy fire

It's every tribe, every tongue, every nation

A love song born of a greatful choir

Chorus:

It's all God's children singing

Glory, glory, hallelujah

He reigns, He reigns

It's all God's children singing

Glory, glory, hallelujah

He reigns, He reigns

Let it rise about the four winds

Caught up in the heavenly sound

Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals

To the faithful gathered underground

Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creations

Some were meant to persist

Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples

None rings truer than this

(Chorus)

And all the powers of darkness

Tremble at what they've just heard

'Cause all the powers of darkness

Can't drown out a single word

When all God's children sing out

Glory, glory, hallelujah

He reigns, He reigns

All God's people singing

Glory, glory, hallelujah

He reigns, He reigns

Although I am very excited to be starting this journey, I will also miss my family very much and am a little nervous. I have heard and learned so much while I have been here, I just hope that it will stick and I can adjust quickly! I finally have information on my apartment! I think the lease was signed today or tomorrow maybe? I will post photos of it when I get there and have settled in a little.

I will try to update shortly after I arrive, but do not know what my orientation schedule will be or anything like that.

Until then, here are some ways you can pray for me:

Prayer Requests:

- That my travels will go well (Oct 2 to Oct 3) and all luggage will arrive safely!

- That I will be able to settle in quickly and begin adjusting

- That I will remain close to and in God's arms during this transition

- Language learning will come quickly once I start

- that God will continue to prepare hearts of the people I will meet and open doors for me to share the gospel.

Thank you guys for praying with me and keeping updated on this journey so far. I am very blessed to know that I have so many who are faithfully praying for me and the Polish people!

Have a wonderful day in the Lord!

Kay

Counting days...

2008-09-21T16:45:00.003-04:00

Good afternoon -

It finally feels like Fall in Virginia and it is another gorgeous day. Blue skies with wisps of clouds and children playing with frisbees outside always put a smile on my face!

God has truly been good to me lately and has really taken me up in his arms, held me tightly and said, "child, you are mine and I will always be here". As time dwindles before I leave, the days get longer as more sessions are squeezed in, trying to cover everything. The past few weeks have been a roller coaster. We discussed some hard topics, did a little more role playing and really dug deep into topics that are hard to talk about. I realize that by going out on faith to a different country, lots of things could happen and being prepared is always important.

This past week, 2 main things happened. First of all, my dad went to the ER for some chest pain, but everything turned out fine. After many phone calls to mom and Seth, I realized how God has placed so many wonderful people in my family's life. Mom's sister and friend came to her "rescue" and helped where they could. I have to say, more than anything, it helped me knowing they were there with my family. It gave me a chance to be reminded of a few things.

- God is in control and He knows best.

- Prayer still works and above all else, try it first!

- God knows who you need to talk to.

God gave my dad such a peace and comfort during that time that he was actually more concerned for Seth than anyone else! That's dad though, he's always been the rock of our family. When mom called, I started praying...and walking back to my room. On my way, I ran into A, someone God has placed in my life here I have been here as a comforting voice. When I told her what was going on, she hugged me and started praying and shared with me that her husband had something similar but worse happen a few years ago. Through tears and prayers, I knew the Lord placed her there for comfort. As the next session started, the entire group bowed to pray for my dad for a few minutes...that the doctors' hands would be steady, that he could have the cath done and that God would provide. Within 30 minutes mom said they could squeeze him in to have the procedure done.

After the cath, they said his arteries were clear...praise God for no blockages! It's also something they think can be taken care of by medicine, which is encouraging.

I have a renewed confidence that God will always provide support where it's needed most.

The following day, we took the entire group here to Washington D.C. for the day. It was a good distraction. We got to visit a Polish library and some other areas. I spent some time in the Smithsonian museums and just relaxed. We also witnessed to those around us and helped anyone we could.

SO - why am I counting days??? Because, I will be in Poland in less than 2 weeks!!! I fly out Oct. 2 and will arrive the following day. I am very excited as my time here ends. The next week will fly by I am sure. It will be good to see my friends on my team and to put into practice some of the things we have learned here. I am ready to start working.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

- Pray that God will continue to prepare me before I leave.

- Pray that God will continue to work in the hearts of the Polish people I will soon meet.

- Pray that I will be able to learn the language quickly.

- pray that I will adjust to the cold quickly!

- Pray that my last week here will be fun and time well spent with friends.

thank you and love you all!

Kay

2008-08-23T20:57:00.005-04:00

Hello everyone!

So another week has gone by and I really can't believe it. I have sent out my first update email (aka, if you didn't get it and want it, let me know).

This week things finally started to mesh together in my head. Yeah, I definitely had a few "oohh - that makes sense now" moments. We have started studying what Church Planting Movements are and basic methods used. It's actually quite simple and interesting how a church is started and taught to multiply within their communities as they share the gospel.

We had one session that was awesome where we did some role-playing. We were in small groups and selected 2 as "sent-out ones". They left the room and came back to the group and tried to find who was a person of peace - one who is willing to hear the gospel.

Those who stayed acted either hostile to the foreigners, were only interested in learning English, or wanted a ticket to America. I played someone who wanted to learn English first and then was a "sent-out" one the second time.

During the second one, my roommate here was hostile to the foreigners (me). I definitely got kicked in the butt about four times and had my jacket pulled off in an attempt to act as a pick-pocket. She definitely got a kick out of the whole thing as we spent the next 5 minutes laughing.

By the way, my roommate is totally awesome and is always a lot of fun.

Friday, she did a show at a local coffee shop. About 50 or 60 people showed up creating a great atmosphere. It was a nice chance to get off campus.

Aside from that, today we had an 8 hour ESL session. I learned how spitting gold fish into a cup can help you make certain sounds and that the test I took today about how I learn best put me in a group that apparently doesn't exist. I'm yellow, green...I like order but want to please everyone. I need acceptance to learn yet it's gotta be structured. According to our teacher, they are opposites and can't exist in one person... maybe that explains some things about me...hahaha

So I hope that you all have had a blessed week. Just remember, God is good and answers everything in his own timing.

Prayer Requests:

- Pray that God will continue to mold me and prepare my heart for service.

- That God will begin to work in and soften the hearts of the Polish people I will be meeting soon.

- That I will continue to spend time growing in His Word daily.

- That God will give me the ability to focus and retain the information we are given.

- That God will give me opportunities even here to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ boldly and share the Gospel message.

Love you all!

Kay

back in VA!

2008-08-10T10:23:00.002-04:00

Hey!

So I am finally back in VA and doing well. I flew in on Tuesday, unpacked, had dinner and began reading through material provided to us. We jumped in almost immediately the following morning and have been in seminars and such ever since then. I will have a TON to do while I am here!

Briefly, we have gone over some of the basic "need-to-know" medical info, forms, location of buildings/meetings and spiritual encouragement. We had an opportunity to spend 3 hours with the Father one afternoon...I had no idea how he would speak to me or what He would say. I can tell you that I was able to clear my thoughts, focus on Him and His purpose for me in the next 8 weeks and following. He helped me confront some of my fears/concerns about going into the field and provided scripture after scripture showing that HE is Lord, that HE knows best, and that HE will always provide for his children.

1 Peter 3:15 says, "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."

I am looking forward to the coming weeks and to see what is in store. I have been able to make so many new friends and meet people who have a heart for the nations...who have the same Spirit and same desires as I do. It is encouraging for me to be part of the second largest orientation in the history of this program and the orientation with the most adults ever! Praise God for He is good!

Some areas in which you can pray:

1. Focus in sessions

2. My time with the Father will be fruitful

3. that I can get everything accomplished that I need to while here.

4. That God would continue to mold me in His likeness

5. for hearts of the Polish people I will come in contact with to be softened

Transitions

2008-06-25T21:43:00.004-04:00

My last day at the Daily Progress was Friday, June 13. I have to admit, I miss it. I know that I have a lot to look forward to, but I do miss getting up and working almost every day. I did, however get up and pack every day for my last week in Charlottesville! There are aspects to working at a newspaper that I will miss dearly. There are also aspects I will not miss at all.

My last week in C-ville was spent packing up an apartment full of stuff....yes, stuff. Everything from furniture to the smallest thumb tack. I think I took almost as many bags to the dumpster as I did boxes to NC! The move back went about as smoothly as it could. No accidents, no strained backs and no broken furniture. My parents drove up Saturday June 21 and helped me drive a truck back to High Point, NC. I had wonderful friends from Portico help load the truck Friday and wonderful HP friends help unload on Saturday. I honestly could not have moved without the help of so many friends.... thank you all.

I have only been in NC for a few days now, haven't stopped running around like a crazy chicken with it's head cut off, and was having a hard time with some adjustments. I came back to a shower with no door (so I have to walk down the hallway to shower), my brother's room with 2 drawers cleared out for me and 2 recliners...yes, 2. They had ideas of replacing one with the other and ended up leaving both! The day I attempted to move it down the hallway myself and got it stuck in the doorway to my room was when it finally got moved. Before the chair sat in the hallway for half a day, I didn't even have enough space to open a suitcase to begin unpacking much less any place to put it. It was then that I realized how much stuff I actually had! Moving from an apartment to 1 room is insane - I do not recommend it.

I'm also not used to the amount of traffic through a home with 4 people in it. When I first moved to C-ville, I thought it was weird living alone. Now its the opposite! This morning, I woke up, walked down the hall to shower and was caught by my dad (who had been up for hours) saying, "Good morning!!! The shop called and said your car is ready..." I'm not sure what I said back, if anything at all. Usually its over an hour after I get up before I actually say anything to anyone. All I remember is this slightly startled feeling of: huh! what? noise? I'm so confused...car? breaks? OK sure...

I've done everything from make multiple trips to the DMV, Post Office and bank to playing putt putt at midnight followed by a milkshake run. No, we (sadly) don't have Arch's or Ritas, however we do have Cookout...best milkshakes in town! Tomorrow holds a trip to Charlotte, the Apple store and applying for an International Drivers License.

In all the mess and confusion of moving and knowing that I will stay such a short time; I am finding often that as I say hello, I sometimes have to say good-bye in the same sentence. I think there will be many adjustments and changes occurring in this very transitional month of my life. At the end of it all, my hope is that I will be able to say, "change? sure...whatever you say. I have no routine to change, so change is fine by me!"

its official!

2008-05-14T22:53:00.001-04:00

I'm going to Poland!!!

I just signed the papers this week :) My job title is "Media Specialist". Basically, I will be doing photo, video, writing, etc. to provide content for 2 websites. One is info about the missionaries and team there, and the other an outreach website. I am so excited to be working with them! I will also be making and following relationships with those the Lord places in my path.

I had to tell work today, and I can't tell you how difficult that was. Working at the paper was the best first job I could have ever asked for - I work with great people who really helped shape who I have become as a photojournalist. The opportunities I've had here have been amazing and I will always remember some of them.

So, here are some dates and information about where I will be in the next few months...

My last day will probably be June 17. I will move back to High Point that Saturday and spend a little over a month with family and friends and taking care of odds and ends before I leave...such as storing furniture! Aside from a family beach trip, I will be traveling through parts of NC to see friends...let me know if you want to get together while I am home.

FPO (Field Personnel Orientation) begins in August (4th) at the International Learning Center - aka - ILC, which is located right outside of Richmond, VA. I will have 8 weeks of intensive training before I actually fly out to Poland in early October.

If you would like more information, leave a post or email me at kaylinbowers@gmail.com.

I can't wait to see what God has in store for the next 2 years of my life! He has been such a blessing to me so far and has guided my heart and my life in His path over the past few years, giving me a yearning to continue following Him. He has opened doors and closed doors in my life. I just love getting to run through them when a new one opens!

Exciting times ahead!

2008-04-14T17:10:00.000-04:00

I have a big week ahead! I will be in Richmond for a few days. I will get a lot of much needed information, and hopefully a more definite timeline of events will be put into place. There are so many things going on in my life right now, and so many things that are yet to come. God shows His might through it all.

I pray God will help things to calm down and continue to work through everything going on around me. I pray I will have the focus to gather and retain all the information I will need to help make appropriate decisions. I pray that God will continue to work on my heart and prepare the way He will have me go.

God is good

2008-03-29T21:02:00.000-04:00

He answers things in His own time, but it's always perfect timing.

waiting...

2008-02-28T22:11:00.000-05:00

Sometimes waiting is hard. Its hard to be patient and not become anxious. When that happens, I start to pray, and God answers.

Psalm 131

My heart is not proud, O Lord,

my eyes are not haughty;

I do not concern myself with great matters

or things too wonderful for me.

But I have stilled and quieted my soul;

like a weaned child with its mother,

like a weaned child is my soul within me.

O Israel, put your hope in the Lord

both now and forevermore.