clumsiness plagues my life.

tonight i went to an american friend's house for a Christmas celebration. we ate lots and lots of Christmasy foods (mostly from America, which is even better!!).... and my friend's dad told the Christmas story to our non-American friends... (Turkmen, Turk, Russian, Moldovian).... it was a fun time....

Two Turkish guys, April, and I were the last to leave and the guys offered to walk us home... We thanked them and began to assure them we would be just fine on our 15 minute walk to our apartment... One guy was worried it would not be safe (but trust me, it's probably the safest place I've lived... and if you know me, you know i've lived in a sketch place or two)...

so i said "don't worry, i can fight"..... riiiight as i fell off the curb, which was pretty high, and my foot strategically went into a hole in the street and i almost face-planted... i twisted my right ankle, scraped up my left knee, and caught myself with my hands.... apparently i was wrong about being able to get myself home safely.. but it was pretty hilarious. i was also unsuccessful in getting the guys NOT to walk us home. but, it was a funny walk home as I told them many stories of my clumsy habits....

meet you there.

"there is a part of you that feels profoundly unworthy. that feels not good enough. that is acutely aware of the ways in which you've blown it. that realizes in very living color that your life is a mess. you have a past that seems chained to your foot wherever you go. it haunts you. the ecstatic, counterintuitive message of the gospel is that God wants to meet you in that place and bless you. not when you get through there. not when you get back together. not when you fix that. in it. in the midst of it. buried in it. so that you can barely breathe. God wants to meet you there with the grace of Jesus and announce to you blessed are you. i'm with you. i'm on your side."

-mars hill bible church. rob bell. intentions. 12.6.09.

...what now?

......now what? my turkish class ended in may. my turkish tutoring ended this week... so now the only 2 scheduled things i have during a week are ETT on wednesday nights and house group on sundays.... i need to figure out what i am doing here and how best to use my time. hoping to get on campus on a weekly basis... ask for that for me, too.

yesterday i read the whole book of james on a bus ride. it's short, but it's intense. and convicting. but it's packed full of so much Truth. an older man was sitting beside me and most of the time he was looking over my shoulder. a little awkward, but maybe he knows English....?

i'm learning more and more that i need to be seeking and fighting for Truth in my own life every day. sometimes it's easier to remember than others. and then there's times when my old self tries to tear me away from the person He's changing me into. i am selfish. i am prideful. i am sinful and dirty and stained. but praise Him that He sent Jesus into the world to make things right. things are not how they are supposed to be. i am not how i am supposed to be. but God, in His infinite wisdom and abounding grace, sent Jesus into the world to rescue it. to provide a way. to bring peace. and love. and reconciliation. to make all things new. even me. all things.

He has reminded me of His simple goodness a lot lately. He IS good. and His mercy endures forever. forever.

one of the best weeks in a while....

this week was one of the best weeks i have had in a while for a lot of reasons... i had my last turkish lesson [which is somewhat of a relief], i had a neighbor come by and apologize for asking me to lie for her [totally unexpected], a friend texted me asking for a copy of the Book [um, wow!], i gave it to her and she agreed somewhat enthusiastically to meeting once a week to read and discuss it together [WOW!!!], lots of people came to ETT [as compared with 4 the week before], two of the girls asked me on to campus for tea/coffee soon [much wanted], aaaaand i heard news on what i will be doing when i get back in august.. and it's SO exciting!!!

i am very content here and i know that now, more than ever, he is at work in people's lives around me. he's blessed me SO much by allowing me to see a little bit of what's going on in this place. as happy as i am here and as little as i want to think about leaving next august, i am soooo excited about what i'll be doing when i get back. i am so thankful that He has provided this opportunity for me. i know i will need continue to spend a lot of time in prayer preparing for that which he's called me too. UofM, i'm coming back in August! [except without all of the books and studying--yeah!]...

also, tonight we had an ETT Christmas party! we played a lot of silly games like musical chairs, bingo, pin the nose on the reindeer, limbo, etc. and had some great food.... but, the best part is a LOT of people showed up.... 31 people came. 11 Turks. 10 Americans. 8 russian/moldavians. 1 estonian. and 1 turkmen. quite a diverse group. so here are some pics to enjoy....

no much.

a little over a month ago, my lens on my camera started acting strange.... it's not top notch by any means, but i was pretty worried about it costing a lot to repair... that worry and being busy made me wait all month to get it fixed... so, wednesday when a friend was in town visiting, i decided to take it to a shop.. i went from store to store until one guy recommended and walked me to the Nikon store... it was an official Nikon store, not just some camera repair shop. so, i dropped it off. i know it's silly, but it was hard to leave it, not knowing how long it would take. the guy said a couple of days, but when i dropped off my computer last november, it took like 4 or 5 weeks! 

so imagine my surprise (and excitement) when my cell rang on friday (yes TWO days later) with a guy telling me it was "finished"/ready. and then i asked how much it would cost (to be prepared) and he said.... "no much"/nothing/FREE! i thought it was too good to be true, but i left pretty quickly to trek the hour or so across town to the shop in the rain, very excited all of the way... and when i got it, it WAS free. and fixed. still amazed. i know this may seem like a trivial concern, but i was concerned and i really see it as a way God provided for me. He's done that SO many times in my life and I still get nervous about it. But He is good. 

anyway, on that note, here are a few of my favorite recent pics.. more on facebook. 

Christmas preparation.

it's the most wonderful time of the year.

after being asked by several friends to help us decorate, we invited a few over saturday to help decorate and get in the Christmas spirit... :) only one Estonian friend showed, but she was very excited about helping. although she is fasting from eggs, dairy, and protein for 40 days before Chrismas, she still helped us decorate the cookies she couldn't eat... another good American friend came over too, so the four of us had fun decorating and hanging out, listening to Christmas music... my green walls now look much more festive... even though the decorations are quite random, they do the job of getting me in the Christmas spirit... haha.... there isn't much of that to go around in this city....

last year we had a friend over for dinner and we shared the Christmas story and gave her a Book..... so I am hoping we're able to do something like that again... we'll see... we're also having a party and watching the Nativity movie with our English conversation friends....

it's Christmas time!