Renewed by Light

Settling into life here has been very draining, but good. I had a little homesickness moment last Thursday when I missed having a car to get around and being able to find things conveniently. K and I live really close to the school, but really far from everything else which means any kind of shopping trip takes a whole afternoon. I’ve probably walked about 2-3 miles every week back and forth to school and another 2 miles going into town every weekend. It doesn’t sound like that much, but it’s tiring when you’re used to driving everywhere.

But, I am enjoying the challenges more now than in the beginning. The first two weeks of mishaps had me going “seriously, God?!” nearly every day. They still happen — our oven can’t be turned on because it will blow our power out, and our brand new washing machine has to drain its waste water into the toilet — but I just laugh and roll with it. That’s life here in Poland. More often than not, what you expect is not what you’ll get. But I see where God is using these opportunities to help me grow bit by bit in perseverance and humility, and recognizing what’s most important.

I started a Bible reading plan this past week called “Awakening” based on Stovall Weems’ book about fasting and prayer. “Disconnecting from the distractions of the world through fasting, and connecting into the power and presence of God through prayer, brings a supernatural freshness and newness to our souls.” I totally need that right now. Setting up the apartment has been drawing all my energy and attention lately. Plus, I’ve always seen fasting as kind of a necessary hardship as a Christian, when really, it’s not supposed to be like that at all. “Fasting is no longer ‘do in order to become,’ but ‘you already are, therefore act like it.’ ” Distraction-free celebration of God’s mercy through Jesus because I’ve been set free — this is what New Testament fasting should be.

My times of prayer and reading haven’t been consistent, and I certainly feel like they haven’t. Spiritually, I’m running on empty. And it’s harder to love others and show grace when you need those things yourself. So, I’ll be fasting this week from distractions. More reading, more praying, more worship when I have breaks instead of mindless social media surfing. I pray for amazing things to come as a result. Zobaczymy 🙂