Tag: life
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Intentionality
This word is my inspiration for the coming year. The first half of 2021 was crazy difficult, one of the hardest experiences I’ve ever had to face. Between financial challenges, dreams put on hold, ever-changing schedules and unknowns, my mental flexibility was seriously put to the test. As a result, a lot of my updates…
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Around the Bend
I’ve got some tough news. My biggest financial supporters had an emergency happen last month and are no longer able to give financially to my mission. That’s $500 less a month to live on. The time was coming (July) when their two-year commitment was up anyway, but it still hit hard. And it came with…
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Changes
It’s hard to describe how I’m doing lately. If I had to sum it up, it would be something like treading water with a wave about to take me under. The end of the year is one of the busiest times and while I don’t have quite the same amount of drama as I did…
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2019: Relationship
Something I regret not doing more of last year was bonding closer with the people in my ministry. There were several reasons I was distracted from it (a dating relationship, reconnecting with other friends outside of Proem, and my only-child, pseudo-loner spirit), but I want to do better in 2019. The theme for Proem this…
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The CELTA Experience
What a wild, crazy ride this past month has been! I apologize for not posting much over the summer, but in a moment, you’ll understand why. First, I went back to the States for a little while to help my mom and aunt with my late grandma’s affairs and cleaning up my aunt’s house to…
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Hugs from Heaven
Yeah, the title is a little cheesy, but it suits the story I’m about to share. So, last month was pretty rough for me. My mom sent a message on June 5th that my grandma had passed away. It was a lot sooner than everyone expected (although, these things tend to happen suddenly). I was…
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Legacy
My grandma passed away two weeks ago. I didn’t have a lot of time to reflect about it until now. I walked into her house a few days after flying back to Maryland and it was strange. I almost expected to still see her sitting at the kitchen table with the news on TV and…
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Worthy is the Lamb
“The Lord will fight for you; you must be quiet.” Exodus 14:14 “For I, Yahweh your God, hold your right hand and say to you: Do not fear, I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13 The past few weeks have been extremely trying. My mind and body are tired, and there’s still a whole summer of challenges…
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Expectations and Onward
“Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 It’s been about 8 months since my arrival here in Poland. I anticipated some of my challenges with moving to a new country and embarking on a year…
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November/Listopad
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28 It’s difficult to write an update this past month because so much has happened internally for me. November was the first month where I felt some sense…
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It’s the little things…
I caught some sickness again at the end of this week. It was pretty mild compared to the strep throat incident at the end of September, but not fun all the same. I’m recovered now for the most part, but I realized I haven’t really kept up to date with my blog and what’s been…
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Lighting the Way
It wasn’t too cold. There was a bit of mist falling from the sky, but nothing like the torrents of rain we’d had lately. The sun had stayed behind clouds all day, and it was pretty much night by 5:00 PM. K and I had stayed inside, cleaning the apartment, attempting to plan lessons for…
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Pains and Passage
This week has been tough. The extent of the culture shock I’m experiencing really hit me hard. I cried over not being able to explain an order error at McDonald’s. Like, legit felt humiliated and stupid. I ended up leaving the restaurant because I didn’t want to get stared at with tears streaming down my…
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Opportunity
I’ve had this half-dreamed wish about performing here before I left the States. Not just on stage at Tomy church, but in a club or venue around Tomaszów or elsewhere. Doing standards or a jazz piece, something that suits my voice, right? So it’s funny that on Sunday of the teacher trip, I got to…
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Shenanigans
I had an opportunity to visit two dear friends in Warsaw last weekend and it was a blast! It was my first time traveling solo on the train up to the city as well, and really, that wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. Friday night, the Winans girls came over (they’re the…
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Refocus
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…
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Week 1
This past week was challenging for a lot of reasons. The first day on Monday was a little crazy with all the kids coming back from summer vacation and a the teachers not really having a full-out plan for what subjects to do in the preschool. The świetlica was totally overwhelming the first two days…
Renewed by Light 