August is tourist season, and I’ve been so happy to host visitors taking advantage of their summer holidays-first my mom and now one of my closest friends (Elizabeth co-writes the Let’s Talk  About series with me). 

But before Elizabeth came on Friday, I had a normal workweek.  Not much to report there, necessarily. Two staff members are out on holidays, and we’re just about finished with our summer schedule. That means slowly getting ready for the return of our official classes (thank God) and me working on fundraising things (I’m up to about $4,000 out of $32,000!)
What a good time to self-promote! Donate online today at www.gemission.org/donate! 

The main interesting thing this week was all the skype conversations I had with strangers and old friends.  An unexpected theme arose from these conversations where I was reminded of my primary interest in ministering to ministers, and thinking about how that might play out someday in missionary member care or a retreat center or who knows! It’s really fun to see how I am accumulating experiences and developing skills that will lead me on a hopping path to new opportunities. 

I’ve been feeling a lot lately, just how much I love my life. I’ve frequently wondered if I would be happy if I died suddenly and soon, and…yes! I feel like I am living life to my fullest. I’m taking advantage of opportunities that come up, I am giving to the world the best of myself, and I am constantly learning and growing and transforming. I feel so content (in the midst of fear and wanderlust and anger) knowing that I’m living the life I want to live. I’m so lucky. 

That pickiness only increased on Friday morning when Elizabeth arrived! She is my kindred spirit and my mental soul mate, and so far we are having so much fun together. We went to Heraklion, Crete for the weekend because we’re both massive history nerds, and last night we stayed up until 1:00 drinking wine and eating cheese and talking about the freedom that comes from actually believing in God’s grace. Today we spent hours at the museum full of the most amazing Minoan artifacts, and we’ve been eating great Greek food to stay energized. Also napping. Right now is nap time, so as soon as I post this…zzz. 

I’m writing this blog on my phone, so it will be short!

Basically, I’m feeling rejuvenated! This was our second Celebration Week at HD, and we had a team from North Caroline come to teach our program participants how to make leather bracelets. It was so great to talk with Americans (so fast, without worrying if they could understand my vocabulary), and it was lovely to get a break from teaching and catch up on office work. 

In particular, Dina shared a dream with me that made me GIDDY. I don’t know if I can share it yet, but it epitomizes my love of providing extravagantly good gifts to women who have grown used to abuse. I want to do everything possible to make this a reality, and it reminded me of why I love working with HD so much. 

I also got to hang out with “A2” a little more, although we can only communicate through broken Greek (for both of us). We all had a big lunch after the program, and she snuggled into my side, tired of our guests, I think. But it meant so much to me that she’s starting to feel comfortable. And a couple days later just the two of us went out for a hamburger, and it was so fun (and exhausting) to communicate as best we could. 

Yesterday was the graduation ceremony, and once again I was blown away by how much they’ve learned, and how deeply they are internalizing their lessons. “A” made a leather plaque that says “Lack of Trust >> Anger >> Fear >> Lack of Trust.”  These are three different classes, and she personalized them and put them all together on her own. 

“D” told us what she’s learned in our Self-Esteem class, and she confidently told a room full of people that she is kind, giving, and spontaneous, good qualities that took forever for her to identify two weeks ago, because she’s so unused to thinking she has good qualities. 

“A2” made a beautiful painting, but even more touching was how she ushered Luciana and I into her room after the ceremony to show how she’d hung her certificate and medal on her wall, and also she had painstakingly arranged some knickknacks on her desk. She’s making the room her own, and it’s so lovely to see. 

I’ve still got culture shock running through my veins, but I feel SO grateful to work for HD. I honestly love it, and I am NOT ready to leave anytime soon!

Now… A weekend in Turkey with Roy and Idil! But you can read more about that later!

I met our newest participant in HD on Sunday.  As (I think) I mentioned before, she is literally right off the streets, and agggghhhh I want to tell her story so badly, but I won’t.  Because it’s her story to tell or not tell, and I won’t violate her privacy so publicly.  Even though I am a selfish person who wants to very badly.

Anyway, she only speaks Romanian, but she painted my nails on Sunday and it was nice.

Then I met up with Natasha, and we hung out downtown for a few hours, eating souvlaki, having coffee with Irini, and buying Greek sandals.  I actually took some pictures, which is why the header is actually unique again this week!

Aaaaand, that was the last time I was social!

I’m dying.   Continue reading →