Rainey Days

Its time once again to teach a seminar in French! We have the second part of our four-part series on Muslim Evangelism coming up this weekend. This time, we are hosting the event in our brand new building in the multi-purpose room designated for such events like these. So we have lots of work to do with the logistics of hosting the event, and I have to prepare for my session on how the prophets in the Coran can form a bridge to the Gospel of Christ. Fortunately, our group sessions at the retreat in Luxembourg last weekend were on Islam and we had a fantastic guest speaker, Darrell Pack, who was a missionary in Morocco for many years. He really inspired me and I hope that the other Western Europe missionaries were equally inspired, since the influence of Islam affects all of Europe. Should be an exciting week!

One of the things that I enjoyed most about the weekend was being able to fellowship with the other missionaries. We were about 60 adults from the countries of France, Belguim, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. I got to hang out with many of the other single girls and had lots of conversations with many of the missionaries. I got to laugh really hard during our ice-breaker time, as most of us had to make fools of ourselves (always a fun game!). It was a real pleasure to connect with some people that I rarely get to see, as well as make some new friends. I got lots of invitations to come visit during the holidays as well, woo-hoo! Here is a picture of the youth hostel (that can barely be seen, sorry) where we had our retreat. It was like NO hostel I’ve ever seen. For one thing, the facilities were nicer than the college I went to! For two, it was brand new. It was right on the edges of this lake, so the scenery was beautiful. The hostel had a full cafeteria (with good food even), a four...

I don’t know how I can possibly describe the difference in my life that three days in Luxembourg accomplished this weekend. I’ve decided that I will focus on different aspects of our Western Europe Missionary Retreat during the next few days. I feel incredibly privileged to have such caring prayer warriors behind me, and I know that over the past few weeks, you have truly upheld me before the Lord. Because I know your concerns for me, I would like to keep you informed about how I am doing emotionally. When I first felt like I was depressed, I contacted Caring Connection, which oversees our missionary health (both physically and emotionally) in Springfield. During a long phone conversation with a counselor there, she agreed that I was in a true depression. She assured me that it is not only normal for first term missionaries, but that it was actually overdue! Anyone would “crack” under the strain of isolation/loneliness/culture shock that I had been fighting for months, so it was ...

So I'm sitting out on my balcony on Sunday afternoon, enjoying a gorgeous Indian Summer day. My arms are getting tan in the sun, as I idly turn pages in the book I'm reading. All of the neighbors have their balcony doors open and the sounds of children arguing, a yappy dog, a vacuum cleaner, and someone's television are all wafting on the breeze that blows over my balcony. Suddenly, I hear Michael W. Smith singing "Above all Powers" in English. Instinctively, my head turns toward my spare bedroom/office, as if to wonder if my ipod has somehow turned itself on and is broadcasting praise music through the apartment. Almost instantly, I realize that's not possible, and what's more, I think the music is coming from my next door neighbor's apartment. By this point, I'm standing on my feet, looking all around as I try to "tune in" which apartment the music is coming from. I'm tingling with interest, wondering are some of my neighbors...

What a surprise! This afternoon, Dad called me to say that when my sister Sarah went for her doctor's appointment, they decided to go ahead with her C-section today. I spent most of the evening sitting in front of this computer, waiting for news (thank God for modern technology!). Sarah and Andy Gilt are the proud parents of Olivia Ann Gilt, born this afternoon at 3:18 pm. She is 21 inches long and weighed 7 lbs 11 oz and resembles her father. I think she's beautiful and I can't wait til I can actually hold her.

My apartment is full of gnats! AGH. I can't stand it. Where are my helpful friends, the spiders, when I need them? We've been having a major weather change this week and apparently, that's driving out the gnats in full force. Either that or the 10 plagues are being revisted in France. ("The Ten Plagues" coming soon to a city near you!) My humor is kind of strange today, I'll admit. Here is a cool thing that happened to me this morning (and one I know God orchestrated!): I was working out at the gym and there was an older lady, late sixties, working out as well. I'd never seen her before, but we ended around the same time and crossed paths in the locker room. She huffed a tired sigh, and I encouraged her, saying in French "Hey, at least you finished! Now you have the whole day ahead of you, and you can feel good knowing you did your workout." She nodded but said she was still tired, all the same. We came out of the locker room exchangin...

Today when I got dressed, I decided to wear a long-sleeved striped tee-shirt that I got for Christmas a few years ago. I asked for something with stripes or a design, because all my winter clothes at that time were solid colors, dark and somber. I thought I could use a little excitement in my wardrobe. Mom bought me this very bright, very striped tee-shirt, and the first time I wore it, compliments came rolling in. All my American friends loved it, even saying it was their favorite of my clothes. However, I’ve noticed that the French look at me strangely when I wear it. Clearly there is a cultural element to taste and fashion; what is bright and fun-looking to Americans is loud and garish to the French. When I wear this tee-shirt, bought at that bastion of American style—Sears—I know that I am advertising my American-ness; I might as well be wearing the Star-Spangled Banner! But I don’t really mind, because that’s who I am anyway. All of us have distinctive features that reveal our ori...

The word “LOST” was in many headlines today, as I surfed the internet for my daily news update. Last night, the hit television series (Lost—in case you’ve been living on a deserted island and have never heard of it!) began its third season, and all the major news networks were providing recaps of the season premiere, along with conspiracies, I mean, commentary on the wildly popular program. But this post isn’t about the TV show (even though it is one of my favorites!). I have developed a tendency to lose things. It’s as if my apartment is a black hole! Two weeks after I moved in, I lost my apartment keys. I never did find them, either. I can only assume that pulling gloves out of my jacket pocket back in January dislodged my keys somewhere in a parking lot, or perhaps they found their way into the abyss of the emergency brake of my car. Who knows? Fortunately, I had a spare, and life went on. Three months after that, I lost my car keys. Again, I had a spare and used it for t...