Busyness and Blessings

There is an old expression that says "April showers bring May flowers." I am especially reminded of it here because the name for May in Czech is literally "flowers." 

We have experienced a couple of types of showers here this April, and none of them have to do with the weather. 

Shower Number 1: Busyness

We have been swamped ever since the beginning of April. It seemed like everyday we had some extra activity. Here was a list of our weekly activities, that were in addition to our lessons at school:

Monday- speaking partner 

Tuesday- English Drama Club 

Wednesday- English Drama Club, speaking partner 

Thursday- tutoring

Friday- speaking partner

Saturday- Half Marathon (only the first weekend)

Sunday- Church and rest

That was actually our schedule for most of March too, except we trained on Saturdays for the half marathon. 

The next week my speaking partner on Monday wanted to teach me how to box. It was actually fun, but exhausting. (I had the bruises to prove it). We also directed the drama club play that week as well, and it went very well. We were so proud of the kids. 

The week after that we traveled for Easter break. It was a wonderful trip to Austria, complete with a "Sound of Music" tour and a church service in German. German is interesting, because when we first here it, it sounds like English. It is only after a few sentences that we realize we have no idea what is being said. 

To finish off April, we got to witness a baptism at our church this morning. It was such a huge blessing to see The Lord work in someone's life. That brings us to the second shower of the month: blessings. 

Shower 2: Blessings

We have had so many great things happen to us and for us this month. The Lord has been so gracious to us this month. I'll just list the blessings, because I am so grateful for what he's done for us this month. 

The half-marathon: Just helping us finish this was incredible. The fact that we were able to make it in our goal time was miraculous. To top it off, some of our students were there to cheer us on. One even took pictures of us while we ran which was such a nice gesture. 

The play: Our English Drama Club present a play entitled, "Greek Mythology Olympiaganza." It was a parody play of all the Greek myths. The students did an incredible job. We were so blessed to have been a part of it for the past two years. The headmaster of the school even sent out a school wide email praising the students' efforts. Public praise is not really the thing to do here, so that was pretty amazing.

Easter: We got to travel with two great friends. It was a great time to debrief and fellowship. We have truly learned the value of bearing one another's burdens here during these two years. 

Employment: At the beginning of the month, we were able to secure jobs for next school year. We are happy to say that we will be in Raleigh, NC next year! 

Opportunities: We had so many opportunities to share our faith this month. It is always a privilege to be able to tell others of God's great love. 

Surprise: Even though we went to the USA in February, it took us until April to finalize the paperwork. Field trips in the US are difficult enough, but doing an international one with all of the paperwork in a foreign language is a whole different animal. Anyway, to make a long story short, we received a reimbursement that we were not expecting! God is so good. 

The Baptism: It so exciting to see someone profess their faith in Christ. We are so blessed to be a part of a church here in Prague where the gospel is preached. 

April was such a mountain top month for us. We are so grateful that God has placed us here for such a time as this.

Gentle Reminders

Gentle Reminders

I have two conversation partners that I meet with once a week for about an hour. Our conversations are about various topics with the simple purpose of practicing English.

I was talking about body image with one of my conversation partners a few weeks ago.  We were talking about how so many girls determine their self worth based on what they look like. This seems to be a universal problem found in every culture. It was very interesting to hear the frustration of another person trying to constantly be the positive reinforcer amongst friends that struggle mightily with body image. I kept hearing something like, “It gets tiresome repeating the same mantra, you are beautiful, you do matter, you don't have to look perfect, etc over and over to the same people who either don't believe it or choose to focus on the negative in every aspect of life.”  

It’s not humanly possible to be someone else’s source of hope and self esteem. We weren’t meant to be.

Toward the end of the conversation I was able to present my point of view on the whole issue. I was overjoyed to share that my self worth doesn’t come from any human relationship and isn't based on how I look on a daily basis. My worth comes from my relationship with God through Jesus Christ. People come and go in and out of our lives but God is always there. His opinion of me doesn't change based on whether I appear to be “good enough”.

I decided to use the analogy of marriage to drive home my point since I could see that this was a difficult concept to grasp. In human terms, we get married because we love someone and because they love us. In a healthy relationship we marry someone who accepts us for who we are. We wouldn't marry someone who insisted on making a list of things we had to change before agreeing to marriage. The same is true of God. He doesn't expect us to change and then have a relationship with Him. He accepts our faults, our failures, our sins and says “I want a relationship with you”.  

After being married for a few years, pieces of you begin to change. You don't change because it’s a requirement or a chore, but because it’s a natural progression. You're not a completely different person, but you are more understanding, less selfish, more forgiving, more loving, because you are more in love. The same is true in a relationship with God. The more you know Him and His love for you, the more you change. Not because you have to, but because you no longer want or need the things you thought you wanted or needed.  Love changes you for the better.

The difference between a human relationship and God is that God never leaves us and His love for us never changes. We change and grow closer to God but God loves us the same throughout our relationship. This is a promise that we can hold on to. God accepts me because Jesus Christ died for me. Jesus took my shame, failures, past, present, and future wrongs so that God would accept and love me for who I am right now. That is where I find my self worth. It’s in Jesus. Hollywood, magazines, friends, death, and other human relationships can’t change or take that away from me.  What an amazing truth!!

This brings me to the point of my blog. A few days after this conversation, I decided to get a haircut. I’ve gotten my hair cut in Prague several times. The place that I go is always the same. I can count on the fact that whoever cuts my hair won't speak more than about two words of English. I took an example picture for the stylist like I usually do since that's worked well for me in the past.

I did want a shorter haircut but what I got looked nothing like the picture that I brought.  My immediate reaction was “What have I done?” “It’s so short!” “I hate it, it’s so ugly.”  About the time I was beginning to really feel sorry for myself, I could hear that still small voice: “Remember, your self worth isn't found in your hair."

I’m so grateful for the conversation that I had had just three days prior to my haircut.  I couldn't help but think about how I would have reacted to the same situation even just a few years ago.  Such a small thing but what a great reminder of how my thoughts and life have been transformed through my relationship with God.