In fall 2007, my family and I moved to Massachusetts. In January 2008, I went to Ghana, West Africa for a couple months, and when I returned, I found that my neighbor had bought a little Bulldog puppy. From that moment on, I have always wanted on for my own.
A little over two weeks ago, I bought a French Bulldog Puppy. Saturday, I gave him to a nice family who had another dog. It was one of the most difficult things I've ever done.
I didn't pray about this decision before I made it. I wanted the dog, and I got it. I named him Mookie after my favorite baseball player. We played together, ate together, slept in my bed at night. He was great! I realized very quickly though that he was consuming all of my time. All I could think about at school was "I wonder how Mookie is alone?" or, "I hope when I run home on my lunch break there isn't a mess". I was stressed out.
One of my coworkers asked me last week if I wanted to go to Korea for a short trip with him this spring. This is another one of my dreams, and one I know I feel God leading me to follow. With that in my mind, I had to make the decision to give up Mookie.
When my plan for my life and God's plan for my life butt heads, one will win out. I have learned that my way never leads anywhere. I get what I want but without a plan for the future. This is how it was with Mookie. I got what I always wanted, but there was no plan for him. It wasn't fair that I was stressed and ignoring my ministry. It wasn't fair that he was home alone all day.
I WANT TO GO TO KOREA. I posted Mookie on a Facebook group and later that day he was gone. I am not ashamed to say I shed a tear or two, but I know that God has a great purpose for my life than taking care of a dog for the next ten years. I need to focus on my students, the youth group, missions. That's why I'm here. God has a plan and it's longevity of vision is greater than mine.
Sunday, November 6, 2016
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
November 2016
Hello again from Budapest!
It seems this month has just flown by. We had a much needed fall break at GGIS, there was a Korean festival and youth group event that I led, and we had an amazing harvest party at school.
School started at the end of August and we hadn’t really had a break until last week. Let me tell you, it was much needed! You don’t realize how tired you are until you have a chance to rest, and then it’s like, “wow, what just happened?”
The Saturday before the break I went with the youth group from the Korean Church of Budapest, where I have been ministering as a youth leader, to an escape room. An escape room is one of the coolest things ever. You are locked in a room, which usually leads to other rooms and have to find clues and keys to get yourself out. This is usually done in teams of a few people at a time. We split up into two teams-boys against girls and the one who escaped the quickest won with the losers buying them ice cream. We all had such a great time working together and getting to know each other all a little better.
Right now the way the service on Sundays goes is that I sit in the message (with translation) and then the teens separate after and talk about the message. I am there to kind of facilitate this talking time and also just be a friend to them. It’s really a great privilege and I have really enjoyed my time so far. I think we are really starting to click.
The following Saturday, at another international school in Budapest, all of the Korean community got together and had a sports day. I was invited to attend and am so glad I went. It was great seeing so many people from so many different churches, schools, jobs all coming together and enjoying each other.
Every year GGIS puts on a harvest party where we invite families and friends to come to school, dress up, play games, dance, and eat lots of candy. I look forward to this event every year, it’s an incredible opportunity to connect with students’ parents in a nonacademic fashion. After the festivities, we have started a new tradition-watching a movie on our sports field with the high schoolers. This is the event that really makes the whole night worth it. Last year we watched God’s Not Dead (actually a surprisingly good Christian film) and we had such a great response that this year, we watched God’s Not Dead 2 which just came out. After the movie I got up in front of the students and spoke a little bit. One girl accepted Christ as her Savior! Praise God!
My friends, Tim and Myriah, were able to adopt their baby! Her name is Agnes. Maybe next month I will be able to send a picture!
It seems this month has just flown by. We had a much needed fall break at GGIS, there was a Korean festival and youth group event that I led, and we had an amazing harvest party at school.
School started at the end of August and we hadn’t really had a break until last week. Let me tell you, it was much needed! You don’t realize how tired you are until you have a chance to rest, and then it’s like, “wow, what just happened?”
The Saturday before the break I went with the youth group from the Korean Church of Budapest, where I have been ministering as a youth leader, to an escape room. An escape room is one of the coolest things ever. You are locked in a room, which usually leads to other rooms and have to find clues and keys to get yourself out. This is usually done in teams of a few people at a time. We split up into two teams-boys against girls and the one who escaped the quickest won with the losers buying them ice cream. We all had such a great time working together and getting to know each other all a little better.
Right now the way the service on Sundays goes is that I sit in the message (with translation) and then the teens separate after and talk about the message. I am there to kind of facilitate this talking time and also just be a friend to them. It’s really a great privilege and I have really enjoyed my time so far. I think we are really starting to click.
The following Saturday, at another international school in Budapest, all of the Korean community got together and had a sports day. I was invited to attend and am so glad I went. It was great seeing so many people from so many different churches, schools, jobs all coming together and enjoying each other.
Every year GGIS puts on a harvest party where we invite families and friends to come to school, dress up, play games, dance, and eat lots of candy. I look forward to this event every year, it’s an incredible opportunity to connect with students’ parents in a nonacademic fashion. After the festivities, we have started a new tradition-watching a movie on our sports field with the high schoolers. This is the event that really makes the whole night worth it. Last year we watched God’s Not Dead (actually a surprisingly good Christian film) and we had such a great response that this year, we watched God’s Not Dead 2 which just came out. After the movie I got up in front of the students and spoke a little bit. One girl accepted Christ as her Savior! Praise God!
My friends, Tim and Myriah, were able to adopt their baby! Her name is Agnes. Maybe next month I will be able to send a picture!
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