Only For A Season

Well, after doing half a week of this school thing I think I might be entirely crazy to think that I can balance all of the things in my life right now. What's even crazier is that I was sitting in church this morning listening to announcements thinking, "I can do that! Maybe I should do that!" to several different ministries that need help. NO! I CANNOT take on anything else. There, I said it. Anyhow, as I've been reminded, this is LIFE, life is busy, and still somehow, this is only a season of my life. Here's hoping that the next season involves less Walgreens...

Romanian is going well, I think. I managed to get everything I needed on Wednesday (student ID, parking permit, books) and I also figured out how to get on a bus and get to class on time without much confusion! I have to say, I miss Moody, where "running across campus" meant running across the plaza. Now, it involves buses. Weird. I also had to stop expecting my professor to pray at the beginning of class. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I spent four years at Moody, so it is just kind of ingrained in me. BUT, I think it will be good. Part of the reason I wanted to do this is because I needed to have the adventure of doing all this ON MY OWN, somewhere where they speak English, before I have to have adventures on my own in Romania. It really is helpful in developing both my sense of direction and my self confidence! Oh, yeah...and the learning Romanian thing is probably good, too! :-) I have my first test next Friday. WHAT?!? TEST?!? I thought I was done with that...Groan...

Another "groan" would be Walgreens. I am REALLY struggling to have a good attitude about being there lately. I find myself ready for another vacation, which isn't good...because I don't have any vacation days left! :-) I would really appreciate your prayers. There are just days that are really long and frustrating, and I have to admit, I'm not very Christ-like on those days. It is a hard neighborhood to work in, with hard people to love, and some days I just can't do it...at least on my own. So please pray for me; that I'd be Jesus at Walgreens. I'm not even a very good version of "Kristie" most days, I'm afraid!

"Because He Lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, all fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future.
And life is worth the living, just because He lives."

Ahhh....re-focusing...There we go.
Blessings, friends.

I'm In!

Just a quick update to you let you know that I was able to get on my OSU account today and saw that Romanian was added to my scheduled today! That means I'm off the waiting list and in the class!! Yay! My school bill is paid now and everything. Thank you to those of you who prayed! :-)

Still Alive!

Yes I AM still alive! For those of you who thought that I (a) wasn't, or (b) dropped off the face of the earth, or (c) hated you all and decided never to blog again, I can assure you, none of those are true! It has just been a crazy few weeks (do I say that every time I update? I think I do!) and we lost power for several days, thanks to Ike. That's a whole OTHER story, but in the end it all worked out fine. I'm still surprised that Ike managed to make it all the way to Ohio! Definitely makes me more sympathetic to those in Texas.

The "missionary" stuff is beginning to take off! I sang and gave a testimony this morning at a women's meeting (I still haven't managed to do something like this without crying. Maybe someday!), and my prayer cards came yesterday! I have 1000 now, which looks like a whole lot more in person than on paper, let me tell you. Pretty exciting stuff! Next on the list is putting together a presentation and display so that I can begin setting up meetings at churches. I'll do my very first presentation at Immanuel (my home church) in two weeks on Oct. 5, which is coming quickly.

Also coming quickly is my Romanian class! In theory I start at OSU on Wednesday, but as far as I know I'm still #2 on the waiting list. I say "as far as I know", because in classic Kristie style, I've gotten lost in technology somehow and can't actually figure out how to sign on to OSU's student website, so I can't check my position. I'll call and talk to someone on Monday. Regardless, I plan to show up for class on Wednesday and ask the professor to sign me in. Please pray that God makes the professor sympathetic toward me. Once THAT gets figured out I'll have to run all over campus to get an ID, buy a parking permit and eventually pay my school bill BUT none of that can happen until I'm officially a student. So there's a lot up in the air right now and I think God is once again teaching me to go with the flow and be flexible. Which seems to be a continuing theme in my life. Hmm...

Also, one last reminder that if you'd like to be on my updated prayer list, please email me at: kabernathy@abwe.cc
Eventually I'll send out email updates. But right now my list consists of two people, sooo.... :-)
Blessings, friends!

Road Trip!

I'm home again!

I was gone for about eight days on what I jokingly referred to as my "Goodbye Tour". The whole thought process behind this trip is a long story, and it didn't quite work out as originally planned, BUT it was a wonderful trip. I spent time in Indianapolis, Beloit, Chicago, and Bloomingdale, and got to see many friends. God was really gracious is giving me special time with many people I love dearly, and probably won't see for a while! It was a really relaxing trip, despite all the driving, because I was with people who know me well so I was able to just be myself. And the icing on the cake was that I had the honor of being a bridesmaid in the wedding of one of my favorite couples last Saturday. What a special trip it was! Thanks to those of you who prayed for me during my time away.

I also really enjoyed the freedom of being on this trip by myself. It was FUN just to have time on my own and be able to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I was kind of surprised by how much I liked it...but I really did!

So I returned and hit the ground running. Last night was the first night of Youth (I'm a youth leader this year) which is always exciting. Then today, I had an appointment with my advisor at OSU, where I am now officially enrolled! Well, sorta. I'm on the waiting list for Romanian 101. I'd appreciate your prayers about THAT! My advisor thinks I should just go to class and ask the professor to sign me in on the first day of class (Sept. 24) and seems to think that will be a good possibility. Still, I'm a little concerned, especially since I've kind of rearranged my life around taking this class. I have to admit, though, it IS kind of weird to be back in school again and having to talk about school bills, parking permits and student IDs. I'm torn between being excited and...not! :-)

So other than that, God continues to remind me in small ways that He's taking care of me and giving me exactly what I need. I've really been blown away recently by how gracious He is, not just in big things, but in little ways. Example? I've suddenly acquired a sense of direction. Laugh if you want, but those of you who know me know how surprising that is! :-) In the last three months, something has clicked in my head, and as silly as that sounds it really is a reminder that God's taking care of me. He's gracious. He loves His children, and He loves to take care of them. Of us. Of me. Wow.

PS Support update: 7.33% Yay!!! :-)