The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

Today is December 13th. DECEMBER 13TH! Santa Claus is at Walgreens (yes, Santa goes to Walgreens. Twice this year, actually!), I just returned from Christmas shopping, and my car radio is set on Christmas music stations. I know it's December 13th, and I know Christmas is less than two weeks away. I'm just not sure HOW we got to this point.

The last month has been a whirlwind of Romanian, Walgreens, teaching...and a brief break from all of that to spend time with family and friends at Thanksgiving. Which was wonderful. I remembered how fun it can be to have a social life! :-) Now, Romanian is done (my final was on Monday), my weeks teaching in youth are over for now, and yes indeed the wonders of working retail at Christmas are setting in. Would you believe this is my 7th Christmas in retail? I have decided that whoever wrote that this is "the most wonderful time of the year" apparently never had finals and obviously NEVER worked in retail. My old roommate, in an attempt to avoid working on her own final projects, researched this and discovered that it is indeed true.

In the middle of all that craziness, I've needed the reminder of why we celebrate this season. I've KNOWN it my whole life, but how easily I forget. How many people out shopping today understand that the reason we celebrate this holiday has nothing to do with huge TVs or new DVDs? It has nothing to do with those, but has everything to do with our Heavenly Father loving us enough to give His Son. It has everything to do with God becoming man, being born as a baby, with the realization that ultimately He would die for the sins of those who He has called to be His children. We celebrate Christmas to remember that, but I've lost the awe. I've forgotten how WONDERFUL that is. I've forgotten that this season truly is worth celebrating. Think about it! "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us"! Why? Because the plan of His Father, from ages past, was to save His people from their sins. In spite of ourselves, He loves us. Wow. Yes, this season truly IS worth celebrating.

So what's happened in the last couple of weeks? Not much, really. The big news is that I DO have a meeting set up with a church in January, which is great...but so far, that's it. I know my timing is horrible, with the economy and the holidays quickly approaching. As my mother just said, it's not promising. I'm not sure what's next, what I should DO next, or if I even have time to do it! So at least right now I feel like I'm just sitting and waiting and trying to decide...what's next. God's waiting room, so to speak. Can you tell I was just reading about Joseph? :)

I've also decided not to take another quarter of Romanian. This quarter has been good and helpful, but I at least have a start now, I have all the books, and I can keep working on it myself. Ah, the benefits of having been homeschooled...knowing how to discipline yourself to learn! :-) Plus, it will save me some money, which is always nice, AND give me more free time...in theory! So I have another month or so, and then I'll be done with my "formal" Romanian training until I'm actually in Bucharest!

In all the craziness of the last 10ish days (my Grandma is in the hospital, my cell phone is dead, my car is dying, and the election results were, in many areas, not what I would have chosen), I've been reminded that the same God that I trust to be in control of MY life is all in control of all of history and of the lives of the people I love.

A Day Off From Jesus

I've been saying I needed a day off. Just one day where I didn't have to be anywhere, and could do something fun...like go shopping, as I mentioned. Well guess what! I got it! Kind of. Not how I would have expected, but as I've told several people, I think the circumstances were God's way of telling me to take a break. There was an accident on the freeway, and I couldn't make it to class on time, so instead of stressing about it, I decided to enjoy it. And I did indeed. I went shopping. And had lunch at Chipotle. And I made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. What a great day! So if you were praying that God would give me a chance to relax or something like that...He did indeed, and I'm so thankful! I actually woke up this morning feeling rested emotionally AND physically. So thank you friends. And thank You, Lord...for hearing and answering even "little" prayers.

So...October 19th....

Can someone please tell me how in the world it is already October 19th???

It has been almost a month since "school" started, and with my new schedule, time absolutely flies. I think I've at least gotten used to the new schedule, which isn't to say I'm really crazy about it, but at least I've figured out how it works. I do have enough time to get it all done, and (minus this blog...) I've managed to stay on top of things fairly well, for which I'm thankful! My biggest frustration is I that don't have much free time to do "fun" things (like shop-I need nice, winter skirts and such and haven't had time to shop!) or stay in touch with friends here and all over the world. I think I'm more emotionally exhausted than anything else. It can be hard to have no time to talk to anyone for days. But only for a season.

Romanian is going well! Thank you all for praying. Languages are definitely still really hard for me, but I'm thankful to have a head start! I got a 97% on my first test (quite a difference between Moody grading and OSU grading, I'm finding!), and I generally UNDERSTAND most of what's going on. As is the case with learning any language, though, it is harder for me to figure out how to say things, and especially pronounce things. I keep thinking "I don't know that my mouth can do that!", but the sounds are slowly becoming less foreign to my lips, and I can see that I AM making progress. Which is encouraging.

As far as the support raising goes, I gave my presentation at my church a few weeks ago, and they voted to support me for 15% which is a HUGE encouragement! That brings my support level to (about) 30%! I've also called and talked with several pastors (TERRIFYING!!!) and my father has talked to others. We've sent lots of letters to lots of churches, so now...we wait, and then call again. Most churches are booked through the beginning of the year. Please keep praying that God would give me supporting churches that are excited about what God's doing in Romania and willing to support me both financially and in prayer.

Closing thoughts: I was talking to a friend tonight who is in "full-time ministry". He was sharing how he spends his days studying to teach, getting lessons ready, and then teaching throughout the week. I was so jealous! It was a good reminder, though, that this really, truly, is what I want to do, what I love to do, what God has called and gifted me to do. And that really WILL be my life one of these days. In God's time.

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!