To my loved friends in the Czech Republic...

To my dearly loved friends in the Czech Republic...I miss you so much and pray you are experiencing a blessed Christmas season. Rejoice in HIS amazing gift! Love you all!

Still Here

Just in case you were worried, I'm still alive here in Wisconsin. Not much to update at this time. I'll get back to ya!

Excursion to the Castle

My very last class on the Thursday before I left Prague convinced me that we should take an excursion(aka field trip in the states) to the castle. Here's some pics from the class. Thanks for taking pictures Martin!

Safely in the States

Just wanted to let everyone know that I made it back to the midwest safely. After some set backs in Chicago and Detroit, I arrived in Green Bay on Saturday evening. My flight was supposed to land in Chicago at 6:10pm on Friday and my mother and friend Jenny along with Cailyn her 4 month old daughter were waiting to pick me up and drive back to Green Bay. Unfortunately, there was poor weather in the Chicago area that forced our plane to divert and land in Detroit. After about an hour of sitting in the plane, grounded in Detroit, they finally let us off the plane because there was no way we would get to Chicago that night. British Airlines put us all up in hotel rooms and scheduled us new flights out the next day.
My flight was not scheduled to get into Chicago until almost 6 pm on Saturday. Fortunately, my mother and Jenny were able to get a free hotel room in Chicago, thanks to a kind gentleman who did not want his voucher. I went to the airport at noon on Saturday because I didn't know how long it would take to get our vouchers for our changed flights. Thankfully, I found out about an earlier flight into Chicago, that if I rushed, I could make. I made it and arrived in Chicago around 2 pm. I was so thankful to see my mom, Jenny and Cailyn! Then we loaded our stuff into the car and began the 4 hour trek up to Green Bay.
So coming back to the states turned into more of an adventure that I bargained for, but I am thankful to be back. I'm not sure what this new step in my life holds for me, but I am eager to see what happens.

Cracking the DaVinci Code

So I am heading out for Paris in less than 12 hours. At first, I was not totally excited about going anymore. I didn't want to spend any more money, and I was afraid I was going to get bored. But now I am really looking forward to it. I am excited to be able to try to spend some down time in a beautiful city relaxing and reflecting on the things that have been going on in my life and heart in the last few weeks/month...And if I get time, I may even try to really solve this whole DaVinci code thingy. Maybe! ;-)

CORRECTION....To my faithful readers!

It seems, my previous post has instilled a bit of anger and hostility in some of you. I had no intentions, believe me :-) SO....to my all my faithful readers...thank you for checking in on me. It truly means a lot. Love ya! By the way, if you have a blog that I know about, I am probably a faithful reader of yours. :-)

To my faithful reader!

Hi Jeremy...just wanted something new for you when you check this. Haha!

Revelations on a Tram

I was sitting on a tram today, listening to my ipod and when this song came on, it moved me to tears because it really hits home with a lot of things that I have been struggling with over the past few weeks. It made me really look at myself and decisions I have made and what the intentions behind them were. Were my motives to cover myself in "make-up" to please others, or to please God and rest in His glory? Please pray for me as I am trying to sort out a lot decisions and directions in my life over the next few weeks. That I would trust in the wisdom of the LORD.

"Beautiful" by Bethany Dillon

I was so unique
Now I feel skin deep
I count on the make-up to cover it all
Crying myself to sleep cause I cannot keep their attention
I thought I could be strong
But it's killing me

Does someone hear my cry?
I'm dying for new life

I want to be beautiful
Make you stand in awe
Look inside my heart,
and be amazed
I want to hear you say
Who I am is quite enough
Just want to be worthy of love
And beautiful

Sometimes I wish I was someone other than me
Fighting to make the mirror happy
Trying to find whatever is missing
Won't you help me back to glory

You make me beautiful
You make me stand in awe
You step inside my heart, and I am amazed
I love to hear You say
Who I am is quite enough
You make me worthy of love and beautiful

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Yesterday, we had the unique opportunity to attend a baseball game here in Prague. Laura, Jessica and Phoebe, friends from Ostrava, faithfully followed their team, the Ostrava Arrows to Prague for the last game of their series. A few of us joined them to cheer the Arrows on. It was quite and experience. There are some die-hard Czech fans, who cheered (loudly with horns and a train whistle) for the entire game. It was great! We tried to start them out on the 7th inning stretch, with a stirring rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" but, I think they will have to practice it in the off-season. The Arrows pulled it out, after a very scary 8th inning. Nothing like a little taste of America's pastime in Prague!

Gotta Love Fridays!

TGIF! I love my Fridays. I only have one class at 11:50 and then I am free for the weekend. As an added bonus, I really have a lot of fun with my Friday class. They keep me on my toes, but are some really nice kids. I also just found out that in addition to having Thursday off for a holiday, my school is giving us Friday off as well. Yeah for my first 4 day weekend. What to do? What to do? Oh yeah, and did I mention how amazing this place is, as I am typing and looking out the window of the English office, the Prague castle is sitting in the distance. What is the dream that I am living?
I promise that I will have some real photos up soon: of my flat, school and the city!

A Day in Pribram

Pictures from Vysehrad

I'm still here!

Sorry, it's been awhile since I have posted anything. Life here in Prague has been kind of a whirlwind the past week and a half. I finally started classes on Wednesday. I am teaching 16 different classes each week. Most of them are conversation lessons with "freshmen" and "sophomores." I also have 5 seminar classes with juniors and seniors which my students are taking to get ready for their final oral exams this year or next. So that's school in a nutshell, I am sure I will have many stories as the year goes on, so don't be afraid to ask.

My new home...Praha!

After about 20 hours of travel on Tuesday and Wednesday I have finally made it to my new home for the next year! I have had some opportunities to start to learn my way around Prague and see some of the historic sights. I start at my school tomorrow with a staff meeting. I am really excited and a bit nervous to get there and find out what it's all about.

It's Time!

I really can not believe that at this time tomorrow I will be on an airplane bound for the Czech Republic. A lot of times it seems like it just yesterday when I found out I would be leaving everything I knew and was comfortable with in Oshkosh. Right before I left, I was doubtful about this decision that the Lord had called me to. Who was I to think that I could move to another country, be a teacher and serve the Lord. I must be crazy. But, since I have been here, I have felt nothing but peace, contentment and assurance that this is what I am supposed to be doing for the next year of my life. I know it won't be easy and at times I will think that I am once again crazy, but I can rest in the Lord and that He has called me to the right place for this season of my life. Time and time again at training I have gone back to Paul's words, he says, "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15:58 That is my cry, that we all would be steadfast, immovable and abounding in the work of the LORD. That we would trust that our labor, hardships, culture shock, homesickness is never in vain. I praise God for this opportunity to serve Him and the people of the Czech Republic. Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive of this journey! God Bless

One week to go!

At this time next week, I will be in transit from Los Angeles to London and then on to Prague. It is so hard to believe that training is almost over. We are done on Thursday night and then some of our Central European teammates are leaving for Slovakia the next morning. The Hungary and Czech teachers have a long, long weekend to wait to fly out.
A few prayer requests...
That all our Visas would come in
For safe travel
That all baggage issues would be worked out at our airlines
Continued team unity as we prepare to embark to our different locations
**Thanks so much to everyone for all your support and prayers. You mean so much to me.

Malibu...Zuma Beach

This past weekend was our weekend off, thus all the stories. Here's the last one, I promise. A group of 10 of us headed up the coast to go to the beach in Malibu. We ended up at Zuma Beach. I it was a fantastic day of enjoying the beauty of the Pacific and relaxing, honestly I spent most of the time napping on the blanket trying to get over my cold. I was really nice to get out and spend time with some of my teammates and new friends.

Hollywood

On Saturday, after the excitement from the morning, I ventured into Hollywood with a friend, Beth, who is going to school in California. Once again, thanks Beth for driving down from Fresno to see me. Here's some pictures from Hollywood Boulevard and the Hollywood Hills.

"...or you will be shot!"

On Saturday, Kassidee and I decided to make a quick run to downtown Pasadena to run a few errands. Should be relatively uneventful, right? WRONG! As we were driving down Colorado, all the cars in front of us started pulling over to park at a restaurant or so we thought. In frustration, we drove around them, as we got to the front of all the cars, we saw a bunch of police cars and upon closer inspection I realized that they had their guns drawn! Kassidee quickly pulled over and we found ourselves directly across the street from a car full of guys with their hands up, with the police about 20 feet behind them, all guns drawn!
Kassidee and I proceeded to duck down in our seats...and to get out her camera to video tape the entire thing. All three guys had to get out of the car, one at a time, pull their shirts up and turn around to check for weapons, then back up to the police, where they were then cuffed and put in the car. After all three were arrested, the police continued to point their guns at the car and yelled, "We know you're in there...come out, this is your last warning, or you WILL BE SHOT!" No one came out so the police approached the car and there was not another person in the card. What happened to him, I don't know.
So needless, to say, there is some excitement brewing in Pasadena, we have proof on tape. Hopefully, I can get it from Kassidee to post.

Roscoe's

So apparently Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles is a cultural must during a visit to Southern California. We thus just couldn't resist it and had our first foray into the chicken and waffles experience. Oddly enough it was pretty good, strange combination, but good.

San Gabriel

Last Sunday, the 30th, a group of 9 Central Europe teachers went on a hike in the San Gabriel Mountains. We set out looking for a waterfall, that other teachers had supposedly been to. After over 2 hours of hiking in a mostly dried out river bed, we still had not found the waterfall and we turned around to head back before the park closed. Much to our surprise we found that we had started above the waterfall and actually found it on our way back. For those of you who may say I am extremely undurable, you will happy, or amazed to know that I handled the hike like a champ, with zero whining. SO THERE!

Sunset Beach

On Sunday, after our worship service, we had time for rest and relaxation...so we hit the beach. Most of the Central Europe team made it to Sunset Beach at some point during the day. It was a great time, really, really hot, but a lot of fun.
(Pictures: Sunset, Group Campfire, Becky and Me)

Team Picture...Finally

We had team unity day on Tuesday, so we finally were able to get a good team picture. Here we are...Elanor, Kassidee, Me and Amy.

Scavenger Hunt Champions!

On Saturday, we braved the extreme heat to take part in the ESI Scavenger Hunt! We were given a clue and had to get to downtown Pasadena to find the answer to our clue/question and call it in to get our next clue. Our team worked together very well and we ended up winning the competition. It really was a blast and props to our alum who refrained from cheating to help us win, we did it all by ourselves!
Here is the winning team: Taunya, Me, Christie, Kassidee, Elanor and Amy.

Let training begin!

I'm here! I made it to ESI training in Pasadena, CA. We checked in yesterday and our first meeting started at 6pm Saturday. We have been doing a lot of team building activites to get us acquainted with each other. Today the entire Central Europe team (Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary) went to a ESI staff members house for a pool party. It was great, so fun a relaxing and a fantastic time to get to know the people we will be spending the next year with. I'm off to another meeting this evening and tomorrow starts the full days (8am-9pm) of training.

On My Way!

The time has finally arrived for me to start my voyage towards Prague. As I am writing this, I am sitting in the Phoenix, AZ airport waiting to catch my connecting flight to Los Angeles. Let me tell you it's 7:20 in the morning and I have not had more than about 4 hours of sleep since 7:00 Friday morning. I am dragging, but really excited to get to California and meet my roommates at the airport and start training...after I get a nap.

I want to send out a sincere thank you to everyone who has and is supporting me in this new season of my life. It is hard to think that I will be spending almost a year of my life striving to see the Gospel spread through Prague and the Czech Republic. Praise God for His faithfullness in this whole thing...Bringing me this opportunity, preparing my heart and the people I care about for this new adventure and helping me raise a ministry team to support me in seeing the Czech Republic reached for Jesus.

Here's the plan for the next 5 weeks. I will be living on the campus of William Carey International University in Pasadena. While there we will be training to prepare for our roles as English teachers and Christ's ambassadors. I will fly out for Prague on August 22nd.

Once again, thanks to everyone who has helped me get to this point. I will try hard to keep this blog updated and in touch with everyone. God Bless!

She's finally here!

The much anticipated birth of my best friend Jenny's baby has finally arrived. Cailyn Rose was born June 23rd, she weighed 6 pounds 6 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long! I am a very proud "aunt" She is perfect and I am looking forward to spending a lot of time with this precious little girl (and Jenny & Ryan) before I leave in July.

Cali here I come!

It's official, at 5am on July 15th I will be setting out for Pasadena, California to begin my training with ESI. I will be in Pasadena for about 5 weeks doing TEFL(teaching english as a foreign language) training and team building before heading over to Prague. We will be staying on the campus of William Carey International University.
I am so excited that it is getting so close to the time for me to leave. Of course I will miss everyone I am leaving in Wisconsin, but I can't wait to see how the LORD is working in the Czech Republic.

Czech Wins!

Czech Republic 3, United States 0! Way to go Czech!

World Cup

If you get a chance, check out the United States first world cup match up tomorrow at 11am. I am pretty sure the game is on ESPN 2. The US is playing the CZECH REPUBLIC! I am torn as to who to root for, my homeland, or the country that will be my "homeland" for the next year. Hmmm! We'll see.

Touch a Teat Tour

Last night, our Bible study took a field trip to find out what it is like to milk cows in this day and age. How did we come up with this idea? I am not sure how it even started, but a few weeks ago the question came up of whether we grew up in the city, the country or somewhere in between and whether or not we had ever milked a cow. The desire to milk a cow quickly became the mantra of our group. So as a conclusion to our current study, we were invited to go to milk some cows.
I will admit, I was pretty confident of my ability to touch a cow and even milk it, considering I grew up in the country. Unfortunately when the time came, I couldn't step up to the plate. Maybe it had something to do with the cow behind me deciding it need to urinate and it splashed on my back. I was only able to touch the cow once, I did get some milk out of it, but it definately grossed me out and Jenny had to finish. I guess I am not a true country girl. All in all, it was a great time and most of us can say that we have milked a cow. Thanks to Bruce for letting us come out and interuppting the evening.

Road Trip

This past weekend, a good friend Jeremy and I took a road trip to visit another good friend Zach in Xenia, OH. Zach is there training at the Athletes in Action World Headquarters for about a year before he heads back to the Czech Republic with AIA. We were not able to leave Oshkosh until after work on Friday at 5pm and due to different time zones and a little bit of confusion on directions around Dayton(my bad), we did not arrive in Xenia until about 2:30am.
Anyways, it was a great weekend. It was so good to get out of Oshkosh and to connect and share laughs with friends. It is funny to realize that we are starting to sit around and reminisce about the "old college days" and to laugh about all the crazy and sometime not so smart things that we have done. It makes you realize how special those times were and to really appreciate the lasting friendships that the Lord has blessed us with through those times. Okay, I'm starting to get a little emotional here, I'm a girl, give me a break! Thanks guys for the laughs and memories!

Check out Zach's website and journal at www.pushtheenvelope.org


Jeremy, Zach, Me

It has begun!

So the support raising has begun. As I write this, I am in the midst of raising support to make my adventure to the Czech Republic a reality. I am looking for people to join my ministry team to most importantly pray for me and the Czech Republic and also to financially support me. The money I am raising is going to towards my training, travel and administrative expenses necessary for me to spend the year overseas.
God has been revealing Himself to me more and more each day, as I trust Him for the provisions needed to make this happen.
"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock." Isaiah 26:3-4

It's Been A Long Time

So, it's been over 2 months since I had a post. Oops! Posting routine blogs has not become part of my life yet. What can I say, I'm trying. So anyways, a lot has gone on in the last few months. I plan to write about it soon. But right now, my pillow is calling my name. So stay tuned!

Pray for Turkey

"Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name." 1 Peter 4:16
In the summer of 2004 I spent 8 weeks in Turkey. Turkey is a predominately mulim nation. The Turkish government grants religions freedom, but Christians still experience persecution. While we were there, we did not have many problems. However, a few weeks ago a Christian was attacked by 5 men, outside of his church. This attack pulls on my heart on a personal level. The man who was attacked was our Turkish teacher while we were in the country. I cry when I think about what K endured, but rejoice in his solid faith, and refusal to deny Christ when threatened with fists and knives. The link to the article on Voice of the Marytrs is http://www.persecution.com/news/index.cfm?action=fullstory&newsID=353
Please read this article and take some time today and everyday to pray for Christians in Turkey and persecuted churchs around the world.

Quarter of a Century

Well, I have to say that 25 doesn't feel much different than 24, except for increasing reminders(thanks Jeremy) that I am inching closer and closer to 30. Yikes! Anyways, a special thank you is in order for Jenny and Maggie for organizing last nights festivities, Thank You! Also, thanks to everyone who helped celebrate with me.

Czech Republic or Bust!

"Common wisdom has it that alcoholics outnumber practicing Christians and that more Czechs believe in UFOs than in God"
Nate & Leah Seppanen Anderson in the Prague Post

I came across this quote a few days ago. It saddens me to hear this, yet helps fuel my motivation for preparing to go teach in the Czech Republic. Less than 20% of Czechs believe that God even exists, much less in an eternal life through Jesus Christ. God willing, I will be leaving Oshkosh in July to begin my 5 weeks of training with Educational Services International. Upon completion of that, I will embark on my journey to become a English teacher in the Czech Republic for the next year. Many times I look forward and all I see is uncertainty and the unknowns, but then I am reminded that God is sovereign and to look forward in complete certainty that He is building me up and preparing me for what lies ahead. Please join me in praying for the Czech Republic and for lives to be radically changed God!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)

Happy New Year!

I have to say that I am proud to have at least made it to midnight. I felt really old last night(almost 25...yikes!) during our rousing games of RISK and Hand & Foot. No offense to the people I was with, I had a great time. I can't believe that it is 2006 already, where did the last year go? Crazy! Oh well, I pray that each and everyone of you has a fantastic 2006 and that you are drawing closer to Jesus Christ and are attentive to the leadings He places in your life. God Bless!