3 Months

Oh dear- it's been almost 3 months. I should give this up, but I don't want to be a quitter.

So here's an update-

October

STINT Reunion

Halloween

November

Apparently nothing happened in November. Nothing picture-worthy anyway.

December

ACC Championship game in Tampa

Oops- I don't have any pictures from the Waldrop Family Christmas but Keri and Kristen covered it well.

Ski trip to West Virginia that ended up in Boone, NC

Bouchillon Family Christmas- Each year someone in the family unwraps a gift to find this scary cat. This was Bennett's lucky year.

Tomorrow morning I leave for our Crusade winter conference in Greensboro, and a few days after that I'm headed to Daytona Beach for the month of January for more New Staff Training. I am excited and thankful for a little break from support raising!

Happy New Year!

In Over My Head

It's official- I'm going back to Slovakia. I'm really excited about it but at the same time feel overwhelmed. One year was one thing, but this is different. This isn't how I ever would have planned my own life, but I feel like this is where God's calling me. And in a way I want to ask Him if He's kidding. I was meeting with Jill last week, and she helped me put my thoughts into words- she asked "you feel like you're in over your head?" That's exactly how I feel- I'm in over my head. What's a small town South Carolina girl doing moving to Slovakia? But Jill encouraged me to study some stories of people from the Bible who were also in over their head but exactly where God wanted them and where He really used them. I think about people like Esther and Joseph, and I'm reminded that God is always faithful. I pray that He will use me.

The Kosice Peace Marathon is this weekend!

Kind of wish I was there to run it. But kind of not.

That was painful.

Craziest weekend I've had in a while!

I don't think my parents really like surprises, but they got a big one last weekend. A month ago my friend from Crusade at Clemson told me that he's had this dream to have a party for my parents and invite all the students they have worked with through the years. So we had a "32 years on staff" surprise party on Friday night. The party turned out great all except for my plan to get them there. It failed terribly. I had my aunt invite my family over for dinner at her house in Spartanburg, while the party was actually at her church. My plan was to be in Simpsonville already visiting a friend and ask my parents to meet me at the church to ride over to Aunt Debbie's with them. When I called them, though, they refused to meet me at the church. They thought I was being a big baby not wanting to figure out how to get to my aunt's house. So my mom was trying to talk me through how to get there. Fortunately, I had thought ahead and told Kevin to make sure he was driving. So with my parents all mad at me (and saying mean things according to Kevin), he eventually had to just tell them they were going to the church. Oh well, I'm just glad we were able to keep it a surprise until then! And I know they were surprised to see Mark and Katie and the Chutes. Of course, my family didn't take any pictures. I'll have to get some from someone else.

The rest of the weekend was great too. I was so excited to be back in Death Valley for a game after 2 whole years, and I got to see Dara and Olivia at their first Clemson game! After having next to nothing to do since being back from Slovakia, I was exhausted on Sunday! Thursday I leave for Orlando for Crusade staff training, and my months of nothing to do comes to an end!

Elect Exiles

I guess this blog needs an update since I've been back from Slovakia for a month now. Not to mention it's been 4 months. I'm giving it a new look but it's staying amberinslovakia because 1) I don't want to go through the hassle of changing it and 2) in hopes that I'll be back there again.

I've really missed Slovakia this month that I've been back. Enough that I've thought and prayed a lot about going back for a longer amount of time. But I can remember moments there when I missed people and living in America. I remember crying on Easter because I just really wanted to be at Clemson Pres and sing "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" in English. I started wondering if I'll be satisfied anywhere, then I came across some notes from while I was in Kosice. I was listening to a sermon on 1 Peter 1, and the pastor said, "This world doesn't feel like home because it isn't home. We are not satisfied here." We are elect exiles- chosen out of this world for a home with God in heaven. The only way to be satisfied is to keep in perspective that our home is there and we are missionaries here for a time. We store up treasures there in confident hope. (I like to think that I'm helping people do that as I start raising support again next month :-) ) So who knows where I'll end up in the next few years, but as long as I am investing in eternity, it will be great.

Here's to another post in the next 4 months.

We Have Everything

Today was our monthly Day with the Lord, and I was walking down Hlavna with my ipod. I was listening to worship music and praying for the thousands of people who need Jesus in this city that has become home to me. A song was playing that said, "What do I have if I don't have you, Jesus?" and I was already almost in tears for these people when I walked by a girl wearing a hat that said "Why don't I have everything?" I was overwhelmed with sadness and compassion for her. And at the same time overwhelmed with thankfulness that Jesus has found me and that in knowing him we have everything. I also started thinking about all the conversations I've been having recently with friends here who still need Jesus. One precious girl told me last week that she doesn't even want to think about whether or not God exists- that it's a waste of those moments of her life. A question with consequences that are eternal, and she doesn't even want to think about it. Please pray with me for these friends and for the lost in Slovakia.

Hlavna Street

Pictures

Palacinky Party at the Technical University

Robo giving his testimony to hundreds of guys at TU


After church on Ash Wednesday-
I hope this doesn't offend any Catholics





Baby shower for Cindy and Cooper


Getting really into Pi Day for Aaron




Michael Leahy sharing with hundreds of students
in Kosice and Presov about finding freedom
in Christ from his addiction to pornography
http://www.pornnationthebook.com/



Blurry, but it's Gatlinburg meets Slovakia

Winners

I love my teammates

Cooper Lukas Taylor is here!

P.S. I didn't take a single one of these pictures :-)

My Family!

Yay! My whole family came all the way to Slovakia to visit me for a week! I have the greatest family that they would all fly across the ocean to come visit. Although, my mom and brothers and sister-in-law love Slovakia as much as I do, so it wasn't too big a sacrifice. My dad is a different story, though. He just loves me :-)

I didn't have any huge plans for the family while they were here- they just joined in my regular life and ministry. I took them to my church, my mom went to the dorms one day with me, Katie joined me on a few appointments, and they all went to Bible study and English club with me. They also got to meet Petra, Mala Danka, and a few other fun friends of mine.

The older I get, the more I realize what a blessing my family is. I love them, of course, but I also just really enjoy being with them. They should have just stayed and finished out the year here :-) Really, it was such an encouraging week.

The door into my apartment building-

looks a bit like a war zone

The guys with our favorite waiter at our favorite restaurant

It's cold!

My hair froze yesterday. If I was one of those contemplative people, I could probably make that an analogy for how ministry can be some days or something. But I’m not, so it’s just a funny story. After handing out fliers for 4 hours we started to leave and I tried to brush all the snow out of my hair, but I couldn’t. It was frozen there. It’s been really cold for a long time now, but I still love it. I love the snow. I get made fun of a lot for saying I feel like we’re in Narnia. Especially when we get out of the city into the beautiful, snowy Slovak countryside. I know spring here will be beautiful, but I'm enjoying the snow as long as it's here.

Saturday was a really snowy day. I went skiing with some friends for the first time ever. When it took 5 people and 15 minutes to get my skis on I should have known it was going to be a rough day. But after a few times down the little hill with Stephanie, I thought I was ready to go up to the top of the mountain. It was a bad idea. I don’t recommend Slovak ski slopes for first-time skiers. Slovaks are hard core skiers. Long story short, I spent a lot of time laying in the snow and I'm thankful for some very patient friends.

The end of our mid-year travels was really snowy too. First we spent a week on the sunny coast of Spain for the mid-year conference with STINTers from all over Europe, Russia, N. Africa, and the Middle East. Then we spent 2 nights with friends of my family in Geneva, 3 nights in Paris, and what was supposed to be 3 nights in London. The morning we were supposed to fly back to Kosice, though, London had their worst snowstorm in 20 years and the whole city shut down (it was actually about 3 inches). We had to spend 2 more nights there before we finally made it home!

I haven't taken any pictures in a while, so I'll post some when I get them from my teammates :-)

the past month or so

Thanksgiving in Prague

Team photo after decorating our Christmas tree

Gingerbread houses

pre-Christmas McDonald's breakfast with Pet'o and L'ubica

Petra's house, where I got to experience a Slovak Christmas

Petra's dad with 3 of the 8-10 cats

Matching pajamas on Christmas morning

My Christmas regulars- a paper crown and jello

I've found that I'm terrible at remembering to take pictures! In the past month I've also gone home for a week, been in a wedding while I was there, gone to our Winter Conference, actually hung out with Petra (not just her dad), and been sledding a few times. Next time I try to do a picture summary, I'll steal a few from my teammates!

But Christmas in Slovakia was great, and there's still lots to look forward to:
January 8-11 Slovakia staff conference
January 19-25 STINT Mid-year conference in Spain
Jan 25- Feb 2- Traveling through Geneva, Paris, and London
February- University classes start again
March- My whole family comes to visit!