Tomorrow is Alex's birthday!!

This past month has been quite a crazy one. The journey so far, has been wonderful. We have had some bumpy spots, but the work being done here is so exciting, that it is hard to stay in a rough patch for long.

We have nailed down a pretty solid schedule, which we have been loosely following for 2-3 weeks. As with any ministry, we have to be pretty flexible. This is what our typical week looks like:

Monday/Tuesday/Thursday

Bus: 6:50-7:45

Orphanage: 8:30-11:30

Lunch: 11:30-12

School: 12-4:15

Bus: 4:20-5:15

(Th) Bus: 6:00

Folk Dancing: 6:30-7:30

Bus: 7:30

Wednesday/Friday

Bus: 12-12:20

Lunch/Errands: 12:20-1:30

Language School: 1:30-3

Grocery Shopping/Errands: 3-4:00

Bus: 4:00-4:20

Sunday

Bus: 11-12

Village Stuff: 12-5

(playing with kids, exploring, lunch, etc.)

Church Service: 5-?

Bus: 7-8

We are also able to go to Sofia about once a month to attend our two churches there. At 11:00 we go to International Baptist, an English-speaking church, where the pastor is actually from Tennessee and knows of Trevecca. We were excited to meet each other. He also has a son about our age, so it was nice to talk to someone from home. After this service, we have enough time to have a nice lunch at the Chinese restaurant next door before heading over to the Nazarene church for the Bulgarian service. Trying to sing in Bulgarian is definitely a challenge, but it’s fun :)

Tomorrow is Alex's birthday, Zhana is in India, and Susanna is in Albania, so we are having a relaxing weekend.

In an effort to be completely honest and transparent, and to be held accountable, I must confess that my relationship with God has diminished greatly since being here. It is not because of hardships I am facing, or anything that has happened, but because it is so easy to think I can handle everything on my own. Aside from these church services, we have team bible studies, but we have all expressed the need to be challenged further. I am beginning to grow complacent and that is a deadly place to be; however, I am reading a book right now, Kisses from Katie, which is providing that challenge that I so desperately need. If you have never read the book you would definitely be doing yourself a favor by reading it. Katie is a girl not much older than me, from Franklin, TN (a Nashville suburb) who just up and moved to Uganda to follow a path she knew God had placed her on. She describes what it is like to leave everything she’s ever known and enter into what can only be described as Kingdom Work. She shows what it means to care for those who need it and love unconditionally. Her faith is incredible and it is obvious through her work and stories how powerful prayer can be when taken seriously. You can also read Katie’s blog at http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/. I have been so inspired by what the Lord has and continues to accomplish through her that I have begun to think of my time and ministry here in this place differently.