Thanksgiving

I wanted to post this last night, so I could say I had three in one week, but I was just too tired to make it. :)

Happy Thanksgiving! :) I had two different Thanksgivings this week, and Talitha's actually going to a third tonight - not being in the country certainly doesn't stop us. :) It wasn't quite as fun though, having to work all day Thursday and then still on Friday. Oh well.

The dinners were great though - Thurs. night our Pastor and his wife had us and about 50 (literally) other people over to their house. Everyone brought something and it was all very delicious. It was nice too, getting to know each other better. Then last night our neighbors invited us over to a dinner with another family and friend from their work. The family from their work was from Norway and it was their first Thanksgiving meal they had experienced! :) It was nice spending time with our neighbors as well.

So, this year the thing I am definitely thankful for is all of you. God has blessed me so much with friends and family who love me. I don't know why I got to be so lucky, but I am thankful for it! I love you all so much, and the support and love and encouragement you pour out on me is something that I will always thank God for!!


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I just stepped out on our balcony. It's midnight and chilly but not too cold. The bits of sky that peak out from behind the clouds are a deep, dark, blue. It smells just like Grandma and Grandpa Hunter's house. I'm ready for a walk down the lane to look at stars...

I've been missing home a lot the past few days. I think it's partly because everything (moving, teaching, traveling, etc.) is finally settling down. I've also been feeling like I keep finding things to mess up or I just don't seem to be getting it completely right. Whether it's at the grocery store, communicating with the people around me (and no I don't mean with the language barrier- just communicating in general) or most recently - dealing with the bank and my money, I feel like I'm constantly in need of grace, needing God to come through for me.

And on the one hand, I know that's the reality of where we all are, and where God loves us to be. But on the other hand I think, ok, how many times am I going to get myself into trouble?? Can't I get something right for once? Do I really deserve grace when it's completely my stupidity or fault that got me there in the first place? Honestly, these are not thoughts and feelings I'm used to having. I guess that's part of the "living on my own...in a foreign country" thing, but it's still kind of surprising and not very fun. Maybe a little humbling is what I needed...

But yes, I know God is faithful. And I know that of course I don't deserve grace, but that's the beauty of it and God does freely give it. Over and over and over... and over again. It's a beautiful but hard lesson to learn, and I'm only beginning to grasp it.

Anyways, just of a few of my recent thoughts... how's that for two entries in one week?? :)

Hello and once again, I apologize for the delay in writing. I think I'm just going to have to accept the fact that it takes a while to get life back together again after going on a trip, and therefore the posts will be a little more delayed when that happens. :)

Anyway, I hope you are doing well as you read this!

I did get back from Rome at the beginning of the week, and it was all a really great time. It was fun traveling with my friend Sarah from CCU and yes, the city itself was amazing. We spent most of the time just wandering around, going too all of the "big pictures" on our map. :) You know, like the Colosseum, The Ruins, St. Peter's Basilica... all very beautiful and pretty crazy to actually see in person. The overall atmosphere, and all of the little Italian restaurants and shops were really fun (and yummy! :)

We didn't go into many museums or anything - that in and of itself could be a separate trip, but for the few days that we had there, we felt like we got to experience a lot. There was a protest that we ran into on our first day walking around - a huge group of what turned out to be Italian futbol boys, protesting the new policy of requiring registration cards to buy tickets to the games. Pretty exciting stuff right there. :) It was interesting to say the least.

It was also our first experience staying in a hostel, which turned out to be not bad at all. It was the three of us girls in a four bed room. The first night we had a young kid from Japan with us and the other two nights a young guy from south of Chicago. Both were very nice and we even convinced the second to join us in an exciting game of Phase 10 one of the evenings. :)

Here is the link to my pictures from the trip:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012019&id=142700074&l=3d78f166e0

We got back Monday night and then I still had Tuesday off as a holiday because it was the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution - the year the Czech Republic broke free from communism. There was a big march in the city, with speakers and music and lots of Czech beer. It was pretty exciting to be there in the midst of all the celebration.

Since then it's been a quiet week of getting back into the routine of normal life again, which is good. I'm still having days and moments where it's harder to be excited about being here though. I know everything I'm experiencing is great and amazing, but it still isn't home... I just need to make more of an effort to get out and live life here, I think. It's easy to just go to school, come home, do lesson plans, and go to school again. I want to be excited about living here though, and not just look forward to the next big thing I have planned. I went to the park the other day, and signed up for the church email list that has different things going on in our community...it's the little things like that that are important, I think, so it's just being able to make time for them. Please pray that I'll be able to do that and enjoy it.

Anyway, I think that's all for now. I love you all!!
Steph

"O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your
glory.
Because your love in better than
life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my
hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with the
richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will
praise you.

On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches
of the night.
Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your
wings.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me."

Psalm 63:1-8

-- Amen.

So, hello to all and I'm sorry it's been another almost two weeks since I've posted. I guess the newest thing, since we last talked, is that I turned 23! Sounds so old, and yet, still so young at the same time... :) No great differences from 22, as of yet... but we'll see as the year unfolds...

I had a great time celebrating my birthday in Berlin, Germany! (Link to pictures in my previous post). I went with Michelle, the girl I teach with and her roommate Kara. Things were off to a rocky start when I missed the train and they had to leave my ticket hidden behind a trash can on the platform :) but it ended up being a great time and experience. We actually met up with some "friends of a friend" who play in a worship band for the Jesus Freaks group in Berlin. We went with them for a few hours on Saturday to a 24-hr. prayer room, like IHOP or CHOP. It was really neat. They also showed us around the city for a big part of the time as well.

I was actually a bit homesick coming back from the trip - it was nice being familiar with things again, like the public transportation, but it felt like I should have been coming home home... it was hard being reminded again that I wont be doing that for quite a while still. I also felt like I had a TON of stuff that needed to be done/taken care of, and you know, just had a bit of the overwhelmed/hard to breathe feeling. :) God of course took care of all those things, down to the last detail, though. So I got through those first few days and the rest of the week has been great.

Teaching is still going well, and I actually started this week with some new tutoring lessons! I will be working with 3 fourth grade students - 2 boys and 1 girl, who are all fluent English speakers. They've lived for a few years in the States and their parents were wanting them to work with someone outside of the English class that the rest of their class is in. So I will be doing that on Mondays and Fridays, working on their writing and grammar. I was only able to meet with the girl this week, but she is the sweetest thing, and I am really excited about it!!

Another thing I am super excited about is that a friend from CCU is coming next week to visit! She's been in Europe for the past couple of months, and she's coming with her friend to visit Prague, and THEN the three of us are going to ROME for the weekend!! I shouldn't have too many more travel plans for a while after that :).

Anyway, I do need to get going... today is Talitha's birthday, and we are having a joint celebration tonight! We're having a few friends over for some bread, cheese and wine (all of which are a NEW FAVORITE of mine!) and then chocolate cake and pumpkin pie for dessert! :) I actually have to go BAKE the pie first, so wish me luck...

I love you all!!!

Pictures!

So sorry it's been over a week, and I didn't even put up the links I promised last time. Well, here they are... and more writing to come soon! Tomorrow?? :)

Praha 6 (updated):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011486&id=142700074&l=29a27b83a0

World Cup Qualifier:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011785&id=142700074&l=a4104765aa

It's a Beautiful City:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011788&id=142700074&l=d2fa739e46

Birthday in Berlin!:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011905&id=142700074&l=826cefece8