so encouraging.

note: this post was written for yesterday, Tuesday, August 31, but our internet was out and it is only till now that I am able to get internet at a local cafe (because it is still not working in our flat). just wanted to let you know! : )

Today was good. very good.

After coming back from Miskolc this weekend it was good to be back in Patak. Peggy and I said it was good to be home again. (Isn’t that funny how a place can become home so quickly?) The thing is though Patak was still not completely home (and never will be, of course. Don’t worry Mom and Dad ☺ ) …until today.

This afternoon we had our school’s opening ceremony for the year. It was fun to get dressed up and be surrounded by all the students, teachers, and faculty. This ceremony made being here, and teaching, much more real to me. It was like “okay, I am actually doing this.” We found one of our fellow English teachers and sat down until he found two students we should meet because they not only were going to be our students, but they have also lived in Toronto. They were very sweet, and our colleague said we would have to meet his parents because they would be great people to talk with. We then met the director of our school and a Greek Catholic Priest and they were very talkative, which was nice. They were very interested in our lives and thoughtful in the fact of offering to help with anything if needed with our flat.
After the ceremony I ran into Gabor, the boy I talked about a few posts ago. It was almost strange to have someone I recognized in Hungary, but it was great to see him. We talked for a bit and then end walked with us back to our flat. While we were standing outside a car drove by and stopped. I just figured it was because they lived across the street, but instead it was the mother, Ana, of the two students we had met earlier (right before the ceremony). She told us a little about herself and her family and encouraged us in being here. She said that when her husband returns from Ukraine she would love to have Peggy and me over. It is hard to explain, but I was so touched in meeting Ana. It was something God knew I needed. I have been praying and hoping for someone like her and her family. (She has two boys who will be starting High School and a daughter in 5th grade.) I am a very community driven person. I need it and long for it. And I know that God blesses me through it and blesses others through it because of me. So I just felt that in meeting Ana this could be something that will be such a blessing for me this year. So I ask that you will pray for this situation and that God will bless it. I pray that meeting Ana and her sons, Aaron and Daniel, today was just the start of something really great. And I pray that this is only the beginning of community and good relationships here in Sarospatak.

I will leave you with a few of the verses I have been mediating on in preparation for Hungary and now that I am here.

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

“The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

This verse was read in a women’s Bible study and it really spoke to me. I will certainly face hard times this year (let’s be honest, I already have) and so my prayer and hope is that it is through the challenges and difficulties I face that I will become stronger through Him, and that my reliance on His grace will become deeper.
“ ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10


And for the verse that I am claiming as this years’ verse:
“But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” 2 Chronicles 15:7
This verse is so encouraging to me as I know that this year will be tough in so many different ways, but I know that God has put me here for a reason and it’s through him that my work will be rewarded, even though I may not see it this year.

So, again, thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers. They are truly appreciated. …just keep them coming. And I will try to be better about blogging to keep you updated on what is happening here. ☺