Bruises

I have been here for a month now and I still love it. 

I’m not sure how long this “honeymoon” period will last, but fingers crossed it never goes away.

Not to say that everything has been easy.

For example: I have an inordinate amount of bruising. I am not 100% sure how it’s happening. I think a lot of it is from biking (for example two weeks ago I jammed the left pedal against my left ankle, and of course after that I continually jammed the pedal against the same ankle throughout the day. I STILL HAVE A MASSIVE BRUISE- it lives there now). I worked in the hostel café on Sunday night and every time I passed the soda fridge I smacked my right shoulder on the fridge door handle. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I now have a bruise on my right shoulder.

…Bruising from just trying to adjust to my new space – leaving bruises on others and myself as I continue to learn the routines of the hostel and community house. I am thankful for the kindness, understanding, and grace of the people I meet in this international community.

In all seriousness though, living in this community has been both challenging and delightful. The most wonderful part of living in community is that there is always someone to talk with, laugh with, do life with… however that of course is challenging too: there is little quiet space.

Thank you everyone for your prayers. I was sick two weeks ago for almost an entire week. And it was the worst. I hated missing time working at the hostel and being involved in activities around the community house. I am better now, and so thankful for the care I was shown from fellow staff.

I have seen God’s hand of protection on me as I bike, walk, and function in this space and in this city. Thank you so much for praying for me, it means so much.

Prayer requests:

1.     I haven’t been sleeping well. Prayers for good rest would be great.

2.     I am beginning to feel pressure and worry about paying for school; communication with Fuller (the school I will attend in the fall) takes longer than normal because of the time difference and limited means of communication. Please pray I will continue to trust in God- He has always shown himself faithful and I have no reason to doubt.

3.     Health! I feel like my body is continually fighting sickness. I bike in the cold a lot, and go to bed late a lot (due to work or building community). Please pray that I, and other staff at the hostel, stay healthy and well.

het gaat goed met mij

I'm in Amsterdam! Let me paint a little picture of what my life is like here. First of all it is so beautiful here. There are bicyclists ALL OVER And They do not care one bit That You're new and do not know the rules. I have only crashed once. The flight was smooth and I managed to buy a ticket for my self and get on the right train from the airport to Amsterdam. From the train station I overtook a taxi Because The bus system was a little hard to navigate and I didn't want to be forever lost in Amsterdam with a suitcase as large as a small playhouse.

(A word on the street names and bus stops in Amsterdam: They are hard to read / Recognize. Imagine someone fell On Their keyboard and then was like "yep that looks like a good street name." It's super challenging.)  

I have a bike That the hostel has given me to use. It's pink and I found out yesterday it's a child's bike (the daughter of the community house parents used to ride it). I also got my first flat tire yesterday on the way from the community house to the shelter, and had to walk my bike the rest of the way to the shelter and walk it back to the community house after dinner (about a 20min walk ).

I share a room with two girls: Theresa from Austria and Martyna from Poland. They are really nice and conversations are mostly spent trying to understand each other or asking what the word in English is for * insert word or saying here * or comparing the ways we Grew up.

I wanted to share this update and prayer requests quickly. This morning is the first bit of time I have had and I do not know When the next one will be.

1.     To get over jet-lag Because it's the literal worst. I am tired. More tired than I have ever been. It's 11:08 pm in California, and 8:08 am in Amsterdam. I want to sleep all the time during the day and night is when I am awake.

2.     Giving grace to others and myself. There are about 10 other new people who arrived the same time I did and it's nice to all be learning together, but I'm getting frustrated That I am not at the level of training or understanding of people who have been here for months ... ridiculous but true.

3.     Health J

I'll be posting more soon and hopefully some pictures. Thank you all for your prayers. Please send texts, emails, face books, etc. with any questions or words of encouragement.

ps sorry if the format is weird or the sentences don't really make sense or if a random word that doesn't make sense in context appears... I copy and pasted from a document and the website translated it into Dutch then back into English...