Thanksgiving #3

I realize that I didn't post about my first thanksgiving, but at least I'm making up for it by posting about the other two. Our Thanksgiving that we hosted was my favorite. We had so much fun during the entire process and it was a huge hit. We kept it small which I tend to prefer for intimate holidays anyway. It was our typical group (Me, Joanna, Jo, Will, and Matt) and then Joanna had her Hungarian friend, Flora, over while I invited Liza and Eszter. Liza had class that she couldn't miss, so she wasn't able to come, but Eszter came and seemed to enjoy it. We cooked and cooked and cooked some more (we did ourselves a favor and started the night before) and finally had dinner around 3. It was soooo delicious. We had a 11 pound turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, baked mac and cheese, pumpkin pie, apple tart, jello, and I'm sure there are other things that I'm forgetting. We even topped off the day by streaming the Macy's Day Parade to my computer and watching it while we all dozed.


I was just reminded that I have so much to be thankful for even if I was away from my family for Thanksgiving- more than I'm worth of, that's for sure. I'm so incredibly thankful for the family I have (even if they drive me nuts sometimes) and for the friends that still support me in America and keep up with me, also the friends that I have here and the new friends that I've made. I am unbelievably thankful that I am in Europe and get to spend some time here while I'm still young and can get the most out of it. I know that sometimes I feel like I'm overwhelmed sometimes and that certain stuff doesn't go my way, but I'm still thankful no matter what. It was a good holiday to say the least. But the best part is that now I get to prepare for CHRISTMAS!! It's my absolute favorite.

Thanksgiving #2

Tonight was the second thanksgiving that I've had so far and I still have the main thanksgiving to go on Thursday. :) I've been so blessed with new friends and an impromtu "family" here in Budapest. Tonight we had dinner with the Ballantynes and had a chance to get together and all share our experiences about the blankets for the homeless. Not to mention that I may or may not have had a 45 minute discussion/debate about Harry Potter with some people. It was quite invigorating.

Tomorrow is going to be the start of a glorious Thanksgiving. After I teach for the day, I get to come home and watch Harry Potter 6 to prepare for the midnight premiere, have dinner with Ester, go to Harry Potter 7 at midnight (which I am beyond excited about), come home and sleep, make dinner, eat dinner, nap, and celebrate the fact that I don't have to teach on Thursday... it's good to be American. Only the American teachers get to off :) So I'm incredibly blessed and I get three days in one week in order to remember and share with others why I am. HERE I COME HARRY POTTER!

Blanket Drive/ Care Package

Well, the blanket drive was a huge success!! I am so thankful to everyone who donated- we were able to give out 48 blankets, 80 packs of tissues, and a few pairs of pants. We split into teams and went to metro stations all around the city (since that's where most of the homeless sleep for extra warmth) and we met some amazing people. There were so many awesome experiences from every single team and every person we met was so different.

One man in particular touched my heart- Joseph (as his name translates). This guy has been living in this particular metro station for 10 years, got picked up by the police the night before and treated horribly, and hasn't seen his 3 children in 6 years. We gave him a blanket and some hot tea and he just opened up and poured his heart out to us. At the end of his story, we asked if we could pray with him and he said that we could. During the prayer, he started balling and was so grateful for everything that we had done for him. I really hope to see him again soon.

A little side note- I've received an AMAZING care package today from the Encouragers Class from my home church. It brought me soooooo much joy and excitement and I can't wait to use everything. They gave me 10 movies, SIX packages of cookie mix, snickers, reese's, equal packets, medicine and some crystal light as well. I'm so incredibly excited about it and even more blessed. SO- thank you encouragers class for pitching in and truly blessing me (and my roommates as well since they get to enjoy this goodness too) :)

Why?

Yesterday in class, I was chatting with my 9th grade students and talking about some random things just to get them speaking in English. While, I was talking to some of my students, the other ones were of course talking in Hungarian. Then, all of a sudden one of the kids looks up and was like "Kirsten, do you believe in God?" I of course replied yes. Without a seconds hesitation he said "Why?"

Now, let me me tell you that this kid asks why for EVERYTHING. Literally. He's like a 2 year old child.

"I'm from America"
"Why?"

"Here is your homework"
"Why?"

Some students interrupted the conversation and were like "UGH. you ask why for everything!" and then the subject changed. But, that question did get me thinking. I mean, I know WHY I believe in God, but how do you explain that to someone who has never heard about God and to someone who has limited English. Even if they spoke English fluently, how would I explain that to someone in a country that pretty much despises God? I've been thinking about it pretty much non-stop since then, and I'm still wondering. I think it was a wake up call for me and to be honest, it was a blessing just so my students know where I stand :) I'm very lucky.

Small Blessings

This week has been a bit of a rough patch for me. I have been really struggling this week with different stuff, including my first bout of homesickness. So tonight, when I was walking home from babysitting and I was sulking about how rough my life is. Then God had other plans. When I turned the corner to my house, I saw two homeless people huddled up together under the porch of a closed down restaurant in sleeping bags, trying to stay warm and out of the rain.

I just started crying and realized just how truly blessed I am. I know that we all have struggles in our life and I know that there are genuine hard times that we all suffer. But in that moment, when I was moping and feeling sorry for myself, God opened my eyes to those that are suffering more. It was an excellent opportunity to pray for those people and just to thank God over and over for all of the provisions that He's given me: a warm house, food to eat, shelter from the rain, clothes with no holes in them, etc.

It also motivated me more for our blanket drive that we're doing next week. Joanna and Will are a part of a Tuesday night church and they've decided to collect money in order to purchase heavy blankets for the homeless for the coming winter. The blankets will be purchased and then next Tuesday, we will hand them out to the homeless around the city. So I'm very excited for that next week and can't wait to tell all about it.

Also... Munich

I forgot to add that I had the amazing chance to go to Munich for 3 days this past week and I enjoyed myself to the max. It was nice to see another beautiful city here in Europe. Here are a few pictures from my trip (now that I've finally discovered how to add pictures to my post)

Prayer Walking

Today I had the awesome opportunity to walk around the city and just pray over it. The weather has been absolutely fantastic for the past two days, so I wanted to enjoy it to the max... especially since the sun has been setting around 4 now. But I just walked around the city and prayed for the government, the connections that we've made with locals, my students, and also for my Dutch friends Liza and Ester.


I came to the sad realization that I haven't been praying for them nearly as much as I should be since they're leaving in December. So God really laid it on my heart to do that for a while. But I also got the awesome chance to just talk with God one on one with no distractions and it was simply amazing. It's been a while since I've been able to do that and it was so refreshing. God convicted me of a lot of stuff and I had to face some harsh realizations, which is never easy. But I am so thankful for the time I had today and I hope I get another chance to do it again really soon.