First of all, it was just a super cute name so I knew that I needed to go, but was very unsure about what to expect. It was actually really awesome. First of all we brought our own mugs and the ladies provided the tea and muffins. We then had a guided discussion about the role of women and the four women on the “panel” basically just shared some of their life stories and the different roles that they have played in them. There was so much that stuck out to be so I’ll just share a little bit.
One was that love is a choice. It is not the fantastical picturesque romantic comedy type of love where all conflicts
perfectly resolve in the end, but rather it is real and takes work. It is not always easy to love people especially when they have hurt you or you just do not feel like loving them anymore, but in that time there is a decision to make. To love, to hate to attempt to become indifferent, but in these times I pray that I am always able to make that sometimes difficult choice to love.
Another was that there are different paths that we can take in life. Sounds simple right, but there are times when even after tons of praying and listening there may be a few paths that feel right and good. So we can make a choice. God will walk with us down which ever path we have chosen and hold us close.
The last and point of the most poignant was a “forcing of your eyes outward”. I think that image of this lady scooping her hands in this motion will be forever ingrained in my mind. As she talked about this she told the story of how her mom died suddenly in a car accident and one of the best and hardest things she did was to force her eyes outward and not look to how it was hurting her and focusing solely on her pain, but rather looking to see how it was affecting the rest of her family and how other people also had tragedies and hardships. This image was so powerful and life applicable. Yes, I may be hurting, sad, confused, upset, but you know so are so many other people in my life. My goal is to “force my eyes outward” and to look beyond myself, not denying what I feel, but rather not making that my focus.
I am so thankful for the openness of these women and their willingness to share such important life principles.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
RECAP
RECAP:
Yes, I was home, but now I am back in Lithuania. Sorry it’s been a crazy week and I haven’t posted in a while. I have a lot to fill you in on so feel to scroll through and read what sounds interesting!
FOOD:
I have tried a lot of food since being here. One of my life motto is go big or go home, right?! These are just some of my favorites so far:
Curd cake- curd, flour and sugar. Baked and topped with sour cream.
Kepta duona- rye type bread fried. Mixed with cheese, garlic and mayo.
Potato pancakes- fried potatoes that have been almost mashed with meat inside served with a special white sauce
Cepelinai- potatoes that have gone through a special machine. Mixed with pieces, green color. Inside has meat. It is fried and topped with sour cream.
I have also eaten lots of sausage, potatoes and a dill type spice.
CULTURE SHOCK:
What?! I thought I was pretty fine and didn’t really have culture shock at all. I found this was not the case. We have groups called TriS groups where they break up our Study Abroad group into 3 different groups that go to different North American professor’s houses for Soup, Sustenance and Spirituality. We had tacos and hung out with an awesome family. They were so sweet and have 2 of the cutest little girls. We talked about what culture shock was, symptoms and ways of working through it. Some of the symptoms are boredom, confusion and short attention spans were definitely prevalent. We discussed how the first four weeks are more of a honeymoon phase and just loving everything about it and then the feelings go downhill and start to get better around week 12. Now this makes me a little nervous because, let’s be real, no one really wants to hear that for the next few weeks we’re going to get pretty bad and be more sad and irritable. I’m not sure exactly what to do about it because I feel like some points are more inevitable. I’m trying to stay grounded and just keep going and continuing to enjoy myself and all the amazingness of this country!
LANGUAGE:
I’m not yet fluent in Lithuanian. Now, this may not surprise you, but this fact has become quite frustrating for me. I know that I have been here for 1 ½ months, but in my mind I should be a lot better than I am at Lithuanian. I just want to be able to speak and to know words and vocabulary. It takes so much effort to try and form sentences when I need to figure out verb endings that are not like ar/er/ir verbs, but you just need to memorize them. There is no way to know the endings and all the declensions and how to use them properly. This is especially hard at the orphanage because I have so much I want to say to the kids but it’s so frustrating not to just be able to speak to them. I haven’t lost all hope though. I am beginning to understand some of what the kids say and we are able to communicate some especially when Alina translates for us. It is a hard, but good lesson in patience. I’m generally pretty patient with others but it’s hard to be patient with myself. I’m learning to give myself time and not being frustrated with how I think I should be doing.
WOAH:
I know, that’s what I said too! So, I’m at the orphanage one day and it is dinner time. Alina had offered food to the children who said, “Ne, aciu” So she offered some to me. My initial response (in my mind of course) was oh, please, no, I’ve made it a month and a half without having to eat it. But, my motto is the same as I told my groups last summer “You need to try everything, but you don’t have to like it.” So after this momentary inner debate I said sure, I’ll try some. As I raised my spoon to my mouth I told myself I only had to keep it down, one bite Chrissy, one bite. And you know, I really enjoyed it. And it was…
…soup. For those of you that know me well this is a huge deal! I don’t do the whole soup thing. It’s been years since I have had a bowl of soup. I have grown to realize that it was not that bad. Actually, I really like it, who knew? I don’t know what it was that gave me this strong dislike, but I think it may be because I would usually ate it when I was sick as a small child. So then I decided it was a no go I guess. So now I eat soup! But this got me thinking beyond the soup a little. I started wondering is there were other things that I have been so strongly against that I do not really have a strong base in reality. Are there more important parts of life than open that I am not being open to. Hmm, I don’t know. I’m not sure, but I thinking still thinking about it.
SHMELT:
What are you talking about?! Yea, that’s what I said too! Last weekend we went to the Shmelt Festival in Palanga, LT (it’s just a bus ride from Klaipeda). Shmelt is a pretty small fish and this festival is all about them. It was basically all on one huge street leading down to the beach. We walked around, hung out, looked at all these cute crafts and trinkets that were setup in little tent ordeals. There was also a lot of hot wine and hot beer. It was really interesting and actually a lot fun. I did try a bite of smelt and realized I still don’t like fish, but it’s all an experience right? We spent a while talking along the pier which was also a lot of fun.
LOVE:
I have definitely fallen in love with some of the greatest kids on the planet. They are absolutely amazing! Even though the language barrier has been a little bit rough I would not go back on my decision of doing my practicum here. They are so sweet and precious. I know that we are definitely opening up to each other and getting to know each other better. Each time I walk in the door I get a bunch of hugs which is so happy. We play games, talk (sort of), have dinner, clean up and just chill. I feel so blessed to have to opportunity to just love and hangout with these kids. This week we had a lot of celebrations for Lithuanian Independence Day which was tons of fun! On Tuesday I got to spend most of the day there since we did not have school, it was awesome. We had pancakes and kepta duona, we hung out and made decoration for the celebration on Tuesday. On Thursday was the actual celebration and the kids performed different dances and songs. They were adorable. On Friday they actually had another celebration and I was able to go and hang out. All the kids were dressed up and it was a lot fun. I’m so excited to just keep getting to know these kids and just have tons of fun with them and show them how much Jesus loves them.
Coming soon…
Classes
Weekend
Mug N Muffin
P.S. Ask about an intense cleaning if you want to hear a good story :)
Yes, I was home, but now I am back in Lithuania. Sorry it’s been a crazy week and I haven’t posted in a while. I have a lot to fill you in on so feel to scroll through and read what sounds interesting!
FOOD:
I have tried a lot of food since being here. One of my life motto is go big or go home, right?! These are just some of my favorites so far:
Curd cake- curd, flour and sugar. Baked and topped with sour cream.
Kepta duona- rye type bread fried. Mixed with cheese, garlic and mayo.
Potato pancakes- fried potatoes that have been almost mashed with meat inside served with a special white sauce
Cepelinai- potatoes that have gone through a special machine. Mixed with pieces, green color. Inside has meat. It is fried and topped with sour cream.
I have also eaten lots of sausage, potatoes and a dill type spice.
CULTURE SHOCK:
What?! I thought I was pretty fine and didn’t really have culture shock at all. I found this was not the case. We have groups called TriS groups where they break up our Study Abroad group into 3 different groups that go to different North American professor’s houses for Soup, Sustenance and Spirituality. We had tacos and hung out with an awesome family. They were so sweet and have 2 of the cutest little girls. We talked about what culture shock was, symptoms and ways of working through it. Some of the symptoms are boredom, confusion and short attention spans were definitely prevalent. We discussed how the first four weeks are more of a honeymoon phase and just loving everything about it and then the feelings go downhill and start to get better around week 12. Now this makes me a little nervous because, let’s be real, no one really wants to hear that for the next few weeks we’re going to get pretty bad and be more sad and irritable. I’m not sure exactly what to do about it because I feel like some points are more inevitable. I’m trying to stay grounded and just keep going and continuing to enjoy myself and all the amazingness of this country!
LANGUAGE:
I’m not yet fluent in Lithuanian. Now, this may not surprise you, but this fact has become quite frustrating for me. I know that I have been here for 1 ½ months, but in my mind I should be a lot better than I am at Lithuanian. I just want to be able to speak and to know words and vocabulary. It takes so much effort to try and form sentences when I need to figure out verb endings that are not like ar/er/ir verbs, but you just need to memorize them. There is no way to know the endings and all the declensions and how to use them properly. This is especially hard at the orphanage because I have so much I want to say to the kids but it’s so frustrating not to just be able to speak to them. I haven’t lost all hope though. I am beginning to understand some of what the kids say and we are able to communicate some especially when Alina translates for us. It is a hard, but good lesson in patience. I’m generally pretty patient with others but it’s hard to be patient with myself. I’m learning to give myself time and not being frustrated with how I think I should be doing.
WOAH:
I know, that’s what I said too! So, I’m at the orphanage one day and it is dinner time. Alina had offered food to the children who said, “Ne, aciu” So she offered some to me. My initial response (in my mind of course) was oh, please, no, I’ve made it a month and a half without having to eat it. But, my motto is the same as I told my groups last summer “You need to try everything, but you don’t have to like it.” So after this momentary inner debate I said sure, I’ll try some. As I raised my spoon to my mouth I told myself I only had to keep it down, one bite Chrissy, one bite. And you know, I really enjoyed it. And it was…
…soup. For those of you that know me well this is a huge deal! I don’t do the whole soup thing. It’s been years since I have had a bowl of soup. I have grown to realize that it was not that bad. Actually, I really like it, who knew? I don’t know what it was that gave me this strong dislike, but I think it may be because I would usually ate it when I was sick as a small child. So then I decided it was a no go I guess. So now I eat soup! But this got me thinking beyond the soup a little. I started wondering is there were other things that I have been so strongly against that I do not really have a strong base in reality. Are there more important parts of life than open that I am not being open to. Hmm, I don’t know. I’m not sure, but I thinking still thinking about it.
SHMELT:
What are you talking about?! Yea, that’s what I said too! Last weekend we went to the Shmelt Festival in Palanga, LT (it’s just a bus ride from Klaipeda). Shmelt is a pretty small fish and this festival is all about them. It was basically all on one huge street leading down to the beach. We walked around, hung out, looked at all these cute crafts and trinkets that were setup in little tent ordeals. There was also a lot of hot wine and hot beer. It was really interesting and actually a lot fun. I did try a bite of smelt and realized I still don’t like fish, but it’s all an experience right? We spent a while talking along the pier which was also a lot of fun.
LOVE:
I have definitely fallen in love with some of the greatest kids on the planet. They are absolutely amazing! Even though the language barrier has been a little bit rough I would not go back on my decision of doing my practicum here. They are so sweet and precious. I know that we are definitely opening up to each other and getting to know each other better. Each time I walk in the door I get a bunch of hugs which is so happy. We play games, talk (sort of), have dinner, clean up and just chill. I feel so blessed to have to opportunity to just love and hangout with these kids. This week we had a lot of celebrations for Lithuanian Independence Day which was tons of fun! On Tuesday I got to spend most of the day there since we did not have school, it was awesome. We had pancakes and kepta duona, we hung out and made decoration for the celebration on Tuesday. On Thursday was the actual celebration and the kids performed different dances and songs. They were adorable. On Friday they actually had another celebration and I was able to go and hang out. All the kids were dressed up and it was a lot fun. I’m so excited to just keep getting to know these kids and just have tons of fun with them and show them how much Jesus loves them.
Coming soon…
Classes
Weekend
Mug N Muffin
P.S. Ask about an intense cleaning if you want to hear a good story :)
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
From Malden
I am writing this post, not from Klaipeda, Lithuania but from Malden, Massachusetts. Yes, I am home.
Everyone including me always says God will bring good out of a bad situation. You know, that is awesome and true, but it is a lot easier to see when you are not actually in a hard situation. But I decided to try and find some good. First, Papa is no longer in pain. He’s not suffering, hurt or sad. He does not have to live without his beloved wife any longer. So that is good. He is with Jesus now whom he loved so much. I know that he is glad to be with his Father. He got to be here for 88 years, so Jesus must be really happy to have him back.
But, what about me, what about everyone else that is left behind. What is good for us. To honest, I don’t know. We have amazing memories of Papa and for that I am grateful. But, even in those memories there is still some sadness. For now I’m holding onto the fact that “right now, in the good times and bad He is God alone” I am so thankful that I could be home. I know that’s God’s hand was totally in that and preparing my heart for what happened. As I was leaving on Saturday morning I saw a note outside my door. Jess had written it to me and wrote a verse on that bottom that was actually one of our staff verses last summer. “Whom have I in heaven but you and earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:25-26 I don’t need to be strong, I don’t need to be well because God is the strength of my heart and I’m holding tight to that truth.
Everyone including me always says God will bring good out of a bad situation. You know, that is awesome and true, but it is a lot easier to see when you are not actually in a hard situation. But I decided to try and find some good. First, Papa is no longer in pain. He’s not suffering, hurt or sad. He does not have to live without his beloved wife any longer. So that is good. He is with Jesus now whom he loved so much. I know that he is glad to be with his Father. He got to be here for 88 years, so Jesus must be really happy to have him back.
But, what about me, what about everyone else that is left behind. What is good for us. To honest, I don’t know. We have amazing memories of Papa and for that I am grateful. But, even in those memories there is still some sadness. For now I’m holding onto the fact that “right now, in the good times and bad He is God alone” I am so thankful that I could be home. I know that’s God’s hand was totally in that and preparing my heart for what happened. As I was leaving on Saturday morning I saw a note outside my door. Jess had written it to me and wrote a verse on that bottom that was actually one of our staff verses last summer. “Whom have I in heaven but you and earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:25-26 I don’t need to be strong, I don’t need to be well because God is the strength of my heart and I’m holding tight to that truth.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Quicky
Actual format for my address:
Chrissy Jonassaint LCC International University, Neumann dorm, campus, W306, Kretingos 36, LT - 92307 Klaipėda, Lithuania
Will post about this week soon!!
Joy & Peace,
~Chrissy
Chrissy Jonassaint LCC International University, Neumann dorm, campus, W306, Kretingos 36, LT - 92307 Klaipėda, Lithuania
Will post about this week soon!!
Joy & Peace,
~Chrissy
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