Surviving Alone

Well, this past week can definitely go down in history as my most adventurous one yet this fall!  Paul went out of town with Attila on a mission tour-of-sorts, and that left me at home to "fend for myself" for almost 5 whole days!  While there were definitely some lonely moments, I also had some great opportunities to reflect, catch up with family, and spend time with new friends.

The week started off with a busy few days as Paul prepared to leave town.  I have to say, he did a great job making sure I would be taken care of!  He put gas in the car, took a trip to the ATM, and even bought a big load of water and carried it all the way up our four flights of stairs to be sure I'd be well hydrated while he was gone :) We also took some time to hang about 30 posters around our town advertising the free English classes we want to offer.  It's been fun getting phone calls in response to our posters, and we are looking forward to starting these classes soon!

After Paul and Attila left on Wednesday, I took over Paul's responsibilities at After-School.  I was so nervous to serve my first meal to the 35 hungry students, but they ate what I made and I was so relieved! :) Thursday and Friday I also went to after-school, and during the other  times when I was at home, I did a little more cleaning and decorating.  I got to Facetime with my parents and brother, but then there were some long stretches of it being just a little too quiet around here!  To combat the quiet, I had a friend over for dinner on Thursday night, and on Saturday night I drove to Gornesti to pick up several girls from the youth group to bring back to our apartment in Reghin.  I also picked up Adél, and we had a fun night of making pizzas and singing karaoke!  Sunday was a day of church, and Adél and her mom invited me for lunch after the morning service.  Finally Paul's trip was coming to an end, and when Paul finally arrived home after 11:30 p.m., I was so happy and relieved.  Those were a tough few days, but it made me even more thankful that Paul is here with me and I feel so much more appreciative of all he does!  I also feel more comfortable and confident in many of the new tasks I took on while Paul was gone.

Thank you for your prayers for us.  As we close the month of October and begin the next one, I'm a little overwhelmed at all there is to accomplish and attend and do.  We are returning to the states for the month of December, so there's even more pressure to get it all done before we're gone!  Please pray that we will focus on the daily opportunities that God gives us to share love and light and not just on our growing to-do lists :)

- Katie