Garlic gives me Gas. Sorry.

***If Yuu click on this entry´s title there is a link to my favorite magazine: Relevant Magazine, although its debatable if I agree with the term relevant.
Its MOnday evening and I want to leave work now, but I am trying to write in here regulary. On Friday there was a thin clear sheet of ice everywhere on the sidewalks so my roommate and I literally slid for 20minutes to work. I tried to walk on the grass whenever possible, but my legs are still sore! We laughed and screamed most of the way, but Laura definitely enjoyed it more than me.
*I have been eating a lot of garlic lately, that and lentils.
*But I probably need to be eating more meat.
*I made stuffing about two weeks ago for a dinner with some ladies I teach with and
I loved it, sage is a wonderful spice.
*I look forward to leaving this building in 5 minutes and getting home to eat
dinner.
*Im not sure if I really get (in the sense of understand) this whole blog thing.

Getting back on track...

Last Friday I was replying to a month old email from a friend. This is nothing new this year, I have had a lot more to do and I do not have regular access to a computer this year, thus when I can get to the computer I spend hours trying to catch up on email (usually I end up only writing about two emails though) and scouring msnbc.com for the latest news headlines. Anyway, in writing this email I was reflecting and realizing how I needed to get certain things in order. I have been having problems with eating enough food, due Mainly to the time requirement of shopping and cooking. It is a dance that I must choreograph, to do these things, often needing to plan ahead, but I forget to plan ahead. Or I just dont have the energy. Although the good news compared to last year is that there are 5 grocery stores within walking distance including Tesco and Carrefore, about 10 minutes away. But you have to go to the store at 2 or 3 times a week and thats gets old.

Anyway I was assessing all this: food, and time with God, cleaning my room, and basic hygiene. So I realized I needed to get back on track. Including getting in touch with people, so little by little I am trying. My mom calls me almost every Sunday so I am connected with her. But here is an effort to keep in touch. Also I found this last weekend as I tried to get on track, it works to ask God for help. Although this wasnt the first time I had asked for help, I think I forget that asking once doesnt mean I am asking for all future needs and crises.
keep in touch. and please be patient with me and my tardy reply. :)
***the link is to a story that was on 60minutes Wednesday about Christians in the rock music industry.

18 November 2004 Prayer Letter

Dear friends and family,
I have been here in Bratislava, Slovakia for two
months now and I wish that I had written sooner, but
it seems when I am really in need of prayer then it is
more urgent for me to send out a letter.  I am
selfish, I am human, forgive me.  For the most part I
am at peace and content and feeling reassured that I
am where I am meant to be.  The first two or three
weeks were the most difficult for a number of reasons
mostly because I miss my parents, and it was a huge
adjustment to be in a new country, at a new school
teaching in the elementary school rather than in the
high school like I had expected, and new students and
teachers to get used to.  Also adjusting to living
with a new person after living the last two years with
my friend Sarah has been slow, I am happy but I miss
my old friend.
Things change day to day, some days are GREAT but
lately I really need prayer for my students and my
relationship with them, for my time in the classroom,
there have been some very hectic stressed days that I
have spent more time yelling than teaching, and it
makes me feel so bad.  I have had wonderful times with
these students so I know that more is possible and I
need more patience at least.  I have not been praying
for students regularly and I really think that has
made a significant negative difference.  Also for my
new roommate and our relationship together, we need
prayer as teammates serving God here together, as
roommates, as possible friends in the future, and
definitely as individuals working out who we are as
Gods children.  I pray that she and I would seek unity
and that we would desire to help eachother grow.
I plan on flying home to be with my family for
Christmas but we only have one week off of school but
I have decided to ask for a few extra days off but I
am really nervous and afraid to even ask my principal,
so please pray that I can have courage, that he would
say yes and that I can find a ticket for these new
possible dates.  And that if it doesnt work out that I
would have peace about it.
Also a situation came up this afternoon, I was in my
office and needed to pay back another teacher, Jayne
from England, and I went to my purse and realized that
my money had been stolen out of my wallet.  The
equivalent of about 30 dollars had been taken and
Jayne and I immediately went and informed the
principal.  It is possible that it was someone we do
not know but the most likely thing was that it was a
student.  This is a very small school and I thought
that I had a pretty positive relationship with most
students, although there are times they frustrate or
annoy me, I am friendly and caring.  This makes me
feel terrible and very attacked.  I have been
discouraged lately in general and it is like things
keep happening to make me feel worse.
So I do need prayer in these specific areas but I
also have many blessings, I have my own room where I
can retreat to read or listen to music, I have a piano
in my room, I have been making some great meals and
dessert creations in the kitchen, there is a chocolate
shop downtown with about 20 different types of hot
chocolate, I walk to and from school everyday 20
minutes each way, I teach some wonderful, kind, sweet
students, I have a phone so my mom can call me about
once a week, I have been going to a good Slovak church
with good translation.  And the best blessing that we
can all personally appreciate is that tomorrow is a
new day.
2 Corinthians 13:14 - The grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the
Holy Spirit be with you all.
Love, Priya

Waiting...

Next week I fly to D.C. for an interview at the Slovak embassy in order to get my visa. I've done all the paper work that I can at this point. Now I'm just waiting. But I could clean out the closets, in fact I need to. I have a huge amount of clothes and old old items that are useless to me now. I hate to get rid of these things cuz there are memories attached to them but it's also tedious to go through everything, I don't have the patience or focus. But I also don't want to keep everything that I currently own. I'm so ready to move on and let go of attachements that still linger. None of us can take it with us, and I'm so glad for that, I sometimes wish I could just hurry and go to Heaven. But then I remember what an adventure God has blessed me with, my life is awesome! Oh, no, not everyday, but if you could only see how far He has brought me then you could understand better. Maybe I'll write a novel someday. Or maybe not, I have heard that from too many people in the last few years.
But also at this point there are still a lot of people I care about who I want to see in Heaven but still need to make that choice, so mazbe extra time will make a difference with them.
***the link is to a website about D.C. It really is one of the cities all Americans should visit at least once, I have visited three times now and I wouldnt mind going again.

June 2004 PrayerLetter Ending my Prague time

Hebrews 11:8 - By faith Abraham obeyed when he was
called to go out to a place which he was to receive as
an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where
he was to go.

Dear friends supporters and loved ones,

             "My second home"
     I have experienced an amazing three years in The
Czech Republic.  This country that I have come to know
as home and now call my second home.  The people are
different from Americans, there are things I like
better here and there are things I like better in
America and there are things that I don't like in
either country and many times I have felt homesick for
my eternal home, no earthly home can satisfy some of
our lonliness.

      "Experiencing God minus distractions"
  My expereinces of lonliness and feeling the
stranger are only part of the things I have felt here.
 I have felt God's grace and mercy and love in new
ways.  I have prayed and been able to recognize the
answer to that prayer, sometimes instantly.  I think
in the US my prayers were also answered I just had
too many distractions to recognize it.

            "Looking back, time flies!"
  It's soo difficult to try and wrap up the last
three
years or even this last year in one email.  I am
feeling too much, saying so many goodbyes, needing to
ask God for help over and over.  Lord help me trust
these students in your hands and in your care, Lord
help me get this grading done, Lord help me trust my
future and my heart in your hands, Lord help me feel
truly rested in the morning, Lord help me with energy
to do all I must do, Lord please fill me up so that I
can pour out to others, Lord help me have meaningful
conversations and interactions today, Lord help me to
prioritize and get things done quickly.

     "Ending the school year, Seniors"
 Since about the beginning of May I haven't had much
free time.  There's always been somethng to do.  All
of May my focus and time was centered on preparing the
Seniors for their BIG oral exams called Maturita and
trying to say goodbye to them.  They were all nervous
and for two weeks in May my time was taken up by these
exams at school. 
  The exams: Everyone wearing suits and dresses and
speaking with teachers about Math or Science or in
German or in English, and all the students so nervous
they can sometimes barely speak or at the end when
their score is announced they cry with sadness that
they had a bad score or crying from surprise that they
had such a great score.  One boy was so sweet, his
eyes welled up with tears when his scores were being
announced and he was so thrilled with how well he
ended up doing.  We have nothing quite so intense in
America, at least not for High school students, and
it's hard to really understand unless you see it or
expereince it.  But I was so excited at the end of the
second week when another teacher presented me with a
CD of digital photos taken during that second week.
Photos are such a blessing to remember people and to
remind me to pray for them. 

        "Saying goodbye, or goodbye for now"
 Saying good bye is hard and there's this combination
of being sad because of our personal relationship that
has grown over the last two years that I've been at
this school, but it is also not really about me.
The love I have for them is from God and this
ministry
is not mine, it's God's.  It's very easy when you are
involved with ministry of any kind to forget that it
is not about you, it is about God.  There's that
sadness about leaving but also sadness about my
uncertainty about their futures.
  It's been hard the last couple weeks, so many
classes have been canceled that with two classes my
goodbye to them had to happen during a break between
classes rather than our normal meeting time.  It's the
end of the year and it is just crazy.  Ask a Czech
teacher what school is like in June and they will say,
"June? oh it's crazy, it's insane, it's chaos."
Really, that's what they would say.
>
>  "Looking ahead, God's ministry goes ever on and on"
>  So I've been trying to say goodbye but also trying
to get the students to look ahead to the new teacher
that my organization is sending to this school.
> There is such a blessing in coming with ESI and the
continuity that they offer by sending teachers to the
same schools, I have the privilige of "introducing" my
students to their new teacher and then meeting her
this summer and praying for her throughout the year.
   Next year at my school will be a young woman named
Hope Edgar who graduated this May from a school in
California.  My prayers have been for her to be
prepared for what God has in store, and for my
students to hear God's voice calling to them.  I think
that ESI is a unique ministry that has continuity, we
can be united with those that follow after us, we can
email and pray for eachother and help introduce them
to students.  But of course it's hard and no matter
how much I'd like to say that it's been easy to
imagine some new teacher here next year, it's sad. 
  You feel like you are being replaced or that you
didn't matter.  Of course that isn't true.  This is a
great time for the enemy to try and discourage us, but
I know that I have made an impact for His glory and I
praise Him for allowing me to take part in being His
light and for these students allowing me into their
lives.  My interaction is not over, I will stay in
touch with those that email me, and a priority for
me is to save up money to visit next May for two or
three weeks.
  A really nice thing is that just a few days after I
am back in Santa Barbara a student who will be
studying English in Whittier, CA. during the month of
July, will come and visit me for the weekend.  Pray
for that time together, that it will not be difficult
for me to entertain someone after being back in the
country such a short time, but that it will be a
mutual blessing as we both adjust to being in the USA,
and that God would fill me up so that I can pour out
His love and care to this boy, Steven.

               "PRAY PRAY PRAY ! ! !"
  -Pray for my student Bara Koustronova who became a
Christian a few years ago in the USA, pray that she
would find a church and have the blessing of regular
encouragment from fellow believers.  She graduated
this year and so Pray for her as she seeks what God's
will is for her future.
  -Pray for Ondrej Plachy who will be studying next
year to teach biology and PE.  Pray that he would
understand that science and faith do agree and that
God loves him.
  - Pray for these other students that graduated:
Roman Muller, Monika Bara and Petra (I taught a class
last year with just the three of them and we're hoping
to meet and have coffee before I leave), Monika
Mullerova (smart smart girl who very surprsiingly
didn't do very well during her Maturita exams and
might have been having some personal problems), Michal
Ezechias and Jakub Kompert (these two boys are the
sweetest best friends, so loving to each other and
just kind sweet good kids, I pray that they would
understand their need for Jesus), Jan Zelenka (always
did poorly in school and the teachers spent the last
few days that he was in school before he graduated
gossiping about his older brother selling drugs in
Spain, I tried to encourage him and told him to follow
his dreams, I pray that he has a bright future).
  Well I could list many more names but I don't know
if just now I have the time or space. =)  But as you
can see I love them dearly.
  -Pray for all the students of Gymnazium Ohradni.
  -Pray for all the teachers and office and cleaning
staff at Gymnazium Ohradni.
  -Pray for Hope as she continues to prepare mentally
and physically and spiritually for the next year.
  -Pray for a group of three students who will be
travelling in California and staying with Tiffany, the
ESI teacher before me.  Pray for their time together
and that the students will see God's truth and light
through her life and her family's life.
  -Pray for me as I mentally, physically and
spiritually prepare to return to the U.S., my future
is still uncertain although I think I will probably be
substitute teaching elementary school in Santa
Barbara.  Pray for me to trust God's provision.  And
be patient with me.  It will take me a long time to
fully adjust or feel comfortable.  I hope to be able
to better describe what I am feeling later, and to
more fully reflect on the last few years.  Pray for me
as I try to form these thoughts and words and to
clearly convey them to you.
  -And also pray for more believers to come serve in
The Czech Republic for those that are interested in
serving overseas for a year or more with ESI or to
serve with another ministry.
 
                "Thank you!"
   Thank you so much for your love and care and
prayer
and time over the last three years.  I have
appreciated it more than I can say.  This ministry is
not over, I will continue to pray for the people I
have met here so feel free to ask me how you can also
pray. 
 Thank You Thank You Thank You and God bless you

 Love, Priya

 Philippians 1:6 - And I am sure that he who began a
good work in you will bring it to completion at the
day of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 9:38 - pray therefore the Lord of the
harvest
to send out laborers into his harvest."

Matthew 21:22 - And whatever you ask in prayer, you
will receive, if you have faith."