Chrissie and Rich

“And who will walk a mile with me
Along life's weary way?
A friend whose heart has eyes to see
The stars shine out o'er the darkening lea,
And the quiet rest at the end o' the day,-
A friend who knows, and dares to say,
The brave, sweet words that cheer the way
Where he walks a mile with me.
With such a comrade, such a friend,
I fain would walk till joumey's end…” -Henry Van Dyke

Many of you know her as Christina, or just Chris, but to me she is Chrissie. My one and only cherished sister is here at last, walking the streets of Prague with me, seeing the beauty that surrounds, meeting my students. And along with her is her husband, my brother-in-law (but he’s really just my brother), Rich. What a joy it has been to have them by my side this past week! Their visit has been like a breath of fresh air I didn’t know I needed.

On Friday, they came to school with me, and sat in on two of my classes. Rich even helped me teach a little bit. Then my student Marketa (who is really my best friend masquerading as my 18-year old student), met up with us at the castle and gave us a little tour of things.

I have to admit that Saturday was one of the best days I’ve ever had in the total 8 months that I’ve spent here in Prague. Another one of my students that I am head-over-heels for, 20-year old Jan, spent almost the whole day with us. He gave us another tour, and while it was all new to Chrissie and Rich, some of the sights were new to me as well. It was an immense blessing to spend time with him, and especially to see him interact with Rich. He ate lunch with us, and after Rich said grace, Jan said, “People don’t do that here in the Czech, but I wish they did.” My heart practically jumped out of my chest. It was music to my ears.

I could tell that he really enjoyed spending the day with us, as did my sister and Rich, but no one could have enjoyed it more than me. My two worlds were sitting at the same table together, and it was beautiful.

There is something so comforting about having one’s own family around. I’ve really enjoyed Rich’s sense-of-humor (especially as he has videotaped my everyday experience and made it very funny), and I’ve simply delighted in sharing the things I love with my sister. I’m so glad they’ve been able to “walk a mile with me” this past week and view life as I know it, with all of the sights, smells, and sounds, some pleasing, and some… well… not. Sometimes, when one is far away from home, they just need that old familiar feeling, the feeling that one is loved, accepted, and “known” no matter what. I hate to let them go back home! I’m thinking of sending ransom notes to their places of employment.

I’ll leave you with some pictures of my blissful week.

Chrissie and I in Vysehrad, a beautiful park away from the busyness of the city center.

Rich and Chrissie, who just celebrated their one year anniversary, smiling and happy with the Charles Bridge behind them.

Rich, Chrissie, and Jan eating lunch with me in Prague.

One of the many "loves of my life", my student Jan and I in the metro station. He is quite a bit taller than me, so he is bending his knees to try to even things out. This is one great guy with a bright future and an even brighter smile.

My sister, Rich, and me in the castle gardens.

Marketa and I in front of a fountain at the castle gardens. I really enjoy a great friendship with this girl! She is truly special and I will no doubt keep in touch with her when I leave this place.

Amsterdam and Beyond

“Down in the valley, valley so low
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow
Hear the wind blow, love, hear the wind blow
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow.”

I should be at home right now, compiling my grades for parent-teacher conferences, but instead I snatched my laptop and sneaked off to a coffee shop for some much needed reflection time. Life seems to be moving like a rapid-flowing river these days, never standing still long enough for me to stop and ponder anything, and I find I must purposefully steer my little canoe in the direction of some quiet and still waters.

Tomorrow morning I will rise early and go to the airport, and there I will greet my beloved sister, who is flying in with her husband. This is the first time that my two worlds will meet, and while I have been nothing but excited up to this point, I now find myself with a few butterflies in my stomach. This is the big sister I have always looked up to, and no matter how old I get, there is always the little girl in me that wants her to be proud of me. When I was younger, I would come home with a new outfit and say, “What do you think? Do you like it?” hoping the answer would be yes. And if it was, I felt like queen of the world. Her encouragement throughout this past year of my life has been so important to me. When my sister believes in me, I feel like I can do anything. That’s what’s so great about her… she always believes in me, and that’s why showing her “my Prague world” is so significant. And truth be told, even though I already know she is, I still want her to be proud of me.

More to come about the long-awaited visit on my next blog.

This past weekend, I was in Amsterdam, and I will leave you with a few snapshots of my time there. One of the highlights of this trip was being able to see the “Corrie Ten Boom House” in Haarlem with my friends. Corrie Ten Boom, as you may know, is the amazing lady who helped protect Jews during World War II by hiding them in her home. Her story has really inspired me, and though she had to suffer in a concentration camp, she has used her experience for the glory of God, and has traveled the world sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. We went to her house on April 15th, and on the tour we learned that she was born on April 15th and she passed away on April 15th. My jaw just about dropped to the floor when I realized we were there the same day… anyway, it was one of those special little gifts from God.

Well, it's time I go home and really get to work on my grades, so back into my canoe I go, traveling down the ever-flowing river. As always, thank you for sitting with me for a while.

Here I am in my glory. After this trip to the gardens, I almost decided to become a gardener. But then I remembered how I hate to get dirty :)

Here is a poster I found in Amsterdam for some kind of play. It has little to do with our trip; I just have a huge passion for the written word and I thought it was beautiful in its own sweet little way.

Meredith and I, happy and excited as were are on the bus heading to the Keukenhof Gardens, home to thousands and thousands of amazing flowers.

Here I am crawling into the very "Hiding Place" that Corrie Ten Boom hid her Jewish friends. It was strange... I didn't really feel like I should smile in this picture, but at the same time, I was happy to visit a place I've only been able to read about.

Me, Marianne, and Sarah in front of the Corrie Ten Boom House.

From left to right: Me, Meredith, Mike, Kassidee, and Sarah.

English Weekend

This past weekend, I had a really great opportunity to teach English at an English camp in which the main purpose other than teaching English is to share the hope of Jesus Christ with the students. I have a connection with some other missionaries here, and I was able to come alongside them and be a part of this outreach. It was wonderful for me to work with these remarkable people, who were not only from the US, but also Canada, and Great Britain. They have been here in the Czech much longer than I have, and have more insight in regards to reaching these people.

We were put in teams to teach, and I had the wonderful pleasure of working with Doug, a Canadian, who has been here for about 5 years and before that was a missionary to the Phillipines. I was quite honored to work with him, and I felt I learned a lot from watching and observing how he does things. We worked well together, not only teaching English, but leading discussions with our group of 5 students about God and spiritual things. I sort of followed his lead, realizing he had much more experience than me and even knew many of the students already, but he was great about giving me plenty of opportunities.

Doug actually shared the gospel message with the entire group on Saturday night, and afterwards we broke into our small groups for discussion. I was really impressed with my group's openness and willingess to discuss Christianity. Three of my students were very skeptical, but at the same time, I felt like they could appreciate the things that we shared. I was able to share my faith with them and express my heart, and this was a joy to me. As Doug put it, our students were "grappling with the issues" and though they were not ready to accept, I am trusting God to continue His work in their hearts.

This is Katka and Hanka performing a role play.

Me and Katka, one of my students I really connected with, and she is only a few years younger than me. (Side note: if my hair looks blonder, it is because it is.)

Doug and I are performing a role play for our students, a situation that they came up with. Doug is a taxi driver, and I am a foreigner (shocker!) visiting Prague. It was a lot of fun!

Here I am looking over my students' work. I was teaching about American idioms.

Here is the group that I worked with from left to right: Michal, Doug (my partner), Ales (one of the Czech leaders), Hanka, Katka, and me.