is it really march?!?!

wow..
March crept up on us so fast! :) I can't believe it's here already. And school is already half over. The thing that is the most surprising is realizing how much God has already taught me. I feel completely different than when I was at Taylor... It's like God can really speak to me here, unlike any other time in my life. He is releasing me from so many things that tie me down back home and at school. He is letting me be almost worry-free, which is so rare for any person. He's releasing me from being tied down, so I can experience real freedom in him and what it really means to rely on him for comfort and rest. He's allowing me to step outside of myself and everything that I rely on for emotional stability, comfort, etc.. in order to re-evaluate why I believe what I do and what needs to be changed in order to serve him better. It's not the prettiest picture that I have ever seen and it's definitely strange to realize that what you've desired for so long is not what God desires. However, he's making my heart more beautiful with a better ability to serve Him and communicate to others how glorious he is.

Anyhow, more details about normal life. Lately, I have been feeling really comfortable here... and I asked God to give me a bigger and better love for Lithuania. So what does he do? He sends me to Lithuanian high school students. :) I am helping out with this program called CMAP. It's a program about multiculturalism and diversity and it teaches all of these concepts to local high school students. This is definitely an area that I am interested in, so I asked if I could participate. I meant as a volunteer to run the thing, but instead they put me in a high school group! :) It's been so fun. We watch movies like crash and discuss them as well as doing games and activities that illustrated minority/majority groups and how they should interact. Also, we did a debate about immigration in Lithuania. Very interesting! :) Now, their next mission is to share this information with somebody. So I get to present my ideas on this to a group of high school students in their school! Wow.. who knew?! Also, I have just become friends with a few of the students who are just wonderful. They have such big hearts and are so smart and have so much potential for their futures. Who knew that they would want to get to know some random American girl for a few weeks. They have decided that they want to take me around Klaipeda and show me how to have a good time Lithuanian style. (hopefully, that doesn't just mean drinking....)

Here's another random story. I was walking to school one day and I saw this lady in front of me and she was talking in English to a Lithuanian man. When I passed by she said Hi to me, which wouldn't normallly surprise me, but living here for 2 months and never getting spoken to on the streets makes you kind of skeptical when someone does. Anyhow, I said hi back and because we both spoke english we started talking. So, are you on your way to LCC? Yes (why else would I bet in Lithuania) Are you Canadian?Yes( i could tell by her accent) Anyhow, she works for the Salvation Army in town and is taking Lithuanian at LCC. She helps with the elderly, youth, and the homeless and I asked her if I could get her contact information so I could help sometimes. So she gave me her email and we said our goodbyes. I'll beat around the bush and say that she asked me to give my testimony to a group of youth that meets every once in a while at Salvation Army. She wants me to bring pictures and illustrate some struggles I have had throughout my life. She thinks that if the youth heard a young, American Christian's testimony and how I have struggled throughout my life that it would be encouraging to them. WOW.. not the answer I expected. But I am completely excited about it and cannot wait to prepare how God has worked through me. I was also thinking of inviting my new high school friends from CMAP.... Anyhow.. that is fantastic.. and I'm very excited about it.

Last thing.. I leave for Russia on Saturday morning for our spring break. I won't be back until the following Sunday.. So I will update as soon as possible when I get back. with LOTS of pictures!!!! :) XOXO