"My eyes and my heart will always be there."

A quick little update -

We have festivals for the kids every night this week, and leave on Saturday for 7 or 8 days in Volos. There we will be staying either in a church or with host families and will be cleaning up the city, picking up trash, etc, as far as we know.

We spent last Friday and Saturday at Kalamos and got to sleep out there in the tents so we could stay and work both days. A fox or some other ferocious little animal found some wrapped up leftover food in our tent and we woke up to find the food and ziplock bag ripped to shreds and all over the place haha. Lesson learned.

This past Thursday, we had the New Life graduation party for the Nigerian girls, and it went really well! Thanks for all of your prayers. It was great to get to meet the girls and there were some really cute kids there to play with too.

Also, I feel that I should insert a personal note of humility here. In my previous post I had mentioned that we have been learning some Greek and picking up alot of words and phrases. That very same afternoon, a Greek woman and her little girl sat by me on the bus and began to try to converse with me in Greek and I had literally no idea what they were saying! It was both comical and frustrating. I just ended up smiling and saying "I'm sorry, I don't understand" and "Hello" haha. The little girl looked confused as to why I had the vocabulary of a two-year-old. It was a good pride check and also a good reminder of the importance of non-verbal communication. Even though we couldn't "understand" each other, we parted as friends.

I've had some really sweet time with the Lord lately, so thank Him for that if you think of it. I really do appreciate all of your prayers and realize that they make a big impact on this trip. Your involvement is an encouragement to me.

2 Chronicles 7:12-22 has been a random but amazing passage of Scripture for me lately. It reaffirms my worth in the Lord and also warns against idolatry in my heart and life. I especially love verse 16 (it's speaking of the Temple, but I believe it applies to believers as well) - "I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there."

Almighty God, the same as you were in the time of Solomon, thank You that your eyes are open and your ears are attentive to me! Who am I, that You would stoop so low, out of pure love? Thank You for choosing and consecrating me- for sealing me with Your Name, forever. I am Yours. Made for You. Destroy my idols, do not let me serve, embrace, or worship them. I want You. I am Your temple, created to serve You and wear Your Name. I love You and trust You.