Here I am :)

HI everyone!

I realize that it's been ages since I've written anything in here. Hehe, sorry about that. But yes, China was amazing, truly. I don't really have words to describe the depth of what I learned and what God has don't in me through that experience. After China, and the DTS, I went back to the States and spent time with my family...I worked at Starbucks again (that was really fun) and re-connected with my church family and all that. It really a big blessing to be able to do that. I was away from Dunham for about 4 months altogether. It was a much needed break, it was awesome.
So now, I'm back in Dunham, and it's actually less than a week away from the start of the next arts and music DTS. Crazy eh?
Well, that's all I'm going to write for now, but I'll live with some pictures of China!
much love,
Abby

We're leaving on outreach today! Vancouver & Beijing, China. This is my amazing co-leader, Noamie. Please pray for our team!
Natalie, Micheala, Naomi, Lori, Celine, Bea, Melissa, Sonia, & Jordan
+Noamie & me.
See you in June...
Love, Abby

In Sherbrooke

Hey guys,
here are some pictures from the DTS' week in Sherbrooke...

This is a picture of Jeremy, Brittany, and me with the family that we stayed with for the week :) plus their new puppy!

One morning, our team spent some hours praying for the city, here's where my group spent most of our time praying :) I love cathedrals.

Micheala and Brittany

Me & Micheal

love you all...

YWAM randomness...

Here are some pictures from our last big "love feast" that we had as a DTS a few weeks ago. The theme was The Sound of Music (La Melodie de bonheur), but these picture are not a great representation of that, actually....anyway...

This guy with the green hair is Steve, he was our speaker for the week...he's a lot of fun ;)

Jeremy and I being the fabulous French people that we are ;)This guy is Dave from Australia, he's pretty neat, not that you could tell from the way Micheala and I are looking at him, but yeah. hehe.
~Abby

our ski weekend

Hey Everyone :)
Last weekend we had a ski camp, and spent all day Saturday sur les pistes! It was wonderful...voici les photos de cette belle journee...

Love you all :D
Abby

not Swiss cheese...!

This entry is dedicated to my lovely Swiss friend Lori, who tried string cheese for the first time this past weekend. I was lucky enough to have a camera nearby to record her reaction:

:D

Funny, having grown up with the stuff, I never really though about how weird string cheese is.
Love, Biby

Cafe Colour

So there's this little cafe down the road that we like to go to, "Couleur Cafe," and every other Thursday night they have jam sessions. It's pretty cool, so...this past Thursday some of us went to hang out.

Here's a picture of me and Natalie, my Minnesota homie :) at the Cafe.

Micheala and her cowbell!

Here's Jeremy and Rebecca jamming with some people from Dunham.

It's really cool to have a place to go and get to know different people from the community. sometimes I feel like we're in this little bubble, living in this big house altogether. Anyway, it was fun.
This week has been really cool, we had a guy, Jim visiting from Paris to speak at our school. He has this ministry in Paris for artists. We were able to have some extra time also this weekk to do creative stuff, like paint or whatever. God's been really speaking to me in regards to my art and just doing new things, and finding my inspiration from Him. Every Thursday our YWAM base has this community evening thing where people can come visit us and we share and present things. So this past Thursday, I presented some of my art and shared about my, "artistic journey." I'm not even sure what that means, but anyway...I felt that God really spoke to me through this and how He wants me to step out of the things I'm more comfortable with in terms of art. Jim was really encouraging to me in that regard. I've been feeling discouraged in general with art and what I do. But yeah, I'm excited to see what God's going to grow in me in terms of creativity and all that. :) well, that's it for now...
Love,
Abby

Our Peace & Love feast...

Hey Everyone :)
This past Friday we had a YWAM hippie party. It was pretty sweet. Since a lot of my clothes are hippie-ish I finally had something to wear, for once :D yay!

This was also the birthday party for one of the DTS students, Micheala....she's a totally awesome woman, I'm her fan, for sure. She's the one in blue with the big sunglasses :)

Here's me with some of the guys: Jeremy from France, and Taesung from S. Korea. I found out that my name means, "dad" in Korean. interesting, eh? So, I've sort of adopted him as my son ;) Taesung says that Jeremy's the mom, since I'm the dad and I'm a girl. I don't know, the whole thing doesn't make too much sense. So...they said they wanted a "family picture."

Well, that's all for now!
Peace. <3>

Happy Valentine's Day :)

Salut, tout la monde :)
So, the Arts and Music DTS started about a month ago. It's so crazy to see how fast the time has gone by. I'm having a wonderful time :) It's an amazing privilege to be here. This past week we had a teaching on the Nature and Character of God. The women who came to speak, Janique, was so great. She taught on the Holy Spirit and laid a really solid foundation for all of us. This week has been really, like a breath of fresh air. Not that the other weeks were bad at all, but there was something about the way this women taught that was so pure and simple. I guess because she took subjects (like the Holy Spirit) and explained them so simply, it was like a relief. I feel like there are so many weirdos out there who teach on this. They sort of waft around and act all super spiritual...and leave people more confused and distant than ever. But yeah, it wasn't weird, it was great. Janique was so down-to-earth and vibrant. I loved having her here. I truly love this school. The students are so hungry for God, it's exciting to think about what lies ahead.
On Thursday, some of the students decided to throw a Valentine's day party. We made pink cookies, cupcakes and some other stuff. We danced and some people wrote poetry and read it aloud. We all dressed up, it was really classy. Here are some pictures!

Love, Abby

La vie est Belle :)

Hey Everyone :)
I'm having a wonderful time here...I love it. I don't have a lot of time to write so much right now, but I wanted to put some pictures on here. The Arts and Music DTS started on January 13th, so yeah, we're in our 4th week together as a school. The students are so great, I'm totally in love with them all...and they have an amazing hunger for God. Yeah so...here are some pictures of our first 4 weeks together...
P.S. Here's a picture of us 4 staff: Thomas, Noamie, Ketsia and me. During the week of orientation, we had a 80's bowling night...that's why we look that way!
Love you all,
Abby

A fresh coat of paint...et autre choses

Hello everyone :)
So, I've been back in Dunham for exactly 5 days now. Gosh, it's been so funny to be here again, sorta like a dream. At the same time, it's like not time has passed, I don't know, it's weird. But yeah, I'm very happy that I came back. It just feels...so right, like I'm where I should be right now. It's been a little adventure getting used to the French thing again :) But really, it's fine. I'm surprised at how much I've remembered...I just don't have the habit of speaking it anymore. My brain feels like it's going back to the gym after a 5 month break, so yeah, it's a little sore! But anyway, to be able to be in Dunham again and work in the arts like this just blows me away. It's such a total privilege.
The past few days, Ketsia (my fellow AMDTS staff member and roommate) and I have been working in the creative studios. This YWAM base used to have a rather large creative school for mostly drama and mime, but that doesn't exist anymore....I really believe that God wants to do something fresh and new here with the arts. This place has a rich "inheritance" in the arts from God; I'm really anticipating everything that He's going to do. Anyway...So these are some rooms that have been recently set aside to be creative studios for the DTS. They were full of junk last year, and my school did a lot of cleaning and reorganizing. But still there's some work to do. I've been assigned the task of repainting them! Yes, this is very fun for me :) So, we'll see how it goes. We've started with the primer, and then we're going to paint everything in like an ivory color and add some accents. The DTS from Montreal has been here visiting this week, the guys from that school have been an awesome help with the paint job, and good company, too :) Thanks guys! Alors, voici les photos!
~Abby
P.S. Here's something cool that happened...
So, my mom met a girl in pittsburgh back in February(while I was in DTS), who was thinking about joining YWAM and doing a DTS in Colorado. So, my mom told her about the DTS that I was doing at the time, and then my mom called me and told me about meeting this girl.
She said it was really encouraging for her to meet someone who wanted to do a DTS. So, this week when the Montreal school came to visit, I met this girl, Kelly who'd talked to my mom! Kelly told me that after she spoke with my mom, she decided to check out Quebec and chose to do her DTS in Montreal. Isn't that cool? God's fun :)

Pittsburgh is rainy, and so am I

So, in Salt Lake, it rains maybe once every 10 days. In Pittsburgh, it's sunny about once every 10 days. I never fully understand how weather affects me until I come to Pittsburgh. Here, I've noticed that the air feels so much heavier (because it has more moisture), my body feels kinda creaky...like an old person, it's super hard for me to get out of bed in the morning...which is unusual because I'm a morning person, and I feel really gloomy/lethargic. Frankly, I'm not too keen on the whole thing, plus...I have gobs of packing to do for YWAM.... and all I can think is "BLAAAAH." We'll see how it all comes together....
I was reminded by the radio today that "God's mercies are new every morning." That's an awesome thing --getting a fresh and new portion of mercy every day.
Here's something cool and different: On Sunday, I got to hang out with Chase...the youth pastor I worked with in Salt Lake. He's visiting his brother who lives in Pittsburgh, and going to a Steelers game. I went to his brother's church and sat with Chase during the service. It was kinda trippy to see Chase at church in Utah last Sunday, then see him again in a completely different church across the country this Sunday, kinda like worlds colliding or something. Anyway, it was fun to hang out with him and his brother's family :)
Well, that's all for now...
Much Love,
Abby

Good-bye...again

So, I left Salt Lake City on Sunday morning with my mom, my car, and everything I could manage to cram into my car(a surprisingly large amount). I have to say that the whole experience of leaving again has left me a bit melancholy.... I really love Salt Lake, and all the people that come with the place. I've been thinking a lot about my sis, and the people that I live with from my church, Kurt and Liz. I miss them. I know that I probably won't live with Kurt and Liz again...and so it just means my life has turned another page, and I don't feel like I was prepared for that realization when it came. At the same time, I knew for awhile that my life was going to change soon, and that I couldn't live there forever. So yeah...things change, and I know it's a good thing, but transitions have always been kinda tough for me.
I know that God brought Kurt and Liz into my life at a time when I really needed that feeling of safety and security. Also, they've been amazing role-models /mentors in my life...I guess you could say Kurt and Liz have been like my spiritual parents. I love them dearly, and have been truly blessed by them. God sees so far beyond me....I know that's a bit obvious, but when I'm hit with that truth through personal experience, it becomes so much richer and more powerful.
Love you all,
Abby

J'ai Fini!

Hey everyone :)
Well, today was my last day at Starbucks, I'm very content about it. I really had so much fun working there. It's funny. the last time I quite Starbucks (December 2006), I had the idea that

nothing in the world could convince me to work there again. I don't believe that a career at Starbucks is my future, but I wouldn't mind working there again...and I'm very thankful that I was able to this past month.

Last night I was working and this man came in and ordered coffee --this is not unusual ;) --- we started talking with him, and it turned out he was from Quebec! I was so happy, we started speaking french together, it was so cool to hear the Quebecois accent again. So, today, he came in again and told me that he was returning to Ottawa tomorrow but he came in to see me and say good-bye. I was so blessed by this man's visit, he was so kind and gracious, and he kissed my hand before he left! hehe. God is so cool. It's just that lately I'd been feeling a little hesitant about going back to Quebec. Not that I didn't want to go, but I was nervous about the Quebecois attitude towards Americans. In my mind it's most likely a bigger deal than it really is, but I love the U.S., and I guess I've gotten very comfortable being back here. It's my home. So, now that the time for my departure is getting very close (five days away), all these little things are popping up. Anyway what I'm trying to say is that, I was blessed by this kind man coming in who is from Quebec, who was so friendly and warm and told me that I speak very good French :) and to me it felt like God used this man in way to welcome me into this adventure. Maybe that sounds odd, but I'm so blessed because God answered my anxious prayers in such a personal and cool way, saying, "Not only am I taking care of you now, but I see your heart, and don't worry, you are welcome to the place where I am calling you -Quebec." Thank you, God...You're so cool!
Anyway...that's all for now. Bye, Starbucks :)
Love, Abby

Back at the 'Bucks...

So, sorry everyone that it's taken me forever to write anything new, but I do have a good excuse :) -the batteries died on my camera and I don't like writing anything without a picture to go along with it!
Anyway...so much time has gone by, and I've been working at Starbucks once again. I started at the beginning of October, with the understanding that I'd only be there temporarily. Oh yes, I don't know if I'd mentioned this before, but I'm actually going back to Dunham to work at the base :) I'm very very excited...and I'm leaving in a week, yikes! But anyway, I've been having a lot of fun being back at Starbucks, and really learning to appreciate the privilege of having a job again (it's been while). So the people that I've been working with are so awesome and fun, and I've been learning so much again about having fun at work. Ya know, honestly I really hated the idea of going back to work after DTS, especially at Starbucks. But I'm seeing now that it's really important, and God's taught me a lot through the whole deal. yay!
Yesterday at work, I brought in my camera. We had a bunch of fun playing with the time-delay function, and doing random schtuff together. Enjoy!
Love, Abby

My favorite City

I love Salt Lake city. That's all there is to it :) and I love the people here that make me call it home. I've been back since...the 9th? That sounds about right. It's been a crazy blur of things since my return here from Quebec, and then Pittsburgh. Coming back was a little overwhelming, it took awhile before the feeling of being on another planet wore off. Still, things feel a bit odd, and kinda temporary. I feel pretty confident that God's called me to be a missionary, and I'm waiting for Him to tell me what that means. ya know what? Waiting is HARD. But at the same time, I believe and know that God is going to come through for me, because He's awesome, and He doesn't leave His kids hanging. Honestly, at the same time...I'm feeling uncertain and impatient.
Kurt and Liz, the couple from my church that I live with, are awesome. I'm so thankful that God has put them in my life, not only in my life, but living with them. They're like my parents, kinda. Every night I come home and am greeted by Kurt yelling, "Abby!" Then I come into the family room and we talk about eachothers' day and watch decorating shows on HGTV. I love it. A few nights ago when I was all uncertain about what God's doing in my life, they reminded me that it's just a season, and God's using this time to draw me closer to Him and He'll come through in miraculous ways. I know it's true, because that's what I was feeling in my heart, but it's wonderful that God allows me to share my burdens with much wiser people than I...and He uses them to confirm His promises. I am very blessed at home.
At the moment, I have some crazy decisions ahead of me...and I'm waiting on God to tell me what He desires me to do. Jodi, my pastor's wife, explains it like being a waitress at a restaurant.
God is sitting at the table, I come up and ask Him, "may I take your order?" and I wait for His response. If He's taking longer than I prefer, I don't run to the kitchen and bring Him something I think He might like...I wait. I may discuss some items on the menu with Him, but ultimately, the decision is His. So yes, this is my role at the moment. Kurt thinks all this stuff going on in my life is really cool and exciting. Also, he added, it makes for some "interesting drama." We'll see how it all unfolds.
On a different note, I've been painting like crazy. The youth pastor I'm working for, is allowing me to use part of the youth room for my personal art studio! It's pretty cool, and totally from God, because I have the hardest time getting anything done when I'm at home. It's so funny...whenever I need something for my artwork...God always provides. Other day, I had just finished. a painting and I was thinking, "if only I had some tracing paper(I like to use it to cover my paintings)." I walked down the hall, and I saw a big bag, inside the bag was a whole giant tablet of tracing paper I had left there from almost a year ago :) Painting for me is still a process. I'm learning more and more that it's about enjoying the journey and not always stressing out about the results. I can be kind of a control freak. So, anyway...that's what's going on...there's alot up in the air at the moment. We'll see what happens and I'll do my best to keep you all updated, if you wouldn't mind, please keep me in your prayers. Hi Baimes!
Lotsa love!
~Abbythepeach

In the giant bathtub...

Here I am in Salt Lake City, Utah....I arrived here just a few days ago...
So, for the past month I've been with my family in Pennsylvania...and in Michigan on Bois Blanc Island for two weeks. It was really wonderful to be with all of them, especially my mom, I love her so much, she's the best ;) The island was great too. I love the fact that that place never changes much. I've been going there since I was born, and it still feels like home. So, as great as it was to spend time with my family, it was really intense and hard. Like I said before, my parents are going through some difficulties with my little brother, Ben. A lot of time was spent trying to cope with this and figuring out how to help Ben. He's really an awesome kid...and he's been through some crazy difficult things in his 9 years of life. So yes...please pray for him.
I wanted to write a nice long post about the trip the island and what not...but since I've been back in Utah so much has been going on that it's hard to focus on anything but the past week. So...I'll leave you with some pictures of the beautiful island! God blessed me with the gift of a digital camera while at my parents' house in PA (thanks mom!). Oh yes...washing one's hair in the lake makes for a real good time! :D
Love, Abby
P.S. My family rocks!

the greenhouse

Hey all...

sorry it's been so long since I've written anything, lately I feel as though I've been moving from one temporary situation to another and it's hard to settle myself down. My last couple weeks in Dunham were really special and I treasured them very much...especially the time I was able to spend with all my friends before we seperated. So, since the 5th of July, I've been with my family. My dad drove up to Dunham to pick me up and take me on the 12 hour ride "home." I spent about two weeks with my mom, dad, and little brother Ben. AH! it was so weird to be back with them in that house. I guess you could say I felt a little displaced...all of a sudden everything was different, and everything was in english. how strange. There are alot of special challenges surrounding my family...particularly involving my brother. It's was really difficult to be home and suddenly in the midst of something I didn't feel like I was ready to face. But ya know, God knows all of this...He knew where I was headed, and always provides us with His strength just in time. During our last week in DTS we talked about re-entry, and that DTS was sort of like a greenhouse- an environment where we were protected and we could grow freely in God. I feel as though I felt the effects of leaving the greenhouse almost immediately. I'm truly blessed that God led me to take some extra days in Dunham after DTS to rest...He know I would need it!

Anyway...besides that, it's been wonderful to spend this time with my family. My parents are amazing, brave, and couragous people. My brother is the coolest kid, and also, very brave.

My mom has blessed me SO much since I've been here. She's taken me shopping! hehe, it was so fun to be with her and also get new clothes...especially after wearing the same ones for 6 months. I love being with my mom...and to be girly with her. ya know, it funny. Africa caused me to appreciate something I never expected- wearing skirts! I love wearing them now, and I hated wearing them before...how funny.

It's really strange to come home -or a place I used to live, because pittsburgh isn't exactly my home- and be faced with the sort of person I was before, or at least, what I was accustomed to before. When I came back to my old room, I saw for the first time just how much stuff I had...and useless stuff at that. So many clothes, that I hadn't worn in years and would never wear again w ere piled everywhere. For some reason before, I couldn't manage to get rid of them. So, the next day, I cleaned out all of them and donated them to a thrift store. Anyway...yeah. I also had a very nice easal waiting for me to use! hooray :) I've had that for a couple years now...I thought about it alot while I was in Dunham. It's fun to paint on it... yes.

So all this to say, re-entry is a trip... and I have another sort of re-entry when I go back to Salt lake in a week. God's here with me...and it's really amazing to know that and feel that He's bringing me home...and is leading me right now, at this very moment...even if I can't see what He's doing yet. That's all for now...it's time for dinner!

Much love,

~Abby

Home

Hey Everyone :)
So, I'm home...well, Canada, anyway. There's so much to say, but at the moment, I don't have alot of time. I promise I'll write later! I'm still in Dunham, so I have alot of time. DTS officially ended on wednesday....it feels a little strange, like a dream. Anyway, I have to go....but I'll leave you with a picture of me and Radja Nuba (Grace of God).
~Abby

time to go to Paris ;)

Hey so...I'm going to Paris today! hehe...I've never been able to say that until now. I think it feels pretty cool :) So, I'm still at the base now, we'll be leaving in a couple hours for the airport. I don't really know how to feel though. I mean, it's completely awesome that I get to go...but at the same time, I know it's going to be really intense, and I'll be almost completely out of contact with my family. This is something about YWAM that I think is a little twisted. they emphasize/insist on openness, otherwise you won't grow or learn anything, that makes sense. the twisted part is that, in being so open, you build some really intense and deep friendships. So, while you're in YWAM, you miss your family like crazy, but gain a new family that you can't bear the thought of leaving, but at the same time, all you want to do is see your real family again. GRR. I really hate it....but I love it at the same time. yeah...so that's what I'm thinking right now. it almost makes me want to close myself off from people....but at the same time, it makes me want to love even more...'cause if we only have 6 months, we might as well make the most of it. hmmm, I can tell I'm not being very coherant right now. heh, sorry...I'm gonna be in Africa in a week, I'm a little freaked out. ;)
but yeah....I don't know, life is good. God is so good...and I know that He only wants the best for me, that's a comforting thought. anyway....regretfully, its time to go...it's time for me to leave you all, and my laptop for 2 months. hehe, that was a little dramatic ;) but seriously....I love you all like crazy, please keep me in your prayers, and I'll keep you in mine :)
LOVE YOU!!!
~Abby

outreach begins

Hey guys...
so today, we left the house around 6am and headed to where we are now: Sherbrooke, Quebec. Today was crazy :) we arrived at the high school around 8:30am...and then started giving presentations. we had five groups of students throughout the day and presented some creative stuff, like hip hop, swing dance, music etc...and shared the gospel with them. it was a really awesome experience, yeah..by the end we were all pretty tired. It`s cool, while we`re in Sherbrooke, we`re all staying at different homes. Emily and I are staying together :) yay!! The people we`re staying with are so cool. they don`t speak alot of english...about as much as I speak french, so we spent our dinner together trying to talk to eachother with Emily translating sometimes. it was alot of fun :) tomorrow, our team has a press conference. weird, eh? I don`t know what that`ll be like. anyway...I`m sleepy, so I`m gonna go. I`m sorry if this typing is all weird looking, I`m on a french computer, so I can make cool symbols like: £ § ¤ ¢ ¾ ½ ¼ ¦ é! hehe, it`s cool. anyway, I`m gonna go relax :)
I love you all! thank you all for your prayers, please don`t stop.
Love, Abby

Ohhh gosh.

yes...that's the sound I make every time I stand up or pretty much use my legs in any way. the past two days, I think I've danced more that I have in my whole life. that may be a slight exaggeration, I'm not sure. Tomorrow, our team is heading to Sherbrooke to do creative presentations and ministry in high schools. we divided ourselves up into several creative teams to come up with things to present. I'm on the swing dance team :) it's really awesome, Gab and Rebecca, our DTS leaders are professional swing dancers, so I feel like I'm learning the proper and safe way to swing dance, that's something I hadn't grasped before. So, we've been learning all sorts of cool moves, including drops and ariel called the "frog." Hopefully it should go okay :) we've practiced our routine so many times but we've only done it perfecrtly once. I know it's in God's hands...so, yeah. Please pray for this week, that God will work through us...that we will be yielded to Him.
wow, I'm so tired, I feel like I've been running constantly. this past week has been a bit insane, there hasn't really been a time to relax. all week we've been preparing, and yesterday we hosted a YWAM Quebec event. Gab asked me to share/speak at the event about some of the stuff God had done in my life while I was here. So...I was a bit nervous, God is so awesome though, and He worked it out. Today, my roommate Sara, and I had to clean out our room. we had to take nearly everything out and pack it all up in our suitcases and then clean or room. I've only been here 3 months, but I had so much junk. So, I'm finally at a stopping point, and I'm gonna go to bed. I have to get up at 5am tomorrow, which is something I haven't done in a while. it's funny to think that I used to get up at 4:30am for work at Starbucks...yikes. anyway...I haven't decided if I'm bringing my laptop to Sherbrooke or not, so who knows :)
anyway, bedtime!
Love you all!
P.S. Guess what? I have all my outreach fees!!! thank you all so much for everything.

~Abby

comme un enfant

That's how I feel alot of the time here...like a child. maybe that's a little appropriate now since it's Easter...ou "Paques" en francais. But I don't know...here's why this feeling has been especially acute within the last 2 days...
Yesterday, we started the weekend with a lovely brunch. it's was awesome...Nadia, a student here, received a package from her family that contained some different cheeses, dried meats, and chocolate from Europe. So...she decided she wanted to bless us all by sharing them with everyone. It was really cool...and the cheese was amazing, I have to say. :) anyway...so near the end of the meal, people started telling jokes. sometimes, I just hate that, because everyone's laughing at this joke, and I have no clue what it means because it was all in French. sometimes, I could get the idea of it...but then eveyone looks at me and asks,"did you understand?" and then they would explain the joke to me. it's funny, and hard to explain. because I really really appreciate that they want me to understand. that means alot. I'm having more a problem with my pride, I think. I'm used to being generally independant...and I hate it when I can't say what I want to say when I want to say it. it's really hard to for me to have to depend on others for me to be able to communicate. sometimes, I just want to feel normal, like everyone else and not need people to translate for me. agggh...it's hard to feel so needy sometimes. I had a funny little conversation with Olivier about this in the laundry room. it's funny, even though we can't easily speak to eachother, he always knows when something's bothering me...and he gets in my face, looks me right in the eyes and asks, "CAVA, Abby??" Olivier's been there for me so many times, he's really been a blessing. so anyway...we were talking, me in my broken french, and once he discovered what was bothering me he started laughing, and said, "tu es une femme independant!" or in english, "you're an independant woman!" yeah it's true, for alot of things, I like to be on my own....not everything, but most things. Olivier then went on to inform me that this is so good for me, that God is molding and stretching me...all that stuff. yeah I know it's true.

hmmm, it's still really hard. I know the Lord is doing so many awesome things in my character...and it gives me peace to think about it, "that He who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it..." That means God's always working, but He works towards completion, it's not up to me to complete the work He does. that's comforting.

I'm really blessed with an awesome family here.

So, on another note...we're leaving for Paris in a week and a half. I'm extremely excited ;) but before Paris, we're spending a week in a place called Sherbrooke. we're going to be doing work in highschools. so, this week we're preparing performances and other things for that. I'm a little nervous, but I'm learning that there's not a whole lot I can accomplish by being scared, so why not just dive in?

well...I must be off, I have some homework to finish. here's a picture we took last thursday...it's still snowing here, it's crazy....reminds me a little of Minnesota....

anyway...g'night, bon nuit! I love you all very much.

~Abby

And it's over...

Tonight, we had a big YWAM party to signify the end of our lecture phase. next week, everything's going to change. hehe, I'm so ready for a change. lately, our schedule's been a little varied, which is nice, but it feels like it's time for a change, a big one. on a side note, nobody warned me ahead of time that there would be so many parties in YWAM. well, there's a good amount of people on our base, so we have a b-day party on avaerge, once a week. everytime we have a party, it's a different theme, most of the time it requires dressing up. this has become an issue for me...I own only two pair of heels and since I was going off to "missionary school," I didn't think I'd need them! little did I know. also, I didn't bring any sort skirt or dress (I don't own many of those either). yeah so...it's starting to bug me...because at every party I'm not really dressed up, and each time, people ask me, "why aren't you dressed up, don't you like this kinda thing?" and each time I explain all over again that I didn't bring any nice clothes with me. hehe...I know it's stupid that I'm rambling on about this, but yeah, it's been annoying me a little bit. that's one reason why I'm so excited to go on outreach...it won't matter if I'm dressed up or not! naah, just kidding. kinda. but I am so so so excited about outreach.
anyway...so tonight we had our party. it was that "vintage" party I mentioned before. I spent the past few days working on some vintage looking paintings for decoration. I'd planned for five paintings, but managed to finish three. I'm gonna finish the other ones later. man, it was so much fun! these were the sort of pictures I used to make when I was little. it felt like glorified doodling to me. I loved it. it's funny...because I guess I never realized how special art can be to someone. Janet, the completely awesome lady whose in charge of hospitality, decided to hold a raffel as part of the evening, to win these paintings. I was told one girl actually cried a little when she realized she didn't win. I didn't know what to do with that information. people throughout the evening came up to me and told me how beautiful my paintings were. Olivier said I was "incredible." I didn't know what to do with any of this....I just said thank you. it's just so strange to me...I don't know. I mean, these paintings, in my mind, weren't amazing, they weren't realistic at all. they took so little time, and were so easy and fun. I don't know...I loved that people liked my work, and that I was able to bless people through it...and I did enjoy the attention somewhat. but, I also felt really....uncomfortable. at one point during the evening everyone started cheering for me, and chanting my name. AGGH...it was so awkward. I'd never recieved that sort of reaction before. and you know, it's not MY talent...it's God's gift that He's entrusted me with. I look at a painting I did, people ask me how I painted it...and I have no idea, it just comes out. the cool thing is, that I see myself really beginning to enjoy this gift. that, my friend, is something totally new. plus, when I have awkward moments like what I said before, it's hard for me to not see my value in what I do. I'm valuable because I'm who I am...but of course I don't get that kind of attention for not doing anything. that's normal. I have a little bit of an issue in thinking in extremes. especially when it comes to myself. but yeah...the really funky part of the situation was, when it was over...all I really wanted to do was go cry somewhere and ramble on about how I didn't understand myself. I forced myself not to do this, and danced with everyone else instead. Emily and I danced the night away. I LOVE her...she's an amazing woman, and a great friend. it was cool, we danced to the song, "April in Paris." it's like our song, because in 2 weeks, we'll be in Paris, and it's April! :D our last guest speaker lives in Paris and we'll be working with him on outreach. Today when we were saying good-bye, I said something I've never got to say to anyone: "see you in Paris!" it was pretty awesome.
well, that's it for now, it's time for bed. please keep praying...especially for outreach provision and such. Thank you! I love you!
~Abby

those pesky details...

Hello everyone :)
It's been a frightfully long time since I've written in any sort of online journal. I gave up on it awhile back because I couldn't get past feeling like I was writing for an audience. But, here's another try! So...thing's around here have been going well. We're preparing ourselves for outreach, we'll be leaving pretty soon. agggh it's crazy. Last night we had our outreach meeting, and we were required to fill out 3 identical forms to aquire our visa. Hehe, it sound simple, right? well...not quite. Once we realized we needed to write in all caps, and some of the questions were translated wrong, most of us needed new copies. It took quite alot longer than any of us realised it would...we were all a bit crazy by the end. So, today we took a trip into town to get our pictures taken for our visas. Here's something I never realized about other countries: you're not allowed to smile in photos used for official documents. Amoung all the students here, I'm the only one smiling in their passport photo. Hmmm. So today, when I went in to take my picture, the guy took one and showed it to me. I was like, "yeah that's fine." So I started to walk out, when I realized I was smiling in my picture. hehe, ooops. So, we had to do it over, and I spent the whole time concentrating on not smiling. The picture looks pretty horrible, because all the muscles in my face are trying to do anything but smile....I guess you could say I ended up looking somewhat constipated. ah well....
The rest of the afternoon we spent at wal-mart buying gear and such. It's funny how exciting a trip to wal-mart is to me now. Our base in very much in the country. We don't get out much!
Anyway...I best be going. Our school is having a "vintage" style dinner on friday to celebrate the end of our lecture phase. I'm making drawings/posters of vintage fashion etc for the decor. It's so FUN. I always loved doing "fashion illustration," it's cool that it can actually be used for something :) But, all that to say that I need to go work on them.
Love you all! A plus tard.
~Abby