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