As June winds to a close, and I find it time to write to you again, I have much to report, but as much as has happened in the tangible world, more is happening in my heart.
The beginning of June was actually a bit relaxing which was much needed after the busy month of May. We got a new roommate here in Budapest, Julie, who will be here for about two months to help with all of the summer camps happening here! Also, I did get the opportunity to go to France for a few days to help with childcare for a church conference, which was exhausting but also blast. The family we stayed with was absolutely wonderful and it felt good to be silly with them, and also talk about the serious things like life and faith. After returning from that little adventure, we had about a week until summer camps took off.
Summer camp season has been great so far. Teams from America come to actually teach the classes, but our team here is responsible for all of the organization, large group things, getting food, moving tables and chairs and a myriad of little tasks. Last week my friend Edit (who is not yet a believer) was in charge of crafts and I got to help her. It was so fun to get to hang out with her and her two sweet little girls, help translate and help the kids! Edit is so creative and they were some of the most fun crafts I have seen. We did everything from making Jelly Fish in 2L water bottles, to paper plate Venus Fly Traps to cute little grass pets.
Lavender is a big product here in Hungary and at the end of the week I got to go to a village in the south of Hungary to hand cut Lavender with Edit’s family. It was so much fun and so nice to be out of the noisy city for a day. I feel so blessed that this family has welcomed me so much (I also attended their daughter Enikö’s 10th birthday a couple weeks ago!) and has loved me despite my poor Hungarian and weird quirks!
Another fun thing this month is that we have been able to officially welcome Harold and Cindy as long term team members! They are so excited to be here and full of energy to jump in where needed. It is possible that by fall, they would take over some of my and Katie’s responsibility at the Kelenfold English Clubs giving us more freedom to invest at the high school and university where we have made connections.
Lastly I promised I would touch on some of the things that God is doing in my heart. It has been a good season of growing, but also a season of many, many tears. Most of this spring I felt that I was treading water in some ways trying to juggle all of the things that I had taken on, places that I could see opportunity and places that I wanted to see God move. I also however was searching for somewhere that I could feel truly accepted. Somewhere that I felt like I could let my guard down and just be me. Relationships are hard, but making myself busy didn’t fix my loneliness and I was in need of rest and Sabbath. I still feel like I don’t have any relationships here where people truly understand who I am, but I am feeling like I have more friendships where people really care about me, and that is a good place to start. I need to be faithful to open up more to them and trust that they will love me even though I am different.
Another thing that has been heavy on my heart the past few weeks has been a book on boundaries that I am going through with my mentor. Boundaries are something that I struggle with a lot whether it is taking on feelings of guilt for not giving enough of myself, or not knowing how to say no to people. This book is not only helping me clarify how having good boundaries is the best way to love others, it is drudging up all sorts of connected issues in my life. I am realizing how much I have been turning inward lately, how I have been unwilling to trust, how little I know about healthy conflict and how much my family loves me and how much they sacrificed in letting me come here. God is so good and I am leaning heavily on Him. He didn’t promise the road would be easy, only that He would be there every step of the way. I am not down about all of this, but feel that it is a season of building character and that I must dig deep and invest much if I want to grow.
Thank you all so much for your love and prayers. I am so blessed to be here and so thankful to have you standing beside me.
Liz