Legal Ridiculousness...Please Pray

Hey everyone! Well, for those of you who were with us last year during our journey...you may remember all of the mess that we went around this time last year. Getting stuck in the Wroclaw airport for 2 hours...waiting to see if they were going to let us back in the country. Well folks...once again (and again at Christmas) we have another potential roadblock in our midst. Obviously the devil doesn't want us here!

So, the law in Poland has changed once again that if a "visitor" is here for 90 days, then they must leave the country for 90 days before they're admitted back into the country. We are in the process of applying for temporary residence. Anyway...to make a very long story short we have been in Poland 65 days. They need at least 35 days to process our card and whatnot so that would put us over the 90 day mark. PLEASE HELP US PRAY THAT THIS WILL NOT BE A BIG DEAL.

I'm confident in the Lord and know that He's sent us here for a purpose, so I have no worries. But I am a strong believer in the power of prayer and I know with prayer...this could be much easier than it's looking right now.

We're going on Monday....PLEASE PRAY FOR US! :-) :-) :-)

YAY!!!

Who has the cutest sister in the world!??!?! I DO!!!

Kell I just got the CUTEST APRON EVER in my mailbox today!!! (Not to mention ADORABLE coasters and napkins as well!) It goes with the colors in our apartment PERFECTLY! YAY! I'm so excited! I wish you were here to see how perfect everything goes! :) I love it! It's perfect!

Thanks sis! I'll take homemade gifts over store-bought anytime! ;) They're much more special. :)

Love you!

Our Thanksgiving

I am so stuffed full of turkey and pumpkin pie that I can hardly function...so tonight, I probably won't. Just lay on the couch/bed and watch "Elf"....I think that's the plan for tonight. :) It was a great day! First let me tell you something fun about yesterday!

So, our friend from Turkey, "Tuba" came over yesterday. Tuba has a roommate in her dormroom who is from the States! They planned to make a small Thanksgiving dinner yesterday and Tuba wanted to suprise her roommate with a homemade pumpkin roll! Tuba had come to our Thanksgiving English Club last week and LOVED the pumpkin roll, so she asked us afterwards if she could come over this week and make one for her American roommate since she loved pumpkin and was missing home. So, Tuba came over yesterday and we helped her make a pumpkin roll for her roommate. She just sent me an email and said that her roomie was suprised to tears! :) We were very excited that we could help her out. :) We also had a chance to share with her about what we do here and a bit about our faith...we were waiting for the cake to cool ;) Here's Tuba and Scott preparing the icing for the cake...

Yesterday was a pretty full day...classes at 8am, baking from 10:00-12:30, class again until 3:00 and my mind is kind of a blank after that...I don't really remember what we did. :) OH! No, we talked to our families over Skype....while they were eating Thanksgiving dinners...talk about not fair! :P

So, TODAY was OUR day to have Thanksgiving! So, we got up this morning around 8:00 and headed out to our new mall with other American missionary friends, Lauren & Jennifer for some good 'old "Day After Thanksgiving" shopping! However, it wasn't quite as exciting as I'm sure it was for you all who ventured out at 4:30 this morning to Best Buy or Wally-World. BUT for the sake of tradition...it was a lot of fun and we did have lunch at BURGER-KING!! YAY! Our first Burger King in Poland! (That we know of) And it was pretty dern good! After our shopping spree (well not really shopping spree...we bought things to cook for dinner) we came back to our flat and cooked up a storm!

We made turkey & HOMEMADE stuffing...that's right...stuffing from scratch...it was pretty yummy if I may say so myself. We made mashed potatoes, and a pumpkin roll, Lauren made brown-sugared carrots, and Jenn brought some pumpkin pie and corn souffle! To top it off we had hot apple cider. Again, for the sake of tradition we stuffed ourselves silly until we could hardly move...laid around for a while, and then ate some more dessert. :) (All while watching the

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!)

So, after dinner & dessert we watched "Miracle on 34th Street" and "It's Christmas Charlie Brown!" while putting up Christmas decorations. :)

To be away from friends and family hasn't been the easiest thing...but the Lord has definitely brought us comfort in the little things we can get excited about over here. Spending time with friends who've just sort of become our "family." Today was a blessing...talking with family over Skype, spending this holiday with friends who are in the same boat as we are, shopping, a great meal, good fellowship, and the Christmas story told byLinus....considering the obvious....I'd say it was a pretty good Thanksgiving and we definitely have MUCH to be thankful for!

(You can see all of our pictures here :) http://picasaweb.google.com/ScottandJackieNewman

Thanksgiving English Club Pictures!

Hey all! Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving! Today Scott, Lauren, another missionary friend Jen, and myself are celebrating Thanksgiving today since we all had to work yesterday! We're so excited! We're going out for a mini shopping trip...you know, it is the day after Thanksgiving! Then we're coming back for a little Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas decorating, and the Macy's Day Parade! (We recorded it! YAY!) It's been tough to be away from our families during the holiday...but having other American friends around to celebrate with makes up for it a little. :)

Anyway! Here is a link to our pictures from our Thanksgiving English Club!

http://picasaweb.google.com/ScottandJackieNewman

ENJOY!!! :)

The Feeding of the College Students

So, I know so many of you are chomping at the bit to know how our Thanksgiving Dinner turned out! :) On the edge of your seats, right? ;)

We started cooking at 10am on Thursday...5:00 comes and we're still running around like crazy people trying to finish this Thanksgiving feast. "Can you run and get this?" "When does the corn go in the oven!?" "I still gotta cut the cake!" "We forgot to put a trash bag in the bathroom!" "AAHH! There's the door!"

So at 5pm, the doorbell rang and our first group of 8 or 9 showed up. After that the door rang again...and again...and again...and again (aaaaannndd knitting aaaaahhhaaahhhaaanndd knitting - for all of you who would get that) until there were at least 23 of us in our tiny little apartment.

YEP...23 hungry students. After we assumed that most of our guests were here we (Scott) gave a little "Thanksgiving speech," welcomed them to our home, explained the rules of a "buffet!" They definitely dug the Hot Apple Cider. Everyone had a plateful (or two) and we still had enough food for our lunch with Wojtek & Aga the next day! They LOVED the pumpkin roll too, and the baked corn, and the cream cheese & ham dip! We even have one of those students coming over on Thursday of this week to show her how to make a pumpkin roll. :) So, after dinner we socialized a bit more and then watched the Thanksgiving episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond"...classic! They LOVED it! :)

We sat around some more & talked with our students, tried to get to know the new ones. Some stayed until 10:30pm! It was great...we couldn't have asked for a better night! We were pretty exhausted by the end of it though. Right now, we only have a couple pics of the food and one of some students who were here. I'm planning on developing my pictures this week so I'll have them posted within a couple of days.

The Feast!

Today's The Day!!!

Okay...so it's exactly 9:22am on Thursday, November 15. Yesterday evening we began our cooking venture. We started with a trip to Carrefour (our closest thing to Wal-Mart). But we couldn't proceed on an empty stomach so we stopped at the "Fast Food" place for some pierogi!



















After about an hour or less in Carrefour (we went in on a mission!) we came out with all the things we needed to get on the stick! So we started with the pumpkin roll and the process went a little something like this:




















And so we have 2 finished pumpkin rolls! (They'll be much prettier when they're cut! :) We also made two batches of pecan pralines....yyuuummm!!!

Today, we tackle the bird & the rest! Here's how it looks...

The Menu:
Hot Apple Cider
Cream Cheese Ham & Garlic Dip w/ Crackers
Deviled Eggs
Fruit Salad
Turkey & Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Baked Corn
Cornbread & Whitebread (We only have one package of cornbread mix *lol*)
Pralines
Pumpkin Roll!


We've got the roll & the pralines done...which means we have a heck of a lot more to do! PLUS clean our flat!

Last night, we got several emails in a row of people who are definitely coming. So where we thought we had 16...we KNOW of 23.....23 students who are DEFINITELY coming! Not to mention the 7 that "may" come and WHO KNOWS if students will show up without letting us know! So that's potentially 30....30 students in our one room flat!

Holy cow. I've gotta get busy!

Tomorrow...it's go time.

So...here's the skinny.

Our Thanksgiving English Club is THIS THURSDAY. So far, we KNOW of 16 students who are attending...who knows how many will show up without letting us know in advance. We are cooking...for all of them.

Tomorrow...it's go time.

Our goal is to turn this

Into this...

I'm ready.....bring it on.

YAY for Friends, Games, & Taco Bell!

So, today was a good day. :) A good day of classes...we made some connections with a couple new students today. Invited all of our students to our big Thanksgiving Dinner this Thurdsday! We're pretty stoked about it...a tad nervous...no idea how many will show up therefore having NO IDEA how many to cook for! Ja Cie! (ya-che...or "good grief!") We've had several students sign up to come already...I'm expecting at least 10-15...20-25 wouldn't suprise me. We'll see...PLEASE PRAY! ;)

So, after classes we went grocery shopping and came home to have tacos with our darling Ivy...what a doll. We just love her. I'm sure she was pretty excited she got to spend 6 hours with us today too...don't play girl, I know you read this blog religiously! *lol* I love you! ;) She's precious, really....and she loves her some Taco Bell! After Tacos we watched some Office and then played "Mad Gab" for about 3 hours...now, that's good fun! :) "My Co Jack Son!" (That's for you Kell!)

So Ivy left a couple hours ago & I got to talk to Kell for a while...always makes my day better. :) Then talked to the 'rents down in Florida. They're having a good time...visiting with family & the like.

While I was talking to my sister I noticed a piece of GLASS floating around in my WATER! A tiny piece of glass...but not tiny enough to where I wouldn't have felt it or possibly BLED to death if I'd swallowed the thing! (That MAY have been an exageration...but still) How the heck it got in there in the first place? Beats me. Luckily, I spotted it before I took the last drink! Knew these contacts were good for something!

Well, time for bed! G'nite yall!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!!

It snowed today!!! WOOHOO!! It started snowing when we were in church this morning and by the time we got home it was coming down pretty hard! :) I think it's supposed to snow all week!

We were all set to come home and I was going to make some homemade chicken noodle soup for Scott because he's feelin' a little under the weather...when we stopped by the market we found out that it is "Independence Day" here so NOTHING was open. Good thing we bought a kilo of potatoes the other day! Potato soup was the next best thing, I think. :)

This isn't from today...but here's a pic of me cooking in the SUPER CUTE apron that my AMAZING sister made for me! I love it Kell! I wear it all the time! :)

Things are falling into place

Hey all! How's the weather there?? It's as always in November, cold & gray today. It was hailing a bit earlier (for about a minute). Today is a lazy day...well not really lazy. It's a cleaning/catching up on work day for us. :) Yesterday was a good day. We FINALLY had a date...dinner and a movie, which was quite nice. :)

It looks like things are finally settling into a schedule here this is what it looks like:

Monday - Classes in the AM, Scott plays B-Ball & I have my "Ladies' Night" at 8pm
Tuesday - Classes in the AM, Youth at 6pm (until 9:00 or so)
Wednesday - Polish Lessons at 10, Bible Study one week at 1:00 and the next week Conversation Club at Teczowa High School at 3:00, then every week Nooma Meeting at 6pm
Thursday - Classes in the EARLY AM and in the afternoon, English Club at 6pm unless it's moved to a Friday or Saturday for a special event.
Friday - Day off! (Usually)
Saturday - Reserved for cleaning, planning, meeting with students, who knows.
Sunday - Church...normally takes up most of the day. :)

So there it is! That helped...sometimes things just need to be written down where you can see them!

We have our THANKSGIVING ENGLISH CLUB on Thursday! Please be praying for us: that we can have everything prepared and that we have the funds to buy the food! :) And for our sanity. Luckily we don't have classes on Thursday...it's the anniversary of the day the University was founded (or something like that) so the director is giving everyone the day off. We will be preparing a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner for...who knows how many students. So, we need all the prayers we can get! :) It should be fun. :)

So, now I'll leave you with a few pics from our trip with my parents in September. Thanks to my AWESOME big bro who sent me the pics yesterday. :) ( I love the pictures of Dad "reading" the German newspaper and Mom with the random little boy in Nice!)

A Shout-Out for an AMAZING Organization

So right now, Scott and I are young...traveling a lot and we're definitely not ready for kids yet. At least not until we get back on US soil! So...while we're not having children yet...there's one very very important on in our lives that we love and adore like he was our own. His name is Isaac Damoi and he lives in Gulu, Uganda. Isaac is about 7 years old now and we have been supporting him through World Vision for 2 years now. :) This little man is precious! We write back and forth to him as often as we can...he loves to draw us pictures. :) Mostly of huts. :) Just incase you're not familiar with it, World Vision is a Christian organization that is dedicated to taking care of and working with children, families and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. I've never been more proud to be a part of an organization. 87% of the donations that World Vision receives goes toward supporting these children & their families. Scott and I have seen, through Isaac, how World Vision has helped him. Isaac is a "Hope Child." Meaning that he lives in a community that has been severely affected by the HIV/AIDS virus therefore he is at risk. A huge threat where Isaac lives is a threat on the children there. Each day, many children are kidnapped by the LRA or the "Lord's Resistance Army" and forced to either become child soldiers where they will be brainwashed to kill or choose to die a slow & painful death. Children as young as 5 years old are kidnapped and forced to join this force. Isaac wrote to us in his last letter: "During January, we had the last funeral service of 22 people in our village....three of our family members were killed and [burned] by the LRA."

I can't imagine the world this little boy lives in. Despite the fact that his family members were brutally murdered, despite the fact that he is surrounded by the AIDS virus, despite the fact that he in a third world country and cannot imagine all of the luxuries that we, as Americans/Europeans enjoy and take for granted every day...this little boy is proud, he is full of joy, and he loves the Lord. He also loves to sing, tell stories, he has good grades in school....and he LOVES to play football with his friend, Simon.

Some things are just very very important to me. It has been a HUGE blessing to support Isaac each month. The difference that occurs when you sponsor a World Vision child is indescribable. Literally ALL it takes is $30 a month and a little effort to write a letter every now & then. But when you make the relationships with these children, you want to do so much more that the $30 feels like the absolute least you can do. Scott and I are determined to visit Isaac in Uganda one day. :)

If I could encourage you to do ANYTHING...PLEASE think about sponsoring a child from World Vision. Maybe you have a family and it would be something your children would like to do...to have a pen-pal. Maybe your children are gone and you would like to support another one in some way. Maybe you don't have children and never plan on having them...take the money that you would spend on a nice dinner out once a month and use it to support a child, like our Isaac. I just...when I think about how much we have...how much we take for granted. And what do we do with it?

So...at least visit World Vision's website & pray about sponsoring a child. Maybe even a "Hope Child" like Isaac. :) http://www.worldvision.org/

Matthew 18:5 "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me."

English Club Tonight

English Club tonight was so much fun! :) We had four girls to come, three were new 2nd year students. One was our ever-faithful, Asia. :) We took some time to get to know the girls, tell them a little about ourselves, and eat a lot of junk food! My brownie supply is now completely gone. :( After our "get-to-know-you" activity that we made up, we played "Mad Gab" with them. So fun! It's a GREAT game, especially good for helping with their pronunciation skills! They absolutely loved it! We are having meetings with our college students about three times a week. Monday nights are "Ladies' Night," Wednesday nights are "Nooma Meetings," and Thursday (sometimes Friday) nights are English Club nights. This has been great for us because some students can't come on certain nights, but they can come others so we've never had too many in our place. This gives us better chances to get to know students one-on-one. So, they're small meetings, but I think it works better this way. So far, we've counted 23 different students in our home this semester. Next week we'll be having our "Thanksgiving English Club" again...we're hoping for about 15 to 20 students again this year! :) Please pray for us! We're really excited about it!

Here are some pics from our "Mad Gab" session tonight! New students: Ania, Marta, & Judyta along with "Veteran" member, Asia. :) **Asia is wearing a black shirt & brown scarf**

Ciocia & Dawidek

Who has the CUTEST little "nephew" ever?! Here are a couple pics from our Polish lessons with Agnieszka on Wednesday mornings. I always have to get in a little playtime with the coolest little guy I know. Check out this kiddo's grin, adorable no? So here are a couple pics of Dawidek & Ciocia Jackie! (Little David & Aunt Jackie) I adore this kid! And his Mamu, Aga is the best Polish teacher ever. :) Jesteś moja ulubiona!!













And how could I forget to put an equally adorable picture of Dawidek & Wujek Scott! (Not to mention proud Tatuś, Wojtek) :)

Cold November Rain

Blech. It's cold, wet, gray, & rainy here...and having to walk everywhere in it...not fun. :P Booooo on November weather in Poland. I'm ready for snow! (As soon as I get some warmer gloves!)

On Being Single

You know...this is something that's really been on my heart recently. A youth came over to our place last week. An AMAZING young person...desperately seeking to please the Lord. Surely a young man after God's own heart. While talking with him, however...he made the comment that he may just stay single because it's "easier." It was kind of funny at the time he said it. However, my husband did a wonderful job of explaining to him what we believe about single vs. married life.

Since then, it's become sort of a burden on my heart. This is a subject that can be pretty controversial...especially depending on one's current relationship status. This is our opinion.

Genesis 2:18 "The Lord God said, 'It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
2:24 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."

The Lord created us to be in relationships. Scott and I married obviously, because we loved one another, but more importantly because we had a common love for the Lord and a desire to glorify Him. We found that when we ministered together, our ministry was better that it would have been had we stayed single. We work so much better together, we found joy in being together...because the Lord made us to be in relationships. This is one of most amazing and most suprising blessings from the Lord. Marriage is a beautiful ( but not always easy) gift from the Lord and represents how our relationship with Him should be, in a tangible way. It takes commitment, selflessness, hard work, and a lot of prayer! There are going to be times when it isn't easy and you want to "get out" but that's where your common relationship with the Lord, your desire to glorify Him...that's how you make it through. I know you're probably saying..."Rookie! What do you know? You haven't even been married 2 years!" No...but we've been through more than one might assume. Through it all the Lord has been sufficient.

Now, we do have an arguement for the other side as well, believe it or not. However, it may not be what you might think.

In Matthew 19 Jesus is speaking to His disciples about divorce and that there are only certain circumstances where divorce is acceptable. His disciples go on to ask Him this:

10"If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry."
11Jesus replied, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it."

We believe that Jesus is saying here that it is okay to be single only if it is because you have chosen this way to further the kingdom of heaven. In other words...only if the Lord has called one to be single in order to serve Him better. This is something that VERY VERY few people can do. BUT, to those the Lord has called this specific ministry and who live it out...BLESS YOU! Those who are called to this specific ministry, however, are STILL called to be in relationships. We are ALL called to be in relationship with the body of Christ...the church. (This is another rant, but) We don't join a church for our own personal enjoyment. It is to be in fellowship with other believers...to offer the gifts that the Lord has given to us to build up His community in the church. You attend a church to give the Lord the worship He deserves and to be with His people...not to get your weekly fill-up, to pay your dues, or to be entertained. (Sorry...just felt really "preachy" there) Anyway, ESPECIALLY if you're single, you need to be in a body of believers. We NEED to be in relationships. Or the consequences could be devastating.
I love these lyrics by Derek Webb

I have come with one purpose
to capture for myself a bride
by my life she is lovely
by my death she’s justified

i have always been her husband
though many lovers she has known
so with water i will wash her
and by my Word alone

so when you hear the sound of the water
you will know you’re not alone

(chorus)
‘cause i haven’t come for only you
but for my people to pursue
you cannot care for me with no regard for her
if you love me you will love the church

i have long pursued her
as a harlot and a whore
but she will feast upon me
she will drink and thirst no more

so when you taste my flesh and my blood
you will know you’re not alone

(chorus)
there is none that can replace her
though there are many who will try
and though some may be her bridesmaids
they can never be my bride

We need to be together (unless called by the Lord otherwise). Men and women were designed to be together. Desires are too strong, loneliness can set it, temptation can take over, we become dependent on the world to satisfy us...which it never can, fully. No amount of money, the nicest home, the best job, the greatest friends...nothing can satisfy the way the Lord can in a relationship with Him and in the blessings He gives through marriage.

That's my opinion on that.

A Change

So, this change occured in me on October 19th of this year...just a couple short weeks ago. A little something (nothing of great note) occured that just sparked a need for a change. Somewhere in that moment, the Lord awakened a new love inside of me. Never had I ever been one to read my Bible. Can you believe it? Yep...a missionary who didn't read the Word or have a daily prayer routine. Note...the word "missionary" does not always signify someone who had a deep, strict, discipline with the Lord. For this "missionary" it just meant that this gal loved the Lord and wanted to go where He wanted to send her and do what He wanted her to do. Like I said, the Lord awakened my discipline-less heart. I had always wanted to get into a routine of reading/studying the Bible, praying with some "umph!" and just being a little more disciplined all together...but for some reason I could never manage. I was complacent with my "doing doing doing giving giving giving" life. My heart wasn't satified though. From that day, my relationship with the Lord is like a completely new one. Each morning is dedicated to writing down my prayers, meditating on his Word, studying It, and really praying with gusto! I can't tell you what this has done for me. My attitude has changed...I don't get as irritable over silly things. I find so much more joy in my day because I'm filling it with the presence of the Lord. I even fill like my marriage is stronger and I'm becoming a better wife...which my loving husband deserves nothing but the best. Most importantly...me & the Lord...well, I can't find anything in this world that brings me more joy.

You are my Holiday.
You are right in the middle of me.
You are my Hideaway.
You are Home.

Calling out Your name.
Oh, my Holiday.
You make my heart new.
I love You.
What it is I'm trying to say
You are my favorite part of me.
(Shane Barnard)

God, You're so good to me.

Restoration

You may be wondering one of several questions. One...why the new bloggy address? Well, no REAL GOOD reason really...I've just started to take a fondness to the way Blogger is set up. Second, there are just a lot of changes going on in me and revamping our blog was sort of an outward way to display it (in a tiny way). Another question you might be askin' yo-self... Why the odd "Blog Title?" Because it's what's going on in me currently. It basically comes from a "Shane & Shane" song (I know...pity I couldn't actually come up with my own creative blog title...creativity is my brother & sister's specialty...not mine). The song is actually called "Embracing Accusation" Here are the lyrics:

Father of lies, coming to steal kill and destroy
All my hopes of being good enough
I hear him saying, "cursed are the ones who can't abide"

He's right, hallelujah, he´s right
The devil is preaching the song of the redeemed
That I am cursed and gone astray
I cannot gain salvation
Embracing accusation

Could the father of lies be telling the truth of
God to me tonight?
That if the penalty of sin is death, then death is mine
I hear him saying, "cursed are the ones who can't abide"

The devil's singing over me an age old song
That I am cursed and gone astray
Singing the first verse so conveniently over me
He´s forgotten the refrain...
JESUS SAVES!!!

There's just something about that song. Powerful to me. It boasts of victory over all of the lies that Satan feeds us everyday. I have been restored, Praise Jesus