I’m sorry that I missed updating you last week and the week before that too. After Micah and I returned to Presov I never did make time to sit down and catch you all up. And now, he’s been gone a week and I’m just starting to get caught up. I hope that you will forgive me, and accept my three-in-one update. If recapping three weeks of my life is too much for you, please at least scroll to the bottom for the prayer requests!
Week 12:
The week spent touring Slovakia was amazing. It was an amazing opportunity to tour the country without having to do all the planning and all the stresses that come along with that. I saw things that I would have never planned to see if I had been planning and traveled at a leisurely pace. Also, it was a blessing to see people from the US especially RuthAnn and my Micah. I won’t bore you with my itinerary, suffice to say, it included mountains, a lot of castles and beautiful scenery. Pictures are up at my Flickr site (www.flickr.com/photos/stasigh). Thank you for praying. We had a safe trip and I was able to relax, and speak English to my heart’s content!
Week13:
After a week of leisure, Micah and I waved good-bye to the rest of the group at the airport in Bratislava and traveled back to Presov. We got home late Wednesday night and got Micah situated in Martin’s room next door to mine.
Thursday and Friday were busy days in the office trying to get everythign in order for shooting the Music video on Monday and Tuesday. I have not got much of a clue what Micah did during the day Thursday and Friday, he was mostly left to his own devices as I found myself planning and scheduling and then changing the entire plan/schedule repeatedly as little/major details kept changing. Needless to say, there were a few stressful moments, I could tell you were praying!!
Friday night was a youth event/cookout with volleyball and some other fun games. I went straight from work and Micah rode the bus by himself (he did much better with busses than I did my first week in Presov!)
Saturday we went on a trip to the Tatras for a walk and spent the afternoon at the Aqua Park in Poprad. I think I will never again be happy with the Mars Community Pool! Imagine three heated pools each slightly warmmer than the next and one is a huge hot tub complete with JETS!!! Simon (the guy who came from Switzerland) camme with us and it was nice to have an additional sommeone to speak English to. Again we didn’t get home till late
Sunday was church, followed by afternoon naps to recover from all the walking in the burning hot sun on Saturday and the effort it takes to listen to sermons being translated (the translation thing is more draining than you might imagine! Especially if you are sharing a translator with two others and have to listen very hard in addition to sorting out theological concepts in second-language English.) Also, there was trying to call fathers who did not answer their phones, and then to dinner at Marian and L’udka’s Flat with Simon. We stayed and talked which morphed into shop talk about Monday’s shoot, and went rather late.(sorry Micah)
Monday and Tuesday were spent shooting the video for the Music Video I’ll start editing once the CampFest Video is finished. These were two very stressful days for me. There were personal conflicts, schedule changes (MONDAY MORNING!!!), creative concerns, camera people whose first language was NOT English, and summer decided to show up and bring temperatures in the high 80’s and sunshine. With that said, everything got shot, no lives were lost, and in the end I am confident that I will be proud of this video. As frustrating as it was to have to balance 11 hour work days and wanting to make the most of my limited time with Micah, I was lucky to have Micah as a support system those two days. Those of you who are counting can add two more late nights (sensing a trend?). Tuesday was an especially late night since after we got home late, Micah and I stayed up, watched a movie, and tried to cram months worth of face to face conversation into one evening.
Wednesday, Paly drove us to the Kosice airport and I said good bye to Micah. I then went back to the office and distracted myself by watching the footage from the previous two days. Wednesday night was rough, you see, I missed him already. Spend two full weeks with someone and you get used to it.
Week 14:
Thursday I did some more shot logging (watching the video and writing descriptions of each individual take) and let me tell you, that is my least favorite part of the whole process of going from concept to final product!!
Friday morning we left for the Mobilization weekend for Campfest. A very powerful time of prayer and fasting. I was quite worn out from the previous week, both physically and emotionally so the weekend was a series of ups and downs, but overall a good weekend, God and I had a good time. I was the official photographer ( how did I get turned into a photographer?) and I got some good shots and for the first time feel like I found a good balance between participating in an event and capturing it as well. Also, I discovered I am severely allergic to the CampFest location!
Monday and Tuesday were days off after the weekend. I had a whole list of things to get done, some that absolutely needed to be done like laundry and cleaning the bathroom and grocery shopping and then some that would just be nice to have done. I ended up scrapping most of my extensive list in favor of naps and reading and relaxing and early nights. I have some anxiety, feeling like I wasted those days, but I know that I did the best thing for myself,(if I could just get over my feeling un-productive.)
Wednesday was more shot listing and that brings us to today when I went to the graduation ceremony for two of my co-workers, finally wrote this and a number of other e-mails I meant to write on Monday and Tuesday. I’m slowly chipping away at that list.
OK, so the honest “How I am”:
Of the past 3 weeks, one was amazing and restful, one was stressful and tiring, but I had some help getting through it and now, I am having a rough week, full of being too hard on myself, and lonely, and unmotivated and generally feeling under attack. My keyboard has developed a bad case of stuttering m’s and i’s sporadically (double/triple typing those letters). And I need your prayers. I feel like I’m on a bit of a roller coaster, some times up and some down. Part of that is that I have let my roots get shallow, and part of it is just the regular worn out and stressed that comes from the past two weeks being what they were, long, emotional, hot, and full of allergens.
Updates on MPK(where it’s all about CampFest this month!):
-Simon (from Switzerland) has been a huge help to MPK and also to me (he speaks excellent English). He has gone home for 3 weeks and will be back for another month after that leading up to CampFest. He enjoyed his time here. Thank you for Praying for him.
-Things are still moving for the CampFest Field to be purchased, slowly though. I was mistaken earlier there are 31 owners of the field. Please Keep Praying!
-The main CampFest Tent that we rent from Poland was damaged in a storm. This is HUGE! Please pray!
-There are also issues with the Sportcamp where Campfest is to be held this year. Troubles with facilities and showers. Pray that these will be fixed!
-Mobilization weekend was amazing. Twice as many people came as last year and God moved powerfully.
Please Pray!
-For the little issues that go into CampFest.
-Motivation and improved mental state for me.
-Vision for the CampFest video
Ok this week I only put three requests in my list. I have no clue what next week will bring and those requests cover a lot of ground. Please pray, even though my list looks short, I need your covering this week.
Thank you for still praying even when I was incommunicado.
His,
Stasi!!
