What a glorious morning! Arriving home in sweet Galway at 3 am, crawling into bed an hour later, left me with 6 hours of sleep. In an attempt to keep my normal time schedule I've been given advice to follow the schedule as you normally would, not based upon how you feel. Great advice. Following my body would leave me sleeping until 3pm. Streaming through a small crack in the curtains bright morning sun filled my room. Rolling over to check the time it was 9:54, my 10:45am was far from sounding. Still feeling tired, contemplating additional sleep I realized on any normal day I wouldn't sleep past 10, so I wouldn't today either. Eating dinner at 3pm yesterday and arriving at 3am, left me 12 hours without a meal. Eating two pieces of toast I was off to bed. I was quite hungry this morning, however before leaving we ate most of the food in our apartment, so as not to let it go to waste when we were gone. Thankfully we had pancake mix, allowing for a quick and delicious breakfast. Not to mention the maple syrup Mom and Dad brought from home.
Our Good Friday church service at 2pm left me with little time to find a lift, take a shower and finish devos. Thankfully Mark saved the day offering both Abby C. and I a lift at 1:00pm. Knowing Jitka might like to come along I rushed over in my pajamas to ask if she'd like to join us. Having never been to a church service, she was a bit uneasy with the idea. In addition the service was in English, creating a greater barrier. She politely declined, but was grateful for the offer. Jitka stopped by our apartment just as I was running out the door for my Irish exam on Monday the 11th. For a couple of weeks now I've waited to for the perfect time to give her the Czech Bible. A time where we could sit down together, she could ask questions, I would try my best to answer them. This was unrealistic, as it is exam season and there will never be a "perfect time". Standing in our entrance way glancing in my room noticing the Bible gave me feelings of uneasiness and frustration. A small argument waged back in forth in my head:
Why hadn't I given it to her?
I'm going to be late for my exam, I have no time to waste.
Maybe I should do it now?
No! You were going to wrap it in ribbon and make it look special.
You're leaving for 10 days, this is 10 full days she could spend in the word.
Running into my room grabbing the Bible quickly handing it to her, apologizing for the quick and random nature of it's presentation I gave her the Bible. Explaining my intentions of wrapping it and sitting down with her I felt bad for my rushing out the door. Standing in amazement Jitka turned the Bible from one side to the other, not knowing what to say. Eventually looking up she asked "This is for me?" ..."wow, it's incredible, it's in Czech?!" "Can I keep it?" Laughing, I responded "Well, I can't read Czech, so it's of no use to me" Quickly explaining if she would like to read the Bible together I would love to do so, or if questions arose I was here to help.
Returning from holiday left me questioning if Jitka read her Bible. Not wanting her to feel pressured, I was feeling hesitant as to whether or not I should ask about it. As our conversation came to a close Jitka said, "Oh! By the way, I've been reading the Bible. It's really amazing. I've started in Genesis." Letting her know I was thrilled for her, I asked if she had any questions. She responded saying "No, everything seems quite clear so far. It's nice to actually be able to read the Bible. I've read children's Bibles, but not the real things, so it's quite nice. I think everyone should read the Bible".....WHAT?!? Did I hear her correctly? I've only been out of the country for 5 months, but maybe Dr. Kuhn needs to check my hearing. Out of the mouth of an agnostic: "I think everyone should read the Bible"
Wow, prayer request answered. For weeks now I've been praying the Holy Spirit would work on and soften Jitka's heart. I continue to pray that this is the tip of the iceberg. How neat it would be to see Jitka hunger for the word. Finishing our conversation I felt as though my heart would leap right out of my chest. God is so good. This lead me to thinking, which friends fall into the "They'll never be saved, so why am I praying for them anyway?" category. This section in my mind needs to be erased, God works in mysterious and amazing ways. There is no one too "distant" to be saved.
Tomorrow will begin my recap of the last two weeks.
With Love from Galway
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