First week in Jyvaskyla

Wow, there is so much I can say about my first week in yvaskyla. It is a beautiful place, I have enjoyed every moment being here! I have to admit my favorite thing is the food, I have not been disapointed with anything I have eaten. It is all so delicouse, exspecially the sweets mmmmm. Not to mention the never ending supply of coffee, the chocolate is simply irresistable, my mind wonders away many times in the thought of the finnish chocolate. Even the sour milk is SO good, yes sour milk, they drink it, and I promised I would try it I am glad I did! Coming in very closely behind food is the finnish sauna, this is unbelievable. Everyone should make a point to sometime in their life come to Finland just to sit in the sauna. The food, chocolate, coffee, and sauna must be a gift to the finns from the Lord, for them having to have 6 months of winter each year :)!

So besides the amazing food and sauna time, since I have arrived i have had one of the greatest exsperiences of the joy of the Lord. I have such a deep joy, a supernatural peace, and assurance that I am right in the will of God. I am living in a small apartment with Pilvi, perfect for the two of us. Pilvi is a full time student at the university here in Yvaskyla, so she is at school most of the day. During my days (which will begin to get busier) I have been able to spend a lot "alone" time in the word and prayer. This has been such a blessing, because in america my life was always go go go for the past 3 years, I was never forced to have the "closet" time nor was I diciplined in making it. So this has been so reviving for me. I take walks around the city, have gotten lost only once thank God! It is so interesting, the streets are completely quiet there are no people talking/shouting, there are no horns honking, I think I heard a siren once since being here. All you hear as you walk are the quiet roar of car engines as they pass by, even when you pass two people walking together they are not talking with each other. This is very different then what we are use to in america, but it is great to be able to walk and pray, you are not distracted by every second of noise. I found a beautiful route that I can run, which is an answer of prayer for me.

I have gone to the university once with Pilvi and will be making a habit of going with her at least once a week. I can either go in her classes with her ( they are all in finnish so I am VERY lost) or I can sit in a lounge while she is in class, and look for opportunities to talk to students. Pray for this, I would love to meet a least a few solid people there are campus, become friends with them and bring them to church ..... SALVATIONS! It is an interesting culture there on campus, but with the insight from Pilvi, I realize I have to be the initiator for every conversation. Fins are very Polite in that they don't want to intrude in your life, so a simple moi (hello) is all they give unless you initiate more. I was also told they don't like small chat at all if they are going to talk it is going to be with purpose or meaning. Now both these points are, once again, very different from americans. We are very content, and actually master's, at small talk, and when we first meet someone we right away have 20 questions for them to answer :) Culture differences, how awesome!

The church life is amazing, Pastor Risto, and Mrs. Kraama are so great. The church is so excited to have me here they are all so kind, there are some young girls (early 20's) that I am excited to get to know more. Each night of the week there is something going on with the church, soulwinning, bible school, or church. Sunday morning Pilvi and I sang, so I have been put right in the flow which is great. Matti, Anette and little Noah are so great too, I am excited to be spending some of my days with Anette, as she stays home with noah. Noah is so cute, he somehow reminds me a lot of my little brother, he is a very energetic little boy! I think the Lord new I would miss Micah, so He put on a team with a little boy to have around just like him, haha :) Pastor Risto has asked me to put together a team of the week presentation to show at church each week, so the body can see what is going on around the world, please pray for this project too.

In one moment we can so easily get caught up in a thought of how we can "hold" our own lives. We can try to control situations, counsel God in prayer in what "we" think He should be doing that day or that moment. The true Happiness of life comes when we moment by moment make a decision to lose our lives, this is where the deep joy and the peace and the Love will come. Being in a different country, everyone speaks a different language, I am the foreigner, I see more then ever it is not my own, I have no control over it. He leads guides, takes care of me, I am never alone, this is so relaxing, I just sit back and enjoy the ride! I enjoy the Joy He gives, it is still blowing me away this joy, and I enjoy the peace, and I rest.

Thank you for praying!

Meagan