Blessing

I spent this morning at University #1. I was able to be in class with my very favorite professor there (and I've met a lot of them). She's such a character and is always thrilled to see me. In the language departments of schools here, I'm an instant hit- just because my first language is English. Amazing.

Anyway, I have a blessing to write about and a request to add. Two weeks ago, I was at the school during the English language festival week. All week (actually, it was more like a week and a half), students gave presentations and heard guest lecturers. I was asked to serve as a judge for two different forums. The second forum was almost over my head; all the senior International Business and Economics majors were presenting their research papers...

The first forum was more up my alley: students were presenting on their time spent studying abroad (Molly, I totally thought of you!). All of the presentations were interesting, but one in particular stayed with me. One of the first year students presented on her year as a foreign exchange student in the States. She was in a town in the Midwest and absolutely loved her experience. She spoke about how her host family (an elderly couple) became like second parents to her and provided her with so many opportunities. As she neared the end of her presentation, she made a list of pros and cons. One of her cons was that her host family required her to go to church each Sunday. I silently thanked the Lord for families like that and made a mental note to find this girl later and talk to her.

I couldn't find her that day or the next few times I was there. I continued to pray that I would run into her again. For the time being, we'll call her Anna*.

Today, it happened. I walked into the classroom this morning, and there she was. I didn't even have to go looking for her. The class wanted to ask me questions, and Anna was the most active questioner. At the end of class, the professor asked if any of them would like to offer to be tour guides around Poltava for me. Anna whipped out her cell phone and asked me for my number so she could call and plan a time to hang out.

My request: please keep Anna in your prayers. I am convinced that she is back in my path for a reason. It's obvious that God has begun a work in her life, and I'm praying for opportunities to continue sharing. Another girl in the class (we'll call her Tori*) also asked for my number. I'm praying that they contact me soon.

Thanks for your help!
(I'm still working on the picture situation...I changed layouts to see if that would work, but so far, no dice. Any suggestions?)