WEEK 20: Seeing the Real Beauty of Thessaloniki

Just finished the 2nd week out of 8 for Greece!! This was another pretty low key week which was great.

       Mondays are now our adventure day, so we started off our day going to an underground museum. Unfortunately the weather was pretty nasty today because it was basically a blizzard. The snow here isn’t pretty, fluffy snow, but it’s soggy and freezing cold. Thankfully the museum was nice and warm, so when we got inside we were way happier. Afterwards we took some pictures, then just headed home and chilled. It definitely wasn’t the most exciting adventure day ever, but it was still fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        Tuesday, Jaylynn and I went to the coffee shop to have our quality time with Antonis while the other girls went to the refugee care center. We had a lot of thought-provoking conversations. Antonis is very wise, but he’s also very blunt so when you talk to him you have to be ready to think deeply haha.

 

 

 

 

 

       Wednesday, Emery and I had a little job to set up a bed in one of the apartments of our building. There were a few complications, but we got it and it was awesome!!! Afterwards, we went to Moses to help clean and organize.

 

 

 

 

       Thursday I got to go to the refugee care center again. I felt really encouraged today because I got to talk to a few different people and I felt like God was giving me a lot of courage. The walk home was also SO beautiful.

 

 

 

       Friday morning we had a prayer meeting which was a precursor to Naty, Kat, and I going out for ATL! We walked down to Aristotelous square to see what God had for us there. We made small talk with some people including a painter, a lady at a gelato place, a super sweet woman who asked if we wanted a picture when we were sitting by the bay, and some awesome musicians. We didn’t really get to talk about the gospel which I was a little bummed about, but we still got to make friends and just spend time together just the three of us. This was one of the first times it was actually warm out and it felt like the first time I’d actually seen the city. Looking out over the water felt like a movie. I can not believe we’re here.

 

 

 

 

                

 

 

Gelato and the sun over the Mediterranean Sea

 

 

 

 

 

       Saturday was our sabbath! There was a BEAUTIFUL sunset and this was the first time I got to see our rooftop view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       We had church on Sunday morning at the cafe like usual. Today I was downstairs for the message and it was so good. It felt like I’d heard the gospel for the first time. That afternoon, Jaylynn and I went out for ATL and explored the city at the same time. We went to a packed little cafe where I got a BOMB slice of cinnamon cheesecake. Afterwards we were like “okay where do we go bruh” then we walked to the top of the city to watch the sunset. IT WAS SOOOO INSANE! We were both feeling lead to talk to this one family, so we ended up taking a picture for them and starting up a conversation. They was a Polish family here for vacation, and their oldest daughter is actually going on a week long missions trip when they get back home! ATL yet again didn’t go the way I planned for it to go, but at this point I should understand that God always has other plans. It was still so fruitful and I loved being out with Jaylynn like always.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

God is SO creative

 

 

 

       JJ and I actually did a three day fast Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. This might have been my easiest fast so far, not physically but mentally. I felt like the Lord was SO sustaining yet again, but He also gave me so much self control. That’s the main thing for fasting I think is having that desire 1) to complain and 2) to brag. He’s teaching me that I should be slow to speak and make sure what I’m going to say will be fruitful. Looking back on Matthew 6: 16, I’m always reminded that fasting should be a secret for the reward not to be human praise, but for the reward in heaven. So besides talking to Jaylynn and my parents at home, we tried not to make our fasting obvious.

       Greece is incredible so far. The sun coming out this week really revealed parts of the city I’d seen but not actually SEEN before. I’ve enjoyed my mornings with God this week. My prayer for more hunger to seek Jesus is being answered, and I want to remain in that. Just wanting to keep falling in deeper love with Him.

So thankful 💕