Friends

God has blessed me with some amazing friends in Budapest.  A few of us went into the city to do a photo shoot recently.  (Heidi and Andrea B have very nice cameras and are good at using them.)  Here are just a few of the people I've been blessed to get to know this year.  I am thankful that they all have welcomed me and accepted me with graciousness that I don't deserve.  

Andrea B, Becca, Amanda and myself

Heidi, Andrea B, myself, Amanda and Becca

Amanda & I

Besides God, Amanda was one of the biggest reasons why I decided upon the International Christian School of Budapest.  She is a friend from Minnesota and my church.  It is really funny how intertwined our stories have become.  It's only a thing that God could have orchestrated for two Amanda's from Minnesota, from the same church, from the same sending agency, to end up at the same school in Budapest, Hungary for a year.  And that's only part of how our stories intertwine.
Amanda has a gift of joy and is passionate about God.  I've enjoyed hearing the stories of her conversations with her students about God.  She cared for each one of her students deeply and desired not only for them to be successful in school but more so that they would come to have a relationship with Christ and grow in their knowledge of Him.  I was able to rejoice with her as one of her students did begin to follow Christ.
Of course who would forget her funny and wild dreams that she has!
I am excited for the new adventures that God has for her back in Minnesota next year but am sad she will not be here in Budapest.  I will miss her very much.  I am thankful for graciousness in allowing me to be her friend.  I am thankful to our great God who orchestrated it that we would share a year in Budapest together.  I know this is not the end but a merely a good-bye.