its taken forever!

Soooo.... about my retreat? It went pretty well, everyone loved it. but as i was warned, most latvian's cant keep to a schedule, so we were at least an hour behind schedule the entire time. The first pictures (going from the bottom of the page working up) are just of the camp and the places we spent the most time. Guna and I planned most of the event, and did are best to see it through. we definately had help from Katie and Kristine but they wanted to let us take the lead, so they tried to stay out of most of it. Guna was in charge of food, I  just helped here and there. Katie and Kristine were going to be teaching. Initina and Iresa were going to give their bit on hair. and I was opening up the weekend and teaching some makeup stuff. besides being late the whole thing went fairly smoothly. we went to sauna, which is much different then what we would have in the states, but I loved it. it was a little odd at first. you know in the movies when someone is in europe somewhere getting a massage, and they are like getting beat (gently of course) with some leafy branches? well they really do that! they have these bunches of birch branches tied together and they dip it in a bucket of water from the lake, right outside, and then hit you with it. its REALLY hot in there so i guess it kind of cools you down idk! but i was given this sort of massage from one of the girls, it was nice i guess. but of course being the only foreigner there everybody thought i was soooo interesting, as usual. so i decided it was hot and i wanted to jump in the lake. its been raining for weeks now, it was probably only like 40 degrees outside. and i waited until i was so hot i almost couldnt stand it anymore i had Guna walk me out to the end of the dock quickly tell me where to jump, and then jumped. it was really incredibly cold, and it hurt pretty bad but yet i think, still worth it. also Kristine does painting to worship music,... she did both the paintings in the pictures. what katie and her talked about was that as women we play many roles, (the first one showed some of the more positive roles... "?") and some positive and some negative. they then played Amy Grants song "How Many Hats?" or something like that i had never heard it before, but then again it did come out the year i was born lol. we then broke up into groups of four and each shared a positive and a negative role we play, and then were also encouraged to tell how we felt about each. It was amazing! God really spoke to me through the other girls, i cried the whole time. I finally let God free me from a lot of guilt and bitterness i had inside. i didnt even realize i was in so much bondage, but when i was forced to face up i realized my problems. many of you who know me well know that im not a soft hearted person, things just dont touch my heart the way the would another girl my age. but God is also working through that. he is softening me up, and i see it all the time, he fills me with this overwheling compassion for people and i get all teary eyed. if i didnt know it was God i would think something was wrong with me. then kristine painted the picture with the masks. we talked about how with each role we play we tend to wear a different mask, but God can help us to remove the masks. so then she painted Jesus holding the girl. the entire time i watched this i cried. all  could think about was how i would feel if Jesus would be holding me, comforting me,... and then i realized he always waiting for us and for so long i just sat next to him never feeling him actually touch my life. and its like now ive finally decided to move from my fathers side to sitting on his lap and its a great feeling.  so monday in technically everyones day off, and i was sooo tired from such a busy week/weekend that i slept in till 930! then i ment Guna in the centre becuz we both just had some errands to run. we also went to church and practiced the latvian song that church choir is singing, yes i am learning to sing a song in latvian, and im not doing to bad either! i got myself an appointment for a massage, becuz my back had really been bothering me, and masages are really cheap here. so i figured its probably ok. monday night i ate chicken heart soup for dinner. yes i ate it and didnt puke. then Diks, Initina and i had some really good conversations about stuff going on here. they are so great i absolutely love them! then tuesday went to Ergli for our weekly prayer meeting, they are always so great, i especially loved todays lesson though, ill try to share about it next time. then i babysit all the kids for the hours after that so they can have there business/weekly scheduling meeting. then we come back home, clean house and get ready for Bible study, have bible study. clean up, watched Final Destination 4 tonight, it was really dumb. then go to bed, and tomorrow i have prayer walk/treasure hunt in the morning with Guna, then massage, then shopping then meeting with Laura and Annija. after choir practice, then ladies biblestudy. then possibly mens volleyball. thurday Elvis and i are making a big mexican dinner for Diks and Initina, then another possible choir practice. i am doing great here. i still love it. thank you for all the prayer! i am happy to say that i am still healthy. also money that people gave to me a lot went towards the ladies retreat, so a big thanx to you! also the t-shirts are looking great, when i get mine ill get some pictures uploaded. love and miss everyone!