My Class: 1st B

From left to right: TOP ROW: Jan, Luka, Tilen, Pavlin, Andraž, Rok, Sara, Mirjam, Bor, Matevž, Simon, Jure
MIDDLE ROW: Grega, Jan, Nika, Lavra, Janja, Neža, Ana, Mateja, Ana, Ana, Ajda, Nika, Nežka, Alenka
BOTTOM ROW: Anže, Domen, Katja, Nina, Helena, Meagan, Julija, Lily (professor)

I really, really like my class! Everyone is so nice and we love hanging out together - at school, on the bus, before mass, at our school camp. It has been so fun to get to know each person and I'm sure that there is still lots more I don't know!
Oh, and did I mention I really, really like my class!

Meagan Jackson, the American!

Being at a new school it is very funny to see people's reactions to the fact that I am an American. There have been many funny ones, but this is the best one!
Last week I was starting to get worried because my Math teacher would never call me to the board to do problems. He would even go in lines and when he got to me he would start another line. Finally I figured our why! One day my neighbor went to the board and when she was done my teacher asked her how to read something, which was my name. She was afraid she would mess up so said she didn't know and my teacher had to call me and ask me how to say my name. He forgot how to say my name! Hopefully he still remembers!

I'm a Škofijka!!!!! (what the kids from my new highschool are called)

Yesterday I started high school! It was a great day! I think that this year will be great, but that I will have to work hard! I'm in a class of 33 kids from all around Slovenija (and from America (=). I'm taking Slovene, Latin, English, French, Math, Biology, Chemistry, Geography, History, Music, Computing, P.E. and and Ethics class called Religion and Culture. So it will be a lot of studying, but I will hopefully learn a lot, not only educationally, but also about God and me!
Have a wonderful school year!

This summer I...

... went to an English camp at a castle in Austria with 6 of my friends from school
... was a translator in a classroom at another English camp for Jr Highers from Ljubljana
... went to the seaside with 2 of my friends (lots of playing cards and swimming)
... got schoolbooks for next year (it's always fun to see what I'll be learning)
... went on family vacation at a little cabin in the hills of Croatia
and I'm tomorrow I'm going to JV Kids' Camp. We will be on an island in Croatia (lots of swimming) and get lots of great Bible teaching!
My summer was great!

The End of Primary School

The first thing that the end of school brings is graduation. I had a great graduation with my friends and the next day we went to an amusement park in Italy together. At my graduation I sang a song that I wrote to my classmates and everyone else there. It's written from my heart. Here are the words ...

They Need Hope

Her life is falling apart,
she looks to the only things she knows,
the friends and the boys around her.
She wants someone to feel close.
Everyday is the same,
she tries to fill her heart.
But she always ends up in the same place,
her life is falling apart.


Oh, dear God, she/he/they needs hope.
A way to keep living,
a way to go on
and a way to find happiness.
Oh, dear God, You are hope.
Please fill her/him/them with Your love,
give her/him/them Your strength and Your joy.
Give her/him/them hope.

His life is falling apart,
why did he make it such a mess?
Filled with drugs and drinking,
trying to find what is best.
He's running from the truth,
suicide rates are off the chart.
But he always ends up in the same place,
his life is falling apart.

So many hopeless people on this earth.
Looking, searching, wanting to find it soon.
Hope, they need hope.
You, they need You.

You have given me hope.
He is hope.

And the next thing the end of school brings are camps. All 5 of us that went to the amusement park will be at Castle Camp together and two more of my friends will be coming also. Please pray that we will have a wonderful week and that we will take a step closer to God!

High School

I haven't written for a while- it's been a crazy Winter and Spring.
This February and March I had to decide which High School I will go to next year. It was a hard decision for me, as there were 3 I was choosing from. In the middle of February me and Daddy visited them. It was interesting to see how each one was different. And after this I felt pretty good about the private Catholic High school. It seemed like a good school and that they had good discipline there. There were a couple negatives though ... it's Catholic, I would have to ride the city bus for about an hour to get there and it costs 70 EUR a month to go to school there.
After fasting and praying and talking a lot about it with my parents I decided to go to this school. God has tought me a lot through this process, even though it wasn't the easiest one!
He has tought me that He will always be with me, no matter where I go and what I do. And He has tought me that nothing will happen to me that He doesn't want to happen. He has a plan and nothing will happen outside of that plan.
I'm still a little nervous about changing schools, finding new friends and taking more tests! =) But now I know that God will watch over me and be with me in all these situations!

All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Psalm 139: 16

Birthday

This weekend I had a great sleepover party with 9 friends from school and church. We had fun playing games with chocolate prizes and watching Freaky Friday. For dessert we had a fondue with lots of fruit. It was really great to celebrate my birthday with them, since it's my last year with most of them!

Pictures from My Party

Eva, Ana and Zala eating homemade pizza

Daddy and Nina playing Guesstures

The Whole Group

Our puppy Aria

Last Sunday we got a puppy! She's so cute and we're enjoying playing with her and having her become more comfortable at our home!













This is Aria!














She's already part of the family!

Pictures

Finally! Here are 100 pictures to give you an overview of my trip! It was so wonderful! So much better than the pictures! =)

The pictures go pretty fast, so you might want to pause the slide show and just click forward. And if you want them to come bigger you can double click on a picture!



So, now you have faces too! Hope to get just a few more pictures on here, but I hope you enjoyed these!

I'm Back!

I am back home after having a wonderful time in Africa!
So much happened- I got to play with kids, hold babies, sing songs, work in a garden, play blocks, see a hospital, watch someone building a building =), make a glass bead and so much more!
Here are two stories that are really cool:
The first one is about a little girl named Sooma. One of the mornings in Uganda we went to work in a garden that 18 children were in charge of. It was more of a field than a garden! So she took us there and we worked and talked to her for about 2 hours. Later that day I also talked to her when she was getting water. That night we went to play games and have devotions with the same 18 children. When Sooma saw us come in the door she came and gave me a big hug and just smiled up at me! It was so fun to have someone trust you like that! And I didn't even think about getting sick from the kids while there. They're so cute and sweet that God puts love in my heart for them instead of fear!
The second story is a something that happen at the church service I went to in Uganda. At the beginning of the service a man walked up and started to tell a story while crying very hard. He had grown up in the orphanage there but had later walked away from the LORD and started to work with witchcraft. He had come that day to ask for forgiveness and ask God to come back to him. He burnt the things that he had used for witchcraft and the elders of the church laid their hands on them and told him that God had forgiven him and that he was accepted by his Savior. It was really amazing to see this! It was also really cool that I wasn't afraid of any evil on my trip! I am so thankful to God that He was leading me and keeping my mind focused on Him!
A couple other highlights were:
* Reading Shadow of the Almighty by Elizabeth Elliot! It was so fun to read and see how Jim Elliot lives. While reading it I decided that I want to do everything for Jesus, not just something!
* Getting to know Hayley Ellenwood, Suska Jones, Laurie Doden and Steve and Nancy Longbrake better! They are really cool people!
* Listening to a speaker from England and realizing that I don't want to strive for God's love anymore, but know that He gives it to me!
* etc. etc. etc. =D
Thank you all for being a part of my trip for reading my blog, praying for me and thinking about me! God did amazing things for me on it!!
P.S. Pictures to come soon!

Psalm 61:7

My prayer for the people I will meet in Africa:
May they be enthroned in God's presence forever;
appoint your love and faithfulness to protect them.

ONLY 3 MORE DAYS!!!!

I can't believe it! I only have 3 more days before I go to Africa! I am so excited and nervous.
I thought that you might want to know a little bit more about when I'm going and stuff, so here we go!

The dates of my trip are:
11/26 Leave Slovenija Arrive Venice
11/27 Leave Venice Arrive Amsterdam, Leave Amsterdam arrive Ethiopia
12/1 Leave Ethiopia Arrive Uganda
12/7 Leave Uganda Arrive Amsterdam
12/8 Leave Amsterdam arrive Venice

I am so glad that I'm getting to go to Africa. I don't really know exactly what I'm going to be doing. I know that I'll be playing with kids and probably be working in a field. I'll also be writing a journal, so you don't have to fear that I'll forget anything! I'm also sure that I will take a lot of pictures!
I am really glad that I'm going to Africa, but I also know that I won't be able to do this without God's help. He has already helped me so much with earning and raising my money for the trip (I have earned all of it now! Yippee! =0) and teaching a lot about Himself. He has done so much more than I could even imagine.

If you are praying for me throughout my trip, these are a few things you could pray for:
That I won't be afraid of evil, flying by myself, getting sick and not knowing what to say to people.
That God would protect my mind from Satan's tricks and that I would have an open heart to the things He wants to teach me. Also that I would remember what I learn and not just forget it.
That I would be strong in Him, as my strength isn't very big!
That I won't worry if I don't know what's going to happen.
That I will grow in my walk with God.

I am so glad that you all have been a part of my trip by reading my blog! I can't wait to tell you the stories!

The Long Road to Hope

This is a book by Jennie G. Dangers that I am reading for my trip to Africa. It is very interesting and I have really been enjoying reading it. While reading the first chapter I felt like I was reading my own story, as it talked about her moving to Africa when she was 7 years old (I was 8 when I moved to Slovenija). From packing and moving to the feeling you have when moving to a new country and continent, it was really fun to remember those days. You are really beginning a new life when you become a missionary.
I would really encourage you to read this book, but don't be surprised as I was. It's actually quite a big and thick book! *=)*

Science Experiments

Did you know that if you mix citric acid, baking soda and water (sometimes vinegar) you get a freezer and a balloon that falls to the ground instantly? It's true (well you don't get a freezer but the container gets really cold), as we figured out tonight at our house. We had a fun evening of doing cool science experiments I had done at school and marveling at how God made everything work so cool! =)