Lindsay Pratt: Chocolate, friends, and spontaneity

This week ended up being a huge, spontaneous blessing for me. Let me tell you about it!

Part of the “Missions Training Program” is a 30 day outreach. Every MTP student must spend at least thirty days outside of the semester serving somewhere. One of the students that was part of MTP this past semester was a girl named Tabitha. She is spending her “30-day” in a city that is only two hours away from L’viv. Obviously, we had been talking about her coming to visit for a day (it would be a shame to be so close and not see each other).

Tabitha and I were not only in MTP together, we also spent ten days during the semester in an outreach in Slovenia.

Little did I know what her visit would hold…

After her train arrived in the morning, we spent some time back at the house. Then, we ventured out in the 90+ degree weather to unveil the beauty and wonder of L’viv. We walked through many of the unique and beautiful churches that can be found in the center of the city. We climbed the 300+ stairs to the top of a bell tower, where one can find a beautiful view of the city. We definitely learned the hard way that climbing those stairs in 90+ heat, without water, is not such a good idea. By the time we reached the top, we had to sit for a couple of minutes before we could start taking pictures. It was a memorable experience J

Of course, no trip to L’viv is complete without a visit to the famous “L’viv Chocolate Factory.” Needless to say, we enjoyed a wonderful cup of hot chocolate. We ended up staying there for quite a while having a sweet “heart-to-heart.”

Within the next couple of hours, I was thinking about Tabitha’s imminent departure, and realized that I was not ready to say goodbye to her. One thing led to another and Tabitha and I were on a train headed back to Ternopil.

During this week, the church in Ternopil is hosting a worship conference. I had not planned on being there, but God had other plans J It was a blessing getting to see friends from all over Ukraine at the conference. I stayed with Tabitha and a sweet friend named Tanya, and it was great being together!

Originally, I was supposed to leave on Tuesday. However, I could not force myself to go, and I changed my ticket for Wednesday morning. While I was at the conference, I got to see a friend from another city, named Oksana. We had never spent much time around each other before, but we hung out a lot during the two days that I was there. I was really blessed by her. We had good times of encouragement, fellowship, and simply hanging out! I love how quickly God can draw people together! He definitely did that in this friendship!

So, the plan was to leave on Wednesday morning, but that got put off yet again, and I ended up leaving a little bit later that day. What an awesome, spontaneous blessing from God.

Also, the Lord really used this time to bring Tabitha and I closer. The times of sharing and of laughter were so special, and I can definitely say that our friendship is much closer and dearer than it was a week ago. It is wonderful to have friends that truly love and care about you!

My encouragement through all of this: Take advantage of the time that you have!

“…How much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him.” Matthew 7:11