Wow so it’s been awhile since I posted last, sorry about that guys.  Not a ton has been happening here in the Croatian world.  The weather is beginning to cool down a bit, which I love :)   School has been keeping us pretty busy but it’s going great!  We’ve learned so much already and it’s only the second week in, I look forward to seeing where we’ll be at the end of the class. 

So the other day I went to this lake that’s really close to my flat.  All of my life I’ve always had a “place”, I call it my God place.  I know that I can find God anywhere but this “place” is somewhere where I can go and get away from whatever is going on and really just focus on God.  Now that I’m in Croatia I think that this lake is my “place”.   Anyway so I decided to go to the lake, it was a gorgeous sunny day with a light breeze, but it was a bit chilly so the lake was practically empty… which was fine by me.  I just sat there soaking in the natural beauty and began praying.  During my prayer time I realized just how lucky I am to be here.  I get to live in this beautiful country with these beautiful people.  It was also a very humbling time for me.  You see, I came here with mindset that I was going to help Croatians that I was going to teach them but really, it’s been just the opposite.  Already they’ve taught me so much about love, and loving one another.  Croatians have huge hearts and if they can help you in any way they will.  I spent all morning there praying, it was the kind of praying where you just don’t want to stop.  You know the kind, it’s like when you’re having a really deep conversation with someone, you want it to just keep going.  I cried, I laughed, at one point I even had one guy stop and ask me if I was ok (that was during my crying bit).  It was just so great to be able to take a few hours out of my day and just focus entirely on God, what He’s doing here in Croatia and with me personally.  I am so blessed.

Please continue to pray with us about where God is leading us here.

P.S. Update on my dad, after his appointments he has decided to go with surgery.  He now has to meet with the doctor in Chapel Hill which is about 4 hours from our house.  The plan right now is for the surgery to take place at the end of November.  Thank you for all your prayers and continue to pray for my dad and our family. 

Bok!

Ben in Croatia
The start of Month 2

So I missed my Sunday blog this week. I had football practice on Sunday afternoon for the first time and just didnt think about it I guess. I played Center the entire practice without cleats. I did alright for not playing full contact football in 8 years haha. There wasnt a locker room and they gave me some pads and a helmet right before. I thought they would have practice pants too but the didnt so I had to practice in my cargo shorts haha. I bought NFL GamePass on Sunday as well, I was tired of trying to figure out how to watch Miami Dolphins games free online.

Anyways...I have successfully busted both of the pedals on my bike...and I still ride it. Today I started language school and it was NEAT!!!!!!! There are people from all over the world in my class and we all dont know anything about Croatian and I am excited to learn. I have class now everyday at night for 3 hours. Its a 5 mile bike ride away so I am riding my busted bike 10 miles a day, great stuff. Hopefully I can get a new bike or repair the one I have soon.

I have been working out with the football team during the week, slowly meeting more and more of the players and spending time with them. My workout partner's name is Pero that I met today and I am having a lot of fun working out and getting the chance to play some football.

I have my times when I question why I am here but it is good to see that things are starting to get on track here and I hope that God will use me in every small moment. Pray for me that I would be able to make the most of my opportunities and that God would shine through me somehow to someone here.

Dobro Vece (have a good evening)

Ben Ponder