Kaylor's PE fieldtrip

Each week Kaylor gets to take a fieldtrip for PE class out to the camp.  Typically they ride bicycles.  Here's a picture of her classmates taking a break and they found huge mushrooms!  No, she didn't bring one home... she thought they were gross!

Pictures...

 View out our balcony looking west.

View out our balcony looking north.

Our living room (on the second floor)... before our "stuff" moved in!  Loving the black leather couch!  Majority of the furniture was furnished.  We had to buy new mattresses for our bed (due to my back) and gave the old ones to the girls since they didn't have beds!  LOVE Ikea, and am thankful Josh and my brother weren't opposed to shopping there a few times to get the things we needed (i.e. basic bed frames for the girls! they appreciate not having to sleep on the floor!)

Celebrating my brother's birthday... he came to help out for 2 weeks and we really miss having him here!!  Yes, it's bought "bundt" cake... no, I didn't bake it. :(  

This day was Monday, August 20... I had gone out to the courts to see Josh teaching baseball skills with a group of campers (this was the last week of summer camp: children's multisport camp) and brought my camera.  Because the group was so large, I decided to "help out" despite my back pain and tried to roll "grounders" to some girls.  I had much difficulty, but I was determined to help!  It was only a few hours later when I believe the disc pieces broke off and sent me into excruciating pain.  I always wonder whether my "helping" was the worse thing I could've done.  I'll never know, really, and it honestly doesn't matter anymore!!!  It was such a wonderful summer day....

 One of my most precious memories of being laid up and waiting until surgery.  People came to our room to worship... I was constantly aware of God's presence taking care of all my needs... I cherish that time being able to worship.  The girl to my right, Grace, had arrived the day everything went "south". She's been the one filling in for me at school.  She's Puerto Rican, came from Savanah, Georgia and came to intern with Proem for the year and offer Spanish classes in the evening.  Little did she know she'd be teaching English full-time!!!  She's a blessing!  The gal on my left, Karen, is from Kenya and is a university student studying economics here in Poland.  She came a few times to the hospital in Lodz as she was still living there (she's since moved to Warsaw to start her studies, she had been in Lodz at a language school for 9 months to learn Polish).  The night before I left the hospital, she ended up translating between the 3 other ladies in my room and myself... because of Karen's visit, she was instrumental in helping make my connection with the other women real!  The next day I left the hospital with tears of sadness for saying goodbye to those ladies... even despite our language barriers the majority of my time in the room with them.   Karen was a blessing!!  The others in the room are a group of Americans that came from Ohio... so much story with them... but they were God's gift sent to minister to me.

 This picture was taken by Josh on the girls' first day of school at Tomek.  Traditionally, children wear white shirts the first day of school in Poland.  

 Kaylor had taken this picture some time during the summer... I loved it because it reflected their enjoyment of walking/riding bikes with their friends (children of proem staffers).  These friends are precious to them!

The hospital had a beautiful courtyard that I was able to go down to and walk around in.  This was on Monday afternoon- after having a successful morning (no fainting!) of walking in the ward.  It did my body and soul good as I was pretty sad in the morning when I was missing being with the girls on their first day of school... my first day of school, too!   There was this nurse that had been with me for 3 days... and I appreciated God's humor in having him be my nurse, because he kept scolding me for walking like an old lady and he would give me a hard time about not doing things "right", but he knew his humor and words were motivating me!!  There were three nurses that really spoke English well during my stay there... I have some good "lost in translation" stories, however!!

 Our German friends, Arvid and Ingrid with their two boys... they had worked with proem for 1.5 years before the boys... and they spent their 3 weeks of summer vacation at camp- we hadn't seen them since 4 years ago!  It was great reconnecting.  We just a little "goody" package from them... German chocolate! 

Lauren's class... and my soon to be students!

Reminder...

I feel led to share this verse with you... and yes, it's the same as the one we put on our blog heading when we made it this Spring.... little did I know how much this verse would mean to us this year!  But after reading verses 16-18 this morning, I felt compelled to share it on the blog... the verses that come before what we used in the heading.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

"Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

I love it... just love it.

Surprises...

There is so much to update you on, that I don't know how to even start.  Most of you are probably aware of the "surprise" that we have encountered, but nonetheless, we wanted to use this blog as our main way of keeping our family, friends and partners connected with our life and ministry here in Poland.  Since my last post was August 13, I am so very sorry that I have not been able to update for almost a month!  Oh, how quickly things can change....

On Monday, August 20, everything changed.  After 2 months of trying to manage my lower back pain, things got much worse.  In a moment, I started experiencing a debilitating and excruciating pain down my left leg.  It was like my muscles wanted to explode.  After a phone call to a local doctor, I was able to get pain medicine the next day, but I endured a long night of having to sleep (try to sleep!) in only one position.  Once I was finally able to get a MRI done, we knew that we were dealing with a herniated disc in L5/S1 that had broken off into two pieces.  My only option was surgery.  As you can imagine, we were taken aback by the severity of the situation and the heaviness of knowing the decisions we had to make; decisions that could alter our year here in Poland.  We consulted with an excellent neurosurgeon here and had another in the states review my images and provide consultation.  It was best advised to stay and have the surgery done in Poland.  From a physical angle, we knew we were making the best decision as I could have surgery very soon, excellent surgeon to do the surgery, and traveling was dangerous and risky to even get back to the states.  From a God angle, we felt there was so much more going on... and my situation was a catalyst.

So- I had a successful surgery on Friday, August 31. Because I had been laid up for 2 weeks, suped up on pain medicine for that long prior to surgery, I had a couple tough days initially trying to get up and walking after the surgery.  I also have low blood pressure and not being able to sit at all (now for the next four weeks), made it difficult to go from a prone position to an upright one immediately.  BUT, I did... and after 6 full days in the hospital, I was able to leave on the 7th.

Much occurred for the girls and Josh during this "surprise" as well.  While in the hospital, Josh had to oversee and get all our bags from camp packed up and moved into our apartment in Tomaszow (day after surgery).  While in the hospital, the girls stayed with three different sets of friends.  My third day after surgery, the girls had to start their first day of school.  So Josh was able to be back with them to take them to school and then come back to Lodz where I was.  I don't think I have to go into detail the emotional struggles I had not being able to be there for this important milestone for the girls!

Indeed, this has been an extreme surprise, but much has been learned and experienced that I wouldn't trade.  We would make the same decision and do it all over again here.    I feel like I could write a book now!

So that in a nutshell is what's transpired in the last month for the Winans family in Poland.  We are trying to navigate these uncharted waters under extreme circumstances... but feel and know God's unfailing promises and presence.  We are surrounded by an incredible group of people who have been helping us and taking care of us every step of the way.  We are already aware of how God has been using this situation for His glory.  For that, I'm simply humbled and honored.

I will close up this "update" with a heartfelt appreciation for all of you who have been sustaining us with prayers and an apology for any of you who are hearing this for the first time, but know that there's still a long road ahead of us and will need continued and sustaining prayers!  Love to all.... Ann