An Unexpected Blessing!

Katie had her first official day of school orientation today. She had to go fill out lots of paperwork so that she can get paid for her assistantship. All of the grad students were there, and this included the International students. When Katie got home, she said that she had met a girl named Julia who was from the Ukraine, and she had gotten her cell phone number. We randomly decided, at 4:00 to call Julia and invite her over for dinner that night.

Julia was surprised, but excited, to come over. So, Katie and Kristi and I started dinner preparations. Over the course of the evening, it was very nice to just sit and talk with Julia. She is here to get her PhD in Chemistry, so we didn't spend much time talking about our respective studies, since they don't coincide in the slightest.

While we were talking about how Julia had learned her English, she started talking about this boy from Idaho who had spent time in Ukraine teaching English. He also happened to be a Christian, and she had learned a lot about God and Jesus from him. We still aren't sure if Julia is a Christian or not, but it was very cool that she was so open to talking about it all.

Pray with me that God will be able to use us, and develop this friendship with Julia. It is nice to have a friend to do things with. Julia arrived in America on August 1st, so she is still trying to adjust. She seems to miss home a lot, and especially with all of the unrest in the Caucasus region, it is completely understandable. But, it is still an exciting blessing that Julia has been brought into our lives.