Hi! I am here again (kinda late) to tell you about another week of my Ohio adventure! It is already week 8 and that’s crazy. Next week I will have only a month left till my return home.

We started Monday with office work. I redo our carnival flyers into a bigger poster so we can hang them out in different places. Pastor and I went for lunch earlier because we needed to stick around the office because Donna was out of town and it was the day before elections so some guys were supposed to come and set things up. So we did more like brunch and went to iHop which is a good breakfast place. I really enjoy eating big breakfasts when I can and since this was also my lunch I could eat more! Rest of the day I spent writing a sermon because this week I did two sermons. One on Saturday and one on Sunday.

On Tuesday we continued our tradition and went to Duck Rabbit for a coffee and to think about lessons for the upcoming Sunday. This week the main gospel lesson was about Peter and Jesus walking on the water. In the afternoon we also visited Gayle again in the hospital.

Wednesday started with the moving of some medical equipment that we had at church. It was equipment from John Karkosiak Sr. who wanted to give it to someone so we found a place that accepts medical equipment donations. John came with his van and we loaded everything in and headed to their warehouse. Afterward, pastor Eric and I went to lunch with Jeff, the organist. We had a good time!

Thursday was a day of an online meeting with Slovak Zion Synod bishop Wilma Kucharek. We were also joined by other pastors from the central conference of Slovak Zion Synod, pastor Gary, and pastor David. I think the meeting went well! After the meeting, we finally had time to watch a movie that both of us (me and pastor Eric) wanted to watch – Oppenheimer! So we went to the movie theater and guess what! We were the only people in the whole cinema! 😀 But I think this movie is really good and I highly recommend watching it to all of you! This week we had beautiful weather so I really enjoyed every morning on the porch with a glass of water and my Bible!

On Friday I didn’t go to the office because I had something else scheduled. Reed and Suzanne Mohlers picked me up around 10 AM and we went to a Cuyahoga Valley National Park for a bike ride! In the parking lot, we were also met by their son Ben who is the same age as me. I really enjoyed the bike ride! It was mainly flat and in the shade so it wasn’t any hard and it was very pretty that day. We rode our bikes from Peninsula to Acron which is about 14 miles. Then we took the train back and enjoyed lunch at the local Winking Lizard. Since one person donated tickets for me to see the Browns (Cleveland’s American football team) game so Randy and Peggy’s son Jason, their son-in-law Ray and I went to see the game. Unfortunately, the weather was really bad in the evening. We got soaked up even before the game started. The game was postponed by an hour and a half because of lightning. In the end, we left the stadium before the game started. We would be absolutely soaked sitting in that heavy rain and because the game was postponed it would end after midnight. So sadly I didn’t get to watch a football game but at least I saw an amazing stadium! The capacity of the stadium is nearly 70000 people!

On Saturday morning I went to a band practice. Carnival is in two weeks so it’s good that most of the band was there. In the afternoon pastor picked me up and we headed to Hinckley, which is about half an hour ride, in order to do a service there. I did a sermon and pastor did the rest. When we came back, Peggy took me to a popular ice cream place Honey Hut. She said if I never had a banana split I need to try it. So I did! It was really huge! I felt like I just ate a month’s worth of ice cream. 😀

On Sunday, since pastor Eric was doing a service in Hinckley, I was alone and did the whole service by myself. People said it went well so I was glad to hear that and I hope God was speaking also through the sermon to them. Right after church, I went with Shary and her family to Cuyahoga County Fair. There were plenty of us including Shary’s daughter Suzzie, her husband, and three kids – Aleena, Anna and Nicola, Shary’s son Robert and her youngest son Micky with his fiance (and I probably forgot about someone :D). I had so much fun with the kids! They didn’t want to leave my side! So I walked with them and carry them on my shoulders and did a bunch of fun things! We saw a lot of animals and also a demolition derby! It was such a nice time! I really enjoyed it!

Let me end this post with a little passage from my Sunday’s sermon (you can read Matthew 13:22-33 first in order to better understand):

Do you know what I love the most in that story? Jesus’s reached hand to save Peter! He was drowning. Let’s face it. All of us are at some point. He cried out to the Lord: Lord save me! Jesus pulled out his hand and saved Peter. This hand reaching out to save me is meaning so much to me. Because it is a symbol of what is Jesus doing also for me, for us. He died on the Calvary on the cross so He could reach His saving hand to me. He defeated sin and saved us! We just need to say it, as Peter did: Lord save me! Or as the first church did when someone believed he needed to proclaim: Jesus is Lord! No matter how deep you are drowning. He is reaching his hand to you. To save you. God did the biggest sacrifice possible to save us. Do we accept his reaching hand? Or are we just trying to swim back to the boat? His hand is always there waiting for us!

You can find the whole service here: https://fb.watch/mrX_eNtwop/

Have a blessed week, stay safe and I am looking forward to next week!