Don't you think it's amazing how easy it is to find time to blog when you're supposed to be doing something else? Like working on a presentation for this weekend's retreat? Yup. It's super easy! I needed a break so here I am. I know my last blog stated how busy I am and how I have so much going on so I thought in this blog I would post some of what that is. Some are prayer needs, some are prayer requests, some are things I'm thankful for, and some are upcoming events I'm excited about! I think the easiest way is to do it in a list-type format so here goes nothing; an inside look at what's going on and the emotions involved.
I'll start off with a reason to be thankful. Saturday was the big area Special Olympics meet that my dear friend Randi (along with a partner) took the lead in planning in College Station. I was there as a coach to make sure all of our athletes got to where they needed to be for their events on time. It was an amazing day. The weather was great; sunny all day instead of the rain we'd had earlier in the week. The whole event ran smooth and like a well oiled machine! My athletes did fabulous and we had some wonderful young buddies to partner with each athlete and help them out all day. I know this event was a huge amount of work, but all of that work paid off as we had TONS of volunteers to run events and lunches and more! It's THE best Special Olympics meet I've ever been to! Great job Randi and planning committee! Job well done!
Another thing I am thankful for is, as I mentioned in my previous blog, I started Thai language learning lessons last week! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to start learning! Second lesson Wednesday! Woohoo!
A source of emotional turmoil for me has been the medical emergency with our outreach coordinator at my church. Manny had a heart attack last Tuesday and was rushed to the hospital and had a triple bypass surgery. The surgery went well and his vitals have all been good, but he has still not awakened since the surgery. It has been almost a week. Many prayers and support have been raised for him. His condition has saddened me tremendously. Although I have not known him long because he's only been at my church for a short time, he has become a part of my journey. He has shown genuine interest in knowing me and all about my journey into missions. He has offered support and help to me and genuinely cares about how I'm doing. I am not sure of the exact feelings that war within me during this time, but I know that I care for him and his wife and have been praying for his awakening. There's room for hope, but at the same time, there's the fear of the loss of that hope. Please join with me and the many others praying for him, for his awakening, his family, and the many lives he has touched that are struggling with his condition.
Man, it's hard to move on from that one. Maybe I should have saved that one for last. Breathe... And go.
Prayers for safe travels this weekend. Thursday afternoon I head out to a retreat, the retreat that completes my second year in my spiritual direction course. While on this retreat I have been graciously given the opportunity to share about my journey to Thailand. Prayers for this presentation, please! Also, the next day I will present my spiritual mentor project. This is the project I've been struggling to get done. Darn procrastination! I'd like to say I've been super busy, but I've had almost 9 months to get it done. Yes, I have done some research in the mean time, but I probably should have been more focused within these past 9 months in devoting specific time for it's prep. I've started piecing together information into some format today and will hopefully finish that separation of information and develop a layout by the end of tonight. I'm not overly worried about it really. It's just one of those things that makes me anxious because it's coming up. I'm not the biggest fan of being in front of others presenting projects. Mission presentations have been much easier than anticipated, but this is more facts and what I've learned from someone's life as opposed to my personal experiences. There are people in the room who have a lot of knowledge on my spiritual mentor and so it makes me a little nervous to present in front of them. Does that make sense? Anyway, prayers for all of that, please! I know it's going to be a great weekend. I ALWAYS enjoy my time within this community. I just need God to calm my performance anxiety, let go of my need to be perfect, and share from my heart over my head knowledge.
More prayers for safe travels. I come home from my retreat on Saturday, try to get some rest, and then hit the road really early Sunday morning to head to Georgia! I'm super excited about this trip! First of all, I get to stay with Becky, one of my church's previous pastors. It will be great to see her again and catch up on life together. I'm also excited about spending time outdoors with her. She posts incredible pictures of all the fun things she does in all the beautiful locations! Hoping for beautiful weather so I can enjoy some nature with her! Second, I get to visit The Mission Society office! I need to take care of some paperwork, but I also get to visit with some of the staff members who I absolutely love getting to spend time with! This is bound to be a good time! Third, I get to visit with the Thai couple I will be working with in Thailand! They will be in the states for meetings and I get to have dinner with them one night! That's such an exciting opportunity for me! Email communication is just sooooo lacking and it will be fun to see them and talk with them face to face. Thursday is a LONG day of travel for me. I will get up super early and drive to Tennessee to visit some good friends who moved out there. I've super missed them being a part of my every day life and I can't wait to see them, catch up with them, and just be a part of their journey for an hour or so. Yeah, only a little over an hour is all I have time for because I'll still have a 16-17 hour drive remaining. Yes, I'm trying to squeeze a lot into a short amount of time, but when you're already that close, you can't possibly pass up the opportunity to visit good friends! I've got to make it back in time to be at work on Friday. If I'd planned things a bit better, maybe I could have gotten approval to miss the whole week, but I didn't and I'm working with what I've got! It will be good. Some time with friends is better than no time at all! Prayers for the journey though. That is a long time to spend in a car by yourself in one day. 20 or more hours total to be exact! (As exact as "or more" is.) This trip will be well worth all of the driving in the end, though. Tack on to that driving to Dallas that Saturday for a best friend's kids' birthday party and there's more driving. And then the fact that the next day is Mother's Day, I'm planning to travel the two hours to my parents' to spend time with my mom! So much driving in one week!!! Prayers for my car! It will be a lot of miles on little zoom-zoom, but spending time with friends and family is priceless!
Continued prayers as I continue to develop financial partners for my cross cultural work in Thailand. It has been a very slow month and not much progress has happened. I've also been very busy with life this month and have only gotten to meet with two or three people. Prayers that opportunities to share my story with more people will happen and that I can raise more monthly support. I am so very thankful for those who are already supporting me and look forward to continuing to share my journey with you all! That being said, I have a HUGE joy! I've been trying most of the month to get a hard copy of my newsletter in the mail to everyone I have addresses for. It has been a very long process; waiting for approval by mail, multiple trips to the printing and bulk mailing company, and lots of updating and reformatting mailing addresses and the newsletter itself. After many hours of prep and waiting, my FIRST hard copy newsletter should be in the mail this week! Yay for mailing the April newsletter before May!
This joy seems pretty inferior to the rest of my list, but I'm super excited to be getting my hair cut Wednesday! It's been getting way too long, I've been too busy to schedule one, and by the time I do schedule it, it's always a week later before they can get to me! Finally going to have more manageable hair again! With the rain and humidity, this longer hair has been a pain. Long enough to curl crazily when wet, too short to ponytail, and takes too long to straighten currently!
Another joy: I got to share my Thailand story with my Sunday school class yesterday. I really enjoyed getting to do that. My class has supported me so much in all of my mission experiences the past few years and it was a joy to get to share more about where I'm at with them. Hoping they enjoyed it, too!
Prayers for a move would also be appreciated. I'll be beginning a packing, purging, and moving stage in May and move to another house outside of town. Moving is always stressful, but this time, even more so because I'm going to permanently simplify what I own. I've always been a bit of a pack-rat and although I've improved tremendously and simplified in every move, it's time for the BIG purge. I'm sentimental and it can be hard for me to let go of some things. Also, it's a little sad to be moving outside of town and away from being in the same neighborhood as a lot of friends, but it's still only 20-30 minutes away. It's not the end of the world, and most of my life I've actually lived out of town. These past ten years of being in town have been a blessing! I love the friends I will be moving in with but I will miss the family I'm currently living with. They have been a huge blessing in my life and I just love getting to see their little ones grow, learn, and experience the joys of life! Just continued prayers for my life changes and new seasons.
Life is good. It really is. No matter the struggle, the bad, the fear, and the sadness there is always joy, peace, love, beauty, and relationships that mean the world to you. I have so much to be thankful for! God's presence is evident throughout my life and throughout creation. I choose joy! I choose life! I choose God! Blessings to you all!
