Random Meanderings

I haven't posted on here in a while and part of that is because life has just taken off over the last few weeks! I went from the waiting game of hearing back from SIM if I (somehow) passed my psych evaluations and all that jazz to switching gears and going into full-blown fundraising mode. Needless to say, it's been a whirlwind and I need to process it. That is what I will do. Here on this blog. Come along with me. Right now.

SIM: By Prayer - One of the main things I've done since I wrote on here was go to Charlotte, NC for a 3-day orientation with some other short-term missionaries. Most of them were going for a few months and were young and spry. I was so blessed by their tenacity and wide-eyed wonder; so much so that I wondered when I got so old that college students were so much more energetic than me? I also got to meet a new friend, Maria, who will be teaching with me down in Bolivia next year. It was great to be able to hang out with her before we get down there later this month (DID YOU HEAR ME??? I SAID "LATER THIS MONTH"!!!) The highlight of the trip was getting to meet my school's principal and his wife. It was so great to make a connection with them before I get there.

But the thing that I was most excited/impressed by was SIM as an organization. For all you regular readers of this blog (all 8 of you) you may remember that I visited SIM back in April and got a quick tour when all of this monkey business was beginning. Going back as an official Short Term Associate was so great because I got to see how they do everything according to their byline "By Prayer". You know how some organizations have a byline and you don't really understand why? I didn't feel that way once when I was down there. Everything was soaked in prayer. And that shows such complete dependence on God, it's remarkable.

Putting the "Fun" in Fundraising - So it turns out God wants me to go to Bolivia next year. How do I know this? He's raised over $11,000 in the past month and more is steadily coming in! I have been humbled again and again by people coming along side me and sacrificially giving in a crappy economy like this. And it hasn't just been my "rich friends", it's also recent high school grads, unemployed people, fellow missionaries and other people who are on tight budgets. It makes the passage of Scripture where Jesus blesses the woman who gives a tiny amount which is also the majority of what she has over the large amounts the stupid Pharisees give cause they're loaded. It also shows people's kingdom-mindedness. Yes, it hurts to give to someone on a monthly or one-time basis; it might mean less Starbucks (and I love my Starbucks!) or not as many cute, new clothes (another downfall of mine), but it shows how important the Gospel is to you. And that is sweet to Jesus.

Single and Ready to Mingle? So if you meet a single person who is going on the mission field, here's something not to say to them: "Oh my goodness! What if you meet someone down/over there? What if you MARRY someone on the mission field and never come back???" Here is why that's not helpful: 1) What if I don't meet someone over there? What if I go to a third world country and no one shows any remote signs of interest in me? Then I come back next year and am like "Yup, not even guys who live in dirt houses were interested in me and my green card". 2) Some of us missionaries, yours truly included, are rather freaked out by the idea of not coming back. We know that it's a possibility and it haunts us. So to put us in a country with an imaginary spouse for the rest of our lives is overwhelming. So, you've been warned. The next person that says either of those things to me will get punched in the jugular. No questions asked. I know, I know, that wasn't a very "missionary thing" to say. I'm working on it.

Another Way to Help: I covet your prayers, folks! In fact, that's the next step in this process is finding people who will commit to regularly praying for me while I'm gone next year. If you're interested in taking a day/topic a week and lifting me up to our Father, please let me know. If you can't be one of those "rich friends" I mentioned above, I would love it if you could support me in this ultra important way. Let me know if that's you.