Praises

It's about time I post about a few praises in my life.  I feel like I have let the hardships of fundraising weigh me down lately because it seems like such a daunting tasking but I have to keep reminding myself that the Lord is faithful, even to me.  He has a plan for me and I know this is where he wants me right now so I need to quit waiting for something to change and find his glory in where I stand today.

My Wyld Life Campaigners girls are definitely a sweet blessing in my life.  We went to dinner tonight and they gave me the sweetest cards with such encouraging words that just melted my heart.  They even gave me $200 that they had been saving up to add to my fundraising!! Talk about the sweetest 8th grade girls alive!  I mean come on, I'm supposed to be the leader yet the whole year I felt like I was learning so much more from them than they may ever know.  I will truly miss them but I am so thankful that they will feed into such a strong Young Life crowd in high school and they are already talking about saving their money to come visit in Nicaragua!  Come on down girls!!

My students are also a blessing - sometimes not always the sweetest but they definitely keep me on my toes.  I know middle school is not for the faint of heart but having the amazing opportunity to teach and lead WL at the same school have been such a gift.  I have gotten to know these students pretty well this year and I hope they will always know that even if I have to yell at them for talking too much, it's always out of love!  Keep in touch!

My friends are so good to me.  I really wouldn't be here without them.  I could write about all of the lessons they have taught me about love, grace, mercy, joy, sorrow, strength, endurance, faith and so on forever and still have more to say.  The friends the Lord has surrounded me with all of my life but especially in college has truly shaped me into who I am today.  I know that even if we are separated by a few borders, we will remain true friends because our friendship is based on the love of the Lord.  I am expecting visitors, get your passports!

My family.  They are a crazy crew but they have supported this endeavor for so long already and although they don't always understand this love of Nicaragua and why I have to go so far, they have never tried to convince me otherwise.  Didn't we talk about Thanksgiving in Nicaragua 2013? MOM - GET YOUR PASSPORT!

Pretty much, if you are reading this blog, it's probably because you have had some kind of impact in helping me get to this place of taking a great leap of faith to follow the Lord to Nicaragua and I just want to say thank you!  The Lord is doing great things and I couldn't do it without a support team like you, no matter what role you think you play!

Fundraising is still hard but the Lord is always good.

Upcoming big deals:

Cross Cultural Orientation starts on Sunday in Colorado Springs, CO.  I will get to meet a group of other people who are going all over the world with Young Life on the same mission.  I love meeting people with the same heart so I am so excited for a week in Colorado!

Last day of teaching: FRIDAY!  I'm going to be sad to leave my students and the staff at DMS but I am so excited for what's to come!

Registering for language school is really happening so here's to the leap of faith that September is it!  :)

3 Months from Friday

I will thank you, Lord, among all the people.  I will sing your praises among the nations. 

Psalm 57:9

Trust.

So I have been reading a book recommended by friends last summer that I just now got into and have discovered this book could be about me.  It's called Hinds Feet on High Places. Here's a quick synopsis because I couldn't really do it justice ( check it out ).  For the purpose of the blog I'll tell you it's about a girl named Much Afraid who is trying to get to the high places with the help of the Chief Shepherd and the companions he has given her, Sorrow and Suffering.  She has to travel through many valleys, deserts and plateaus to get to the glorified high places where Love lives.  Just like fundraising, her journey is a refining process that she has to go through and trust that the Chief Shepherd is taking her on the exact path that makes the most sense for her.  She comes from the Fearing family so, along with the companions who are helping her she has to endure comments from Pride, Bitterness, Self-Pitty, Resentment and Craven Fear (her cousins who are trying to make her turn around and go home).

Where I am right now in the book, she is on a plateau, walking through dense fog and is questioning whether she is going the right way. . . kinda like me and my fundraising.  I know this is the right way but I find myself wondering if my goal of September is really the end goal (for the sake of this part of my journey) and questioning whether I should be doing something else, something more, instead of just fully trusting that my Chief Shepherd, my Lord, is with me as He has promised me from the very beginning.

I found sweet encouragement in this paragraph tonight that I wanted to share:

" 'Much-Afraid," said [the Shepherd] very gently in answer to that look, "don't you know by now that I never think of you as you are now but as you will be when I have brought you to the Kingdom of Love and washed you from all the stains and defilements of the journey? If I come along behind you and notice that you are finding the way especially difficult, and are suffering from slips and falls, it only makes me think of what you will be like when you are with me, leaping and skipping on the High Places.' " 


It's been interesting to be reading this book as I'm on my own kind of journey these days.  On some days I am so excited to read about another girl who is on a similar journey yet on other days I can't seem to handle someone else's struggle.

This week will be my last week (4 days only!) with students because the next week I will be at a training in Colorado Springs with other people with a similar heart for the nations.  This week could end up being somewhat bittersweet for me for a couple of reasons.

#1Sweet: I won't have to wake up with the sun! (I am not a morning person by nature so this will be a great gift!) #2Sweet: This training is another sign of IT'S REALLY HAPPENING! :) Oh the joy that fills my heart! #1Bitter: I've really grown to love my students.  They are difficult sometimes but my mom tells me I can't hold it against them when they act like middle schoolers... #2Bitter: I'm going to miss the family I've built with the DMS staff.  I will see them for a couple brief teacher work days after my training but it's always a challenge when chapters of life come to a close.  

The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like Hinds' Feet and he will make me to walk upon mine High Places. 

Habakkuk 3:19 

Trust. 

It's been a while . . .

First, let me apologize for the lapse of time since my last post.  Life got crazy and I got a little overwhelmed but I promise from here on out to do much better with the updates, at least monthly if not more. 


Ok so the happenings and the updates.  


I finally let my 8th grade Wyld Life campaigners girls in on my little secret which was a great relief.  It was great because I still haven't told any of my students yet so they are the first to know.  I think they like being the first and having this secret to keep but we'll see if it lasts another two weeks before I tell the rest of the school.  My campaigners girls have taught me so much this year and I truly adore each and every one of them.  They have such a strong bond together but even bigger than that is their faith.  We were able to have some mature conversations about faith and what it looks like on the day to day.  Even their questions about high school were about to perserve the greatness that they already have when so many other girls their age are looking to everyone else to figure out who to be.  It has been a true honor to help start up Wyld Life here in Raleigh.  I know the Lord is going to do great things in this ministry and I have loved being a part of it even just for a year.  


Teaching has also taught me a lot but I'm not sure I'll be sad to leave it.  I am thankful that the Lord has a different plan for me because I don't think I could last 30 years!  I love kids and I can't wait to see how the Lord works in that but I'm not sure I can love kids well as a teacher.  I am going to miss my students but my heart isn't in this profession.  Maybe, one day, I'll be back, but as far as I can see it's Nicaragua for me! 


That leads me to my next confession: I am worried - due to slow progress in fundraising - about meeting my goal to leave in September.  I have had days of feeling discouraged because I have to register for language school by mid-June but in order to do that, I have to be confident that I'm leaving in September. I know the Lord's timing is perfect and He is already working and I want to rest in that but sometimes I fear I'm not doing enough so I'm getting in my own way.  Good thing my God is bigger than the things I think I can control.  Please, pray for me to find rest and peace in this because mid-June is about a month away!  If I don't leave in September I have to come up with another plan (until the next semester of language school starts - it's not a now-or-never thing, thankfully) and this is kind of my big plan right now...I don't have much else on the table.  


I broke down my budget again for the money I still need to raise:

8-10 ppl @$100 monthly

plus

15-20 ppl @$50 monthly

plus

10-20 ppl @ $25 monthly 

If you think you could fit into any of those categories OR MORE, please please please contact me!  As the school year dies down (17 more school days for me!) I will have extra time on my hands and would love to fill it up with appointments.  

Let me leave you with a verse that I have held near to my heart the last few weeks: 

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon.

Deuteronomy 31:8

4 months till Costa Rica 

September 1, 2012