Tuesday, August 25, 2009
The Dragon
The dragon flag is the Welsh flag, by the way. I figured I should clarify since Melanie asked me, "When did you get in to dragons?" lol
Finally Here :-)
I can't believe I'm finally here! Cardiff is amazing. It is so lush and green and to top things off... it has a castle right in the middle of downtown. It's really sweet to see all the historic buildings surrounding modern life. The people are very friendly (especially the bus drivers who help my friend Jenifer and me find our way when we're lost). The only challenging thing so far has been the weather- it changes from hot to COLD and back again every hour it seems like. Oh and the street signs in the neighborhoods are in WELSH thank you very much. I can't read any of them, so I have to go by landmarks. My house is after the statue and right before the second turnaround. :-)
If you're wondering, London was pretty cool, too. We had orientation for literally 8-10 hours a day, so it was pretty exhausting. But I learned a lot. We got to go into a Hindu temple, a Sikh temple, and a Mosque, where we learned about the different religious beliefs. And the girls had to wear scarfs, which was fun because they were pretty, but annoying because you can't use your peripheral vision. But in the Sikh temple, the guys have to cover their heads as well, which I think is quite impartial and fair. :-)
We are actually still having orientation in Cardiff, but I'm ready to get started! Please pray that God will prepare my heart for whatever He has in store for me. My team is really great, so I praise Him for that. I'm so thankful and excited to be here.
Love yall!
Colossians 3:12-17
If you're wondering, London was pretty cool, too. We had orientation for literally 8-10 hours a day, so it was pretty exhausting. But I learned a lot. We got to go into a Hindu temple, a Sikh temple, and a Mosque, where we learned about the different religious beliefs. And the girls had to wear scarfs, which was fun because they were pretty, but annoying because you can't use your peripheral vision. But in the Sikh temple, the guys have to cover their heads as well, which I think is quite impartial and fair. :-)
We are actually still having orientation in Cardiff, but I'm ready to get started! Please pray that God will prepare my heart for whatever He has in store for me. My team is really great, so I praise Him for that. I'm so thankful and excited to be here.
Love yall!
Colossians 3:12-17
Friday, August 14, 2009
Two More Days in the USA
My bags are packed, my visa and passport are ready, I already know exactly what I'm wearing on the plane and I've said almost all of my goodbyes. Now what am I going to do? Well, first I should update my blog:
On Monday I'm leaving for Orientation in London. I'm super-excited. I'm going to have almost 12 hours (in the plane and airport) completely to myself before I meet up with everyone. Orientation lasts for 5 days and then my team is going to take a train to Cardiff, Wales. I think I'm going to be teaching sports to the youth group. Whoop. :-) I just hope they give me some training. I was put in charge of sports when I worked at a youth camp in the Ukraine and I had no clue what to do, so the kids ended up playing a rugby-esque game and it was quite dangerous.
So here are some new prayer requests:
1. My family! Melanie (my sister) and I have never lived apart for more than 3 or 4 months, so we are both nervous about this year.
2. My team, our leaders, and the youth group.
God has shown His great faithfulness to me in so many ways this summer. My passport was lost for almost a week, but I called UPS and they found it the next day. Later I was looking at my leader’s facebook and he had put up a request for everyone to pray that my passport would turn up. That was cool.
I also prayed for close family time and I’ve been able to spend so much sweet time with my sister, parents, and grandparents.
And even though I’ll miss family and friends, I feel so comfortable leaving because I know they are in God’s hands and He will work all things together for their good. Praise Jesus!
So, by the way, I apologize that I’m a terrible blogger. Blogging makes me feel thoroughly inadequate because I have nothing profound to say. But I know y’all are my friends and you love me the way I am. J I just want to let anyone who is interested know what’s going on. So here you are friends.
On Monday I'm leaving for Orientation in London. I'm super-excited. I'm going to have almost 12 hours (in the plane and airport) completely to myself before I meet up with everyone. Orientation lasts for 5 days and then my team is going to take a train to Cardiff, Wales. I think I'm going to be teaching sports to the youth group. Whoop. :-) I just hope they give me some training. I was put in charge of sports when I worked at a youth camp in the Ukraine and I had no clue what to do, so the kids ended up playing a rugby-esque game and it was quite dangerous.
So here are some new prayer requests:
1. My family! Melanie (my sister) and I have never lived apart for more than 3 or 4 months, so we are both nervous about this year.
2. My team, our leaders, and the youth group.
God has shown His great faithfulness to me in so many ways this summer. My passport was lost for almost a week, but I called UPS and they found it the next day. Later I was looking at my leader’s facebook and he had put up a request for everyone to pray that my passport would turn up. That was cool.
I also prayed for close family time and I’ve been able to spend so much sweet time with my sister, parents, and grandparents.
And even though I’ll miss family and friends, I feel so comfortable leaving because I know they are in God’s hands and He will work all things together for their good. Praise Jesus!
So, by the way, I apologize that I’m a terrible blogger. Blogging makes me feel thoroughly inadequate because I have nothing profound to say. But I know y’all are my friends and you love me the way I am. J I just want to let anyone who is interested know what’s going on. So here you are friends.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Update and Prayer Requests
time for an update... Today I got my visa info! I'm applying to go as a charity worker. I have just one week left in school and then I'll be home with my family from the first of July until I leave on August 17. I'm getting SUPER excited about moving to Cardiff and I can't wait to see what God has waiting for me to do. I still don't really know what I'm going to be doing once I get there, so for now I'm just focusing on the preparation. There is a great quote by Dr. David Livingstone (the explorer/medical missionary to Africa who fought against slavery and was awesome except that he abandoned his family grr :-(.. but this quote is really good): "God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to yours.”
So as I spend the next two months preparing and hanging out with family, I have some prayer requests.
1- Me. That I would not be lazy! I want to be able to “let my conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that I may know how to answer everyone” (Col 4:6). I think a lot of my job next semester will be building relationships, so I desperately need God to soften my heart and make me aware of other people’s needs.
2- My team. There are ten of us on the team. Please pray that we would connect, learn to love each other, and remember our common reason for being there.
3- The people we will encounter in Cardiff. Please pray that God would begin to soften their hearts to God’s truth and “give them a heart of flesh” (Ez 36:26).
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for your prayers.
So as I spend the next two months preparing and hanging out with family, I have some prayer requests.
1- Me. That I would not be lazy! I want to be able to “let my conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that I may know how to answer everyone” (Col 4:6). I think a lot of my job next semester will be building relationships, so I desperately need God to soften my heart and make me aware of other people’s needs.
2- My team. There are ten of us on the team. Please pray that we would connect, learn to love each other, and remember our common reason for being there.
3- The people we will encounter in Cardiff. Please pray that God would begin to soften their hearts to God’s truth and “give them a heart of flesh” (Ez 36:26).
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for your prayers.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Getting Ready...
Okay... I have never kept a blog before, but I want to keep everyone updated while I'm working in Cardiff, Wales, UK. (I'm still not sure how to write that- maybe it's just Cardiff, UK??). And I'm taking a break from studying for my last two finals, so I set this up. I'll try to update this as I prepare to leave and while I'm over there. I hope I'm not a terrible blogger. Here we go... :-)
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