My final paper is coming up soon. I have come to realize that once I get really excited about something I forgot about everything else. I am sooo excited about this trip coming up that I have been slacking on my paper, hence the quick blogs I have been doing.

I wonder who else is in school now? Is anyone else having trouble focusing on their school work? I feel like there is so much to do, and the time in which to do it in is coming up really fast. 

Fundraising has been really hard for me as well. My church has decided to put a condition on their donation. IF I can assure them that I will have all the money I need for the trip THEN they will help fund my trip. Well here is the dilemma...if they don't help me then I will not be able to raise all the money I need to go. I thought the church was all about UNCONDITIONAL love...not love with conditions. I have had a lot of trouble with the church since I got the chance to work in one. My faith has never changed, but my view on how the church is run has. My mind is very old school. I have been told I have an old soul, that I talk and think like I am from a time when things were different, and that I remind people of someone they used to know "back in the day". I love to hear all of that, but then I hear (from different people) that change is not going to happen in THEIR church and my ideas are to new. I don't think my ideas are new. I think they are the old way of doing things brought back from a time when things were easier.

I hope that when I go on this mission (Because I know this is where I am supposed to be) I hope that my "old soul" ways will come in handy, and really be of value.

 

Well it's paper time. Blogging is not my best characteristic....so I will try harder to keep up.

Hey. Well it has been a little over a week since I wrote something. It has been a crazy week. My mom had surgery on her knee on Friday so I have been the caregiver. It's an interesting job. My mom is a very do-it herself kind of person. She doesn't rely on anyone, so having to rely on me for a little while is hard on her. She doesn't listen very well either. I say "sit, I'll bring you something to drink" and she says "no no...I can get it" 

Nothing much else is going on. I have an 8-10 page paper to write about Rahab that I have not started yet. I love school...usually...but I am so ready to take a break and not have to write papers that I don't understand or do readings that are above my reading level. I'm so burned out with school. I just want to get out there and help people. Writing a theological paper about Rahab and how I relate to her (i chose Rahab because of her courage to save her family when that type of thing was usually a mans job) is not going to help people. it will just be killing a tree. There should be no papers in class. There should be oral exams, in private, with your teacher so they can evaluate what you know. No papers to grade! And you would get a better sense of who your students were if you sat down and talked with them. Us shy people are sometimes overlooked because 1 or 2 people are always talking.

 

Well paper writing time. Enjoy the nice weather (if you are having it) :)

Well another week closer to leaving. I am so excited. All of my stuff has come in. So I am the proud owner of a tent, a mummy sleeping bag, cooking stuff, hiking backpack, and some other stuff. My house looks like an outdoor gear store. I went out and bought skirts for the trip too. I'm more of a jeans person so I had to get some nicer clothes.

 Raising money is a lot harder than I thought it would be. My church used to be really supportive of mission trips but because money is so short they are not as able, or willing, to donate money. That's my biggest worry lately. I know that it will all work out in the end though.

 

So I have been thinking about things to say on this blog. I was so excited the other day when I read that we would be going to Ireland in September. My birthday is Sept 4th. I have always wanted to go to Ireland and going there in September (even if it is just for a week) is amazing. 

 

I have also been thinking about life without school. I have been in school for 17 years straight (4 years of college and now 1st year of Seminary). This will be my first year without school. I'm really looking forward to taking a break. I have had a great time in school. I went to Randolph-Macon College and received a BA in Religious Studies. I had so much fun in my religion classes. I hope that my degree will finally come in handy while on this mission trip. It has been really hard to find a job where my degree is actually useful. That is why I am at Seminary. I am getting an MA in Religion/ Youth Ministry. I'm hoping to get a teaching job in a private school some day.

 

Well class is about to start! Until next time! :)

Well the race is still 4 months away but I have ordered all my stuff. I have never been camping before and am a little worried I will get a tent that is impossible to put together! 

 I am also thinking about all of the things that I will be missing/leaving behind when I go. I do the children's time at my church and I won't be able to do that for 11 months. I will also miss my mom's 55th birthday. I know that I will see things that will amaze me beyond words but the people I'm leaving behind are like a child's favorite blanket. They have been with me through it all. 

 

I can't wait to meet my team so that I know I will be alright. Right now I'm so worried about getting memories collected that I haven't thought much about the 11 months away...yet.

Hey. I was wondering what shots everyone else has gotten. I was told by my health department that I did NOT need the Yellow Fever shot. I am now worried that they were wrong, or I might be randomly asked to show the certificate. I have gotten all the other recommended shots (minus Rabies and Jap encephalitis). 

 

If you know of any shots that I should be getting and may not have could you let me know? Thanks!

 

Can't wait to see everyone in May :)

I was called to be in the mission field when I was 15 years old. I got the chance to go to Peru with World Vision and have wanted to go back to help people ever since. I have always been involved in helping people but the desire to go away from home to help them really took place 7 years ago. I graduated college with a degree in religion hoping that it would lead me to do great things. Up until I was accepted to the World Race it had not done much of anything except make me think working in the church was NOT the place for me. So I ventured off to Seminary and was instantly displeased with my surroundings. Everyone there was under the assumption that they were right and everyone else was wrong. I believe that everyone had a little bit of the truth and no one has the entire truth. The story of Babel should be a reminder to everyone that God does not want everyone to hold power of correctness. The correctness is spread among the people.

I look forward to going on this mission for many reasons. I have a lot of questions about faith (blind faith to be more exact) and I am excited to see this kind of faith in action. I also love to work with children. Teaching is my passion and this mission is exactly the right fit for me in that area. I also wanted to do something that I would not normally get the chance to do. I am proving to others that people my ago DO care about others in the world.

 

I can't wait to get started!