D-DAY: JULY 11th!

Da-dum! MOVING DAY IS SCHEDULED! HOORAY! On Sunday, July 11th, I will officially depart for Washington! My brother Sean will be my travel buddy, and we will spend 4-5 days driving our way across ohio, indiana, illinois, wisconsin, minnesota, south dakota, wyoming, montana, idaho, and washington! OH MY!

This means that the next ten days are crazy!!! ...my final slew of meetings and phone calls, taking care of a billion logistical details and packing! eek!

Please pray fervently for sanity during the transition period. I'm definitely taking a big step of faith by leaving with the fundraising still yet to be completed...but I know that it is the right time to go, regardless...much adventure is in store.

carpal tunnel beatles.

my wrists hurt! i've put almost four hundred miles on the car in three days, and i think my carpal tunnels are protesting! (they once did the same thing after 4800 miles of driving in 9 days...so i'm just inferring...) although the mileage is high, the progress has been good...FIVE meetings in two days is definitely fun, but also very intense and emotional--to talk that long about something that is so personal so much.

but regardless, i spent some q.t. with john, paul, george and ringo today in the car. every once in awhile i pull out the beatles after listening to zeppelin or the who or pink floyd, and i stil say, "man, these guys are worth all the hype. they're the best."

the final departure date is coming soon--it will be determined most probably within the next 24 hours. right now i'm just praying for the Lord's guidance and my own wisdom and discernment. i will let you know when i have a definite date on the calendar.

freedom and windham

This morning, I was the speaker (shall we say, giver of the sermon?!) at both the Freedom and Windham United Methodist Churches. Both churches are under the pastoral care of Rev. Ruth I. Roth (formerly of Grace UMC in Coshocton). It was very fun to spend the night with Ruth and have the opportunity to share with both of her congregations. Some new connections were made...some new potential support was cultivated, and I was able to drive home through the green, rolling hills of East Ohio with the sunroof open and Led Zeppelin blasting through the windows.

With every passing day, my stomach continues to knot up wondering WHEN I will be close enough to 100% to set a for-sure date. There were just a few support cards sent in this week, bringing the total monthly pledges to 70% and the one-time gifts to just over $4000. Praise the Lord for the new supporters...

And I continue on this quest for patient progress...wasn't it the tortoise who was rewarded in the end?

the waiting.

today it feels like the waiting to reach 100% is harder than actually reaching it. every month throughout the support-raising process, there is a quiet week. a week when i question my goals, question my motives, and question my calling. apparently THIS is that week. a week when the progress is quiet, the communication is quiet, and God himself is quiet. i know everyday that God's promise will be fulfilled, but i still often doubt the when. when i doubt the when, then i become discouraged, and when i become discouraged, then i return to the Lord in fervent prayer...and he always provides some small means of encouragement...a small hook, if you will, to pull me to the next day.

it's so hard when everyone asks me when because the answer they ask is the #1 answer i want to know myself and the #1 answer i cannot provide.

today i pray for a small bit of encouragement to keep my eyes steady on the goal. it's Mile-Marker 18 of my Marathon...and i'm tired.

monday mornings!

Hello Monday!
I say that with complete and utter sincerity, too.

doesn't it seem like monday mornings should be hated and despised? this seems to be the general trend...but for some reason (maybe just because i didn't have to be anywhere by 8am)...for some reason--i don't hate mondays that much right now. i think it's because it's the time of the week when i have to get back on task, have to reorganize and set new goals. (keep in mind that as i write "monday morning" i really mean "early monday afternoon"). it's also the day of the week when i send out my accountability sheet to my accountability partners, so they can know how many of my goals i have reached...it's a good organizational day--hit the ground running--look forward to accomplishing big things!

i expect big things from this week--i expect to work hard...have lots of meetings...make lots of phone calls. i estimate that i still need to recruit about twenty more ministry partners, and i would like to recruit lots of them this week! so, oddly enough, hooray for monday! because according to this monday, this week will turn out pretty good.

Would Arundhati Roy watch Dawson's Creek?

I don't really know the answer to that question. This morning, however, I have decided to hop in the car and drive downtown to the Coshocton Public Library to check out Arundhati Roy's The God of the Small Things, per the advice of Miss Hannah (the supreme editor of my "Books to Read in the Near Future" List.) The point is, it is a Saturday morning...it's a bad time to make phone calls...i am the only person home today, and Dawson's Creek reruns are not on, meaning I have no excuse NOT to read a good book.

Plus, I'm wondering if in the grand scheme of things, the hours spent watching reruns of Dawson's Creek will really mean anything. Certainly watching the relational dynamic between the love triangle of Dawson, Joey, and Pacey causes me to remember and reflect on my own high school summers spent sailing across the Atlantic with the town bad boy while my best friend made independent films to assuage his pain. But surely when this world fades, I need to face the fact that Dawson's Creek may not remain standing--and perhaps, just perhaps, I should dedicate my life to something a bit more meaningful. Does that mean I should stop watching reruns of Friends too?

my nose.

does anyone here have a particularly strong attachment to your nose? (wait. attachment is a rather vague term, because unless your nose is prone to falling off, of course, you're attached to it!) anyways...the point is, i'm pretty worried that my nose is BROKEN! and now suddenly, i feel strongly about my nose--about how nice it was last week, and about how i'd prefer for it to stay that way! so...it still hurts, and it still has a bump that wasn't there before the crash, so i'm still biding my time. within another week, if all is not well, it means it's time to call a plastic surgeon! YUCK!

which would mean a time delay for moving westward and surgery and two black eyes and lots of pain! ergh...so if you're prone to praying, pray for my nose.

67% and a neck brace.

over the weekend, the progress towards the fundraising goal has raised three whole percentage points to 67%! Hooray for that! (Bringing the total to $2105/month out of $3150/month.)

and i added a nice new piece to my wardrobe! a NECK BRACE! oh, that's right. on the way home from the wedding in minnesota, somewhere between chicago and grand rapids, hannah, jon and i were in a fairly bad single-car accident on the highway. we all escaped with minor injuries, but a car that was completely totaled. (hannah's car...) so we spent sunday afternoon with the sheriff and later at the e.r. before making our way back to hannah's house. my neck is pretty stiff and my nose is swollen, but as of right now, nothing is broken. praise the Lord for that protection! (hannah and jon both received a few staples in their heads to hold gashes together, but other than some bruises they're fine too). the lesson learned is--you get much more tired driving straight through from minneapolis to grand rapids than you might assume you would...and--anyone can lose control of a vehicle so quickly that you don't even have the time to respond. so. be careful out there.

coffee hag

last night at 11pm in a coffee shop called "coffee hag" (mankato, minnesota), i enjoyed a very fine reunion with four of my friends from "daystar university" in kenya. when andy and levi walked in the door of the coffee shop where ruth, hannah and i waited on them, we literally screamed and jumped out of our seats! ...it had been TWO YEARS since we had been in the same room with such great friends ALL at the same time, and there were many hugs and big smiles! today, levi is getting MARRIED! he's taking the next step, and we are so excited to be here to see it happen! praise the LORD that something as amazing as five months in kenya can still bring great joy three years later.

63%

The magic number for today is 63%! Progress is coming, though it may cometh slowly. I'm working really hard right now to make phone calls, set up meetings, and keep working towards the 100% goal in anyway that I can. This week I had two breakthroughs, making two calls that I had been hesitant to make for months! and guess what! when i picked up the phone, dialed the numbers, and spoke to the person, he or she was GLAD to speak with me and was totally happy to become a supporter! Praise the Lord for giving me courage...and Praise Him for really laying it on my heart who to call. Support-raising will sort of be on hold this weekend because of the wedding, but I'll really be hitting it hard next Monday.

road trip

today i'm leaving for minnesota! (i wish that i could type out a proper minnesotan accent there...but alas)...anyways, i'm going to the wedding of the future mr. and mrs. levi and natalie van deusen bjork! woah! congratulations to them, AND i get a chance to catch up with hannah, andy, ruth, sonja, and hannah's bf jon, my very bestest friends from my time in kenya over three years ago! Perhaps while we are together we will embark on a safari for minnesotan wildlife OR we will take cold showers on purpose OR we will wear the same outfit all weekend, OR we will remove the shocks from our car and drive through potholes. the possibilities are endless!

maybe we'll just have a good time celebrating a very nice wedding and sit around in the hotel room talking...this is probable.

i have a blog?

i have just discovered this website for free blogs, and i am THRILLED! (a special thanks to adria lambert for sharing this link)...so, this means that i have the ability to post my hopes, fears, interesting anecdotes for all who have interest to read...or even those who don't. may my blog and i and you have a very nice time hanging out together...

hmb