ducks in a row??

For those who know me, you know that I thrive off being organized, planning ahead and having my "ducks in a row." That seems to be one of the areas that God has been challenging me in personally lately. I knew leaving my job, ministy, and way of life in Alaska was going to be a change of pace and stretch me in my faith...I am feeling it particularly right now.

I know without a doubt that this is the time and Columbia, SC is the place that God wants me to be. A time of training and preparation for what comes next...but I honestly have no idea what that "next" thing is. Sometimes I think it is foolish to purse foriegn missions, to learn another language, culture and worldview when I could just as easily do ministry here in the states. But I am reminded also that while I was in Alaska my spirit was dying. God has given me a burden for other nations and places and I believe I will be overseas serving at some point. I don't know how or where exactly, but that, I am learning, is the beauty of TRUSTING Him.

Right now my ducks are not in a row, in fact I feel like my ducks are completely lost. My roommate reminded me the other day that this is a time of training and waiting, being still and listening so that when He DOES say GO, I will be thoroughly equipped for every good work and READY to go. I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg in taking steps of faith and trusting God to provide and direct as he unfolds his next steps for me.

school update...

I've been back at school for a week now and things are busy as usual. Midterms are over, yay! But the semester is coming to a rapid end. I can't believe how fast it's gone. I'd have to say at this point that my favorite class is my Gospels class. My prof for that class is Dr. Hulbert. His son-in-law was one of the first pastors at Lazy Mt. Bible Church in Palmer, AK! How small world, aye? He asked about my church, WBC and said that his son-in-law and Larry were (maybe still are) good friends and prepared sermons together in their beginning days, Cam Arensen. Ring a bell Larry?

Currently, aside from school, I am getting resumes together to apply for speech pathology jobs and I am also looking for places to move off campus. It is MUCH cheaper to live off campus and now that I have connections and know the area better, I am in the midst of sorting through that as well. Please be in prayer for both things...that we could find a good place to live near campus for the next couple of years and that a job would open that I could maybe do through the summers. There are A LOT of job options here in the SLP realm...hospitals, in patient, out patient, schools, in home visits, pediatric clinics, the list goes on. I am hoping for somethig in the ped. department as that has been the main area of my work thus far.

I hope all is well for those of you back in the great land of AK. I hear you've got snow now? Today is the first day I have not worn sandels and I wore shorts yesterday! It feels like a nice AK summer down here!

Fall Break!

Tuesday night blue grass music with Marie in NC...a cultural experience to say the least! I was offered to be adopted, offered to have an arranged marriage, told that I wasn't ugly and there was no reason I should NOT be married...the list goes on!



Deep south blue grass the way blue grass was meant to be...this was post potluck where I sampled a variety of INCREDIBLE southern home cooked food! As far as music goes, some groups were excellent, others...I had to try and dicypher the lyrics between 4 beats going on simultaneously with southern twang and slurred singing all mixed together.


My apologies for being so hit and miss with blog entries. I do have a couple of decent excuses, but I will just cut to the chase and let you see and read about the latest happenings in my life.

A couple weeks ago we had our "fall break" kind of like spring break but in the fall. I've never had one before in all my school and college days, but I have to admit, it was great. I needed the break, the time alone and way from campus. I decided to take a road trip for it and spending the first two days in Charlotte with my aunt, uncle and cousins. The next two I spent up in D.C. with a couple of my cousins. Beth lives on the Maryland side of the city and Allison lives on the Virginia side. The last two days I got to spend with my southern AK connection, Marie VanWingerden. Every part of the trip was a blessing! I loved having time at each place. Driving for hours aloud for some much needed solitude...singing my heart out as loud as I wanted, listening to books on CD and just being STILL (driving but mentally still).



Me and my cousins, Beth and Allison...out to eat after a low key day in D.C.



Lincoln Memorial







Washington Monument



Capital Building



"Gentlemen, start your engines" will never be the same to me now. Talk about LOUD!!!
This was taken during the two warm up "slow" laps...after that the pilot car exits stage right and it's just down right FAST! They go 160-190 mph...I do that sometimes too. :)



#48 Jimmy Johnson (not shown above, got the wrong pic in place but you get the idea) the racer I pulled for...a random pick out of the newspaper that morning. He did really well actually, the top 3 for most of the race then wiped out and ended up 16th overall. Oh well!



NASCAR line up



Alex's fan club...he's a senior this year, CRAZY!!


Brittany showing off her Appalachan State victory shirt!
(they beat Michigan State in football earlier this fall)

a Chinese weekend

So this weekend was packed with ministry! Friday night Anita Chik and I had dinner with a group of our girls to make sushi and miso soup...yes a Japnese meal but it was Asian and they LOVED learning to make sushi! The entire house ended up coming, 7 girls in all, 6 from China and one from India. Anita shared her testimony and presented the gospel through a sushi analogy...it was interesting. Probably one of the most unique ways we've shared the gospel. We had a great time hanging out together and got some good feedback on where they are at in their lives.

Saturday night we went to the Columbia zoo with several of them. It was a free night for college and international students from CIU, USC and Ben Lippen. This was lower key and fun to just hang out and continue to build relationships. They had a good laugh teaching me mandarin phrases and songs! I'm learning...slowly!!

Sunday morning went really well too. By this time I was getting fatigued with so many things back to back, but it's just the way it fell this month. We had the students act out the Prodigal Son story then broke into small groups to discuss it in more depth. They were really attentive...no offense, but more so than American students, they seem to take education and teaching more seriously. It was encouraging to have that time together.

Later that night I went to a presentation on a particular Chinese group. Anita Chik worked with this people group a few years ago and shared about her experience. Several students came and we had a good time of prayer and fellowship afterward. The presentation was two fold, one to learn about that people group...Chinese Muslims...talk about a blending of religions...and second to pray for future direction for a summer trip to this people group. For confidentiality purposes I am not sharing specifics, but please pray with us for wisdom in moving forward with the vision God has given CIU. I would love to be a part of this team and I am praying about the logistics...timing, money, this particular group, etc. We appreciate your prayers in regard to all this!

The greatest blessing to me this weekend was the reminder Friday night about where God has called me. As Anita shared the gospel message with the girls I couldn't help but thank God for brining me here for such a time as this. My heart's deepest passion is evangelism and right now specifically to Chinese people. There is no greater joy to me than to be able to share the TRUTH and LOVE of Jesus Christ with those who do not know him. Nights like Friday night are what make me come alive!

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at workwithin us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever Amen."
Ephesians 3:20-21