So....I should probably make a new post...right??? It has only been all summer :)
And a busy summer it has been. Between working and going to weddings I have just been spending a lot of time with family and to be honest it has been completely wonderful!
Now what you really want to know....more about China. Right now, it looks like I will be leaving September 24th and will arrive the 25th. Currently they have received the invitation from China meaning I can get my visa....so that is very exciting as well. So 1 month...that just seems really completely crazy to me. And there are so many people to see and so much to do! But mainly, I am getting really exciting that everything is finally coming together, money is almost all raised, and I have SOOO many people supporting me!!!! God really is great, and looking back it has amazed me how this has all worked out with the set backs and things I wouldn't have imagined happening. His plans are truly even better than mine ever are :)
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
humbled
Was graduation really a month ago? In some ways it seems like it was just yesterday, then other days it seems so far away. This past month I have been working, trying to unpack, organize, and sort out my things for a garage sale....so much work, I will be so glad when it is done :)
China has always been in the back of my mind. Well, sometimes not quite the back of it :) There is still a big part of me that can't believe I am going, yet as I talk to more and more people about it I get more excited! I have just started fundraising and it has all ready been such a humbling process. To go from never having to ask other for money (except my parents occasionally :) ) to relying on others to reach the goal so I am able to make this trip is one of the most humbling experiences I have faced. It is so much more so than when I went on a mission trip with my church 3 summers ago, and I think a lot of that simply has to do with the fact that I have grown up, I am not the same person I was then. And that, is good. I have no doubt that God would not be leading me down this path if He didn't all ready know where this money would come from. I daily rest in His reassurance that this really will work out....and in three short months I will be on the biggest adventure of my life!
China has always been in the back of my mind. Well, sometimes not quite the back of it :) There is still a big part of me that can't believe I am going, yet as I talk to more and more people about it I get more excited! I have just started fundraising and it has all ready been such a humbling process. To go from never having to ask other for money (except my parents occasionally :) ) to relying on others to reach the goal so I am able to make this trip is one of the most humbling experiences I have faced. It is so much more so than when I went on a mission trip with my church 3 summers ago, and I think a lot of that simply has to do with the fact that I have grown up, I am not the same person I was then. And that, is good. I have no doubt that God would not be leading me down this path if He didn't all ready know where this money would come from. I daily rest in His reassurance that this really will work out....and in three short months I will be on the biggest adventure of my life!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
changes
Can I just start my saying God is faithful!!!
For the past 2 months, I have taken upon me the process of applying to teach English in China. I can honestly say that it has been one of the scariest things I have ever done in my life. I have lived a very simple, and very blessed life. However, because of this, I really haven't had to step outside of my comfort level. I have lived a life focused on serving God, and strive to allow Him to lead me.
I guess one of the first steps to this process was the summer before my sophomore year, when I changed my major to special education. This experience was something that came completely out of nowhere for me, and I was left with no explanation except this was Gods plan for me, and although that scared me, i was excited to being the journey. The last three years have been wonderful, and I completely love my major, and I absolutely love the students I am blessed to work with everyday! Later, came the very small thought about teaching overseas somewhere. After hours of searching, I found the teach overseas organization. Looking at it, things just clicked. It is Christian, mission based, established, and offers locations in multiple countries around the world.
Fast forward to now, and after the application process, I guess I can say China here I come. This step is HUGE and it is scary, but it is the biggest step of faith I have ever had to take in my life, and at the same time that excites me. I am very excited to see how God works in me through this, and how this experience affects the rest of my life. I still fully intend to teach children with exceptional needs, and I can only imagine how this experience will help me in that field.
I will stop before this becomes a novel, but I hope this becomes a place of reflection for me, both as I am finishing the semester and preparing to go to China, and when I am in China. I cannot even imagine what lies ahead for me, but I know one thing, it will all be EVEN BETTER than I could ever plan!
For the past 2 months, I have taken upon me the process of applying to teach English in China. I can honestly say that it has been one of the scariest things I have ever done in my life. I have lived a very simple, and very blessed life. However, because of this, I really haven't had to step outside of my comfort level. I have lived a life focused on serving God, and strive to allow Him to lead me.
I guess one of the first steps to this process was the summer before my sophomore year, when I changed my major to special education. This experience was something that came completely out of nowhere for me, and I was left with no explanation except this was Gods plan for me, and although that scared me, i was excited to being the journey. The last three years have been wonderful, and I completely love my major, and I absolutely love the students I am blessed to work with everyday! Later, came the very small thought about teaching overseas somewhere. After hours of searching, I found the teach overseas organization. Looking at it, things just clicked. It is Christian, mission based, established, and offers locations in multiple countries around the world.
Fast forward to now, and after the application process, I guess I can say China here I come. This step is HUGE and it is scary, but it is the biggest step of faith I have ever had to take in my life, and at the same time that excites me. I am very excited to see how God works in me through this, and how this experience affects the rest of my life. I still fully intend to teach children with exceptional needs, and I can only imagine how this experience will help me in that field.
I will stop before this becomes a novel, but I hope this becomes a place of reflection for me, both as I am finishing the semester and preparing to go to China, and when I am in China. I cannot even imagine what lies ahead for me, but I know one thing, it will all be EVEN BETTER than I could ever plan!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Priorities
This past week I have been bogged down with school. It is inevitable, we are approaching the end of the school year way too fast and the papers and assignments are piling up. I always find it so hard to keep things in prospective at times like this. My mind seems like it is traveling in a million different directions, trying to keep track of classes, homework, meetings, and countless other things going on in my life.
Last week I saw friends on three different occasions that I had not seen in several weeks. In all of these instances it made me sad, these people have all played really important roles in my life, and I love being able to talk to them and laugh with them. In all of these instances, I had to say that I really wanted to get together with them soon...but I had no idea when this soon would be. After walking away from the third time I ran into someone like this, it really made me realize that just maybe God was telling me to slow down a little bit, and rethink some of my priorities. Yes, school and the work that goes with it is important, but so are the friendships I have been immeasurably blessed with.
Luckily, I have been able to meet with a few of these friends, and begin to share what has been going on in my heart with them. To share that the idea of going to China to teach scares me to death at times, but it simultaneously makes me so excited to see how God would use me in a situation like that. To talk to them, and to pray with them is a gift that I take advantage of all too often. Each time I have needed a friend, God has answered the prayer by sending the perfect person into my life. When I have taken the time to slow down and listen, He has taught me so much about His love for me though those around me this year. I have been able to find a new confidence that relies on God, and is not based on the ways of man. Sometimes I just need this reminder that I need to turn my prospective upside down, to be able to look at things from Gods eyes, and not my own.
Last week I saw friends on three different occasions that I had not seen in several weeks. In all of these instances it made me sad, these people have all played really important roles in my life, and I love being able to talk to them and laugh with them. In all of these instances, I had to say that I really wanted to get together with them soon...but I had no idea when this soon would be. After walking away from the third time I ran into someone like this, it really made me realize that just maybe God was telling me to slow down a little bit, and rethink some of my priorities. Yes, school and the work that goes with it is important, but so are the friendships I have been immeasurably blessed with.
Luckily, I have been able to meet with a few of these friends, and begin to share what has been going on in my heart with them. To share that the idea of going to China to teach scares me to death at times, but it simultaneously makes me so excited to see how God would use me in a situation like that. To talk to them, and to pray with them is a gift that I take advantage of all too often. Each time I have needed a friend, God has answered the prayer by sending the perfect person into my life. When I have taken the time to slow down and listen, He has taught me so much about His love for me though those around me this year. I have been able to find a new confidence that relies on God, and is not based on the ways of man. Sometimes I just need this reminder that I need to turn my prospective upside down, to be able to look at things from Gods eyes, and not my own.
Monday, November 10, 2008
A new beginning
This semester has been full of the unexpected, and God has been challenging me with His plans every step of the way. After talking with a friend, she encouraged me to start a blog to write out my thoughts during this process, so that is just what this is. This summer I came across the quote "Not what I have planned, even better." I am excited to see what God has planned for me and to allow myself to be used by Him. I know his plans are even better than mine would ever be, and I am excited to be on this journey, one that is begins and ends with God.
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