Moving on...

Friday will be my last day at work. While I'm excited to move on, I will also miss all of my co-workers. They have been very good to me and I am glad to count many of them as great friends!

They threw a going-away party for me last week and I had a great time getting to see everyone outside of the office one last time. I feel very blessed to have had such a great job for the last 3 years.

Today, they put a post on the TapRooT® blog in my honor.

Russia??

As many of you know, I've been praying since last May about a call to go oversees and work with orphans. I feel like I finally have the go-ahead to pursue options in Russia!!

Yesterday I submitted an application to be an English teacher in Russia. Then I promptly started freaking out about how far away Russia is, how I don't speak Russian, how I don't know anybody in Russia, how I'm definitely not brave enough to move to Russia, how...then my kind roommate reminded me that Jesus is in Russia too. Good thing to remember!

Sooo, my "plan" is tentatively to go to Russia as an English teacher in August if that is possible AND partner with an orphan-care organization there and work with orphans on the nights, weekends, schools breaks, etc. I think this will give me a really unique opportunity to form relationships with a lot of different groups of people while still keeping my main focus on orphan-care. The problem that I had run into with wanting to do full-time care is that I do not speak Russian yet, which would make it impossible to do something full-time with children who are very much Russian speakers!

Ideally, I would stay next summer (2010) and work at a camp for orphans before coming home late next summer. I know they have numerous options for this, but I have no idea what they are yet. So many details to work out, but right now I'm focusing on a job and a avenue for orphan-care work!! If anyone knows of anything, please let me know.

I'm sure you can imagine that this is extremely overwhelming, so I would really appreciate your prayers. There is a LOT to do before this is possible! I'm super excited about this adventure and I'll keep you updated with any progress I'm making.

The Sprint

I am definitely in the sprint to the finish of school. This is the last week of classes, followed by a week and a half of finals, then graduation, then my internship. It's kind of overwhelming to think about ALL the changes that are coming, but it's very exciting as well.

I was at YOKE camp all weekend, hanging out with a bunch of middle-schoolers. We had a blast, and I'm still singing "Little Sally Walker" in my head. We had a great group of girls. For the most part, low drama (always a plus with middle school girls!!) and lots of enthusiasm. That makes it so much easier as a leader! Plus, we had two kids (one boy, one girl) make decisions for Christ! It's such a privilege to get to tell kids about Jesus, and I truly feel blessed to be allowed to be a part of what Christ is doing in their lives. Seeing kids following Christ makes the lack of sleep, insane messy games, and boy-craziness all worth it! I'm sad to say I didn't take a single picture the entire weekend, but just picture me and a bunch of middle-schoolers covered in water, flour, shaving cream, and nasty food. That's what the pictures would have looked like!

New Orleans for Easter was also really fun. It was great to spend time with my family and I enjoyed getting to stay up late and chat with my siblings. It's still amazing to me how much they change each time I see them! Laura pretty much looks the same, but she changes as she experiences more of college. However, Conner is seriously different every time I see him. He is 6'4" now. He's 15. Yes, he will be a giant. Here are a few pictures from that weekend.

Crawfish: a New Orleans tradition. Personally, I think this is disgusting. I eat po-boys instead. Much tastier and lacks legs and eyes.

The family. Dakota was supposed to be in the picture too, but she decided she wanted to lay at our feet instead. Oh well!

Preparing My Heart for Easter

This is from the blog for the college ministry at my church. It really spoke to me and this is the attitude I'm trying to achieve this week. I hope it causes you to think as well...

"Yesterday was the beginning of Holy Week. This is the week we celebrate and think upon the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Many people are familiar with the typical Sunday Easter where we celebrate Christ’s resurrection. There is also Good Friday where we examine the cross and enter into the darkest days of Christianity. Maundy Thursday is also a part of Holy Week which includes the Last Supper, Betrayal and trial of Jesus.

There are many “traditions” to observe this week, but what about your relationship with Christ? Will you take some time this week to FOCUS on your sin? Dwell on your seperation from God apart from Christ. Embrace the depth of your depravity, so the cross might be that much more glorious to you this week. Don’t run to the cross until you have really thought about your sin to the point that you have no option but His grace and goodness."

April Fools!

These last few weeks have been insane. I have been incredibly busy, but I feel like it has been a busyness with more substantial things. I've been reading a LOT. . . mainly my Bible, Passion and Purity, and Martin Luther's commentary on Galatians. I have loved Luther's commentary. It has given me great insight into Galatians! I haven't loved P&P as much as I expected. It comes highly recommended, but I didn't think it quite lived up to the hype. Good, but not awesome. I just bought a C.S. Lewis book with a collection of seven books on spirituality. . . Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Abolition of Man, The Great Divorce, The Problem of Pain, Miracles, and A Grief Observed. I won't have a chance to start those until next week, but I'm looking forward to it. I also got Crazy Love by Francis Chan and More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell.

Today I watched the complete "Does Satan Exist" debate and it was great! I thought that it was very representative of spirituality in America today. It makes me really sad, but I thought that those in defense of Jesus were very powerful. I would highly recommend watching it! It's pretty long, but very worth it.

I went to lunch with Ann from my office today and really enjoyed spending time with her. She has been a great encouragement in my life, and it has been nice to have an older Christian woman to pour into my life.


So, for April Fool's Day, I decided to send my roommates an eviction notice. Since our apartments already despise us, it wasn't really that hard to make it believable. Here is what the letter said:

Dear Apartment Residents,

This is an official notice of eviction, effective two weeks from today, April 15, 2009. Your compliance is appreciated. The following reasons are given for this notice:

1. Failure to pay full rent each month (Reference previous documents received).

2. Disregard of noise complaints filed by other Country Oaks residents (Reference previous documents left at your residence).

3. General hostility toward office staff.

Please note that failure to vacate by the above date will result in legal action. The Sheriff’s Department has been notified of the pending eviction and will be on hand April 15 to ensure that appropriate actions have been taken.

Thank you for your cooperation. If you have questions, please contact the attorney listed on our website. Any attempts to contact office staff will be viewed as threatening and hostile and will be dealt with accordingly.

Sincerely,

Management Staff

It worked beautifully and was hilarious! I would highly recommend evicting your roommates as an excellent April Fools joke.


That's all for now. I'm looking forward to Easter and the celebration of Jesus' gift of salvation.