I have had every intention of writing on my blog more often, and yet have managed to go an entire month without making an entry. I'll really try to do better! It has been a wonderful month though. The week before Thanksgiving my friends Tony, Sarah, and their little bundle of joy Connor came to visit and stay with us. The cool thing is that they're from New Zealand, they manage to make a trip every couple of years and visit all their friends in the U.S. It was the first time for us to have a baby in the house, which was fun. I didn't get as stressed out as I am capable of, which was nice! One night of their visit two other people came over who have done internships at the same church I did when I was in New Zealand, and we had a great night of telling stories and sharing pictures. It was really exciting to me, because my internship in New Zealand was kind of where it all began. When I felt God's call for me to go to another country and share His good news, I decided to go to the South Pacific because I met a man who shared with me the great need of the people in New Zealand in Australia. That internship was an amazing first start. Even though Matt and I will be going to Australia instead, I feel like God sent me there so that my life and the lives of the people around me would be changed forever.
Thanksgiving came quickly after that visit. Matt and I got to go see my grandmother in Iowa (it was his first time to go), it was really exciting showing him a place where I have some very fond memories. My grandfather who lived there until he passed away in '99 was very influential in showing me who Jesus is. Matt and I both had a blast, and have started the new tradition of trying new barbeque restaurants in the towns we drive through on trips. It's a tasty tradition to say the least. Matt and I are trying to visit family that we have not seen much since getting married, because we realize that we will be gone for quite a few years when we move. I am praying that God helps me truly savor the times we have with family, which is really helping me to be grateful for the awesome loved ones that we have.
Many other things have happened, but I think life will go on without me talking about them. This week is Christmas, so I'm sure I will have plenty to talk about after we get back from the holidays. Merry Christmas, may celebrating the birth of Jesus bring awe and excitement to your life.

What a week!

Last week was very intense for our team...so intense that I have not had a chance to catch up and write about it until now! It started with Monday night, Matt and I spent the evening with Gregory, the other male on our team. We got together to go over a fundraising presentation that the team would present on Tuesday to the church we all attend. Tuesday morning we got together with Jenica, the other female on our team, and did the same with her. Much of the rest of the day was spent printing and binding packets with information about our team and Ipswich for the people we would share our presentation with. Tuesday evening went great, the group of people that makes up the missions committee at our church (Southern Hills Church of Christ) was very encouraging. After our presentation we decided to have a little chill time as a team, so we went back to Jenica's house and played darts and drank tea. This was Jenica's first time to play darts (even though she owns the board!), and she was a tough competitor. It was a fun day, but tiring.
Wednesday night was spent making mini pavlovas. If you've never had the privilege of eating pavlova, you're missing out. It's like a really fluffy meringue that has whipping cream and fruit on it. We piped and baked over seventy-five pavlovas Wednesday night. No it wasn't just for the fun of it, we needed them for Thursday night. Thursday night we attended what Abilene Christian University calls "TeamQuest". It's a night where the current mission teams that are training through the Halbert Institute for Missions get together and have booths where they serve food from their country of interest and get to know students who are interested in doing mission work but need some direction and/or encouragement. The evening was spent dishing out pavlova, vegemite on crackers (another treat if you've never had vegemite) and getting to know students. One thing it taught me is that even though we are the ones in training, the ones who need money, the ones who will be making many life changes, this mission is not about us. It's about God. Even though we're in this vulnerable place, He still wants to use us to share our stories and encourage others to join in God's mission around the world. Once again, a good evening but a tiring one.
Saturday night we had the honor of meeting Gregory's mother, father, and sister. They came from out of town to visit him, and we got to introduce ourselves to them. It's not easy meeting each other's parents, because we know the reason we're meeting is because we will be traveling half way around the world with these people's children. That's partly what this blog is supposed to do, give parents and other family members a chance to get a glimpse of how we're preparing, what we're nervous about, what we're excited about, etc. I hope it helps a bit.
I just got back tonight from a meeting that was hosted by our team's mentor. Gary works at ACU training and mentoring mission teams that will be going to Central and South America and the South Pacific (did I mention he's also a professor at ACU?). He is a great mentor who is passionate about sending people where God wants them to go. The purpose of this meeting was to connect those of us who are training to do mission work overseas with people who know they want to do the same thing in some form or fashion but don't really know where to start. I might sound like a broken record, but once again it was an encouraging yet tiring evening. I think it's time for bed!

What I did this weekend

I watched a powerful movie on Friday night, Born Into Brothels. It is about a female photographer who moves to Calcutta, India for a few years and teaches about seven or eight children of the red light district photography. Her hope is to give them a better future than the bleak one of poverty and prostitution that is staring them in the face. After watching it my mind was spinning, I experienced so many emotions as the movie played. I've thought about the movie everyday since I watched it, I would highly recommed it to anyone who likes to learn about other cultures. Here are a few things I've thought about since watching it:

The children in the documentary were so wise. They showed an awareness of their culture, acknowledging that they were surrounded by a darkness and poverty that most people in the world could never dream of. They ranged from about eight to twelve at the time of the movie, and most of them were taking care of siblings, parents, and grandparents themselves. I can't imagine many children their age in the states caring about much more than their video games or going to the mall. Kind of disgusting to be honest.

It also made me ask again why God has put me in this place in life, and them in theirs. For me going to college was a no brainer, and I got to decide my major. I then changed my major without consulting anyone, I didn't tell my family until after it was pretty much a done deal. My husband and I will never be able to tell our children that we were poor, we've been blessed to always have enough to pay our bills on time, and we eat a full meal three times a day. Why do I have so much when these kids have nothing?

This is a tough question, a timeless question. I guess I want to revert back to what a lot of upper middle class (because whether I want to admit it or not, like most Americans who want to say we're middle class, I'm really upper-middle class) Christians say, God has given to me so that I can give to other people. It really makes sense, because if everyone was poor then who would help us out? My question to God is, why is there not a little bit more balance? Why do people gather and gather and gather, but never give? My own selfishness disgusts me, and I like to think of myself as a pretty giving person. I think part of the reason God gives so much to some people is that He created human beings to live to our full potential, and part of that is living a life of sacrifice and abundant giving. As to why He did that, I don't know. As to why little babies are sold by their parents to get money for drugs, I don't know. As to why thousands of girls are standing on the side of the road being taken advantage of by strangers because it's the only way they can make money for their family, I don't know. It frustrates and hurts me.

So what am I going to do about it? The preacher where I go to church is a firm believer in the things that Compassion International does for impoverished children around the world. About a month ago I found a girl that I want to sponsor, she is about fifteen and is from India. Perhaps God was reminding me through the movie Friday night that it's time to stop thinking about doing good, and put my money where my mouth is. Here's the website if you want to check it out: http://www.compassion.com/. There are so many ways to give if this is not for you, so my encouragement is to think of what you in your wealth can do for someone else in need today.

things went wrong

On Sunday a lot of things went "wrong" at the church I go to. I go to a pretty big church, depending on who you are, so we utilize a lot of technology. This past Sunday was kind of crazy, the mics weren't working well so there was popping, feedback, all that good stuff. There were also not enough people to serve communion. In our church there are men who walk around and pass out trays that have crackers and grape juice in them, we eat and drink these things to celebrate Christ's coming to earth, dying, and resurrection. Communion is so much more important that I'm making it sound, but it's not the specific point of my story so I'm not going to elaborate much on it right now. Anyway, in front of me there was a man who had to hold his tray for almost five minutes before he realized that no "usher" was going to come and take it from him. He actually had to get up and give his tray to someone, how out of the ordinary....
Now in most cases people would reflect on all these things that went "wrong" and think, "Man, satan sure was trying to get into our service, good thing we kept him out though". That's not what I saw. What if we looked at these things not as acts of satan, but instead as acts of God who is trying to break through? What if the mics cutting in and out was God's way of saying, "Why don't you simplify a little?" What if the awkwardness of communion was God's way of saying, "You know, sometimes you need to get up in the aisles and participate. Following after me is more about serving than sitting in a pew and expecting someone to cater to your every need" or maybe He was saying, "You know, faith and worship are neither clean nor perfect. They are a reflection of your need for me and my love for you"?
I don't know about you, but my life is messy. My house is often messy, my thoughts are jumbled up in a mess inside my brain, I make stupid choices. When things are messy in my life I usually want to point to satan and say, "He did it!". Maybe what I'll start to do is ask God, "Are you trying to teach me something?" I think I'll be surprised by what God says in response.