Graduation!!!

So, in the theme of keeping with life's little adventures, I had my last advising appointment of my undergraduate college career today......  Up until now I have happily told people that I SHOULD be graduating in May if everything checks out the way that I thought it should.  So going into my advising appointment I was a little nervous,  I've had a couple of really rough semesters and so I had some reinstatement hoops to jump through that could have caused me to not graduate. 

However, after checking everything out with my adviser today I can officially say.... I"M GRADUATING IN MAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!!!!!  Ok! Now that that is out of my system...

Earning a college degree has been both fun (at times... lat night sewing parties with the hubby for my art class)  and full of challenges but I am SO excited to start the next chapter of my life that God has in store.  I imagine that as May approaches and I start applying for professional jobs that things will become even more real.  A chapter in my life is closing, and another one is beginning!  

Lessons from Abba Daddy

Lately has been a very interesting season of life.  At the moment Joe is working 40 hours a week and looking for another job to help supplement our income.  I am working 10-15 hours per week and going to school full time at WSU.  Also, at our church we have a class called Bible Foundations (they offer several different foundations classes looking at different parts of the Bible) and we are TAs for that class this year.  This may not sound like a lot, but, trust me, when you total the hours that each one takes, there is more there then can be done.  Needless to say, life gets insanely busy.  On top of that we are also having to deal with our car having been hit while Joe was at work (no one was in our car at the time :))  Through all of this I found myself getting extremely overwhelmed, and we are only three weeks into this insane schedule that promises to be around until May when I graduate. 

I decided to have lunch with a friend of mine who I deeply admire and respect to talk this all over and hopefully get some encouragement and perspective (which I am so thankful that she always has some of both to share :)) She encouraged me to take my list of involvements and activities to the Lord (go figure!)  and so I did.  I love it when God communicates with me by giving me pictures and images.  He gave me the image of a twig stuck end up in the mud, being supported only by the thickness of the mud.  He said essentially "that is not me! I am a iron rod that is set in concrete.  I don't bend or break under pressure.  I can handle whatever load you carry.  So lean on me, let me bear your load.  What I have asked of you in this season is a tall order and you cannot do it on your own, so depend on me." 

So at this point I am beginning to try to learn to do what my Abba daddy says I should do- trust Him.  It's really amazing to me that this is something that I have never really learned to do, but here we are.  At the moment I think I am the most peaceful I have been in years.  I am not sure if I am doing what is going on in my heart justice, but I am enjoying being in this place with my Abba daddy.  Knowing that He is totally in control and will supply even just the energy I need to get through the day.  

Camping...hmm...

So, while this may not actually have anything to do with Joe and I going into missions, camping for a couple of days earlier this week has been our latest adventure.  We decided to go into Northern Idaho, we picked out a beautiful spot on lake pend oreille and had absolutely no trouble getting a campsite.  But that's the smoothest part of the trip....
The first night was interesting enough since neither of us have ever been responsible for setting up camp before, and while we have both been camping with family before it is quite a different experience to do it all yourself.  For cutting firewood we had n axe and a bow saw, which was great, however, no work gloves made that quite the experience for Joe throughout the entire trip. 
The first morning out there we went out a bit into the woods hunting for more wood, and after not to long found ourselves bring attacked by a nest of yellow jackets... Thank the Lord for His protection because neither one of us got stung. No thanks to the vicious little creeps clinging to my sweater....
Then day two in the woods, a stinging ant decided that my hubby would be a good target and got him good.  We also found that a local mouse had gotten into some of our stuff, potentially including some dry food...  oh boy.  On the bright side that day we went into town and got Joe a good pair of work gloves with made getting wood easier.  Furthermore that day a friendly fellow camper with a chainsaw came and cut up our giant log for us.  So at this point things started to look up a bit and we actually had a chance to just sit around the camp fire and play games and roast marshmallows.
However, the merry making lasted only so long.  At this point I think I was under the impression "what else could go wrong" ..... hm.... I sense a problem coming on...  At this point we had made the decision to head home at about 7 sat. evening.. we were planning to stay until mon. mid day originally.  So we decided to spend some of sat, afternoon exploring the lake a bit.  After doing a bit of impromptu rock climbing we headed up an actual path to the top of this point.  At that point I started feeling like turning around would be a good plan.  We'd already spent quite a bit of energy and we had had some concerns about poison ivy.  It was about the time we turned around to head back to camp that Joe turned to me and told me his arm was itching terribly, AND we saw that tell tale rash setting in that told us that at some point he had found some poison ivy.  This is where we decided that enough was enough.  After washing him up and rubbing in some benadryl cream ( which by the way works wonders) we packed up and came back to the safety of our apartment and city life. 
It may be a while before we venture out to go camping again, but I think we are both determined not to let nature get the best of us.... after all, wasn't man given dominion over the garden ? :)

Ecuador

So... as many of you may know Joe and I have been given the opportunity to go to Ecuador this summer on a 12 day mission.  However, it has been decided that we will not be going this year.  We were very excited to go and be part of a team headed by Nancy and CJ at our church, however the funding is just not there for us this year. 
The trip was (and is still happening, just minus us) going to be a 12 day trip doing a medical clinic, spiritual clinic, and VBS, as well as distributing socks and shoes.
The decision not to go after all the work we had already put in was a hard one.  We both felt very much like God had told us that going to Ecuador this year was part of His plan, and that going on this trip in particular would kick start a lot of things for us as future missionaries.  However, I think partly due to our fault the funding did not come together in time to purchase the plane tickets with the rest of the team.  Though we will never really know what happened.
So, where does this leave us now?  Well, it's given me some sweet times with Jesus to confess messing up an incredible opportunity.  It has also given me (and Joe) a lot of valuable learning experience that we can use in planning future missions.  So, though we are not going this time around, we are still excited knowing that God is not done with us, and uses everything for His glory and our good (just like Romans 8:28 promises) Thank you Jesus!

How I got here...

My story starts a long time ago.  When I was a little girl, I went to private school in Portland, OR.  While I was there I remember one chapel in particular where a missionary to (I think) Africa spoke to us.  I remember that day thinking that, "THAT IS WHAT I WANT TO DO!"  However, as my childhood unfolded, that desire and passion became buried.  Not that it was gone, just dormant I think.

Then I hit high school.  During those years Jesus searched me out and found me, desperately needy and ready for an authentic relationship with Him.  During this time I was blessed to be able to go on several mission trips with my high school youth group.  Each one of them left me a different person, however, one in particular changed me dramatically.  A group of us from my church and several other churches in our conference went on a two week mission to Tijuana, Mexico.  I was there to serve God, build houses and have an adventure.  While all that was good, God had some other things in mind.  While I was there Jesus spoke to me that his plan for my life was missions.  Not stateside, and not short term.  God also put a love for the Spanish language and Hispanic culture in my heart.

So, today... God is still continuing to renew my vision and heart for missions, and He has given my wonderful husband a heart for them as well. Where this will take us in life, only Jesus knows, but I am excited for the adventure.  And I am excited to share it with my friends and family!!