Preparing.

Preparing for what's ahead.

   This last week has been crazy! I went from utterly suffering through 6 finals, one 11 page paper, and a chorale composition all the way to walking across a stage in a cap and gown, being freed of all things school-like (this is a slight exaggeration because I will be working in schools...so technically I'll never be free). Nevertheless I'm processing what happened, and the waves of emotions are real y'all!

    So my fundraising attempts were put on hold, because a few trips to the hospital put me behind on all my school work, so priorities were shifted and moved around. But now I get to focus on these. Happily enough my t-shirt sale brought some good money, and the fundraiser concert last Thursday was good as well! I've been incredibly humbled by people who I barely know who have reached out to me and donated money because they genuinely want to help, and want me to go on this trip. The first task is to send out letters. To be honest I've never been a fan of this, and I know many mission-workers aren't, but I've learned that for some people their way of listening to God is to support these kinds of things, and they do so with a happy-heart; and it is something I admire greatly. One of the greatest qualities I know of American's is their willing generosity. They actively seek places to donate and support causes, while in other cultures fundraising is easily met with skepticism. This is one quality which I am proud to live out from my american culture. While the world can successfully point out a billion flaws in everyday Americans, nobody can deny that they are very uniquely generous. 

    My next step will be preparing myself. I've been given a few books to read. One named "When helping hurts" by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, and the other is "Foreign to Familiar" by Sarah A Lanier. I'm looking forward to reading these, and I'll keep you updated on things that stick out to me. I'm curious to see what (to me as an MK) I consider to be common sense when in the Mission field, and what in particular I never thought of and might need to adjust in my world-views.

Just to go along with this emotional, mental and spiritual preparation I'll be attempting some artistic therapeutic activities...I enjoy painting and playing piano....they help me focus and allow me to enjoy small steps of progress each time sit down to play or paint. I'm not that good at either but they are for my personal joy and peace of mind so that's all I need. 

Once my body recovers from crashing after all this school-insanity, I think my excitement will wake up and I'll get really nervous too! As many prayers as you can give me I would love...this is going to challenge me beyond belief. But I can't wait for the change.

Julia