God's Funny Bone

This morning I had the realization that in two weeks Christmas will be upon us once again.  The craziest thing about this time of year is thinking back a year.  Last year at this time I was waiting, quite impatiently, for Global Ministries to open their application for the Young Adult Missionary program.  I was a senior in College and working a pretty awesome job with some great people.  Some of these people, at that time, I didn't realize how much they would truly change my life and how I would miss them all a year later.  During this year I applied for this program, wanting to go to another county and to be exposed to many new experiences, that I thought would not be offered to me in the United States.  I can only imagine that God was laughing at this.  I learned so much about myself and what I wanted to do with my life and where I might want to go.  The biggest life lesson I learned was that God will lead you to the weirdest places, the places where you think you will never go again.  For me that place was Oklahoma City.  In the application process there were two interview locations, Oklahoma City and New York City.  I really wanted to go to New York and experience something new, a big bustling city, many people, very different from Seattle.  Instead he brought me to Oklahoma City. The interview was exciting! Seeing what people my age are passionate about and what people around the metro are doing in the community.  I left Oklahoma City back in March with a new outlook.  This time it was a little prayer.  "God, send me where you need me!"  This time I was open to anyplace.

I truly believe that God has a sense of humor.  When we brush something off by saying, this is not important for my life, I won't need to remember this,  I believe that God is laughing and trying to tell us that these are the most important times in our lives to remember.  Again for me this place was Oklahoma City.  I brushed off the experience of being in OKC.  I didn't think I would need to remember the city or the places where we went, because I probably would not be back.  When the tornadoes went through Moore this past spring, I was saddened because I had been to Oklahoma, but not too sad because I thought there was no way that I was going to be back.  Again God laughed.

Yesterday in a Sunday class I attend at church we talked about the story or Zechariah, who didn't believe what the angel Gabriel was saying to him and he lost his voice.  This to me is a story of trust.  Every day there are different things we need to trust.  We trust that the sun will come up each day, we trust that the people driving behind us on the highway are paying attention to their driving and we trust that God is with us always.  Reading this story (Luke 1:8-20) I kept thinking about the last year of my life.  Trusting that God will send me to the right places and through his "Angels" I will get the information that I need to do his good works.

This last year has been a whirlwind of fun, excitement, and hellos but also sadness, homesickness and goodbyes! It is hard to think that this year is almost over, and I pray that 2014 is fruitful and amazing for you as I hope it will be for my ministry and the students our program will help!

God Bless!!

Advent: A Time for Firsts

As many of us know today is the first day of Advent, one of my favorite seasons in the church and in my own life.  Today as I reflect upon my first Thanksgiving away from my family I am thankful for being able to connect with people here who are supportive of me and what I am doing with my life.  The holiday this year was spend with my supervisor and his family as well as a Bolivian family.  I am so blessed to work around such diverse people who celebrate each others culture.  After dinner, I got the chance to Skype with my family, it was interesting to see how my grandparents would respond to this technology.  It was hard to see my family but not be able to see them or reconnect, but to chat with my family over the internet made it much better.
I have noticed that in Seattle the weather changes and gets colder around the beginning of November almost marking the beginning of the holiday season. In Oklahoma the weather changes so often that in November or even today, December 1, the weather can get up to 60 degrees but a week ago it was snowing and ice was all over the road ways.  Houses are beginning to light up with the decorations of this holiday season.  It brings me joy and sadness to be so far away from home yet so close at the same time.  I love being home with my family watching silly Holiday movies, making cookies and sitting near the fire.  It is so exciting to be here in Oklahoma, making a difference in the lives of those I am working with as well as growing in myself and in my confidence in my faith as well as in general. I have loved meeting new people and being able to sit by myself in church.  This is something I would have never been confident in doing a few years ago.  I thank God that I am here and I am growing in who I am, while figuring out what God wants me to do with my life!

God Bless on this first Advent Sunday!