36 days. 36 freaking days.
That is almost a month away.
Um... WOW.
Basically the past few weeks have been crazy. We finally got everything finalized as to what exactly we'll be doing and where we'll actually be going. It's nice to have some sort of guidance! I do know that the key word to any mission trip is flexibility. We have been flexible in not knowing where we're going or what we'll be doing. We have been flexible with other's schedules here at school on when to meet (trying not to get in the way of musical practice or any other form of scheduling conflict). Just because we have an idea of what we're doing now doesn't exactly mean that we can stop being flexible, because things will change when we're overseas. Nothing ever goes according to plan:)
We just had a meeting today and we met up with our team for the first time since break; it was really great to see everyone again. I am constantly reminded how blessed I am with such an awesome group of people.
The fact that we're leaving in a little over a month is a little scary! We're no where close to having everything raised. I know that we're going to be just fine and God will provide. I suppose I'm just a little anxious is all. For those of you praying for us, thank you. Your prayers are greatly appreciated haha, we need all the prayer we can get!
Let me just freak out for another minute and say THIRTY SIX DAYS. HOLY COW. Remember when it was like, 200 something days? I remember saying "oh that's forever away" AND NOW IT IS APRIL AND WE ARE LEAVING IN LIKE A MONTH.
I'm feeling fifty thousand different kinds of emotions right now. Happiness. Excitement. Anxiousness. Nervousness. Worry. I'm emotional and I'm even tearing up as I write this haha.
Right now I'm in the Student Union at my school and I am sitting right next to this huge wall dedicated to CCU2theWorld mission trips. Right above me the television is showing pictures from European mission trips, and I got to see several pictures of Poland. I'm just so excited.
Yeah, I realize that sometimes my blogs are mostly just my random scatter brained thoughts but I just want to let you guys know what is happening in my brain right now. I GET TO GO BACK TO POLAND IN A MONTH!!!!!!!!!! NO BIG DEAL OR ANYTHING!!!!!!!!
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Monday, March 4, 2013
24 and Emotional Rollercoasters
In the midst of Midterms this week I really couldn't help but write something. I have 5,000 other things I should be doing right now but I really just have to write.
First of all, we had our training this last weekend with CCU2theWorld in something called "24", which basically we're put through different cultural scenarios. We went through an airport, got our passports, went through security, flew on a "plane", went through immigration, and endured customs. My team and I handled ourselves I'd say rather well. We laughed the whole night and we only almost got "arrested" a couple of times. Basically, what I learned is that I have the best team in the entire world and I am so proud of how well they did everything this weekend.
Today I decided I was gonna study for my Worldviews quiz but then had this urge to read through my CCU2theWorld leader manual. I have no idea why any one would want to read through a manual but that's the truth. Then I found a whole bunch of old stuff from the beginning of this whole experience. I had all the team member applications and several notes. I chose to read through everything I had and then proceeded to cry in my dorm room. Now I'm sitting in my kitchen with hot chocolate and my roommate is making amazing food for us and I'm trying to not cry.
Of course, these are tears of absolute joy. I am just so excited that I can hardly stand it. Even thinking about it makes me tear up haha.
Listening to Sigur Ros is not helping. I think it's making me want to cry even more. (once again, tears of absolute joy).
I have no idea what to expect on this trip this year since plans still haven't been finalized. All I know is that it is going to be an amazing trip with an amazing group of people, and I seriously couldn't be more blessed.
First of all, we had our training this last weekend with CCU2theWorld in something called "24", which basically we're put through different cultural scenarios. We went through an airport, got our passports, went through security, flew on a "plane", went through immigration, and endured customs. My team and I handled ourselves I'd say rather well. We laughed the whole night and we only almost got "arrested" a couple of times. Basically, what I learned is that I have the best team in the entire world and I am so proud of how well they did everything this weekend.
Today I decided I was gonna study for my Worldviews quiz but then had this urge to read through my CCU2theWorld leader manual. I have no idea why any one would want to read through a manual but that's the truth. Then I found a whole bunch of old stuff from the beginning of this whole experience. I had all the team member applications and several notes. I chose to read through everything I had and then proceeded to cry in my dorm room. Now I'm sitting in my kitchen with hot chocolate and my roommate is making amazing food for us and I'm trying to not cry.
Of course, these are tears of absolute joy. I am just so excited that I can hardly stand it. Even thinking about it makes me tear up haha.
Listening to Sigur Ros is not helping. I think it's making me want to cry even more. (once again, tears of absolute joy).
I have no idea what to expect on this trip this year since plans still haven't been finalized. All I know is that it is going to be an amazing trip with an amazing group of people, and I seriously couldn't be more blessed.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Prayer.
Hey everyone. So, I have been feeling really stressed this semester. I have been stressed about school, band, this mission trip, and day-to-day life. I mean, most of my stress is pretty normal stress.
As far as the mission trip goes, I have still been feeling really inadequate. I don't know exactly why that is. I know that I'm supposed to be going back and I am more excited than ever. But for some reason I have been really worried. I guess I don't want to get into an extreme amount of detail just because me worrying is really not worth reading about haha. I definitely want to ask for prayer though. Prayer for not feeling inadequate anymore. Prayer for the youth of Poland. Prayer for our contacts. Prayer for my team members and myself.
Short blog, but to the point. Much love, folks.
As far as the mission trip goes, I have still been feeling really inadequate. I don't know exactly why that is. I know that I'm supposed to be going back and I am more excited than ever. But for some reason I have been really worried. I guess I don't want to get into an extreme amount of detail just because me worrying is really not worth reading about haha. I definitely want to ask for prayer though. Prayer for not feeling inadequate anymore. Prayer for the youth of Poland. Prayer for our contacts. Prayer for my team members and myself.
Short blog, but to the point. Much love, folks.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Long time, no see!
Hello again, people who read this blog. I notice I haven't updated this blog in like two months, and those of you who are supporting me, I apologize that I have not been more up-to-date. Hopefully this blog will make up for it?
So I didn't publish anything in December-early January due to finals and winter break. I really enjoyed my winter break and definitely needed time to settle down from the busy-ness of school. Now that we've been back in school, my life has been... well, crazy to say the least! Not only do we now have to have weekly team meetings and getting prepared for leaving in May, but I also have my classes, wind ensemble, jazz band, and random other meetings. I'm not sure why, but I keep piling more and more into my life, which is great, but I need to start making some things an ultimate priority! Haha.
Alice, our contact in Poland, is in Denver right now. We met up with her a week or so ago. Recently, we discovered that we will not be returning to the same school or area that we have been going to. That was a little sad to hear, but there are some positives about this; we can reach a whole new group of people, and do things differently that we never got to do before. It's a blessing in disguise, really. Sure it does stink that we wont get to see the same kids, but at the same time, we still get to share the Gospel, so really, no complaints here :)
I'm in the process of writing my supporters thank-you notes at the moment. I am blessed that many people do want to support me, whether financially or just through prayer. Everything helps.
Speaking of financially, we are working on some interesting fundraisers at the moment. We also have bowl-for-a-buck coming up. Bowl-for-a-buck is this huge missions event that CCU puts on every year; basically, we rent a bowling alley and decorate our own lanes in accordance with the team we are traveling with, and ask people for a dollar to bowl for our team. If we win either the decorating contest or the total amount of points, we get 500 dollars towards our team, so that would be nice! But overall, we'll just have a fun time.
As far as personally, I have been feeling rather attacked lately. I know that I will definitely need lots of prayer about my feelings about inadequacy. I know that, for some reason, God really put Poland on my heart. I also know that spiritual warfare is extremely real, and I definitely want to do my best as I am co-leading this trip. I don't want to feel inadequate or scared, so prayer would be appreciated:)
Today, we had this leadership retreat where we got to hang out with our staff leaders and talk about our trip and go over the results of a survey we took. Kelly Nichols said something today that really got me thinking. We were talking about what "success" looks like as far as what we're looking for in a short-term missions trip. He put it very clearly; "success" isn't about the number of people we save, "success" is obedience. I really need to keep that in mind, especially when May 20th comes along.
Speaking of May 20th, that's 113 days away. That's less than two weeks away from being the 100 day mark. When I think about the days that we have left, it seems like an eternity. But when I think about the months, May seems just around the corner. I am so excited!
So I didn't publish anything in December-early January due to finals and winter break. I really enjoyed my winter break and definitely needed time to settle down from the busy-ness of school. Now that we've been back in school, my life has been... well, crazy to say the least! Not only do we now have to have weekly team meetings and getting prepared for leaving in May, but I also have my classes, wind ensemble, jazz band, and random other meetings. I'm not sure why, but I keep piling more and more into my life, which is great, but I need to start making some things an ultimate priority! Haha.
Alice, our contact in Poland, is in Denver right now. We met up with her a week or so ago. Recently, we discovered that we will not be returning to the same school or area that we have been going to. That was a little sad to hear, but there are some positives about this; we can reach a whole new group of people, and do things differently that we never got to do before. It's a blessing in disguise, really. Sure it does stink that we wont get to see the same kids, but at the same time, we still get to share the Gospel, so really, no complaints here :)
I'm in the process of writing my supporters thank-you notes at the moment. I am blessed that many people do want to support me, whether financially or just through prayer. Everything helps.
Speaking of financially, we are working on some interesting fundraisers at the moment. We also have bowl-for-a-buck coming up. Bowl-for-a-buck is this huge missions event that CCU puts on every year; basically, we rent a bowling alley and decorate our own lanes in accordance with the team we are traveling with, and ask people for a dollar to bowl for our team. If we win either the decorating contest or the total amount of points, we get 500 dollars towards our team, so that would be nice! But overall, we'll just have a fun time.
As far as personally, I have been feeling rather attacked lately. I know that I will definitely need lots of prayer about my feelings about inadequacy. I know that, for some reason, God really put Poland on my heart. I also know that spiritual warfare is extremely real, and I definitely want to do my best as I am co-leading this trip. I don't want to feel inadequate or scared, so prayer would be appreciated:)
Today, we had this leadership retreat where we got to hang out with our staff leaders and talk about our trip and go over the results of a survey we took. Kelly Nichols said something today that really got me thinking. We were talking about what "success" looks like as far as what we're looking for in a short-term missions trip. He put it very clearly; "success" isn't about the number of people we save, "success" is obedience. I really need to keep that in mind, especially when May 20th comes along.
Speaking of May 20th, that's 113 days away. That's less than two weeks away from being the 100 day mark. When I think about the days that we have left, it seems like an eternity. But when I think about the months, May seems just around the corner. I am so excited!
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
"That was very slippery of you, Clarice."
So, for those of you who have no idea what my title means, my roommate and I are enjoying the delights of Panera Bread and loudly quoting Silence of the Lambs. Many strange looks are occurring around us.
Anyway, on to more important subjects. I apologize for not keeping this as up to date recently, life has been rather busy. I even have two professors who think it's okay to assign tests during thanksgiving break. NEWSFLASH IT IS NOT OK.
The CCU2theWorld kick off was on November 10th and I was super excited to finally hang out with my team mates. I had only met them once so I was really looking forward to getting to know them a little bit better. One thing I noticed is that all of them have good senses of humor which is going to be great when we're overseas :) The kick off was a lot of fun, too. We played a lot of team building games as well as talk about fundraising and support letters.
The entire Turner family is also going with us, so that's awesome. Dr. Turner is our staff leader, his son is a freshman and he applied to go on the trip, and the rest of the family will be joining us as well. That should be a turner-ific time.
As far as everything else goes, I am brainstorming some awesome fundraising ideas for our team. Of course for now I will keep those quiet ;) although I am excited to see what comes out of all of our ideas.
I'm still feeling a bit overwhelmed and stressed with school and this trip and everything else that goes on in life, but I couldn't be more blessed with a better team. To put it in Thanksgiving terms, I am extremely thankful that God placed such wonderful people on my team to go and share the gospel to Poland. I am thankful that they are funny and genuine, and I am thankful that I will get to know them more within the months to come.
My roommate is cracking me up right now; the fireplace right next to us has a sign that says "CAUTION: HOT." .. uhhh you don't say?!
We're going to be heading to Barnes & Noble here in just a few. I'm considering picking up a world map or something to mark where I've traveled and where I want to go. Or maybe I'll just buy a giant Poland map. I haven't decided yet :)
178 days until we depart for Poland! It seems so far, yet so close.
Anyway, on to more important subjects. I apologize for not keeping this as up to date recently, life has been rather busy. I even have two professors who think it's okay to assign tests during thanksgiving break. NEWSFLASH IT IS NOT OK.
The CCU2theWorld kick off was on November 10th and I was super excited to finally hang out with my team mates. I had only met them once so I was really looking forward to getting to know them a little bit better. One thing I noticed is that all of them have good senses of humor which is going to be great when we're overseas :) The kick off was a lot of fun, too. We played a lot of team building games as well as talk about fundraising and support letters.
The entire Turner family is also going with us, so that's awesome. Dr. Turner is our staff leader, his son is a freshman and he applied to go on the trip, and the rest of the family will be joining us as well. That should be a turner-ific time.
As far as everything else goes, I am brainstorming some awesome fundraising ideas for our team. Of course for now I will keep those quiet ;) although I am excited to see what comes out of all of our ideas.
I'm still feeling a bit overwhelmed and stressed with school and this trip and everything else that goes on in life, but I couldn't be more blessed with a better team. To put it in Thanksgiving terms, I am extremely thankful that God placed such wonderful people on my team to go and share the gospel to Poland. I am thankful that they are funny and genuine, and I am thankful that I will get to know them more within the months to come.
My roommate is cracking me up right now; the fireplace right next to us has a sign that says "CAUTION: HOT." .. uhhh you don't say?!
We're going to be heading to Barnes & Noble here in just a few. I'm considering picking up a world map or something to mark where I've traveled and where I want to go. Or maybe I'll just buy a giant Poland map. I haven't decided yet :)
178 days until we depart for Poland! It seems so far, yet so close.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Exciting week :)
This week was super exciting because our team members were chosen :) which means I know exactly who will be joining me and Katie to Poland. I'm really excited to get to know them. They all seem awesome and I think they'll all bring something different to the team which I'm super pumped about.
On Saturday we have the CCU2theWorld kick off event. I am not sure what to expect this year. Not even the team members know what is going on. But I suppose that makes it really exciting. I know we'll be doing a lot of activities, talking about fundraising, etc.
Speaking of fundraising, I'm really nervous about that. I hate asking people for money. I hate it so much. I know fundraising is a lot more than that, but it still kind of makes me nervous, so of course I will need lots of prayer about this so I can get over my fear of this whole money business and really work to make the trip more affordable for my team mates. Because believe me this trip ain't cheap.
I have a couple fundraising ideas in mind, but if anyone knows of cool websites for fundraising ideas or knows of anything we can do, feel free to let me know your ideas. :)
On Saturday we have the CCU2theWorld kick off event. I am not sure what to expect this year. Not even the team members know what is going on. But I suppose that makes it really exciting. I know we'll be doing a lot of activities, talking about fundraising, etc.
Speaking of fundraising, I'm really nervous about that. I hate asking people for money. I hate it so much. I know fundraising is a lot more than that, but it still kind of makes me nervous, so of course I will need lots of prayer about this so I can get over my fear of this whole money business and really work to make the trip more affordable for my team mates. Because believe me this trip ain't cheap.
I have a couple fundraising ideas in mind, but if anyone knows of cool websites for fundraising ideas or knows of anything we can do, feel free to let me know your ideas. :)
Sunday, October 21, 2012
209 Days!
So, according to a website that counts down things, we have 209 days until we leave for Poland. That is way too long for me! I wish I could just be there now, but noooo we have to wait.
Applications for CCU2theWorld missions are due today and I am so excited to see who has applied for team Poland. This next week is going to be busy with school and doing interviews, but regardless I am super excited and blessed. I know a lot of people have expressed interest so ya never know.
The last few weeks (or however long it's been since I updated this thing) have been really crazy! We had a CCU2theWorld chapel and we did an event at JumpStreet. A lot of people expressed interest in Poland when we talked to them so that was really exciting.
Right now I'm in a coffee shop (hope I don't get hacked by a crazy computer hacker...) and this coffee shop in particular has foreign money hanging on the wall. Of course naturally I looked for Polish currency. I found some which was awesome and it just reminded me how excited I am to be there. Gotta appreciate the little things.
Anyway, I don't have much to say so I apologize with the lack of update here. I'll be praying hard this week for all those interviewing and I can't wait to see who God calls to Poland :)
Applications for CCU2theWorld missions are due today and I am so excited to see who has applied for team Poland. This next week is going to be busy with school and doing interviews, but regardless I am super excited and blessed. I know a lot of people have expressed interest so ya never know.
The last few weeks (or however long it's been since I updated this thing) have been really crazy! We had a CCU2theWorld chapel and we did an event at JumpStreet. A lot of people expressed interest in Poland when we talked to them so that was really exciting.
Right now I'm in a coffee shop (hope I don't get hacked by a crazy computer hacker...) and this coffee shop in particular has foreign money hanging on the wall. Of course naturally I looked for Polish currency. I found some which was awesome and it just reminded me how excited I am to be there. Gotta appreciate the little things.
Anyway, I don't have much to say so I apologize with the lack of update here. I'll be praying hard this week for all those interviewing and I can't wait to see who God calls to Poland :)
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