Trust and Hope

Apparently blogging is not my "thing." Or, at the very least, not my "regular thing."
My life has been so busy, my head so full of lists of things to do, that I have had little to no time to write more than a sentence here and there, and certainly not full stories of what has been going on in my life.
Or, perhaps I have had the time without the proper motivation to do so.
I pick reason A.

Since I took the MCAT on September 8, my sister had her second boy, named Micah, and I've been spending loads of my free time with him. If I was not with my nephews, I spent much of my non-work time working on the AMCAS application (read: medical school app), reading my assigned books for CORE (discipleship training course through my church), and hanging out with friends. Of course, I was not done with my traveling for the year.. I went to both St Maarten and California; St Maarten for a week to visit the med students I had met on the mission trip to South Africa, and California for 5 days for my dear friend's wedding in San Jose and visits with other friends near LA. I would sincerely LOVE to write about all the glorious events of those two trips, but verbally telling the stories to my best friend took over 2 hours just for St Maarten, so I'm quite sure the type-written version would be a novel, and one that I am not, at present, equipped to write.

So.

Moving on.

Upon my return from California, I was inundated with secondary applications for all the schools to which I applied. Each one has slightly different questions and forms. All of them have essays. Mayo Medical School is my top choice. No offense to any of the other schools; it's just been a dream to be a student at Mayo, and honestly where I felt God is leading. The application is completed and submitted; they have it currently under review. "Prospective students selected for an interview will be contacted beginning late November." This means I could potentially hear something as early as next week. I could cry just at the thought of getting an interview. ^_^ Aside from Mayo, however, there are at least 15 other schools which require these secondary applications, with various due dates. Earlier this evening, I was feeling overwhelmed with the idea that I am applying to obtain a PhD! After all, I have only a small history of research, and certainly not of the magnitude I would like to accomplish with this degree! And while I was mostly able to silence the doubts arising with the truth that I believed God is leading me to this particular area, I was still unsettled by the amount of information being requested in each application, not to mention that 4 of the application deadlines are this coming Thursday. Add to this my poor sleep "schedule", the typical life relationship/friendship stresses, and all the lists of things I am involved with at church running through my head, and you'll begin to see how I felt that "overwhelmed" didn't quite seem to cut it. I remained unsettled as I drove back to my house from visiting my sister, brother-in-law and nephews tonight.. until I entered my guest bathroom, and there on the wall is a copy of an email I received as part of a devotional sent through PCHAS (a foster-orphan ministry program with which I volunteer) and the last line states: "Let go of your worry and fear. Trust in God."

And suddenly, and amazingly, I remembered where my hope is. My hope is not in my ability to answer these application questions well, nor is it in my ability to fix/perfect each relationship. My hope is in God. A God who very clearly states He has good things for me. And as a dear friend pointed out, I have to let Him define what those good things are.

As I read those lines on my wall: "Let go of your worry and fear. Trust in God," I recalled I have no reason to fear, no anxiety. I remembered the sermon I heard just this morning- That I should not be anxious for anything because for each and every aspect of life which might have caused me anxiety, I pray, with thanksgiving. And thanksgiving is the antidote for many of my maladies, sins which are mere manifestations of my focus being on something other than the Almighty God. Instead, I give thanks to God. And the peace of God guards my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus.

Ah, so there it is, in a nutshell. More like a coconut than a walnut.. but my trust is in God. My hope, in Jesus. And with that, I am kept in perfect peace. (Isaiah 26:3)

Four Trips

I have made it safely home! (as of Monday afternoon- after 9 flights and 25 days!) I wish I wrote while in London and sincerely wish I could have written while in South Africa because so much happened. In the end, it felt as though I traveled on four trips.You have heard of my first trip. The second was to London to visit my cousin Jody (great host!). The third was the mission in South Africa. The fourth was a mini-vacation in South Africa for 3 days because I missed my flight out! LOL It was all quite wonderful. I have some stories written down, so I will share them over the next few days. For now, it is immensely wonderful to be home! I was able to see most of my India teammates last night and it was blissfully fantastic :D I began discipleship training school at Christ Fellowship (called Core) yesterday, and am SUPER excited about all God is going to teach me through this, and am very much looking forward to the mission trip with Core next June!
This week I have also been able to see my family and many friends, including one visiting from California before moving to New Zealand! It feels so good to be home.
So, the stories will come. For now, thank you for your prayers! God did wonderful & amazing things in & through us and I can hardly wait to share with you. But first, I need to study...
This coming week on Thursday, I will be taking the MCAT in the hopes of entering medical school for neurology (more specifically, neurobiology of disease medical science training program) next fall.
Prayers are most appreciated.
<3
Here are two pictures from South Africa. The first is the medical tents with the informal settlement in the background. The second is four of the team (L-R: Nick, med student; Jamie, wife of Owen, another med student; Dr. Lovette; me!) passing out bread at a church near Stanger.

Leaving India

In approximately 90 minutes we will be headed to the airport to get on our planes out of Bangalore. Two of the team are off on an Asian adventure; I am off to London and South Africa; and the remainder of the team heads to Fort Worth.
It has been such an amazing time. I love seeing God work in the hearts of man, seeing His love poured out on people.
We just completed our final team time of worship & prayer, and we encouraged each person in the group with the fruits we saw in them. It was wonderful and sweet and accomplished its purpose well.
Our trip to Home for Hope was intense. There are many people needing to know Jesus' love for them, so we poured it out. We clipped and painted nails, we performed songs and our drama, and we prayed for them. Each team member dispersed into the crowds and just picked people to pray with and it was so uplifting. So many people had tears of gratitude and there were many hugs and kisses given. It was a good time, but a difficult thing to see how these people live. We went also to the children's area, and gave out toys and candy & asked the care workers what things are needed for which we could pray. Their answer was education materials and playground and larger facilities. And I am hoping & praying they will be able to receive. They are doing such amazing work rescuing children from the streets & trying to bring them up healthy and well-educated. Pray for their protection and that their needs will be met!
Last night was difficult because one of our team members became ill and needed to be taken to the hospital (adverse reaction to a medication + dehydration + lack of food) but thankfully, all that was needed was fluid replenishment (IVs) and rest and food. He was doing great today!
Speaking of today, this morning we had fresh encouragement from a transplanted business man/pastor who inspired us with the first few verses of Isaiah 60. Then we went onto the streets of Bangalore. My favorite story is this morning while I was praying, I felt like God showed me a picture of a shirt on a female; it stood out because it had a really unique pattern, almost more African than Indian in color & design. And after lunch at McDonalds, I sawagirl wearing the shirt> She was walking in front of me, so I tapped her on the shoulder, asked her if she spoke English and when she said she did, I asked her if she knew Jesus. LOL It was super bold, totally the Holy Spirit at work in me! I just shared some things with her, including that I had a vision of her shirt this morning because I believed Jesus wanted her to know He sees her and He loves her; she was just enraptured. We prayed for some tests she has coming up, and we parted ways. I did offer her a tract, which she happily accepted. I just wish I could remember her name. :( I hope God allows me to remember it.
The team had many other great stories today, as well. Just under an hour until we're on our way now. I am sad to leave this team, but looking forward to the future. :)
peace and joy.

Tonight, Tonight

Hello, again!Right now I am sitting under a wonderful fan that is blowing cool air over me & my bed. Very thankful for it. =)
Two days have passed since I last wrote, I think. And because time stretches in India (one of my favorite things about this place) there are many, many stories to tell, but I will just tell some highlights, but skip the lowlights. And maybe share a quote. :)

Two days ago, we did the play at a group home and state school, and it was really well received and many girls decided to follow Jesus after seeing the play! It was wonderful. Everyone said we did a really good job, and apparently, I do a nice job of being evil (since I played Satan). The last group we performed for was some younger boys, and very few spoke English. As we left, they all wanted to shake all of our hands and this one little boy came up and said, "You were super!" and his buddy repeated the "super" but I'm not sure the second boy knew what it meant. But it was so cute and I was grateful to them. So sweet.
Afterwards, we were able to meet our friends (Jackie, kids and husband) for dinner and fellowship and worship, and it was so good. Even their 13-year-old daughter had a word for people. It was so touching, just a great night of bonding and being knit together in love. :)

Yesterday, we all went to Khamanahalli to hang out, and just talked & prayed with people in many different situations. My favorite was seeing two little girls and their mother working bringing bricks up to ... well, not sure where, and as I passed by I recalled the pre-made little baggies with toys and bracelets and things in them, so I turned around and handed one little girl two baggies, one for her and one for the other little girl. And her face was just so brightened and happy and she looked so excited giving the other bag to her sister. And as I just thought, "I wonder how God uses that and what that looks like to those girls in the future." and just thinking that God could use that and it transform their life somehow down the road, I was really moved and teared up actually. Another favorite was just believing that God was leading me to this vegetable stand to pray for the woman behind the counter, and seeing a man first & being disappointed, but then seeing a lady serving another customer! I was excited, and as she was finishing, I asked if she spoke English and the customer said she didn't but he could translate (and he spoke perfect English) and I said, Uhh if you want to translate this, yeah. That'd be great. I said I believe in the Most High God and I wanted to know if I could pray for her, and the guy translated it and she was beaming and said yes. And I was about to start praying and she started saying something and I started asking what she wanted prayer for, and she was basically answering the question before I asked. She said (via the translator) that her husband is an alcoholic and it is really hard for her. So I prayed over her and that her husband would be set free and that she would even know that it was Jesus who rescued him, and that God would give her strength for these difficult times. And she was just smiling this huge gorgeous smile. And we said goodbye. But it was really cool.
Another cool story is our teammate Tucker (in the physical therapy field studying to be a PT) feeling led to pray for this homeless guy with a cane, who did not have the ability to even stand on that leg without his cane. Tucker asked if he could pray for him, but the man didn't speak any English at all, but through signs managed to understand and agree. When T touched this man's thigh, it had no tone or strength. And T prayed for him and as he prayed he could feel tone and tightness entering the man's leg, and when T looked up after praying, the man had a tears coming down his face, and he walked away, still with a limp, but with his cane under his arm!!! Super cool.

Today was a much different day, but it started with everyone on the team (except one) laying hands on and/or praying for my neck because it was so sore from I guess how I slept or that in combination with the rikshaw rides, and I was healed instantly. It was amazing! =)
Second favorite story from today actually started yesterday when I was praying and I felt like God said there would be a female student who felt like expectations were too high and that it didn't matter how hard she worked, it wouldn't be good enough, (yes, possibly vague, but I did ask a couple students I met and they were like "No, that's not really how I feel.")And I thought that she was possibly in architecture. And I wrote it down on an index card & brought it with me. I also told a couple of girls on the team. Today one of the team girls was talking to a girl and found out she was an architecture student, so she came to me to let me know, so I went to talk to her. She is a Christian already, and I asked her if she felt those things from my card and she said yes, the teachers always over critique their work, and some other things along those lines. So, I pulled out my card to show her, and she was confused how that happened, and I explained it I think twice, and she said, "That's amazing that you had that and then met me." And I prayed with her, specifically regarding these issues and she left feeling really encouraged. It was awesome. =)

Tonight we were able to see Jackie and her kids, and they are just buckets of sunshine, such a joy to see! We were at dinner at this pretty cool restaurant on the 13th floor of a highrise. ("Tonight, tonight; Dancin on the rooftop, top of the world" OK, well, not dancing, but eating.) One of the girls (Angie) wasn't really hungry and just kinda shared with another girl. And then at the end of the meal, the waiters brought out a survey for the restaurant and when they handed it to Angie, Evelyn said, "Way to give the comment card to the one person that didn't eat." :D good times.

Tomorrow is an early morning as we are headed out to Home for Hope! So excited to see how God is going to move there.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers, especially along the lines of  2 Corinthians 1:3-10 and 1 Timothy 2:1-8.

Peace.

So much to write, so little time...

We made it!! We actually arrived yesterday evening around 4:30pm, India time, which is around 3am CST in America. We are 10 and a half hours ahead!!

We were intending to arrive earlier, but we left DFW nearly 30 minutes late, so even with our special "express connection" cards, missed our connecting flight, causing us to spend about 9 hours in London Heathrow airport, much of it spent trying to get new tickets on the same flights. Remember, there are 13 of us! We did get connecting flightS; we were diverted to Mumbai, then to Bangalore. It was actually a nice blessing because we were able to relax and spend a lot of time together as a team. We received food vouchers, so we ate a nice meal and a few of us got Starbucks. =) The remaining flights were relatively uneventful and and all of our people and luggage arrived in good condition. Praise Jesus! All told, we spent 33 hours in planes and airports. But, as mentioned, we thought it actually turned out for our benefit.

Last night, we basically divided into our rooms, ate & slept. We have 3 apartments: 1 apartment with 3 bedrooms for the 5 guys; 1 apartment with 2 bedrooms for 4 girls; and 1 apartment with 2 bedrooms for the other 4 females. Dinner was Papa Johns Pizza (not joking!) and we ate, talked, took showers and crashed.
This morning was perfectly lovely! Nice cool breezes and barely warm sun. I woke up around 6am and couldn't decide if I was well-rested or if I overslept. I listed to music and journalled, read my Bible and prayed on our little patio. It was really fantastic. I received some good words from the Lord and was able to share them with another team meber who received similar words. It was so encouraging.

Nine of us had breakfast together, then we all met up for prayer and orientation. Five of the long-term team members came: Krupa, Will, Jackie and 2 of Jackie's kids. Worship was wonderful. We received very encouraging words from an email from one of the church members and then some further encouragement from people in our little group. One of the things in the email was about the men of the group being soldiers of prayer and even though there are not many, that much could still be accomplished. It brought to mind 1 Samuel 14:6 where Jonathan and his armor bearer go out against the Philistines (and end up defeating them) but Jonathan says, "Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few." Good things!! Another thing from the email was for the women of the group to be stepping out to be used to heal those we meet, in body & spirit. Very awesome.

We had a great lunch at a Chili's. LOL and I sat next to one of Jackie's kids- her 8-year old son, who was entirely entertaining. I had a blast as he talked to me about soccer, school, his friends, how to play cricket, and other things. He had some very strong opinions and was pretty open about sharing them! It was hilarious.

Afterwards, we went to an evening church service where we were able to pray with some of the people who came and one of our team members shared his testimony. Two of the ladies who attend church there are in pharmacy school in Banglaore and they were so excited to meet a pharmacist from the States. It was relly cool to meet and talk and pray with them & to encrouage them as well.

Following that, we made it back to our apartments, despite the fact we had been traveling in rickshaws: the 3-person-plus-driver mini-cars without doors or seatbelts (not that anyone uses their seatbelts here anyway ;P). Our rickshaw driver on the way back tonight tried to sell one of the guys some weed... he said no thanks. craziness.

For the past 5 hours maybe we have been practicing our play and some other songs/skits we are planning to do at a juvenile detention center tomorrow. I'm excited about it; I think it looks really good and the parts that don't look very good, I believe God is going to smooth out. =) After practicing for 5 hours, we all started getting a wee bit delirious. Actually, after about 3 and half hours. But, while we still practiced, it was very comical in between and when we stopped for dinner break.

Well, my roomie has finished her shower, so I should go. Thank you for your prayers. Please be praying for our play/songs/dances/skits, etc that we are performing tomorrow and the rest of the week. Much of which got sprung on us just today! (Obviously not the play, but all the other things we only were told we needed to have/do this evening.)

Also, if you could pray my Bible is miraculously returned to me somehow; I accidentally left it at the church. I though I picked it up, but apparently not, because it is not in my satchel. :/

Thank you everyone. More about this awesome trip tomorrow. Goodnight for now. :)

21 HOURS!

Wow, I really need to get on this posting daily thing...!
I am all ready for the trip, except for one stop I need to make tomorrow, but all my bags are packed (all 2 of them + a backpack woo hoo!) and are under weight, my clothes are set out and I have everything of which I thought to bring. Including an ankle wrap and finger splint. :P
So, two weeks ago my left leg started aching more than usual, and it seems that stabilizing my ankle would help, so I got the wrap to wear for all the walking we'll be doing on the trip.
Then, a week ago Tuesday, I strained my pinky and have this intensely annoying pain whenever I over use it... which translates to whenever I use my hand in some fashion which results in bending my pinky more than once. I broke down and got a splint so that the finger will hopefully heal.
Prayers for both ailments are appreciated!

One of the things we will be doing in India is sharing the Gospel in the form of a play at a school. There are no words, only motions, like miming or charades, and significant background music. It's a beautiful play which shows the story of God creating the world, the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil, Adam and Eve. Then Adam & Eve are told not to mess with the Tree of Knowledge and go off & explore Creation. Satan (who is part of the makeup of the tree) tempts Eve, then Adam, then Adam & Eve explore sin (vanity, lust, pride, etc) and then reap the "rewards" of shame and death (symbolized by death on crosses)! But then, God (Jesus) steps in and takes their place- is beaten, nailed to a cross, spit on, a crown of thorns placed on His head, and speared through the side- and dies. Satan gloats for "3 days"until Jesus rises from death. Satan bows at His feet & then is expelled (along with the demons). The whole play is approximately 11 minutes. I play the part of Satan. I've been practicing, especially the part after Jesus dies until Satan is expelled. And as I practiced, thinking of how Satan bows at the feet of the Risen Jesus, I realized in my heart that Satan has no power over me. He had his plan of killing God and it backfired. Immensely. and he has no choice but to bow to God, and run. Acting out the part made it real to me that "greater is He (Jesus) that is in you than he (Satan) that is in the world." Talk about being able to walk in victory!

So, extra excited about how others watching the play will respond. Please be praying for their hearts & minds to be open to the Truth. Especially that God will be glorified.

Continue to pray for the other team members; one of our leaders' dishwasher flooded her whole kitchen tonight. :P So just extra things to deal with.

Pray For:
Peace
Perserverance
Positive Attitudes

Looking forward to the stories we will share!
<3

Six Days

Okay, so not so good at daily entries... yet! =)
  Laundry is done. Tickets for flights are reserved. Still some funding is needed, but generous donations have poured in! Needing about $2400. Packing needs to happen. Sleeping well next week needs to happen, too. Prayer meeting is tonight!
  Praise reports: generous check came in today that covers all that was left for the South Africa portion of my trip! Pharmacy license renewal came in the mail today!
 I will update tomorrow again because I will get reports from the rest of the India team tonight. As for me, all is set except deciding exactly what things to bring and making sure they fit in the selected bags I am bringing!

So.. close.. `o`

T minus 10 Days

Our flights to India begin in 10 days! We are all getting totally excited. There is quite a lot left to do in preparation, but everything seems to be coming together nicely. We learned our parts for a little play we plan to do at a school in Bangalore. It looks like it will be fun! We may be working with Home for Hope while we're there as well.
I thought I would attempt to get in the habit of updating daily until we leave so that it would be easier to update while on travel. Also, I have a Twitter account now (@kiki_anna). I've never done Twitter, not sure how it'll go, but there it is. In India, we will be staying in an efficiency-type apartment (at least, that's the plan ;)), and it is said to have wi-fi, which is exciting!

Personally, I have laundry to do and lists to make, in order to ensure I'm not leaving anything behind! Everything for South Africa is good to go. ...I'm pretty sure, anyway. ..Hence, the need for the list.
Prayers are welcomed & appreciated. The India team is fasting (to some degree) over the course of this week as we pray for the trip & the people we will encounter while there. Feel free to join us! We will be breaking our fast this Friday evening (July 19) before our final official prayer meeting before the trip.
Some specific things for which to pray:
Rest/sleep - many of the India team (including myself) have not been sleeping well. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how that can effect a person. Pray for supernatural rest, and fruits of the spirit despite the lack of rest some of us have been getting.
Health & Safety - so, this doesn't really need an explanation. ;)
Africa leader's health - The lead Doctor for South Africa has recently (a few months back now) had back surgery. Please be praying for her continued recovery, and no complications while out of country.
Finances- The India team hasn't collected all the donations necessary for our trip.
Unity - within the team(s) and with those with whom we'll be working

I'm sure I'll think of other things later!
Thank you for all your support. God continues to do great things!
Praise Jesus!!

Wedding Road Trip

My parents, sister & I (= we) returned from our Virginia road trip this past Sunday, around 6am after driving through the night to get home! It was a brilliant trip!

We left on Thursday May 26, and arrived at our hotel in Falls Church on Friday after staying the night at my dad's cousin's home in Christiansburg. My cousin Mia's wedding was on the 29th. She is the eldest daughter of my mom's older brother. In attendance for the wedding was my grandmother, 11 of her 12 children, 8 of her 9 sons/daughter-in-laws, 21 of her 24 grandchildren, her grandson-in-law and future grandson-in-law, and her great-grandson. And that was just the one side of the family! It was pretty cool. The wedding was beautiful- held outside amidst a backdrop of flowers and fountains, next to a large pond with tall gorgeous trees. And the reception was in a pretty restaurant with a dance floor (which our side of the family certainly dominated!), photo "booth" and tasty treats! Mia was a gorgeous bride and her husband Mike was quite comfortable showing off his moves on the dance floor! He fits right into our family. =)
We had an awesome time with everyone before, during and after the wedding, including breakfast one day with my uncle Jim, my sis and 2 of our cousins, shopping for my cousin Sean's jacket for the wedding, taking my grandmother to get her hair done, the rehearsal dinner (I was at a table which included my navy uncle who is now in Afghanistan), dinner courtesy of uncle Kevin in Shirlington, and getting ready for the wedding with three of my female cousins- I did the eye makeup on two of them and did the third girl's hair- which was a really enjoyable time! Some highlights of the reception included my cousin Jeremy making jokes the entire dinner, keeping the other 8 of us at the table laughing, including accidentally causing my 7-year-old cousin to throw him french fries from the adjacent table!! and my nephew Caleb being a little ladies man with all the women (young and old) who would give him attention. My youngest English cousin (he's 5 or 6, I think) kept stealing my lipstick out of my purse just to be funny and then making me chase him & tickle him til he'd give it back. Too cute!

The following day my parents, youngest sister and I went to Annapolis to spend the day with my aunt Rose, uncle Brian and two cousins out on their sailboat. It was the most relaxing and pleasant day!! My little girl cousin, sister & I went out in the little motorized dinghy and were quite a bit away up the channel when the motor cut out and we had to row to our destination and back! It was good exercise, and made the barbeque my aunt made back on the sailboat that much more amazing! When we were out in the Chesapeake, we practiced "man-overboard" by jumping in the water and waiting for the boat to turn about and "rescue" us. It was loads of fun! My aunt wants me to buy a lake house near there or live in her boat and it is a pretty tempting idea! After leaving there, we drove to Colonial Beach and spent the night playing games with our cousins and their friends (Balderdash-- good times!) and then celebrated one cousin's 21st birthday the following day.

Wednesday, we went to Norfolk to the Virginia Aquarium with our English cousins and their parents (very cool people!) and my aunt Ann (who, by the way is really inspiring!) My little English cousin, when he first saw me that morning asked, "Are you the girl whose lipstick I was stealing at the wedding?" LOL! The older two girls are so sweet & beautiful. It was such a nice treat to get to spend the day with them, and my youngest sister altogether. The younger boys were so energetic and curious and made the day even more fun. We saw so many different animals and were even able to pet the stingrays! [I do have to mention, I am not sure I agree with keeping so many sea creatures in such a small area. Supposedly, captured sea creatures live longer than their open-water counterparts, but some of the animals appeared to be looking for ways out of the confined spaces, especially the few young sea turtles who were in clear glass boxes with nothing else in them (no plants, rocks- nothing). My sister, the older two cousins and I all wondered if there is a better way to learn about and educate others concerning aquatic life..] Regardless, we all had a great time together, and knowing that I was going to see them again in August made it much easier to say goodbye!

Thursday night we made it to Rose & Brian's and just hung out at their house. It was really cool because I got to spend the evening/night with my 11-year-old cousin and she told me story after story about her life. It was awesome! She said she wanted to write a book but doesn't think it would be very good yet, but I told her she should go for it! She could write down all her stories and as her vocabulary improves she can go back and edit them as she desires. She seemed to like that idea.

Friday we spent again with my dad's cousin in Christiansburg and my sister and I spent time with our second cousin Katie (dad's side) and were later joined by our cousin Colin (mom's side) for a movie. When Katie had to go to work, my sis & I played Settlers of Catan and Portal 2 with Colin and then went to a bonfire at VT. It was pretty fun!

Saturday we drove through Tennessee and looked at some potential areas to which my parents may retire, and then drove through the night to make it home Sunday morning.

I had such a wonderful time. Can hardly wait to do it again for the next cousin's wedding, whenever that may be!

Inspiration

Do you ever read other blogs to find inspiration for how you should write your own?
I do.
Only, it rarely ever inspires me. Usually I end up thinking something like, "Wow this is superiorly entertaining. How does he/she tell the story so well?"

Enter Google.
<how to tell a story>
The search results alone were hilarious, albeit mostly unhelpful.

After searching more and getting nowhere, I decided to just go with what I have. Which is kind of a penchant for truth combined with a flair for the dramatic. (=code for chaos. possibly confusion)

I also decided only to write when I have something to say. (Brilliant, right?)

This week, I went on a two-day trip to Mississippi with my parents. By "two-days" I really mean 36 hours, 14 of which were in the car. I would like to agree with you that 14 hours in a car with your parents is not fun; however, my parents are pretty cool, my dad drove the entire trip, and I slept. Seriously. For about 12 of those 14 hours. It was AWESOME.

But the 22 hours in Mississippi were the best. We took this super short trip to watch my sister dance one of her last times with Ballet Magnificat. It was bittersweet. The performance was one of my favorite ballets ever. It was a picture of mercy, redemption & truth. Their desire is for their dance to inspire worship of Jesus as they are worshiping, and it definitely did. During one song, I was so caught up in praising God, I realized I had my eyes closed and was no longer watching the dancing!

Amazingly, as an undeserved gift, I have become friends with some of the other dancers through my sister. I am so grateful for them in my life. It was brilliant to watch them all dance together, even if for the last time. Everyone is moving on or moving up. Apparently, according to Jimmy, my sister and I will be traveling back to Jackson to see those who are moving up (I hope so!), and to Houston to visit at least one who is moving on (heck yes!). Just the same, it was sad to leave them.

My parents and I had one last Wicklow evening with them. (Wicklow= my sister's household.) I've had nearly a month's worth altogether- completely wonderful memories. This night, almost all the Wicklows & I played spoons and Calleja, Sarah Jane & I watched a movie, practically piled on top of one another on the couch as we struggled to stay awake to the end. Definitely one of the sweetest memories I have. Though there are many, many more. My sister's community is one of the most loving community I've ever been welcomed into, and the past two years of visiting the Wicklows and friends will forever live in my heart as treasured memories.

Intros

Well, I needed to set up a blog which I could easily access and use to update my friends & family while traveling this year. In all honesty, I should have set it up in January so I could have documented my days in Thailand, but lo hecho esta hecho, and there are still more trips to come!

In August, I'm headed to India and South Africa with two separate and equally amazing groups. In Bangalore (aka Bengaluru), Kamataka, India, the team and I will be working with a long-term team to reach out to the local community, including an orphanage and the slums (God willing), sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. In Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, I will be serving as the pharmacist for the free medical clinics to some poor and underprivileged communities in South Africa. These clinics provide essential health care, medical prescriptions, and glasses to the poor and are typically conducted in squatter camps, townships and rural areas.

In between these two trips, I will be in London for about 3-4 days, staying with my (very kind & generous) cousin!

Today I have been putting together my support letters in which I direct people to this site to follow my adventures. So, I'm here to tell stories of my travels. Maybe just to tell stories of my life. :)

Speaking of which, I think it's a pretty cool story how I ended up with this name (sincere passion).

Basically, I needed a name that meant something to me but could convey a meaning and purpose to a reader without much (or any, if possible) explanation. My first choice was taken. My sister and I brainstormed and got nothing to stick. I tried using my favorite quotes, etc listed on my facebook info page in the hopes that something would jump out at me. I even tried using another language. They were all taken, meaningless, bizarre, or really cheesy. I wanted something that flowed and made sense. That people would look at and say it reminded them of me in a positive way.

Then I re-read this beautiful post by my friend. In her post, which was extremely encouraging, she said she found me to be "so sincere" and she admired my "passion for Christ." And as I read it, I recalled another friend choosing to define me in a single word as "sincere." And I'm pretty sure my passion for Christ is why I need a blog in the first place.

And then it hit me. There was my name! I put it into the blog site thinking FOR SURE it would be taken.
It wasn't! And when I ran it by my sister she said it reminded her of me. :)

I started setting up the page and everything flowed like fresh water from a spring. It is what I wanted; it will inspire me to tell stories. So, there it is, my "blogspot."

I hope you find it useful, encouraging, Christ-focused, passionate and sincere.

Genesis

Can my first post be a link to an amazing piece of work by another artist?
I think yes. Janette shares a heart, a thought process, a feeling with not only me but with many women. In here her words contain what we look for, what we strive to be, what we fail at. It's so good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=igCj3jsbcqs