Watching and waiting #EB912392547US

I'm just watching and waiting.......literally. Sometimes it is like I'm spinning around and around into the unknown Bermuda triangle or something. My job as a dental assistant ended last week-so I've been debating on whether or not to go back to my substitute position in Madison County. I guess I should be spending some time in prayer about that. If I start back right now, I will not receive a check until May-so the benefits aren't really relative to me at this moment. I like doing odd jobs and babysitting!


My paperwork should all be in D.C. and my passport should be stamped and in the Express envelope # EB912392547US And yes-I do have that number memorized. I've been inputting that into the USPS site the minimum of 3 times a day. Sometimes it is very discouraging to repeatedly see the "No Record" tracking message. I just have to blow it off and continue on with the daily tasks and be thankful for the time God has given me in the United States.


I found out that one of my Cuban brothers, Mario(or Mayito pictured on your right), has made it to the States with his father! This is great news, I just hope that people are being kind to him and that he has found a "Little Havana" church to go to in Miami. He speaks no English except for "God Bless You" a phrase I heard him say every time he opened his mouth in Cuba. :)





Prayer Requests:

• Mario and father
• Visa Papers
• BIS-new building, teachers, students, Daniel (visa guy)
• Struggling friends and family members

Praises

• Provisions in the much needed dental work I needed!!
• Living arrangements
• Continual patience

One of my greatest fears....

was the dentist. As a child, I really hated going and having them scrape and vibrate my brain into a headache. I never liked the taste of the dust from my teeth as they were working.
Well, I'm working for a dentist until I leave (if it is within 6 weeks) as an assistant. I just imagine what the patients must be feeling. How can I make them more comfortable? What hurts? Why are they anxious?
Secretly-I really love this job. I mean, I really really like it. Who knew I would love loading silver into an "instrument" and doing things in a certain way--all the time.
I love listening to the elevator music and watching people being relieved from their physical and appearance pain. I love to watch their smiles creep up after they are shown their new teeth. I also really love talking to people and hearing where they work, what they do, and "rubber lip". Life is just precious and these people remind me of that with their attitudes, their conversations, and dedication to their dentist!
I hope to acheive this with my students.
There are many reasons that I'm learning this information. It's a job I didn't think I would ever do or a job that I would enjoy doing-but-I do. I am thankful for the opportunities God has given me. He provides in spectacular and miraculous ways-ways that I couldn't. I love that about Him. I've had lunch with my Dad TWO days in a row! I miss Richmond so so so bad, but this time is completely precious. I also love spending time with my Mom- :) We've been trying to get me together to leave, but it hasn't happened yet. We talk about going through the whole wall of teaching stuff to send to Brazil-but-we end up just hanging out :)
Tomorrow, I'm going to start tying up loose ends and taking care of the major stuff that needs to be taken care of here in the states!

Prayers and Praises

• My teammate, Casey, got his visa after waiting for months and months. His patience has been SOOO encouraging!
• Mary, my best friend, as she looks for the right opportunity for her life!
• My new temporary job!
• Brasilia International School as it opens back up for the semester and as my teammates travel back to Brazil.
• For the students as they travel
• For my family!!!! They are amazing!
• For my future and current sponsors!! THANK YOU!!!
• For AMAZING friends and their continuous love and joy they have been sharing with me! Our time has been SWEET!!!!

Thanksgiving at Christmas!

I know we should celebrate Christ's birth at Christmas. I'm just so thankful that He came, lived, and then died for me-to save such a sinner as I. That overwhelming feeling always feels that way-overwhelming that someone would care so much for me.

Many of you might already know, but I have received my phone call from the Brazilian Consulate in Washington D.C. NOrmally these phone calls mean that you can be expecting your visa to be coming to you in a matter of several days or a week. With me, it's been a little different(kind of like the whole process) and with my visa only being at the consulate for about a month-it was a bit quick. We are all amazing that they have called for my passport already-as if it is going to be granted. My boss e-mail me to be honest with me about what they do and not know. He said that Brasilia has not contacted them about my paperwork being in Brasilia as of yet.-so it's a little odd that they have basically said that I am going to be getting my visa in january. So-we are not sure what is going on. I'm not questioning anything-I'm just giving God the glory for the experiences and even the hardships. I'm learning much about patience and how God works-if just a bit. I won't every fully understand but I can learn to deal with trials in ways that glorify God in every way!

Mary, my roommate came home from Peru two weeks and it is/has been very sweet to spend some time with her. Actually we have been connected at the hip and loved doing all of our old habitual activities together. Road trips, sports, great food, Fellowship, Bibile Studies, discussions, talking until we fall asleep,-just to name a few. I missed her and I know we will miss each other when things begin to change for us again. God only makes friends like this -friends that not only share your common interests but your spiritual and service interests as well! I thank God for her!



Prayer Requests

• Continued prayer for the people handling my paperwork


• for spiritual growth


• for my teammates that are waiting or who are dealing with changing circumstances


• for Brasilia INternational School-faculty, staff, and students as they are on holiday


• for Daniel Lopes who works diligently to communicate with the Brazilian government on my behalf and the future BIS teachers as the visa process changes.


• for the people who are giving me places to stay while I wait-Gail Wolford, John and Tammy Brockman, my grandparents, and my parents~!


• for people who are supporting me-GOd is just sending them to me again and again! They come at just the time when I need encouragement!


• as things come to a close here-that I will remember all of the loose ends that I need to tie up before I leave.

richmond meets manchester!

CrossPoint Baptist met early on Saturday morning to serve God in Manchester. Richmond and Manchester? That's right, my CrossPoint family drove down to help out at the John Rice Center. The gains were A-Mazing! The Kendricks, Mr. Albert Spencer, Robbie Randall, and Joe Martin all did the "manly" jobs of laying trim, re-setting toilets, wiring and hanging lights. I stood in awe of the work being finished-task by task. The women buried themselves in clothes and took on the challenge of sorting, hanging, and laughing at some of the things found in boxes. (You can't tell me that underwear isn't funny and that very "Gamin" skirt I wore around-absolutely was funny) The students did an amazing job as we showed them what needed to be done. I thank God for such easy going girls that will do whatever needs to be done! Truly servants hearts were seen during this time.
The day came to a close and all of a sudden-I hear this buzzing around of a semi coming? What was this? Soon, a semi maneauvered into the loading dock and literally as soon as the door opened-the boxes began falling out. For two hours the workers unloaded these boxes labeled: womens, ladies, girls, boys, men's, infants, household, summer, and wemon's (we aren't sure what a wemon is...we're still looking for new owners of the contents...). These clothes were given out on Sunday to over 700 people in a matter of a couple of hours.
Serving God in this capacity is simply amazing. We had many opportunities to talk to the workers (mostly single mom's and children) along with the people coming in to receive something from the center. You can hear a constant-"How can I pray for you?", "Have you heard the gospel today?", "What do you think a person must to do get to heaven?".
I'm so thankful for the amazing church family that raised me and then for the church family who continues to nuture me in this stage of life. God is so good. He has given me much to do during this waiting period and I am thrilled at the chance to give back to the community that gave and has given much to me in the past and present. Also to be given the chance to serve with my current church family is priceless-their hearts are amazing.

God wrecked my life-it's the most beautiful wreck I've ever seen

God is just giving me so many opportunities to serve Him. His glory and renowned are all I seek to glorify when I am speaking. Sometimes I don't even know what I'm saying. I have practiced a lot (thanks to all the traveling in the car by myself latetly). I spoke at Gray Fork Baptist Church in Manchester, KY this morning. Surrounded by the beautiful mountains and remnants of the fall foilage, this church encompasses the country culture. The warmth spread into my heart as members started filling this beautiful church. The light shown through the beautiful cross shaped windows. The blue stain glass created a serene illumination of the sky. The souls inside were kind and I could tell that most were hungry for the Word. The pastor, Mr. Boo Smith allowed me to speak and is interested in a partnership with international missions. This is an amazing opportunity for these people to get involved and see the hands and feet tha their money supports. I am very excited to see what God is doing for this little church. Boo spoke on how to be a Christian on Mission in the first with spiritual awakening. <><><

God's Closet

Serving the poorest of the poor in Clay County taught me so many things. We are called to be humble and this is an experience that brings me to that level. At 6:30am (running on less than five hours sleep on a couch) we broke the dawn by running around getting coffee supplies and stirring with excitement for the people who would come today. As we clothed them in a brand new coat-we also gave them spiritual clothes. Upon leaving, they were ushered into a room and the gospel was shared with each person. Five people shared the gospel with 1, 034 people this morning. We are sure of 2 salvations and unsure of the hearts which were stirred as we planted the seeds. My job was to call numbers so that there would be no confusion and so it would be orderly. A group from Applachia Blankets came and helped us pull off this miraculous event. They wore beautiful smiles and bathed these people with the love of Christ. Their positive attitudes and cheer made this an even happier day for these people. They each got a brand new coat, a Bible, pack of socks, gloves, scarves, and bogans! God truly worked in lives and it is not over yet. We gave away every single brand new coat (down coats with fleece on the inside and a hood) and feel like there will be more people coming to see what we have on Monday. <><

I'm missing my parents already..and I'm not even gone....

I've spent two amazing days with my parents. My Dad had the chance to show me some of his dreams becoming bigger and bigger. God is doing so much more than he could ever imagine through these missions he has helped establish in Clay County.
I've been trying to get CrossPoint Baptist (my church in Richmond) to come down and get involved with the center. Yesterday, I visited for the first time and it is simply amazing. I walked in and started breathing the brisk air as the back loading door was open. There were a couple of people volunteering. A guy that I went to high school with is a recovering addict and has committed most of (basically all) his time to this center. One day he stayed 11 hours to get clothes hung up, the floor swept, and the walls painted. Beautiful is the word I can use as I look upon his life and I realize how big God is and He can do whatever He wants in whoever He wants. He serves from early in the morning until he knows everything is just about done. My dad says that these are the people that call asking/begging for somethign to do. This center is helping him recover through keeping him busy on a volunter basis. His story is amazing.
I ran around and took pictures of everything-trying to capture some of the rigid and true to life details of the center. <><

That night we got ready and drove to Williamsburg, KY so dad could speak at a UNITE recruiting event. I never get tired of hearing about how God changed/is changing the lives of the people in Clay County. I'm so inspired by my father's diligence to God and to this cause. He wants better for the youth and the families in Clay County. His devotion is a testimony to his commitment to not only his church, but to God. After Williamsburg, we drove to Pikeville. This was the big event! We attended the UNITE Celebration in which Dad gave the Abner/Bolin Community Leader Award (yep! it's in his name!) and I learned about drugs and kids, challenges in communities, and about what is going on in other counties. I watched these people get awards that they were not expecting and kids receive awards for doing tremendous things in their schools. Truly inspiring!! Tomorrow-we will hand out BRAND NEW coats, scarves, gloves, socks, and Bibles!!!! I spent tonight cleaning bathrooms (!!!) and moving tables. I have a passion for these needs and for their souls. We have the chance to share Christ with all of them!!!! By the way-I got my papers from Brasilia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This will take me into the last steps to getting there!!!! WHOOHOOO!!!