"Slums"

Today's Africa prayer topic was slums. My sister made fun of the prayer calendar because something like every other day the topic was "slums"

Proverbs 2:6-11
"For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones."

Colossians 2:1-3
"I want to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

I haven't heard anything from them yet. I'm trying not to worry - I'm sure they just haven't had the time to send us an update. Still, I hope to hear from them soon. So my prayers today centered around safety for the team. However, I did also pray for the people who live in the slums of Kampala, where they were working today with the Good News team. My prayer for them today is that "they may know the mystery of God" and that Mom and Dad's presence there helps them come to that understanding.

I checked out of my classroom today - I am officially no longer a kindergarten teacher!!

Happy Father's Day!

I can't talk to my Dad this Father's Day, since he's on his way to Africa, but Happy Father's Day to him anyway!

I had a great day today -went to church, went to the gym, then two of my friends from Charlottesville came up and we went out to lunch and I unloaded bunches of my Kindergarten stuff on them since I don't need it anymore :)

Mom and Dad should be landed in Africa by now, according to the itinerary, although it is after midnight there. Today's prayer topic was long day.

Psalm 41:2
"The LORD will protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him in the land and not surrender him to the desire of his foes."

Jeremiah 24:6-7
"My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart."

My prayers for them today were for patience and endurance, but focused mainly on safe travel. I'm anxiously awaiting our first email update so that we know they have arrived safely!

Tomorrow I will finish packing up my classroom and say good-bye to that huge chapter of my life.... I'm looking forward to it!

And they're off!

Well, Mom and Dad left for Africa this morning. I talked to them right before they left. They had gone up to McDonalds to get Mom's Coke (which they do every morning) and the manager knew they were leaving for Africa today so he gave them a free breakfast ;) Um, yeah. They go there a lot. My mom loves her fountain Diet Coke. I don't know what she's going to do without them for the next two weeks... They had to be at the church to leave at 10 this morning. When I talked to my mom, she said they had to be at the church in 25 minutes (They live 10 minutes away. 12 minutes tops) and Dad was pacing the floor.

They hadn't been gone 2 hours when I wanted to call Mom! My gym's new facility opened today and I went over there to swim and WOW. It's amazing. Huge and fancy and unbelievable. I was thinking that when I left I needed to call Mom and tell her about it and then I realized....I can't talk to her for two weeks. Sad :(

Their flight leaves D.C. around 6:30 tonight and they fly overnight to London, then on to Kenya tomorrow and from there to Uganda. They will be traveling for something like 40 hours!!!!!!!! So, today's prayer topic is travel.

Psalm 20:4-5
"May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God."

Romans 15:5-7
"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

My prayers today were for things to run smoothly with the travel arrangements and for endurance and patience for the team. I don't know most of the team very well, but I know my dad is very calm and patient - when he's in charge. He's not in charge here so if something goes wrong and he's not the one fixing it, that could be hard for him. (He and I share this trait, by the way) But a trip that long is stressful on everyone, even if things do go well. They will need God's endurance for sure.

Bye, Bye Kindergarten!

Ok, off topic already but I just glanced at the ticker at the bottom of my page and it said only NINETEEN days until surgery! Yikes!

Today was our last day of school. The kids had a half day and I put them on the bus without any tears. :) I worked in my room for a while, but it's not all the way packed up yet. I'll have to go back on Monday and finish it up. Still, it's weird to think that I'm not a kindergarten teacher anymore. I've defined myself that way for over 7 years now... The hardest part for me was having to turn in my computer. This is bizarre because I hate my computer. I'm still better about those people forcing me to use a Mac. My wonderful tech woman made me some DVDs to give to my new computer guy that she says will make my new computer look just like my old one. Still, handing in that computer with all my pictures and videos of sweet Abby knowing they're going to be wiped away before I can see them on a new computer was the one thing that choked me up about this day. I know, it's strange. what can you do?

My parents leave tomorrow for a two-week mission trip to Africa! I have their itinerary so that I can follow them wherever they go. They also left a prayer calendar with voices to read and topics to pray for them each day. It started today. I'm going to try and post the verses and topics daily both as a reminder to me and as a way of documenting their trip from my end. I would love your prayers for them as well.

Today's topic was Preparation and verses were:

Philippians 2:2-5
"....then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped"

Galatians 5:22
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness..."

Ephesians 4:1-6
"As a prisoner of the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

Based on the leadings of these readings, I have prayed for team unity and humility to follow God's leading wherever it takes them. Even if takes them to being chased by men with spears or to being kidnapped. My parents aren't worried. My dad says that he can outrun several of the people on the team, so there's no need to worry about the spears. And he tells me not to worry about feeling guilty if he gets kidnapped, I can't pay the ransom and they get killed. He says, "If you don't have the money, you can't pay it." He's so practical. :)


(By the way, for those of you rational thinkers who are wondering how I'm posting if I turned my computer in, my mom is letting me borrow her laptop while she's in Africa. Is she a great mom or what?)

I cried when I said good-bye to my parents tonight. (just a little bit) You would think I would be old enough to handle it, wouldn't you? But I talk to my mom every day and it's going to be very hard for me not to talk to her for two weeks. My poor sister is going to have to listen to a lot, although I normally talk to her almost every day as well. Plus, going to Africa is kind of scary. There's a big war going on near where they will be, and several Americans have already been killed. So I'll be glad when they're safely back home.

I'm off to bed now - WITHOUT SETTING MY ALARM CLOCK. How cool is that?

Running around in circles!

Oh my goodness. I haven't posted in a while. My life feels like total chaos right now. It's the last week of school and I may lose it before it's all over. I'm not going to even begin to describe what I've been doing, but let me say this: I literally work on one thing or the other from morning until late at night and somehow end the day farther behind than when I started. It's only by the grace of a very loving God that I am not curled up in a ball in some corner babbling at this moment :)

So it's the last week of school, which explains much of the craziness. I got an assignment for next year! I'll be working at Fair Oaks Elementary, doing reading work with 3rd-5th graders. Scary. Apparently there's a girl who's been there a really long time who everyone says really, really good things about who works with the younger kids. She is supposed to be retiring next year. So I figure I'll give it a try. I may really like working with the older kids (the way my kindergarteners have been acting this week, it seems like a definite possibility) And if I don't, then I can ask my principal to switch me next year when this girl retires. I met with the principal and toured the school already and she and the school seemed very nice. And they have a bookroom! It will be about a 20-30 minute commute, though.

Tomorrow my mom, my sister and my favorite baby in all the land are coming to visit! I'm soooooo excited :)

Ok that's all the thinks I can think for tonight. Hopefully once I get through this week - which also means getting through this school year! - I'll be saner. Well, closer to my normal level of saneness. Or sanity. However you like to say it. Time shall tell...

P.S. - I do still think about doing those 4 things every day and I'm trying hard. Many days I'm getting them all in! There. Let out that breath you've been holding now.

CRASH!

So............. trauma. I had my first car wreck today. I totally sideswiped a guy on 64. He was in my blind spot, and I tried to change lanes in the middle of heavy traffic. *sigh* It was very scary but I did NOT cry! At least....not until later in the car when I called my dad. OH! No one was hurt, by the way. Both cars were damaged, but not majorly. We both drove away with no problem. The guy I hit was really nice. I admitted to the cop that I made a mistake, and it was my fault and he charged me with improper lane change and not reckless driving. So, all in all, as car wrecks go, I suppose it could have been much worse. It was stupid though and I was embarrassed about it.....and now I have to deal with the insurance hassle.

The good news, though is that I just won $2,000 at Facebook poker! Actually, that would be good news were it real money. I need to go to bed. Too much drama for one day!

My RNY surgery

My surgeon sent me this video explaining about the type of surgery that I'm going to have. They said we could share it with family and friends if they would like more info on it. So, if you would like to watch it, click here:

https://www.my-emmi.com/startemmi?access_code=10873539224

My access code is 10873539224 and my date of birth is January 23, 1978. My procedure is gastric bypass.

I only have one month left! Some days I'm really nervous and others I'm ready for it to be here.