Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my!

So I got a letter inviting me to the training session for Rafiki MiniMissions...AKA, training for a month in AFRICA!!! This invitation doesn't mean I get to go for sure, but I am closer than I was before, so yahoo!

A very exciting side note to this is that I have to pay $150 to attend the training (for materials, food, a bed, etc.), $150 that I didn't have. Well, yesterday I went to sign my lease for a new apt. and discovered that there is a move-in special (which the lady who showed us the apt. forgot to mention) of half-off rent. Rent would normally be $300 for me...half off...hmmm, imagine that, God has provided exactly $150 for me. Man, it's good to know the God of the universe!

oops, I forgot

2 things I was supposed to put in the last post and forgot:
1) I love snowballs (thanks Amy Cooper for donating them to me every week at bible study)
2) I have officially applied to go to Africa (Tanzania, Kenya, or Malawi) in the spring to work in a christian orphanage/girls' school for AIDS orphans...so if you pray, I sure would appreciate some prayers about that!

friends are great

By great, I mean pretty FAN-tastic! Somehow I made it 22 years of my life without knowing that friends are there to support and love you, especially in tough times...until now. (How, you may ask, did I not know this? Well, my only explanation is that I must be very slow...)

I have been so well loved by my friends who have held me up, encouraged me, given me wisdom, just listened...so thanks to all of you : ) You make my days wonderful, even (especially) the very hard ones.

Boys, read please...

So I was flipping through Jeff T's new book (Friendlationships, go buy it) and saw the boy survey in the back. One of the questions was something like "If you knew the girl was not the one God has for you, do you stay with her or break up with her" and a very large percentage of boys apparently would stay with her until "the right time".... My roommate Emily and I were dumbfounded (yes, dumbfounded)...WHY would a boy stay with a girl for any length of time after he knew she wasn't "the ONE"????? Don't they know that the longer you stay with her, the more attached she will grow, and the harder the breakup will be? Please, I beg on behalf of every girl I know, if you discover that the one of us you're dating isn't the one for you, break it off quick! We will feel more betrayed and disappointed and hurt if we've thought you thought we were the right ones if, in reality, you were really just waiting for the 'right time' to end it.

2 things

2 things God tells me over and over and over lately...
1) His love endures forever (FOREVER)
2) Freedom awaits...

I am overwhelmed by this peace that flows through me and by the joy that has begun to fill my heart again...even in the midst of being sad. What an amazing Father I have in Heaven, He cares for me so gently.

at long last

Whew, FINALLY, the last final of college is over!! Yahoo!! It's actually kind of odd to think about no more classes, no more tests (besides the ones I write), no more finals...nice though! I'm off to Chicago for a family vacation later today too and I'm excited about that. Mostly because it will be a good distraction from the relentless missing of M. Why is it so hard to kick him out of my brain/heart? I try and try but alas, back he comes and it is a constant battle between wanting to call him and thinking that I must NOT call him. How ridiculous, I think my heart is revolting against my brain...it'd be nice if they'd get on the same team!
On another note, I'm starting to get excited again by the thought of traveling, especially if I can manage to use work (teaching) as a travel tool...I'm going to go home after I graduate and try to work a lot, save some, pay off some debt, and figure out what the heck to do with myself. Grad school or work? At any rate, I'm going to attempt to go to Africa for a mission trip (short term) and see where God leads from there. Everyone says you need at least 2 yrs experience teaching in the US to get a job overseas, but maybe I can find one that doesn't require that experience...maybe, we shall see. It's an odd place to be in - the "not knowing who I want to be or where I want my life to go" place that is - especially since I thought I knew at least for the past several years. Odd but in some ways kind of exciting because it seems that I am much more available for molding by the Father when I am in the state I currently am (as opposed to my usual 'independent, know what i want' state).