Last week I walked to my tailor to bring some new material to him so I'd have some new clothes for teaching this spring. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining down and a gentle breeze blowing. It was one of those days where I was really wishing I had the freedom to put on a pair of shorts and running shoes and pound my feet into the pavement (which, by the way, we have very little of here) or to jump in my car and drive up into the mountains and go bouldering for the afternoon. But, I don't have those freedoms here. And I was feeling a bit frustrated by that and getting really annoyed at people staring at me. Some days it's so easy to ignore and I barely notice all the eyes baring down on me. But, as I was mulling over my limited physical freedom a taxi drove by my teammate and I walking down the street. He slowed down to see if we needed a ride and when we didn't accept his offer, he kept staring.....and driving. I walked behind the car and crossed the street to try to avoid his eyes which kept following us. And he kept driving and driving, straight into a drainage ditch on the side of the street!!! Then all the shop keepers and others on the street started laughing and laughing. "He was watching the women!" They said. I know that some people wouldn't find this very Christian of me, but that totally made my day. I could almost picture God flicking that car into the ditch and saying "Hey, quit staring at my daughter!!"

I'm realizing that my upcoming year and a half in America is going to be a bittersweet homecoming. Some days, it is so, so, so hard to be here. I have never done anything or been anywhere that is so difficult day in and day out as this place. I have never felt like giving up like I have over this last year. And at the same time, I have never been so inspired to put my whole self into something. I have never felt the love of God like I have this last year and a half. I have never been a part of something so much bigger than myself that I absolutely believe in. And having to leave what God is doing in this place is breaking my heart. And at the same time, I so need some time away to process, to heal, to drink deep of God's refreshing. I've been thinking about what's ahead here and I've gotten piles and piles of advice from people mostly wanting me to return to America and commit myself to something or another there. I have to admit, the idea of returning to America and putting my efforts into something else has been a thought that has passed through my mind....but usually only because it's easier, more convenient, requires less faith and less tears than this place does. If God spoke to me to return home permanently (he HAS spoken for me to return for schooling) the I'd do it in a heartbeat because it's not about what is important for us or what is best for us, it's about obedience and following the leading of the Holy Spirit. A teacher in my organization once said, "I want to lean so heavily on God that if He moves, I fall over." That is the prayer for my life...not that I just am in the place that makes me most happy but that I am absolutely in will of God.

Easter was like any other day here. There were no chocolate bunnies or annoying plastic green "grass" spread throughout the house after the basket was looted for the good stuff or brighly colored eggs or even a well-planned church service or program. But, in some ways, I like that all that "fluff" is removed and I can see my creator face-to-face. My mom was writing on her blog about a discussion she and my youngest brother had had about Jesus' death and resurrection. They talked about how important Jesus' LIFE was. Obviously, we know his death has so much important and significance, but I think my family hit on a key point. Jesus also LIVED for us. He loved no matter what the cost was. He gave not only his life in death but he gave his life while he lived. If only we would show this kind of love more often for others around us. May you experience that life and love of Christ today!

floods

We've been having pretty heavy rains here. It just seemed like it was turning the roads into rivers and making walking EXTREMELY difficult. The mud sucks your feet and moves you around at it's own will, not your own. However, if you have not seen on the news recently, the rains all around the country have brought massive flooding. Many homes have been destroyed around the capital and other places and people have died. Also, the floods have taken out major bridges on the road between my city and the capital meaning we can only travel their by plane. Please pray for those traveling that they would be safe and that the bridges would quickly be repaired.

Not much...but SO much!

Some days I don't know how I can cram so much of life into a 24 hour time space. This week I had 12 hour work days. 12 hour work days in America are draining, let alone here. Although, 4 of those hours involved a language learning seminar this week that was so good. It kicked me in the butt to be continuing language learning. After studying language for 10 months straight 5 hours a day, 2.5 hours a week...I just got so tired. But, my language plateaued after that as well.

I was missing my brother so much this week. Nothing happened particularly that made me miss him. I just felt like he was further away this week. I know you can't get much further away than death but sometimes it seems he's closer than others. It's so hard when every person I meet asks me how many brothers and sisters I have. I still say three...because I do. One just doesn't live here on earth any more. But, it still sends a little stab of pain through my heart.

I don't have a whole lot to say...mostly because I have too much to say today. My mind is swimming with responsibilities and plans and things happening. I feel as if I were to write down all I have on my mind, people would definitely stop reading this blog. So, all that to say, I need prayer for what is going on around me today and what is coming up in the days ahead. We have guests and a mini-d-school and I am doing a week of teacher training here in town. On top of that are meetings and leading the team and house issues and daily life and language. I'm also in need of a new language teacher. Please pray that I would find a person that can meet with me.

We're off to see the village

On Tuesday I ventured out to a Turkmen village that was about 3.5 hours from my city. And there was a real, paved road for about a third of that time. I sat in the back of our van feeling like I was riding a camel the whole way. We donated a library to the school, made a few speeches and left. Usually we will run a teacher training seminar and activities for kids and stay for a couple of weeks. However, this was more a favor for the government because this school has been requesting help for a bit. So, the Minister of Economics came with us and it was all "official." Seriously, the things that I have learned to do over the last two years. I never realized I'd be so involved with the government here.

It was also New Years here. I laid low this year because we had a bunch of security warnings. My city is the main city in the country for New Years...much like Times Square in the States. So, I slept in, watched movies, and that was about it. So nice. Happy 1386 everyone!

Korean teams and local men

This last week we've had a short-term team with us from Korea. I have to admit my view of short-term work has changed a bit as I've experienced it from the long-term side. It's a lot of work to host a team and there have been some good experiences and some bad. It's never good to have a team come and then have to do "clean up" work after they leave either literally or relationship-wise. I could probably express a lot of opinions on this subject, although this is not the object of the post. The point I AM making is that this team was a great blessing for us. They led some amazing worship times (if you have not prayed with a group of Koreans, you are missing out on an incredible blessing!!!) and shared with some of the locals in our mini d-school. Last night they threw a party for our team and cooked some amazing Korean food and totally blessed us. So, the pictures above are the team visiting us, the second is our team and the Korean team. The third picture is me and the kids of a family of mine on our team. They moved into my new house with me.

Tomorrow I'm heading out to a village that we made shelves and tables and chairs for and we're putting a library in their school. I've been realizing something incredibly hilarious. Before I left to come here God spoke to me that I would train both women AND men. I kept this in my heart because I thought it was an impossibility. And I wasn't sure if that was from God, or from me. Well, I would say 80% of my work here has been training men. Between the schools, my office workers and now the mini seminar we are doing, I am working with men more than women. Tomorrow I'm off to spend yet another day with men: my office workers, a government official and the staff of this school, all men. Hilarious....I fought it for so long and yet God seemed to have led me right into this work.

Today I made an incredible discovery. I put on my yoga pants (which until this time have acted as pants that I wear under my skirts here) and dug my running shoes out of a box and got my little booty down to the GYM!!! There are gyms all over the place but they are only for men. Well, one of them in town decided to open it's doors every day only to women for 3.5 hours. Some friends and I went there today and worked out. It was one of the most amazing things I've been able to experience here. There were about 10-12 local women, young, ambitious...married and single. It was a great place to strike up conversations while on the treadmills or doing sit ups. The equipment is not too bad...not Lifetime Fitness by any means (the seats on many of the weight machines are car seats...like they have an actual seatbelt on them. Hilarious!) but I was able to sweat and strain some muscles. I know for many of my readers, it may not be a big deal. But please understand, women do not exercise here. I cannot run, I cannot do anything outside my home so I've been limited to pilates and workout videos. One of the ways I relieve stress at home is to go for a nice, long hard run or hike all day until I'm ready to fall over. Here, the most I can do is pound my head against the wall. I'm looking forward to meeting more women here and am going to make regular event of it.

The weekend is upon me starting tomorrow. I'm in desperate need of it as I've been putting in 14 hour days most of this week. So, I do have one family I'm visiting tomorrow but besides that, my time is MY OWN!!! yeah!!!

Weep with those who weep

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Romans 12:15

To be honest, I am so tired of crying. I have always been an emotionally-expressive person. Most people can tell how I'm feeling even when I think I am hiding it so well. Since my brother's death, the tears freely flow and usually at, to me, the most inconvenient times.

However, today my tears flowed for another death. My language teacher, and my best local friend here, experienced a tragic loss in her own family. Her uncle (her father's brother) went to the bazar in the morning and was healthy and well. When he came home he complained of pain in his shoulder and that afternoon, he died, most likely of a heart attack. My friend showed up at my house a few days later, eyes puffy with tears and we just sat. Not many words were exchanged but grief and hurt and loss hung in the air between us. There was mutual understanding.

Today I attended the mourning session. My heart could barely carry the burden of this time. I entered a room lined with women wailing. In the Bible, where it talks of crowds of women following a dead body wailing, that is what this was like, except within the home. The wife and daughters of the man who died sat at the entrance to the room. The women would enter and just weep with them, wailing at the top of their lungs proclaiming what a good man he was and what a tragedy this was. As painful as it was, it was an oddly beautiful experience. The ache of death is something I have come to grasp. Our humanity NEEDS to wail over the tragedy of death. When I came home for my brother's funeral, I always felt like I needed to constantly pull myself together. I always felt like the odd-one-out weeping all the time (except of course with my family who wept along with me). How wonderful it would have been to sit in a room and just weep all day and have others come just to weep with me. Even God understands this need as he led Paul to command us to weep together. We don't need to tell each other words that we think may take the pain away or lessen it. We don't need another pan of brownies or a casserole. We need tears, lots and lots of tears.

So, i cried with these women. Some of the other women were staring at me and asked if I knew him. "No, but death hurts. I understand this pain."

I know that God is not so narrow that he would take my brother away from me and my family just so I could understand death and relate to people in this land (who experience death way more often than I ever have). I would never put that on God's character. But I know that God sees the complexities and many facets of our life we never see and that he raises beauty out of the ashes. And the beauty is that my tears and pain can come alongside another. Please pray for my friend and her family.

$$$

I found out this morning that I GOT AWARDED MY SCHOLARSHIP TO WHEATON COLLEGE!!!!! I'm so excited. :) It's a full-tuition scholarship that functions as a loan. So, for every year I'm on the field after school, they forgive 25% of the loan. So basically, school is paid for by spending 4 years on the field, which is what I was planning on doing anyways. I was so in need of good news.

I moved into our new house yesterday. It's very nice but has it's typical new-house problems that all new houses have here. Our doors and windows don't all close because the winter has shifted the house already. The water pump is broken so sometimes we don't have any water. And we don't have a generator yet so the electricity comes and goes. I kinda feel like I'm camping.

High-tech security

I've been meaning to blog about our new "neighborhood watch" system here, mostly because it gives me many moments of sarcastic comments and ironic chuckles. I love to let you all in to my bizarre little world.

There have been a couple of robberies in my neighborhood so I don't know who decided it but there are a couple of guys that walk around at night to just be a presence in the neighborhood and deter people from breaking into homes. Sounds great, right? But, they walk around with whistles and blow on them all throughout the night. Also, each house (including ours) pays them $1 a month for their "protection" in the neighborhood. Now, in a way, I really pity these guys. I for one, would not want to be waking around a dark neighborhood blowing a whistle alerting everyone to my exact presence so they can come beat me up. Also, I wonder how this increases security because I think it just lets the people who want to break into a house know exactly where the people are so they can sneak around away from the whistle-blowing guys. AND, what does the dollar pay for? A new whistle every now and then? Maybe to resole their shoes as they walk around on the rocky streets all night? You can't really support a family on that! Everytime they walk by my house at night I just have to laugh because I find it so strange.

Some other crazy new news: I'M MOVING!!! We rented another house because our team is growing. I orginally hadn't planned on moving but it just kind of worked out. The great thing is that I will have my own room for awhile. I'm a big girl now. So, to pay homage to my room that has been home and a refuge for a year and a half now, I am posting a picture below. Once I move and get settled I'll post a picture of my new house. You can actually see the building on the blog I posted below about the muddy streets. It's the tallest building on the left side of the street, so our team all lives really close...which is good so we can maintain our security! ;)

Mud city!!

So, when I was at home I was telling people that when it rains or snows here it gets muddy. But, my words just can't describe how an entire city becomes a mud pit with the tiniest bit of precipitation. We just had a nice snowfall here a couple days ago so I wanted to post a picture to let you in on what it's really like here. (my house is the pink monstrosity on the far right) For those of you who shared good times at the "Pondo"....just imagine the mud there and then put it everywhere and add a few bits and pieces of garbage to it. Fun!

Spotted holiness

In the center of my city stands a gigantic mosque that is a tomb of Hazarat Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Mohammed. It is always full of birds, reminiscient of Trafalgar square, except a bit dirtier and less, modernized I guess. The legend is that the more time the birds spend at the mosque, the whiter they become because the place is so holy. It is also said that if they land on your house, it is a blessing for those inside. So, I could either believe that or that they are the most annoying things, making nice white and grayish birdie-poo stains on my house under the window sills.

Today I was standing, gazing out on the city from my second story window of my house. I love to just look out and anonymously watch the goings-ons of my street. There is ALWAYS some group of kids or some men and occasionally the burka clad group of women walking by. I pray for them, I ask God to increase my love for this place, the people. On some mornings I watch the sun rise from behind the mountains or watch the colors dance from yellow, to pink to dark purple on the peaks in the evenings. Today I watched a flock of the "oh so glorious" group of feathered poopers land on my neighbors' house. They caught my attention because most of them weren't reallly white. They were spotted. Some were almost all black with the tiniest spot of white on their tails. Ah, yes. New converts, I quietly mused to myself. Being that it's spring, they must have migrated in and are only beginning the journey to holiness.

Sometimes life would be easier if we could just wear holiness on the outside. We wouldn't have to lie about the jealousy over our friend's success because we'd have a nice big dark spot over our heart telling the world about it. We would have a good reason to ignore the others who were covered in dark color because we knew their deep unholiness. And we could fly with pride when we emerged dazzling white for the world to gaze upon us, dropping our blessings on every person and household we could grace.

But then again, maybe it's good that even though man looks on the outward appearance, God looks on the heart.

Is that you Betty Crocker?

Well, the week is winding down. It's been fairly eventful...a harrowing (but albeit, normal) taxi ride up from the capital, surprise visits from friends who heard I was back, days at the office and afternoons at home resting off my head cold. I've gotten to sit down and catch up with my teammates and local co-workers to hear how things have been going.

Coming back has been such a priviledge of getting reacquainted with the people and the culture. I loved being home but I felt that often times I was defending my calling, defending the people here, sometimes feeling like I was defending God himself (because let's not forget, He was the one who called me to be a part of what HE's doing in this place.) Once arriving here, no one was asking me "Why are you THERE? Isn't it dangerous?" And I know I have a huge support base at home and a cheering section and a wonderful group of people who pray for me and pray for the people here, but sometimes I get the feeling some people are just holding their breath, waiting for me to get through this phase and move on to the next, less dangerous, less crazy thing (like grad school!) All I would ask is that you don't hold your breath too long, because it could be a good long while.

Today I watched a movie called "Magdalene." Fantastic! It's the J. film but it's told from the perspective of Mary Magdalene and emphasizes our Savior's interaction with women and how he gave them dignity and restored their honor. So, it shows a lot of His teaching and tells the story of his life, but it pauses on the woman who was bleeding for 12 years, the woman at the well, the women who ministered beside the disciples, the woman caught in adultery, and of course, Mary Magdalene herself. For those of you in ministry to the same type of culture and religion I am I highly recommend getting a copy of it. It's not out in the local language yet, but will be soon. It will be a tool I will have plenty of opportunities to use.

Some other news I wanted to pass on to my loyal blog readers was my pride at baking yet another new thing from scratch! So far I've learned how to make pumpkin pie from scratch (like from the actual pumpkin, not from a can), bagels, pizza, biscotti, and the list goes on. Today I added TORTILLAS!!!! They looked just like the ones from the store except a little misshappen. I'm telling you, this whole experience has made me a lot more domestic! ha!

Home Sweet Home

After a three day journey across three continents in a plane and couple taxis, I arrived HOME! I have to tell you it was the strangest feeling to land in the country and have that "breathe a sigh of relief after a long journey away" feeling when you come home. That's what this place feels like to me now. That was also not something I was expecting upon returning.

In Dubai I waited overnight in the same airport terminal that I did a year and a half ago upon first entering this country for full-time work. The terminal had changed a bit, (thankgoodness! They put chairs in and a better coffee shop that served more than nescafe. So, I didn't have to sit on the floor and gag down instant coffee this time!) While I was sitting there I was realizing how much life and I have changed since I sat in that very spot just a year and a half ago. I thought how amazing it would be to have the Danika now sit down and have a talk with the Danika a year and a half ago. I wrote about that in my journal while I was there and wanted to write it here to share with you all:

"I would tell her to humble herself and just soak up the experiences. I would tell her to seek intimacy with Jesus above all else. I would tell her not to be so driven to be productive. I would tell her to allow herself to be broken and to learn from failure (and that failure WILL come!) I would tell her to enjoy the people and learn from them--just watch and listen. I would tell her to press hard into language because it sure does pay off and it is in conversation (along with love and time and effort) that relationships are fostered.

"I would tell her that beauty lies within and it cannot be destroyed or marred by man because it wells up from within, and the source is the River of LIFE, Jesus himself.

"I would tell her not to run from the difficult times for there she will meet her Savior face-to-face.
I would tell her to rest, take care of herself and not to be ashamed when she's weak. God truly is strength in our weakness.
I would tell her that she is loved, passionately, deeply, more intimately than she will ever know.

"And I would hug her and tell her she's not alone, that no matter where her two feet take her, she doesn't take those steps alone. No matter how overwhelming the loneliness becomes, she has a Companion, a Leader, a Protector and Provider on that journey."

Wow...who knew experience could dump that much wisdom on you just from a year and a half! And those lessons definitely didn't come easy or in a neatly defined and well-written manual. I hope I heed my own advice in the days to come. I could really use prayer. I'm diving back into leadership. The team seems to be really healthy and stable, praise God. But, we have some big decisions and a lot of work ahead of us to prepare for what's coming this spring. I'll be getting into that on Sunday when our work-week begins.

The wide, wide world

Well friends, and whoever else happens to glance at this blog...It's the night before I leave and my bags are all packed. I spent 4 hours on the phone today just saying goodbyes. I can't believe 3 months has flown by so fast. I was thinking today this time has been bitter-sweet...but then I changed my mind because when I think of bitter-sweet it seems that it's more negative than positive. Yes, the death of my brother was like a gash through my heart, nothing positive about that. However, there have been sweet, sweet times here...with family and friends but the sweetest have been my times alone with the Lord. I've sobbed so much in these last few months, the whole body wrenching, gasping sobbing. But, in the release of the pain in my heart, I've felt the peace of God descend on me like nothing I could put into words. And I have this eye-opening glimpse of eternity that was somewhat clouded before my world getting flipped upside-down. I have come to understand that death is not an ending but a moving on and that the reality of life in a fallen world, that is what is bittersweet about this. We are living in the shadow of promises fulfilled. Our glory is still to come. We live with war, disease, pain, tears, divorce, famine, etc. Perfection, ultimate beauty, everlasting fulfillment is still only a hope in our hearts, but for those who have passed on to the next life, their hope is reality. wow.

So the other great news, I just talked to my Dad on the phone tonight and he read me my ACCEPTANCE letter from Wheaton! Now I'm just waiting for them to tell me that they are giving me money to study at their school! So, Masters of Intercultural Studies, here I come!

I will keep this blog updated and would love emails and comments and communication from EVERYONE! It really makes my day and I love being able to stay in touch even being half a world away.

What do you think?

Here are a few quotes in some books I was reading this summer that really struck me. I'm not offering my thoughts (so as not to influence) but would love to hear some of yours!

I leave on Monday...prayer would be appreciated. (particularly, I need a miracle for my finances right now.)

"Missionary work is a grain of sand, the work untouched is a pyramid....Face it. Look and listen, alone with God. Then go, let go, help go. But never, never, never think that anything short of this is being 'interested in missions.' Never, until this point is reached and passed, delude yourself into believing that you care at all."
from A Chance to Die, by Elizabeth Eliot (biography of Amy Carmichael)

"...But we must remember that it was not by interceding for the world in glory that Jesus saved it. He gave Himself. Our prayers for the evangelization of the world are but a bitter irony so long as we only give of our superfluity and draw back before the sacrafice of ourselves."
from On the Threshold of C. Africa, by M. Coiland

David Crowder Band Concert

Wow...
I just got back from seeing David Crowder Band in concert this evening. It was, mmmm, cathartic may be the right word. Their music is meant to be experienced, not just heard. It was incredible.

And it got me thinking about my kitchen in C. Asia. Why?, you ask. Well...when I cook (our team takes turns cooking dinner), I enjoy a bit of music and David Crowder Band is one of my favs. I remember one really crappy day where I was in one of those "I just want to pack up my bags and get out of here" moods. So, I brought out my ipod and my speakers but the electricity went out. (explative!) So, I put my headphones on and cranked up the sound and was literally jumping around and singing "you are my joy, you are my joy, you are my JOOOOOYYYYYYY!!!" at the top of my lungs. Now, my kitchen door and window look out into my yard (the kitchen is not connected to the inside of the house except through a porch) and our night watchman was out there watching the crazy western woman performing live in the kitchen.

Then I'm at this concert jumping around and singing at the top of my lungs again and Mr. Crowder probably has no idea that his songs are being performed live in Asia.

A trip to the coast

Yesterday I hiked a couple hours around the preserve that my aunt and uncle live on and today I tramped down the trail along the coast. Beautiful!!!! The weather was great, the wildlife was abundant and my soul was ALIVE!! It's hard to believe next week I'll be back to the desert. It makes days like this even sweeter.

Starbucks revelation

I sat at starbucks today in California tapping my pen on the table next to a card that took me way too long to choose out of the cliched-filled rack of sympathy cards. Noah Steven Graves, 7 months, was taken off of life support last week and I was attempting to put into words something that was beyond human description. In a moment of honesty, I etched out some mediocre musings and put the card in the envelope. But, as my words felt inadequate, my spirit felt inspired. I just sat, sipping my dark roast coffee (which in my coffee-snobbiness I felt couldn't compare to my favorite cup of caribou coffee...how ironic to be dwelling on the trivial in that moment). My mind was bouncing between memories of James and images of little Noah in his hospital bed. And honestly friends, I felt as if I was pressed up against the cross. I could see it towering above me. I reached out and touched the wood only to withdraw in pain as splinters pierced their way into my palm. And it was empty. I felt what is becoming an all-too-familiar ache in my heart when I think of James...and only those who have experienced a deep loss can understand how your heart physcially hurts when you miss someone like that. I coddled the ache, mulling it over in my spirit and the whisper of Jesus came to me, "this is what I died for. This is what I am returning for." That ache in my heart is only a small amount of what Jesus took upon himself on the cross. Death was never the plan in the beginning, and only because of our selfishness and greed has it become a part of our life through the Curse. But, it's our choice to embrace death as a normal part of life, or to embrace eternity beyond this shadow of what is to come that we live in.

Where, o death, is your sting?! I can now scream it to the heavenlies.

As me and Jesus were having our intimate, caffeine-tickled moment, I couldn't help observe what was happening around me. There were two Iranian students behind me chatting away in Farsi. I understood bits and pieces of their conversation about frustrations over finances and other daily problems. Another couple of young, athletic, all-American guys were brainstorming youth group activities and were figuring out which part of the Bible teaching to cut out so they'd have enough time for a scavanger hunt. Two women across from me were scoping out adult education classes in a catalogue and another touchy-feely couple was chatting away in Spanish. It just seemed so ordinary. In some ways, insignificant. And yet, I thought, here we all sit in the shadow of the cross with its splinters in our hands.

"I am beginning to suspect...that the common transactions of life are the most sacred channels for the spread of the heavenly leaven." George MacDonald, The Curate of Glaston.

Amen, MacDonald. Amen.

The Gift of Sight

My mom received a letter yesterday from the organization that helped coordinate Jimmy's organ donation. They were writing to inform us that someone had received the gift of sight through the donation of James' organs. My mom and I cried together on the phone when she told me about it.

I remember someone going off on me about organ donation a couple years ago and how the system is corrupt and some people's organs end up being waste in some university somewhere. They swore they would never let their body parts be so flippantly dealt with. I don't believe that person has ever lost a loved one or known someone that had a second chance because someone else donated their organs. And by the way, I'm an organ donor so you can all fight over my body parts once I'm gone. I definitely won't be needing them!

Of course, even if we could help every single person in the world, it wouldn't take away the pain in my heart from losing James, but today, a little bit of it was eased. I know that someone out there, is walking around with James' gentle eyes. There truly is beauty that rises out of the ashes.

________________________________________________________________

I'm scheduled to take my GRE at noon on Friday, January 12. I'll be so happy to finally have that over with.

And then I fly out to CA on Sunday!!!
(My return date to Asia is leaving the States February 12 and arriving Feb. 14)

Here are some photos, as promised earlier:

My grandparents' house all decorated for Christmas!


This is a view of the yard after a snowstorm on New Year's Eve.


William (my youngest brother) and I went sliding on "killer hill" near where my grandparents live.


One of many silly pictures William and I took in the park after sliding.


This is for all you Who's down in Who-ville! :)

just random stuff: a pseudo Christmas update letter

Happy New Year everyone!!!

I wanted to let you all know (for those of you who actually do look at my blog!) my plans for the weeks and months ahead. I'll be in Minnesota through January 14 and speaking at Biwabik Covenant Church on January 7. Then I'll be flying out to CA to stay with some friends and mentors of mine. Super "stoked" about that! From CA, I'll leave for good ol' home-away-from-home in C. Asia. I'll be there until this summer when I'll be coming back to the States and starting grad school in the fall. Some people have asked what I'll be doing at grad school and if it relates to what I'm doing now. I'm planning on attending Wheaton College and going through their Intercultural Studies program and I'll focus on leadership development in cross-cultural contexts. And for those of you who know what I'm up to lately, it definitely relates to my job. I'm planning, as of this moment but God has the right to change my plans at any time, to return overseas after the one and a half year program.

Everyone's also been asking how Christmas was with me and my family. I'm happy to say that it was quite nice. We really enjoyed being together (it's been 5 or 6 years since we were all together for the holidays). We had our sad moments and shed a few tears but all-in-all the focus was really on enjoying our time together. It was really great to be with my family even though the events that brought me home were nothing I would have wished to bring me home. For those who know my family, here's a brief update on what everyone is doing: my mom just finished her exams and is officially a Ph.D. candidate. Go Mom!! We're all super proud of her. she's put a lot of work into going back to school and she took her exams just a few weeks after the funeral. She's amazing. Her husband, Mike, is currently not working due to an injury to his shoulder but he still putzes in the garage and pretty much dishes out a hard time to all us kids...all in good fun. What would our family be without sarcasm? Mike definitely fits in! William is back at school and working on cars and practicing his guitar. He really, really wants to learn drums and begs Mom and Mike for a drum set all the time. Jeremy is living in Minnesota and working as a DJ and at a convenience store. He also is part of a Christian metal band called Servanthood but is really passionate about writing his own music as well. His guitar skills put me to shame.

I'll be sending out a newsletter (minus all the above details so it will actually be interesting!!) so if you are not sure if you're on my mailing list and would like to get one, please let me know. And I'll be posting some Christmas pics in the days ahead.

Happy 2007!!! I can't believe it's already here. Time flies. I've been spending this time with friends and family, meeting spouses that I haven't met yet, seeing children that I haven't seen yet. I'm beginning to realize I actually am in my late 20's (27th birthday in a month!!). Some friends and I were talking that we used to babysit for people who were our age at the time. weird.

But, may this year be one of passion for Jesus, friends and family, and full or surprises and joy. That's what I'm hoping for this year!