Been a while...

I just realized it's been a while since I've posted anything. I don't feel like being very elaborate right now, but I'll do a quick run through.
Thanksgiving was good. I spent time with my family and friends.
Teaching is going awesome. I only have one week left, then I am officially done with my undergraduate studies.
As for after college... that is a bit more fuzzy. I have been praying a ton about it all. I have been talking with yet another family from Spain, and am feeling pretty good about them. Their references checked out and they seem nice. I think it will be a great opportunity. I emailed them today and said that I would like to be their au pair if they would like to have me. I am hoping to hear back tomorrow, even if it is just to ask my more questions.
In 17 days I will be back in Seattle. In 13 days I will be moving everything here in Flagstaff down to Tucson to store.
The semester is wrapping up quick. We will see how things go. All in all, I'm good. I'm happy. I'm excited for the future.
I'll be more chatty soon.

Short Week

I only have to teach two days this week. Sweet! After tomorrow I only have ten days of student teaching to go. Then I will get my teaching certificate and my diploma. I'm pretty excited to be done.

I have absolutely no idea what I will be doing in 2008. I do know that I am going to Seattle for Christmas and maybe a bit longer, but after that I don't know. I don't think I'm going to be an au pair abroad. And that's ok. God's plans are bigger then my own. I just wish He would clue me in rather then leave me in suspense.

Things in Flagstaff have been going very well. I'm pretty happy here for the most part. Now that I have a routine that I like, things are good. It is going to start getting cold though. Maybe I will just stay and work in Seattle until it warms up here. That's not a bad idea. But, we'll have to wait and see.

I've changed my plans so many times now that I don't know if I should even bother sharing my ideas any more. Every time people get excited about what I'm doing (including myself) then I go and change it all up. Since I don't know what I (or God) wants, I think I'll just keep the planning stages on the DL. Not because they are special but I just want to be able to tell everyone what is really happening. Not just what might possibly happen if I don't change my mind. However, I reserve the right to keep changing my mind on here.

This past summer I was checking out the Peace Corps. It sounds like it would be an amazing adventure, but it wasn't for me. The recruiter I talked to said he brought a bunch of baseball supplies with him and taught the kids to play baseball. I thought that sounded awesome! Well XA did a mission this past summer where they went to Kyrgyzstan and formed a little league baseball team. They also were able to share the Gospel to the kids. I've been thinking and praying about whether I should go. It would be pretty cool to teach baseball to a bunch of little Russian speaking Muslum kids. Who knows, maybe my team would even win the championship. I'll keep praying on that one.

It is time for me to go teach now. Only two days this week. For Thanksgiving I am going to Tucson to hang out with my brother, sister, and Dad. We are cooking Thai food. We aren't very tradiational but it should be tastey. I better look up recipes! I'm hoping to get a hike in this weekend too. Maybe some of my old friends will want to go to Sabino Canyon one night. That's always fun. If not, I'll just slap on some sunscreen and go for a walk. Hasta luego.

Mark 12:30

I had my bible study this evening. It has been a real challenge lately. Everything has, church, XA, bible study. I've been struggling to let go of it all and put it in God's capable hands.

Mark 12:30 says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." This is a challenge! I have been trying so hard to plan for my future that I'm not sure I know how to turn it over to God and let him have my future. I've been thinking JVC, au pair, teaching, grad school... I've been thinking so many things trying to find the one that fits that I have been stressing myself out! What I should do and am going to work on doing is handing it over to God. His plans are SSOO much better then my own that if I just let Him do His thing I will be so much better off then with my own plans. But I like planning, I like knowing now, I like feeling independant, and I need to work on that. Because even though I am busting my butt to figure out what to do with my life, I still have no idea what to do. I'm not planning. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm going around and around in circles trying to find the scenario that fits the best. What I really need to do is stop. Stop wasting my time. Stop questioning God. And stop worrying. God knows what I need. He knows the desires of my heart. He is amazing and I need to trust in Him to put me on the right path.

Through the Holy Spirit I can achieve God's will. I have some serious praying to do. And some serious listening. God will let me know. I just have to listen and then act on his commands.

I have only 15 days of student teaching left! I'm very excited. It is going so well. Thanksgiving is going to be awesome too. I am going to Tucson and am going to cook Thai food with my family. It is going to be delicious and fun. I'm hoping to hang out with EVERYONE. I want us to have a shindig, but I don't know who will be in town or available so we will have to wait and see what happens with that.

This week is going to fly by. I teach all day tomorrow from 7-3p. Then I babysit from 3:30-6p. Then I babysit another family from 6:30-8:30p. Then I go home and go to sleep. Thursday I teach all day then babysit in the evening. Then Friday I teach all day and have XA in the evening. I don't really have any plans for this weekend. I know I have to go through my things in the garage and figure out what I can take down to Tucson to put in storage at my sister's and what I need to post on craigslist for sale. I have been putting that off for too long.

Well I need to rest up. I have a lot to do and not much time to do it in. Luckily God's time is not my own.

I Have a Lot to Say.

Let's see if I have time to say it all. I am supposed to go donate plasma at 9a and babysit at 10a. So technically I should be getting ready for the day... eating breakfast, getting dressed and all that jazz. But I've been having an amazing few week. Let's start with last weekends retreat...

Last weekend I went down to Tucson for a Chi Alpha retreat. There were several other schools there including ASU and UA. It was a fun retreat. My main focus while I was there was hearing God. I had been praying for a couple weeks before the retreat that I wanted God to tell me what I should do with me life after college. I need him to tell me. But I have never listened for or really recognized God's voice before, so it was a challenge.

Last Saturday night I was sitting in the back row of the chapel and listening to the message. It was all about how when you hear God's voice you need to act on it. You need to prepare yourself to do the will of the Lord. It was a very good message. So I was sitting in the back row and I was watching this girl write a bibel verse on a bulletin board. It was a bulletin board for anyone to write on so I started thinking about a verse I could write on it. I thought of one from a retreat I went on when I was a Freshman in high school. So I started looking for it, but I couldnt remember where it was. My first inclination was that it was in Isaiah. So I started looking through Isaiah and almost immediately landed on Isaiah 6:8. It says, "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" I re-read it about a dozen times, but it was awesome! I got so excited. God spoke to me through his word. He wants me to do his work, I just need to step up and be prepared to say ,"Send me!"

One of my favorite things about that verse is that there is an excalmation point after Send me! Isaiah isn't grumpily saying "Fine... I suppose I'll do your will... Grrr." He is excited and eager and says, "Send me!" I am very excited to do God's will... now if only I knew what that was...

Last night at XA I was sharing my story with the whole group and of course I was getting very excited, because it is a fun story to share. At the end of our service we are invited to come up to the mic and share anything the Lord has spoken to us that is meant for the whole group. There is one gentleman in the group who has gotten up several times in the past and speaks about what he heard about specific people. I was hoping he would do it again and this time I wanted him to speak about me. And he did. While I was sharing my story he felt that I would serve the Lord through conversation. That I would talk to people, particularly females. He said he saw me counseling. That is very cool! He has such an amazing gift and God chose to speak about me. So I can see myself counseling others. I am interested in middle school aged kids, but I think I could be helpful to other ages too. I need to pray on that and see where God is going to lead me. It is very exciting though. The pieces to the puzzle are coming together.

I need to get ready! Pray for me.

Plan B

It has recently occured to me that I do not wanto be an au pair in Spain for the family I have been talking to. Since making this decision I have felt a great deal of relief. Then came the stress. If I'm not an au pair for this family then who?! So I started rethinking this whole plan. I prayed a lot and talked to anyone who would listen for any advice. I have decided that I must turn down the family and find a new one, one that I can feel 100% certain about. So I have started my search over and opened it up to more countries than just Spain. I am hoping to leave in March and live there (where ever there is) through May. At which time I would travel. This would give me an extra two months to work in Seattle and save money for my trip. I am still very excited about the whole endeavour, but now feeling more relaxed about it.

But I am sick! Working in an elementary school sure makes my immune system work! Unfortunately mine wasn't strong enough to handle all those germie kids. So I have a cold. I have plenty more to talk about, particularly the retreat I went on this past weekend, but I will have to do that later. I need to sleep and hopefully I will wake up in the morning healed!