This Is It (Robin Harlow)

This is it, the day I have been waiting for, for a VERY LONG time.
Connections have been made to visit Marian. My co-worker at the plant has been train and is very competent. The homefront is ready (I will sure miss my husband, Ed). Bags are packed and waiting at the door. Will have lunch with my Mom this afternoon. Only thing left to do is visit the bank.

                                                            I am ready!!

Okay truthfully, I have no idea what I am getting myself into. The Stoners have done their best to prepare me for this trip but until I get there I really don't have a clue.

My prayer is that I listen and learn. My faith is in Jesus Christ that this next two weeks will be Spirit led. May our Father watch over and guide us. May we be His hands and feet. May we please Him with our words and actions. In Jesus' Holy Name, Amen

Ready to Go

Jim, BJ and me at ABIA ready to go. We ran into Jennifer Bryce and her family at the airport.

4 AM

So it's 4 AM and I am wide awake.  I couldn't even just lay in bed and wait until the alarm.  I just climbed out of bed and came into the office.   Very quiet around at 4.  The cats didn't even get up with me.

Thank You

On the eve of our departure I am just an internal wreck.  I have two 50 pound bags to check plus a carry on that weighs about 35 and a 20 pound backpack.  My neighbor, David Dippel, has been kind enough to drive me and BJ to the airport at 5:15 AM tomorrow.  With the Formula 1 race concluding and Thanksgiving holidays, the airport is going to be a circus tomorrow.

Anyway,  I want to say thank you to everyone who made this trip possible.  To all of our families who are sacrificing as well as we leave during Thanksgiving, thank you.  All of the wonderful people who gave us all kinds of gifts; money, laptops, candy, and letters of support, thank you as well.

I see the trip as a bridge.  Last year, it was our first trip and we really didn't know what to expect.  Next year, I think there is going to be a huge crew and we may even have to break it into two shifts.  This year however is a bridge.   New and old projects, new and old friends.  Valpo and Oak Hill.  The bridge connects us.

The last couple of weeks have been very tough for the Oak Hill UMC family as we have had too many funerals including a few very close to home.  Therefore, I conclude with the following verse and realize that we must carry on in the mission.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Elections, Sierra Leone style

http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2012/11/17/sierra-leone-choosing-president-parliament-3/

Wet

Yesterday I sprayed down my gear with the mosquito spray and I left it outside because it was supposed to be clear and cool. However our irrigation system went off and sprayed everything wet. It may be one of those days.

Chris

Other-culture Perspective (Carol Stoner)

> As I close our suitcases, this pic ( an exaggeration I realize) reminds me that different cultures have different values. I am not SAVING anyone, not taking so much TO anyone as I am fortunate to love and learn with them and from them. "Our [American] way" is not necessarily the "right" or "better" or "most desirable" way....it is "our way." Preparing to let go and leave behind some "stuff"...in order to create space for a fresh experience and perspective...especially related to that "way" that became flesh, oh, around 2012 +/- years ago....