I am so excited!!! I received a letter today from the missions minister from my church telling me that my application was accepted. I am going to Guatemala in August on a mission trip!!

The past couple of years I have gone on mission trips to Africa. Those two trips were life changing!! It is not going to work out for me to go to Africa next year, so I decided to go on a shorter/cheaper trip to Guatemala. It will be different than the trips I took to Africa. The trip to Guatemala is a medical mission trip. The people in the group who have medical training will be assisting in the OR. Those of us who do not have medical training will be support personnel...we'll be sterilizing equipment and encouraging the locals/patients and such.

I am really looking forward to what God is going to do through this mission! I know this will be another life changing trip!
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I also hope to to go on a trip to Israel next year with my church to experience the holy land! It will be a 10 day tour of Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee. We will experience the places of our faith as we read and study the scripture together. I have ALWAYS wanted to go on a trip like this and to see this trip listed in our bulletin a few weeks ago gave me hope that I may actually get to do this! I'm waiting to hear about more details, but hopefully by this time next year, I will have walked in Jesus footsteps!
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I am not sure what all God has in store for me in this next year. I'm just trusting that He has a plan!
A friend and I are starting a weight loss accountability group with one another. We both want to be healthy and in shape for the Israel trip. I know she will be a good accountability partner. I pray that God will help me in reaching my goal...He will be my strength in this incredibly difficult endeavor! I've tried and failed at this several times...I do not plan on failing again!
I don't even know what to say about my employment situation. I'm still clueless as to what direction that is going to go in. Like I said, I'm trusting that God has a plan and that He is going to open a door at the perfect time. I may hit a few walls along the way...but eventually I know a door will open.

Losing my job is difficult! Not so much because I liked my job, because there were many days that I hated my job. But I liked a lot of the people I worked with. I've known these people for 15 years and I worked with them for a total of 12 years. I know these people. I know their quirks. I know their moods. I know their good and their bad qualities. I am totally and completely comfortable with these people! I should be comfortable...I see them 5 days a week, 8 1/2 hours a day (including lunch). They are like family. I work with some really good people/friends and I am going to miss them!

Starting over is scary! New people. New job. New environment. Will I ever be comfortable again? Will I work with some good people who will become friends? How long will it take to get to know their quirks and their moods and their good and bad qualities?

I think of the girl that I've worked with for the past 5 years. I passed her in the hall today and we talked for a few minutes. When I first started working with her, I could not stand her. She got on my nerves something fierce!! I guess it wasn't until about a year and a half ago that I started looking at her differently and started trying to give her a chance. We started talking and joking and now, even though there are still things that I don't like about her (i.e. the language she uses), I have grown to enjoy her good qualities and I'm actually going to miss working with her. She always makes me laugh.

I think of one of my really good friends (Jessica). When she first started working at GC, she was QUIET!! She hardly ever said a word. Now, she won't shut up! :) She says the same thing about me. We go to break together, we go to lunch together, we email through out the day when we are bored and ready to go home. What's really cool is I have her spouses approval. Her husband thinks I'm a "pretty cool friend" and he "thinks highly of me". I can't imagine going to work some where else and her not being there!

I think of my church buddies (Aleah, Tracie & Meloney). I work with these 3 pretty awesome women who I've had the priviledge of knowing through church and work. It has always been nice working with them! We all care about each other and even though we may not see each other every day or talk every day, it is so nice knowing they are just down the hall or just over the cubicle wall. Being that close to one another, we were always there if one of us ever needed to vent or needed some encouragement or prayers. I'm going to miss working with them!

I think of my friend (Jackie). She helped me make the decision to go on my first mission trip out of the country...all the way to Africa. I was talking to her about it and she said, "Girl, you better go. That is an awesome opportunity! In fact, I want to go too." So, Jackie and I went to Africa together with my church. That trip changed both of us. I still remember our first night in Africa! Jackie and I were sharing a room and we were both dead tired from traveling for so long. When we finally made it to bed, I think we both fell asleep before our heads hit the pillow. We had 2 twin sized beds in our room. (In my room at home, I have a queen sized bed.) Well, during our first night in Africa, I started dreaming that I was in my bed at home and that a huge flying roach flew from the ceiling directly at me. Since I was in my bed at home, or so I thought, I had plenty of room to roll over a few times to get away from this mega sized roach flying towards me. Next thing I know, I am falling off the twin sized bed that I'm actually sleeping in and I hit the night stand and my suit case as I hit the floor. I noticed Jackie stir in her bed. I whispered, "Did you hear that?" She said, "Yeah! what was that?!?!" I said, "I fell out of the bed!!" and I told her the story about the flying roach and me thinking I was in my bed at home. We still laugh today about me falling out of the bed. I'm going to miss working with Jackie!!

Moving on is so very difficult and scary!!! But as much as my heart hurts right now, I know God has a plan and that He already knows what the future holds for all of us! I know that He knows that we can handle this change because He wouldn't have allowed this to happen otherwise. I know that He is going to use this to make us stronger. I know that He is going to work this out for the best and that we are all going to be ok.

I Corinthians 13 – A Christmas Version
(Source unknown)

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny ornaments, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir’s cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband. Love is kind, though harried and tired. Love doesn’t envy another’s home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way. Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust, but giving the gift of love will endure

I have decided to try this blogging thing again. I may have a lot of time on my hands starting next Thursday and I need to find some constructive things to do during the day while my friends and family are at work. Of course I am going to spend quite a bit of time looking for work, but there will no doubt be some down time.

This will be the perfect time to ponder the things of my life. I need to reassess some things in my life. I need to pray about what direction my life should take from this point.

I have thought about doing some kind of long term mission work overseas...in Africa or Cambodia. I have gone as far as to talk to our missions minister about mission opportunities that are available.
I have thought about finding another job in Montgomery. I have personally taken my resume to some places. I have a head hunter sending my resume out to different places to help me find a job.
I have thought about my very strong desire to make a physcial change in my life...I want to drop some weight and to be healthy. Maybe I should join the next cast of The Biggest Loser.
I have thought about moving to Texas to find a job. My cousin has been wanting me to move out there.
I have thought about moving to Minneapolis and taking a travel course at The Travel Academy. I could then take advantage of the lifetime job placement services that they offer once I complete the course.
I have thought about going to college here in Montgomery and getting a degree.

Now would be the perfect time for me to pick up and move. No job. No husband/boyfriend. No kids. No house to sell. I do, however, have my family here. I do have great friends here. And I do have an awesome church family here. It is a very difficult decision!!

I have dreams. I have wishes. I have hopes. But, ultimately, my life is in God's hands. I'm not sure what He is going to do or what He is going to call me to do. That remains to be seen...
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I haven't been feeling well since last Wednesday...dealing with a cold and cough. I was sleeping in the recliner in the living room Saturday night. Some time during the night I heard a noise...something falling/breaking and moving around. It scared me to death!! I didn't move a muscle. I sat there thinking, "Ok, my phone is right beside me on the table. I can pick it up and call 911. But that won't do me much good if someone is standing 2 feet away from me. They'll knock the phone away before I can dial 9. Why oh why haven't I listened to Aleah's stories about serial killers and kept a knife beside me while I'm sleeping?!?!?!" I finally mustered up the courage to open my eyes but still did not move or make a sound. By moving my eyes, I searched the dark room looking for a human figure. I knew someone was there and if I moved they would know that I was awake and aware they were there and they would attack...

When you are putting up your Christmas tree, make sure the stand is big enough to support the tree and that the tree is in the stand securely. Thanks to that oversight, I was being attacked in my sleep by the Christmas tree!!!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I love days when it feels like my spirit is full of such joy!!!
So far, this whole week has felt that way for me!
Maybe it is because I was not at work at all last week and I spent several days on vacation in Seattle. I have come to realize that vacation is good for me...and that I need to take a one week vacation once a month! Too bad my employer and I don't always see eye to eye when it comes to time spent away from work!
Maybe it is because I made a couple of confessions to a couple of people..."the truth shall set you free".
Maybe it's because I have a few friends coming to church with me on Sunday and I am so excited about having them visit!
Maybe it's because I have been blessed with several friends with whom I have been able to travel the globe with. I'm an Air Force brat. Traveling is in my blood...if I'm out seeing and experiencing new places, I'm happy!
Maybe it's because even though I don't care for my job/work, I have some really cool co-workers/friends that I get to see almost everyday...even if it's just passing in the hall!! :-)
Maybe it's because I have the greatest nephew in the world...who makes me smile and laugh every time I see him!
Maybe it's because I realize just how good of a life I have compared to what some other people have gone through and are going through. We saw a park full of homeless people in Seattle!! We happened to walk upon the park not knowing what we were fixing to see...it made us all a little uneasy! It's sad, though, to think some of those people (not all, but some) are there at no fault of their own...a lost job, unpaid bills, a foreclosure and there they are sleeping in the park. I am blessed to have a house; 2 roommates (Yes, I'm actually saying thanks for having roommates!! There is a first time for everything.); a family who loves and support me; a church family who love and support their family members; friends who laugh, cry, vent, go shopping, get manicures & pedicures, go to movies, go to concerts and travel with me (that list could've gone on for a while!).
Maybe it's because I have a friend in Jesus! :-)

It has been a while since my last post. There are several reasons for that...the main reason being that I was out of the country for over 2 weeks this summer and when I got home I couldn't remember my password. Being in Africa will do that to you!

Living in Africa, regardless of if it is for a week, 2 weeks or several years, will change you and it will also show you what you are made of and ... if you survive, ;-) it will strengthen you! A lot of your character strengths and flaws will be brought out at some point...especially if you are staying in the village away from dependable electricity, away from running HOT water and away from in door plumbing that doesn't spring a leak on a daily basis and all the other things we take for granted. Everyone will also know if you take long or short showers, if you snore, if you talk in your sleep, if you are a morning person or not, if you have allergies, if you are gullible enough to fall for ALL of the pranksters pranks and jokes, if you are afraid of the dark, if you will be grossed out by a dismembered cow (every part of the cow!) taking up quarters in the freezer in your living room or if you'll open the freezer and take a picture of the inside of the cows head, if you are brave enough to jump on the back of an elephant (a some what tame elephant!!) and ride across the African land trying to spot some African wildlife, if you are a big enough person to apologize when you jump on someones case for the wrong reasons because everyone is tired and getting on one another nerves, if you have the stomach to try some of the local foods, if you laugh at getting a little dirty as you drive down the dirt roads or if you HOPE you will get a shower after getting so dirty......BUT

The cool thing is, NONE of that stuff...whether it is good, bad, fun, boring, irritating or exhilarating...entirely matters because what is most important is that we are one in the body of Christ! We smile, we laugh at...and get laughed at!!...our feeble attempts at the local language, we cry, we share, we form bonds that will last for eternity, we sing, we witness baptisms like they took place in Biblical times--in a local lake or mud hole or whatever is available and we pray. Oh, and one of my favorite moments was Katie teaching a local woman to say..."WAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR EAGLE...HEY!!" Because we are one in the body, a language barrier (or any barrier) is really non-existant!!

There are times that I really miss Africa! Seeing God seems so much easier when I'm on the mission field...probably because the every day things that are easy for us are so difficult and time consuming for them. They spend hours in line just to fill up their car with gas! They exchange money on the black market, risking arrest as a few in our group experienced. It is easy when you are there to see a need someone has and to do what you can to help...it's easy to see where and how the Cross brings people together regardless of differences in living...it's easy to see a childs tear stained, dirty, snot dried face and to look past the possible germs that are present and love on that child (keeping the GermX close by to soak down your hands when you have a minute by yourself so you don't get sick)...it is easy to see someones shy glance that is shouting for someone to notice them and to see their face light up when you simply smile and wave. I don't know if I will be able to go back to Africa next year or not...that remains to be seen, but I want to try to start living every day like I live while I'm in Africa. I want to start noticing things that matter rather than being blinded by the things that don't really matter!! I want to have the eyes of Jesus...

The weekend before last I drove over to Opelika to visit with some friends and I spent the night at Crystal & David's house. Calista and her 4 year old daughter, Emma, drove down from Cartersville, GA and also spent the night at Crystal & David's. Marian also joined us Friday evening. We packed up a picnic dinner and walked over to the park. Emma immediately headed for the play ground. The rest of us sat down to eat our sandwiches and grapes and to chat while Emma played. Well, next thing we know, there is a group of boys between 8 and 10 years old that came stampeding towards the picnic area. It was like the Tasmanian devil had just swept by...they caught us all by surprise. Once the dust had cleared we saw that Emma had wandered over and had been standing right where the boys had just stampeded through and she had been knocked to the ground and her knees were scraped and bleeding. We all sat there for a second stunned at what had just happened. Emma had a look on her face that said "What just happened???". Calista picked Emma up off of the ground and checked out her wounds. She cleaned her up and Emma went back to playing.

I have felt like Emma this week! I feel like I've been caught in the middle of a stampede of one thing after another being thrown at me and I was left thinking "what just happened???". After a while those things add up and after some hard blows, I had reached my breaking point. I couldn't take any more. The breaking point came at about 3:45 this afternoon. When I left work at 4:00, I had a choice. I could go to a friends house and complain and cry and whine about every thing that has happened this week. OR I could go home and let my Father pick me up and let him clean me up so that I can go back out there and face what comes next. The choice was easy! Going to my friends house and complaining, crying and whining would accomplish nothing except make me feel even worse! I emailed a few friends and simply asked them to say a prayer for me, I left work and I came home. I dumped my stuff on the couch and went straight to the chair and sat. No TV, no lights, no one at home...just me and God. He checked out my wounds and He cleaned me up. Now I'm ready to go back out and "play"!

I very easily could have taken the other path of complaining and crying and whining to a friend but that did not look appealing to me at all. I don't say that to say "Look at me! Look at the choice I made." I say that to encourage any one who may read this that the next time you feel like you've been run over, go straight to God. He is THE Healer! He is THE Provider! He will, without a doubt, heal your wounds and clean you up and provide you with the strength to keep going. Then, when you finally do talk to your friends, you'll have a much better story to tell about what all has happened and how God fixed it and made every thing better.

Now go play...

Six years ago today, I stood in the delivery room as my sister gave birth to her son. Since that day, my nephew has been one of the most important people in my life. I love that little guy so much!

I’m a numbers and date person. I remember family and friend’s phone numbers and birthdays very easily. I don’t know where I store all of the information away because when it comes to remembering some other things, my memory stinks. I am thankful, though, that I am able to remember birthdays. Birthdays are special. Birthdays are the day when God brought someone special and unique in to the world for a specific reason and purpose. I believe it is important to remember and celebrate a person’s special uniqueness. I believe it is important to encourage and recognize people on their birthday...whether it’s with a simple “Happy Birthday!” or with some big extravagant party.

Jesus’ birthday was one of the most important days in the history of the world! Everyone knows what Jesus’ specific reason and purpose was and everyone celebrates his birthday in one way or another. His birthday and life is the perfect example of how important a birthday is. Yes, Jesus’ birthday and life are very significant and although none of us will ever come close to having the impact on the world that Jesus had, we are still God’s children and our life here is important to Him. So, I try to remember to say “Happy Birthday!”...
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HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY SEBASTIEN!! I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!!
God blessed us beyond what we could ever have imagined when He brought you in to our lives! You are a very special person with great potential! Keep your eyes focused on Jesus and your life’s possibilities are limitless!

Love,
Aunt Nahna

The group that I am going to Africa with in June went on a retreat this weekend. One of the things we did was take a Keirsey Temperament Sorter test so that we could get to know one another a little better and find out our personality types. To find out that my personality type is that of a Healer Idealists helped me to understand who I am...who God made me to be. My personality type is only found in 1 percent of the general population...woohoo, I'm unique--which is probably a good thing!

It was very interesing to find out what personality type everyone has! We had a good weekend getting to know one another and I look forward to our trip together! I pray that God will use our diverse group to accomplish great things...things that only He can take the glory for!

For my future reference, and for any one who is interested, my personality type (INFP) is described as...


Healer Idealists are abstract in thought and speech, cooperative in striving for their ends, and investigative and attentive in their interpersonal relations. Healer present a seemingly tranquil, and noticiably pleasant face to the world, and though to all appearances they might seem reserved, and even shy, on the inside they are anything but reserved, having a capacity for caring not always found in other types. They care deeply-indeed, passionately-about a few special persons or a favorite cause, and their fervent aim is to bring peace and integrity to their loved ones and the world.
Healers have a profound sense of idealism derived from a strong personal morality, and they conceive of the world as an ethical, honorable place. Indeed, to understand Healers, we must understand their idealism as almost boundless and selfless, inspiring them to make extraordinary sacrifices for someone or something they believe in. The Healer is the Prince or Princess of fairytale, the King's Champion or Defender of the Faith, like Sir Galahad or Joan of Arc. Healers are found in only 1 percent of the general population, although, at times, their idealism leaves them feeling even more isolated from the rest of humanity.
Healers seek unity in their lives, unity of body and mind, emotions and intellect, perhaps because they are likely to have a sense of inner division threaded through their lives, which comes from their often unhappy childhood. Healers live a fantasy-filled childhood, which, unfortunately, is discouraged or even punished by many parents. In a practical-minded family, required by their parents to be sociable and industrious in concrete ways, and also given down-to-earth siblings who conform to these parental expectations, Healers come to see themselves as ugly ducklings. Other types usually shrug off parental expectations that do not fit them, but not the Healers. Wishing to please their parents and siblings, but not knowing quite how to do it, they try to hide their differences, believing they are bad to be so fanciful, so unlike their more solid brothers and sisters. They wonder, some of them for the rest of their lives, whether they are OK. They are quite OK, just different from the rest of their family-swans reared in a family of ducks. Even so, to realize and really believe this is not easy for them. Deeply committed to the positive and the good, yet taught to believe there is evil in them, Healers can come to develop a certain fascination with the problem of good and evil, sacred and profane. Healers are drawn toward purity, but can become engrossed with the profane, continuously on the lookout for the wickedness that lurks within them. Then, when Healers believe thay have yielded to an impure temptation, they may be given to acts of self-sacrifice in atonement. Others seldom detect this inner turmoil, however, for the struggle between good and evil is within the Healer, who does not feel compelled to make the issue public.
Full descriptions of the Healer and Idealists are in People Patterns or Please Understand Me II
Princess Diana is an example of a Healer Idealist.

© 1996-2007, Prometheus Nemesis Book Company.

My sister and I were driving along Pensacola Beach last Saturday and we passed a white cross that sits a top a hill of sand. With storm damage evident along the beaches, my sister said "The cross is still standing!". Since she has seen this cross numerous times on her trips to Fort Pickens, I asked her is she knew who put it there and why it's there...I noticed there was a sign posted but we didn't stop to read it. She said "I don't know. I just know the cross has always been there."

THE CROSS will always be there! What the cross represents will never fade or be destroyed! Jesus stands strong! Jesus is Lord! Jesus will always be...!

He is risen indeed!!