The Decision....

I am proceeding as planned.
Monday Oct. 3rd. 2005, flight leaves at 8:00 a.m.


I am amazed at how God has provided this past week and I know He will continue this week. I am in need of about $400/mo.

What does this week look like for me? CRAZY!!!! I do not think I have pulled any all-nighters since college. Remember those nights of tests and papers... yeah... So pray for me. :-)

I will be sorting, storing and packing.
Anyone know the best way to ship a bicycle from Portland to Kandern?

I will be getting a haircut from the wonderful hairstylist that I have used for the past 7 or is it 8 years.. If you need a good hair person.. Cindy Nizinski at Highland Hair Design. 503 661 7473 ext. 119 (181st and Powell)

I will be spending small amounts of quality time with dear friends and family.

I will be continuing to ask people what God has put on their heart regarding financial support.

I will be on worship team at church this coming weekend. And will be commissioned as well this weekend.

Oh.. and one more important detail for you...
A goodbye open house on Sunday (2:00-5:00 pm)
At my Mom's house: 19106 NE Hoyt, Portland, 97230

It would be great to see as many of you as can make it!

NEW Link on the right

So I added a link on the right of this page... can you find it? :-) Someone suggested that I put a link on here for anyone who would want to join the team that God is putting together for me support. So... there it is. :-)

Today I am in need of about $600/mo. I am asking God to provide at least half of that today for me to know that I should go ahead with leaving the 3rd of October.

Decision Time

Well, I thought it might be good to let everyone know who reads this blog.. that I need you to pray for me this week.

At the end of the week I will make a decision (based on my support level) about whether to push out my leave date or to keep it as is.

As of this moment, I am in need of about 700 more dollars a month in support. I am on a mission this week to find out what God has put on people's hearts regarding supporting me.

700 dollars... or 7,000 dollars... it does not matter, God is bigger than the dollar amount. And I trust that if He desires me to be here a bit longer, than that is what He desires and I am pretty sure it is for a good reason. :-)

So, please join with me in praying that God would make it very clear what my next step should be. Should I pack next week and leave on the 3rd? or should I leave a couple weeks later and work on support more next week?

Someone menntioned to me that it sounds like money is the main objective. That made me sad... cause the main objective is that I am where God wants me when He wants me there. I am excited to pour into the lives of the young people who are working on the campuses of Western Europe! God is doing some amazing things there!

When God Directs

Here is a photo of the living room in my new flat

So I have been thinking about the way that God has directed me and the things that have led me to this point of my life. I like to do this from time to time because it shows me on multiple levels why I need to trust God.

Going back just over a year ago... I was in a depression, first and hopefully the last one of my life. A huge part of it was dealing with some very irrational fears that I have lived with since I was a young child. Along the way I decided that I needed to get out of the country to get some perspective. So I contacted my friends in Kandern Germany.

I had met the Holladays in the summer of 2001 while co-leading a team of college students over to Lithuania to work with Campus Crusade in the capital city of Vilnius.

So, I make preparations to visit the Holladays in Germany and along the way someone they know asks if I can bring some medicine over for them. I was happy to oblige.

While there, 1st day of the trip, I was introduced to Jesse and Tricia Marcos; 2nd day of the trip, I was introduced to Deb Heefner. Deb gave me her card with the words, "I need an assistant".

Looking over the week of time that I spent in Kandern last December, I see how God was preparing me.

While in Colorado recently for a week of training/preparation, I had the opportunity to sit down with Deb Heefner again. In that conversation we both were struck with how God had been directing us to that point. She, to offer to someone she had just met to be her assistant and me to know immediately that I am supposed to do that.

Also that week in CO, the Holladays found me a flat. My getting the flat is somehow connected to the friends of theirs for whom I brought over the medicine.

I know that there are multiple other things that God has used in linkage to me being here at this moment. But it all makes me 100% sure that I am going in the direction that He is leading me.

What I am doing

So, I am in Eastern Oregon at the Eagle Crest Resort. Last chance for my family to all hang out together. I am so grateful for this time.

It has also been a time of processing and sorting out all the ideas in my head. I have lists now of things I need to do, things I need to pack, things I need to purchase, people I want to spend time with, people I need to contact about support. Lots of lists. :-)

And here is something else I am processing: Is is faith if we "give God an out"? For example, if I pray that all my support will come in, but I tell people that I will leave on October 3rd only if that is when God wants me to go. --does that just mean, I am giving God an out for providing by then or does it mean that I truly believe that God is all ...the end...the beginning...the master and provider in His timing. What do you think? Does that even make sense?

Last day of work

my last day of work is tomorrow...

My 3 years at Multnomah Bible College have been a blessing. It is amazing to be around people who have a passion for the work of the Lord. I had that at Good Shepherd too. How do I deserve such blessings? No.. nothing I deserve... just the mercy and grace of the Lord.

God has deepened friendships in my time here and begun new friendships. I keep having that song from Outdoor School days going through my head... "make new friends and keep the old, one is silver and the other gold." and the next line: "a circle's round, it never ends, that's how long I want to be your friend."

I get amazed by the friends I have. And as I leave Multnomah, I know that I am taking some people with me in my heart that would not be there if God had not led me here for work. Praise to the Lord!

Training...

Well.. end of the first week of training my replacement... My replacement is my friend from high school Donna Hurl.... How often do you get to catch up with a friend by training them for your job? She is learning well. :-)

This is all part of the change process... I am saying good bye to more people and places and friends these days. It gets harder and harder.

I am also excited... cause this is a good change. :-)