Birthday fun

So, probably my most favorite thing to do is to enjoy the company of good friends. You know, those times when you have deep connections with each person in the room and you could have a great conversation with any of them at any given time? Yeah... those moments... where inevitably you end up talking about the years that you have known each other and how much you have changed over those years.


Well, thanks to my amazing friend Bekah Tucker... that is what my birthday dinner was about... It was just what my heart needed.


Thank you Allen, Tracy, Jennable, Sam, Cheryl, Andy and Nathaniel for coming on down for my birthday dinner! It was such a delight to see you and to catch up on life!




And to everyone else who helped to make my birthday special!!!! All the birthday greetings on Facebook, all the great E-cards (by the way, I LOVE Hoops and Yo-yo), all the phone calls and emails, and REAL cards. :-)

Thursday afternoon I was able to hang out with the leafy girls that I love so much.



And Thursday night I had the privilege of having dinner with my family and it was a delight to see them all again.

After dinner we went up on the OHSU tram... great views of downtown Portland and the mountains... Hood and St. Helens. It was dusk so the photos do not do it justice. :-) I love you guys!!!!!

it's my birthday!

Today it is my birthday... I pause to think on my life... more on that later I am sure. :-)

Less Days...

Well, let's start with 10 days...

10 days before I depart for Colorado where I will be going through some training.

10 days to sort, organize, clean, purge, the remaining items that were in storage the past couple years.

10 days to see those people I have yet to see... Sigh, where does the time go...

3 days...

3 days, until my birthday.

I wonder if I will be fully supported by my birthday... that would be a cool present.... with that comes the freedom to focus on packing and shipping, and spending quality time with friends and family, doing necessary shopping, and seeing the Rose Garden in full bloom.

This past weekend....
I had the privilege of joining a team of people in leading our church congregation in worship. Very few things make my heart more alive than being part of leading others into worshiping God. Music speaks to my heart in very deep and profound ways. My Saviour loves, my Saviour lives, my Saviour's always there for me. My God, He was, my God He is, my God is always gonna be!

It was so great and yet sort of bittersweet... knowing it will be a long time until I have that privilege again in Boring, Oregon. But knowing that my heart is even more alive over in Western Europe.

In recent days...

I got to go to the Zoo last week... that was really fun! Thanks to my friend Adam! I had not been to the Zoo for years... I am not even sure when the last time was... But it brought back memories of my high school years when I was part of the ZooBoo experience... All dressed in black with painted faces to scare people at various points along the Halloween season train route. Those were good times...

this mountain goat (is that official?) was in the midst of shedding its winter coat... I thought it looked like a cardigan... you know... we in the northwest have to wear cardigans, sweaters, jumpers (as my british friends call them), sweatershirts, etc... in these in between hot and cold weather patterns. So this goat looks like it is wearing a half zipped sweater. :-) yeah... my random mine.

So those are some goings on in my days...

Days...

20 days….

20 days that I am still in Portland.
20 days to see you and say goodbye again

This part is hard to fathom… When I arrived in December it felt like I had a looooong time to see everyone… but that time is drawing to a speedy close.

13 days….

13 days until my birthday


I will be 32 years old… or young…whichever way you choose to look at it.  A local store clerk recently asked if I was at least 17 years old… When I assured her I was at least 17 years old, she said, “are you sure? Because if your mother comes in here and I get in trouble…” Good grief.

10 days….

10 days to find the people who want to partner with me in ministry

6, 12, 18 people or churches…..

6 people giving $100/mo. or 12 people giving $50/mo. OR….1-infinity people and or churches who give the amount God puts on their heart to give each month.

It all seems so mathematically sound that way… but I know that God does not fit into my box! Here is the deal…. If all my support is in by the end of this month, May, 2007, I can report to my assignment immediately after my international training. This means I can meet and help train the new STINTers who will be coming to Western Europe for this next year.
If I do not get to report, I do not get to meet them, and then it will be much harder for the STINTers to know that I am a person they can trust to help them process during their year in Western Europe.

4 days….


4 days since I returned from my two week trip to Western Europe. Oh, if only I could, in person, tell you all how much that trip meant to my soul! While I was there I saw good friends, I helped to present the Student Priority to the leaders of Agape Europe at a conference in Spain, I connected with STINTers in Germany and God allowed me to encourage and challenge them even as they encouraged me! It was the perfect combination of all the things I love about my job over there! And I have returned with a deeper longing and excitement to be back over there!

Here and there

Can you believe it? I have not taken any photos since I arrived here in Kandern. None of Mallorca where I was for a conference last week and none of Kandern. It just all feels so right and normal for me to be here and to be doing what I do here.

I was encouraged last week at a conference with all the leaders of Campus Crusade Agape Europe. God is moving over here in Western Europe. French Students are falling in love with Jesus and are finding a passion to share this love with others! British students are taking news of Jesus Christ to parts of the world that I cannot mention here! Top politicians in some of the countries are strong Christians and are living as Christ calls them to live in their top positions!

I am amazed over and over again to see what God is doing. It is still very hard here but SO much different than when I first began coming to Europe to tell people about Jesus back in 1992. :-) I guess 15 years makes a difference.

I know I am a different person now. :-)