Thanks... God is faithful

The move went well! About a dozen people showed up to help load and unload my stuff. We started a little after 5:00pm and were done with all the moving AND dinner by 8:00pm! The house is a mess but all my stuff and Sara's stuff is in one place. We went back to my old house to clean and make one last trip. I was in bed by midnight- a long, tiring but good day. Thanks for praying! I knew people were praying. God's peace surpassed my understanding and his grace was big enough for it all. Why am I still surprised at this?

This morning brought new adventures. When I got out of the car today at work I heard a hissing sound. Sure enough- it was my tire loosing air. Within 5 minutes my tire was flat.

Tuesday is prayer meeting and two missionaries were in town. Robert & Lois Carr- missys in Nairobi, Kenya and Jason & Amber Kidner- missys in Southall, London. Robert is the field director for East Africa and are back for a few months. Jason and Amber got married 3 weeks ago. They will come through A&O in September in hopes to return to the field as a couple. What a blessing to be in partnership with these couples.

Paul shared a wonderful devotion about how we tend to act like orphans instead of adopted children who have the full rights and privileges to our Kingly Father. Just imagine Jesus in a palace in the center of extensive grounds. We say to Him, "I'm busy with fixing this fence, Dad. I'll spend time with you later. I'd love to hang out with you when I get all the things on my list finished." I do this to my Dad all the time. Yes, we need to get things done, yes, God's called us to Kingdom work but not at the cost of spending time with our Daddy.

Paul asked us if our problems have consumed us? Are we living on the estate like we own the land because we're adopted or like orphans? Are we running to our heavenly Father? Why do we avoid Him? Where do we scurry away to instead of to His palace?

A friend and co-worker and I went out at lunch to get my tire fixed. $15.90 isn't too painful, especially when we also stopped at Rita's on the way back to work.

Monica Needs Prayer Today!!!

Will you guys pray for me? I've had some anxiety about my move to the city. There are a few factors:

• I don't feel 100% ready with all the packing. Sara and I weren't feeling well last night so we didn't get a lot of packing done. I leave work at 1pm today and my friends come at 5pm to help move me- so we will have some time to finish the packing.
  
• I know I have expectations about moving into the city. I know I still have somewhat of a romantic view of living in a needy neighborhood, ministering and hanging out with neighbors.
  
• Adjustment to new roommates. New friendships in the house. New pace of life.
  
• I work all day Tuesday then leave for Chattanooga on Wednesday morning. The house will still be a mess with boxes all over the place. Not my ideal but the way it's going to be.
  
• The great team coming to move today is great- I feel loved. I want to communicate my appreciation and not waste their time. Fear of people is the issue on this one. Will they think I'm disorganized? Will they think I have too much stuff?

Thanks for praying!

I love technology!

WHM is working to update all our technology before the office move in two weeks. A generous donor funded the technology upgrade. Our system is now 10x faster than our old one! I don't know what to do with this much speed. I used to start to open a program and then go back to Outlook to do email until it loaded. I no longer can multi-task.

My computer was one of the worst in the office so I was a priority to get a new computer. Chris, our computer guy, set up my new IBM ThinkPad earlier this week and today I he set a 20 inch, flat screen. What a nice surprise to see when I got back from lunch!

Welcome to Philly, Sara!!!

Karen Joy, Leah, Jonah and Talitha had a welcome dinner and dessert for Sara. It's so nice to come home to a family member. She is hoping to start at Starbuck's soon.

Sara flew into PHilly on Saturday. That morning I had a yard sale. Sara called me two hours into the yard sale and I had made $4. Oh well. By the time we cleaned up I had made about $70- enough to rent a U-haul van for the move day. God provides.

Dear Friends,

My dad and I talked Monday about my grandmother. Last week I had a bit of inaccurate information. The procedure they did on her last week was to take a sample of the lumps they found, not to remove them. The lumps they found were cancerous.

She had gone to the doctor's office Monday to check if the results were coming in soon, not thinking the doctor would be in the office. However, he was in for a short time and out of courtesy took her into his office and told her that the results showed she had cancer.

As you could imagine, by herself (she had no one along) the news hit her as quite a shock . She and my Aunt Marlys meet with the doctor again yesterday for further discussion and potential steps to take next.

The doctor will do a lumpsectomy, followed by radiation. If all goes well, that will be the of her breast cancer. Please pray for her peace, strength and faith. Thanks for caring and for praying.

Monica

Living in the Present

The last 3 weeks have been crazy at the Sending Center. We had 30 interns. The next week we had an A&O class of 9. Last week phase two of the interns came through for orientation. I LOVE having all these great students and adults in the SC. It gives me such energy.

July is going to be crazy busy. I'm moving into the city in 2 weeks, then going to Chatty for 5 days, back to Philly for a few days, Ireland for 10 days, back to Philly for a few days then going to Altoona, PA for a college roommate's wedding. I'm her wedding planner so I'll be there a few days early. It's all fun stuff but lots of moving and packing and unpacking.

Please pray that I'm able to live day to day. It's been OK but the last week I've started to get stressed about moving stuff, my sister moving up here, my job, etc. It's just busy. I don't like being this busy. I can't wait for things to slow down in August and yet I know God calls me to live in the present.

Grandma Linde & Muffey

Some of you knew that my Grandma Linde had breast surgery yesterday afternoon. Thanks for your prayers. I talked with my dad this morning. The surgery went well. Hopefully they were able to remove both lumps. The biopsy results will come back Monday. Please pray that she doesn’t have cancer. If she does, she says she doesn’t want treatment. My grandfather passed away this past fall and she really misses him. Pray that she decides to fight- especially if a more aggressive surgery could take care of it. She loves the Lord with all her heart and is at peace about her future. Pray that my family and I would rest in Jesus’ care for us and her. Here's a pic of her with 2 of her 3 kids this May.

My parents are going to put my dog, Muffey, to sleep today. When I was home in June they told me they were going to put her down and so I said my goodbyes to her. We’ve had her since I was 10. She’s old and in a lot of pain. They think she has cancer through her whole body. Please pray for my siblings as they say goodbye to her today- Christie, Sara and Peter. The appointment is this afternoon.

Email a bouquet of flowers to someone.

Hope

Hope means to keep living
amid depression
and to keep humming
in the darkness.
Hoping is knowing that there is love,
it is trust in tomorrow
it is falling asleep
and waking again
when the sun rises.
In the midst of a gale at sea,
it is to discover land.
In the eyes of another
It is to see that he understands you.

As long as there is still hope
There will also be prayer.

And God will be holding you
in his hands.

~Henri Nouwen
With Open Hands

Squirming

God is trying to teach us things when we're at low points in of life. My normal reaction has been to work to climb out of the valley. This is not the way God intended it to be. We're not supposed to sit still in the valley and be passive. We're also not supposed to strive to get out of the valley and miss the lessons God wants to teach us. We're supposed to squirm. Squirm because we're not content to stay there. God, teach us to welcome you into the mess of life. Teach us to squirm.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
Boston
North Central
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The South
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Yep- I'm a Floridian. This was a fun quiz to take try it. The red lines didn't come through for the bottom accents to indicate how much of these accents I possess. They are in order or the most like me to the least. A friend & WHM missy gave me the idea from her blog:
http://www.eurorebs.com/blog/2007/03/phillies.php

A friend recently asked me what kind of music I listen to. I always have a hard time with this question. Besides the fact that I have a hard time putting tunes with artists, I'm all over the map with my music. I like to say I'm well rounded. :-) My mood dictates the genre of music I'll listen to. My pattern is to listen to a few cd's at a time until I'm sick of them or until someone presents new music to me. I don't actively seek new music but am always open to suggestions. I welcome recommendations.

Currently in my ipod & computer at work:

• Keith Green
• Eva Cassidy
• Sarah McLachlan
• Little Women soundtrack
• Third Day
• The Temptations
• Beatles
• Postal Service
• Rigoletto soundtrack
• Gospel
• Allison Krause
• Jump 5
• Nickel Creek
• Casting Crowns
• Dixie Chicks
• Vivaldi- the Four Seasons
• Flaming Lips
• Sufjan Stevens
• Martina McBride
• Cold Play
• Abba

Peter Herron & Janet Talley got married last Saturday. The wedding was a wonderful reunion. What a blessing to see people I hadn't seen in so long. It was great to Dan & Shanna & their new little boy- Eli.
He's one cuddly baby.

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Florida. My little brother, Peter, is graduating from high school. Pray that I wake up in time to catch the train to the airport at 5:45AM. Yikes. Better not stay up too late.

Can't wait to put my toes in this sand.

Amy Claire (& her firstborn, Brighton)

We weren't friends in college- we ran in different circles but our paths now cross frequently in Philly. Her blog is one I check regularly. Her post on Mother's Day is one of my favorite. http://minismith.com/home/the-culprit
She's been working to put all her entries into categories so you can click on "family," "faith," "recipes" or other categories. No matter your gender or status in life you will be uplifted by her honesty and love for the Gospel.

I sold my car... finally!

Motivating words from my pastor's weekly update:

I think that's it for now, except to ask you to pray for one person by name, who you know is troubled or in conflict and needs God's peace. Would you share with that person what God is showing you these days about conflict and peace here at New Life, and invite him/her to come with you on Sunday? Don't keep it to yourself! It's too good not to share! People are dying for Good News, and by the grace of God you've got it! Turn it loose!

Please come "prayed up" and "looking up" in anticipation of what the Lord will do as He "shows up"...

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John

Spilling Open

by Sabrina Ward Harrison

My friend Tammy showed me this book. It's the journal of a 19 year old that she published at 25 years of age. It's a work of art. Amazing & inspiring.

I've only read a few entries but here's a taste of what she's written:

"I sat on the bench outside of class today and talked to Jon. I read to him from my journal, it was the part about the accordion player I was watching on the street last weekend. He said that an accordion is such a perfect metaphor for love, because you are always opening, and closing, shifting and getting air, and that's how the music happens. True."


Sabrina writes a lot about accepting and loving who you are. More treats:

"If we let ourselves be truly seen than we can be truly loved."

"I'm afraid to show you who I really am, because if I show you who I really am, you might not like it and that's all I've got."

"I want to stop sucking in- stop holding my breath- stop covering up. Let g0- it isn't worth it. I can't think of one good reason to keep up the act of being more (or less) than I need. If I can't love myself... then he certainly can't love me."

"Trying to change myself to fit some ideal seems to be an endless and dehydrating way to live."

Does this drawing of a woman look familiar? She did the art for one of the albums for Sixpence None the Richer.

Scoop

Just watched Scoop with a friend. Woody Allen is the director & writer. It was released in 2006. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457513/

Faxing the Vatican

Today I faxed the Vatican to set up a tour for a group of WHM people. Dan & Bob are taking a few potential missionaries to a few of our fields in the next two weeks. They will be visiting our team in Rome and hope to visit the Vatican while they’re there. One of my jobs as the MOB Administrator is to set up the tour for the six of them. The way the Vatican works is you have to fax your information to them and wait for their response. I just think it’s crazy that I can say, “well, I faxed the Vatican today.”

The group is going to take the tour that will allow them to see the Sistine Chapel. Taken from Wikipedia: "The Sistine Chapel (Italian: Cappella Sistina) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope, in the Vatican City. Its fame rests on its architecture, which evokes Solomon's Temple of the Old Testament, its decoration, frescoed throughout by the greatest Renaissance artists, including Michelangelo whose ceiling is legendary, and its purpose, as a site of papal religious and functionary activity, notably the conclave, at which a new Pope is selected." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistine_Chapel

The office is quiet today. The glaring florescent lights are off and Matthew and I have our living room, Ikea lights on. It's real nice.