Up Nort' in Dulut'

My friend Kristin and I left the Cities early Tuesday and spent that particular day not getting lost along the Superior Hiking Trail. The best part, aside from nature of course, had to be our conversations. Only with Kristin can I jump from a psalm I read that morning to my views on health care reform to obscure grammar, such as why hippopotamus doesn't become hippopatmi in plural but cactus (not Greek) does become cacti.
Our first stop was Bean Lake, where we heard loons (though it took me a while to convince Kristin they were not people moaning). We watched a particularly large bird (we never figured out what it was) soaring in wide circles around the lake, just for the fun of it (that's what we told ourselves). We ate lunch on the very edge of this precipe overlooking the lake and commenting on God's grand creation. From there it was just a short hop to Bear Lake before we looped around and returned to our car. That first hike was 6.7 miles. Our second stop promised a waterfall and was less than 1 mile.
This stop also had those little bugs that live on the surface of the water. I don't remember what they're called in English (only in German), so I tried describing them as the water walkers, the little bugs that imitate Jesus, little Jesi. The name stuck. Our last stop on Day 1 was Grand Marais where we strolled along the harbor, tried our hand at taking artistic pictures, and ate Uffda Pizza (in all seriousness) at Sven and Ole's.
So much for Day 1. We were wimps after our day of "roughin' it up nort'," and instead of sleeping bags fell into our Egyptian cotton sheets at the Sheraton Hotel, courtesy of my brother the Sheraton Employee of the Month in Tampa.

Completely Yours, God

I'm reminded this morning how all my worrying is pointless. YOU saved me, Lord. YOU called me to this ministry now. This is YOUR doing, YOUR work, YOUR school, YOUR ministry, YOUR servants, YOUR money, YOUR plan, and YOUR responsibility. Help me to trust YOU!

Selfish? Lucky? Humbled?

This morning when I was being surrounded and prayed for again, it struck me how missionaries are the most selfish people there are. I'm not even thinking about the money-support part of it at all, but prayer. When one decides to become a missionary, one is basically asking all kinds of people to invest in the ministry with prayer. I can be assured that pretty much every day, someone somewhere is praying for me and my upcoming ministry. How selfish!

Then I thought, well maybe it just means missionaries are the luckiest people around. They get to be prayed for constantly. They have a right or an excuse to send out e-mails asking for prayer all the time that other believers don't have.

So then I thought, why not? Why don't regular believers have that right to send out update e-mails all the time, to have a prayer team, to live with that assurance that someone somewhere is praying for you every day of the week? How differently would we live? Knowing that I get soaked in a sponge bath of prayer is probably the most humbling aspect of my life. If it doesn't challenge me to live each day sold out to Christ, I don't know what will.

Getting the message

When people have asked me for prayer requests the last couple of weeks, I've said to pray for God's will to be done, mainly in regard to my going to BFA. Should I keep steaming full ahead and plan on going to the school this fall? Should I trust him to do a magnificent miracle? Or was that too much steamrolling over his plan? Should I be content with waiting another year before BFA? I need wisdom as well as clarity of his timing.

Yesterday in church, that was the message over and over. First in Xpedition, we've been studying the life of Joseph in the OT. One of the questions we wrestled with was why the cupbearer forgot Joseph for 2 years. Our main conclusion was that it wasn't in God's perfect timing for Joseph to be released before Pharaoh had the dream. God needed him to be easily accessible in order to launch him from prison straight to second in command. Perhaps Joseph still needed those 2 years in prison to learn some valuable lesson.

Then, in the service, the passage was about Jairus, the synagogue ruler who had the dying daughter. When Jesus started following him to Jairus' house, he was distracted by a poor woman who needed a healing. What was Jairus thinking at that moment - "Don't you know who I am? Get in line; I asked for him first! If we delay, my daughter will die!" But in God's perfect timing, that was exactly what needed to happen in order for Jesus to most glorify his Father.

I still don't have my 100% clear answer. Maybe God will wait until Aug 14th to have the support come pouring in, and I'll be on a plane a week later. All the church would know it was all him! Maybe I still have lessons to learn and detours to follow so that when I go in a year, God will be most glorified. My job right now is to keep trusting and praying. "Don't be afraid; just believe" (Mark 5:36).

Gloves, Mr. Vice-President?!

115 on Monday and then a new record low for the Twin Cities on a July 17th - ever. My car was so chilly on my way to work, and my hands so white, and I really didn't want to turn on the heater, so I broke down and wore the gloves that were still in the car from winter. It's the middle of July!

Phoenix Sun

No, this isn't a blog about basketball (eh) but rather some snapshots of my weekend in hot Arizona. On Saturday, because it was soooo hot, Uncle Jim, Selma, cousin Roni and I drove up in elevation to visit the ghost town of Jerome and then the scenic tourist town of Sedona. Jerome had a great view down into the valley and some fun food in a restaurant called "The Asylum" (an old hospital). Sedona had gorgeous red rocks, dirt shirts, and misters that come out of every roof and cool passer-bys. Sadly, I got no pictures of the misters. By the way, "getting away to cool off" meant exchanging 115 for 95. When it's that hot, what's the difference?

On Sunday, we spent all day at church, the afternoon of which was most significant for me because that's when I presented my ministry to the Missions Committee. They were really encouraging and friendly though, making me feel right at ease. I probably talked a mile a minute. Oh well.

Monday was all about relaxing. Uncle Jim and Selma took me to a see Ice Age 3 (heehee), and then cousin Jaime came over to play cards. All in all, it was a fun getaway!

My Ode to Riding on Backs of Motorcycles

Oh, how I love thee.

Rest of PFO

After our free day at Niagara Falls, things got pretty intense at PFO. We had evacuation practice day, a late prayer meeting that went past midnight with my new friends, our final advising session, a talent show, and an international banquet. It all just flew by, and before we knew it, we were saying good-bye.

The most beautiful things by far that came out of PFO were the new friendships. I already miss these wonderful Girls of God and trust He's going to use them for great things wherever they go (Taiwan, China, Ecuador, Hungary, Austria, Germany, etc).

Niagara Falls

As long as I live, I will never forget the moment I stood on the deck of the Maid of the Mist and saw the Horseshoe Falls of the Niagara Falls grow clearer out of the water spray. It was as if everyone else on the boat ceased to exist. Three sides of me, as far up as I could look, there was water just pouring over the edge of the world and into the basin where we stood. I felt as if this was the footstool of God's throne, and if we could just climb it, we'd be able to see God himself. I've seen a lot of majestic mountains, coral-colored sunsets, and palm trees on fine-combed white sand beaches in my short life, but this view will rival them. I have no picture of the actual view from below, but here's a second-rate one from above with new friends, Amanda and Peggy.