Heading North

Hello Friends! I am excited to say that I have three and a half more days of this semester! Things are finishing up here and I am getting ready for a nice long break. I will fly back to Wisconsin this Saturday, the 16th.

However, right away on Sunday morning my brother will be driving me down to Iowa. Some of you know my dear friend Elizabeth (or have heard about her!) She will be getting married on Friday, December 22nd and I am going to go spend some time with her before her wedding. I am so excited to see her as well as some other dear friends I have not seen in years - it will be a very special time for all of us. I will come back to Wisconsin in time for Christmas Eve with my family!

I have a month off of classes and am very much looking forward to the break. I will head back down South on January 21st. (It will be so nice to return to warm weather!) I am looking forward to seeing many of you while I am home. I am glad I will have a month to catch up with you all :-) I look forward to hearing how God has been working in your lives over these last months and sharing with you what He has been doing in mine.

I will miss my friends here this next month. God has blessed me with such good friends so quickly. In the picture with me is one of those great friends! Linda is from Honduras and we have been called "twins" several times. We even had a man from India - in all seriousness - ask us if we were sisters because we look so much alike! We have had many laughs over that one!

It seems as if whenever I go new places I am worried about making friends. However, God always provides in such amazing ways. He has blessed me with great friends all over this world. I have seen that as one of the themes running through my life - the blessings of the Lord. I have realized this semester how truly blessed I am. I have a great family who has always loved and supported me, I have great friends who care about me, my needs have always been provided for at just the right moment, I have been blessed with great places to work and amazing ministry training. . . I could go on and on.

So I want to thank each one of you. You have all been such a blessing to my life. Know that I truly appreciate it and I pray that God blesses you as much as you have blessed me!

Have a very Merry Christmas as you celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Fun in Florida

Hi friends! Are you all busy making plans for Thanksgiving? I pray you all have a marvelous time with your family and friends and find much to be grateful for.

One thing that I am grateful for is my team. As you know I am going to North Africa this summer, Lord willing. Last weekend some of my team took a road trip to Florida for a conference. It was amazing! I learned so much about North Africa and how to minister there. God burdened my heart for these people in a new way. It is amazing how much you can love people you have never met. We went to lots of meetings, had lots of fun and got little sleep.

Five of us drove down together in one car and it was a great team bonding time. I got to know some of my other teammates much better and am so excited to be able to minister with them this summer. Of course we had to go to the beach since we were in Florida! Saturday night we drove to the coast and got to wade in the Gulf of Mexico. It was about 11:00 at night so we pretty much had the beach to ourselves. It was still warm out! (Sorry, I know most of you are dealing with snow and cold right now, but for this girl, it was great!) It was my first time on a beach that I can remember. I went to the Sea in Latvia, but there was snow on the ground so it wasn't quite the same. This was a fun first experience to share with my team! The picture above is of us at the beach.

Thanksgiving Break starts on Wednesday. I am looking forward to the much needed rest. Actually, I need to catch up on lots of homework! It is crazy to think that the semester is almost done. I am really looking forward to seeing most of you at Christmas! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!! (Then I get to come back where it is warm!)

I covet your prayers as this semester comes to an end. It is difficult to stay motivated when I am tired and know that I won't see my friends for a month when we are all on break. I want to hang out with them instead of doing homework! Please pray that I would finish well and keep a balanced life as I finish up these next couple of weeks.

“When God’s finger points, God’s hand will open the door.”

~Clarence W. Jones

Personal Prayer Retreat

Hello Prayer Warriors!

I want to share with you an experience I have had recently. One of the requirements for my Prayer and Discipleship class is to do a Personal Prayer Retreat, which I did recently. I spent eight hours in fasting and prayer and it was an amazing time with the Lord. I want to share with you some of the things I wrote in my journal that day:

I got up this morning excited to start my day with the Lord. I got ready and started out this day by taking a walk with the Lord down to the Pointe [a beautiful spot just down from my house that looks over the city and countryside]. It was such a beautiful morning. It is really cold out, you can see your breath and I saw people looking for something to scrape their cars with! It feels like home. J When I got down there, it was really foggy and I couldn’t see out at all. However, there was this spot off to the right where the clouds were low and you could see the tall buildings of Columbia rising up above them. Also the sun was shining and there was a pink hue to the clouds there. It was really quite amazing and spectacular! My first thought was that it looked like a city of God. So I spent a few minutes praying for the city of Columbia, that it would be a city of God. Then the clouds rose up and covered the city again. I feel as if God gave me a special look at how He sees this city. Even though darkness is trying to cover it, He sees a city that He wants to set apart for Himself.

Isaiah 61 is talking about Jesus (Luke 4:16-20). This is what He was sent to do so that we could be the kind of people it talks about at the end of that passage. However, it is also what Jesus has sent us to do. John 17:18 Jesus is talking to His Father about us. He says, “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” After Jesus’ death and resurrection, He appeared to His disciples. John 20:21 tells us that, “Again Jesus said, Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you’.”

[Reflections on Psalm 9] God, there are people in this world who are lost without you and going to hell. There are people who are oppressed and need to hear about you so you can be their refuge. Yes people may persecute, harm, even kill me, but you will never forsake me and what you have done must be proclaimed among the nations – all nations.

As you can see, the theme of the day seemed to be God’s heart for the nations. As you know, God has laid on my heart the nations and the need to tell them about Jesus. I feel like during this day of prayer, God renewed the fire in my heart and the passion to reach the lost was revived.

It's About That Time

Hi friends!

Well, it is about that time again. Time to write to you and fill you in on my life as of the last month. It has been a good month. I have been keeping busy as usual. The birthday parties still haven't ended - one more tonight, another one next week and then one or two more later in November! It is fun to gather with friends and celebrate them.

Classes are going well. I finally feel somewhat caught up this week. Last week was Fall Break and I was able to catch up on homework as well as relax a lot and spend time with friends. We went to the South Carolina State Fair which was a convenient 10 or 15 minutes from campus. This is only the second state fair I have ever been to and it was lots of fun. We ate good food (I got cotton candy - yea!) and we got to go to the Casting Crowns concert that night. It was held in the grandstands at the fair and was amazing. I felt more like I was in a church service than a concert. It was encouraging and the music was great!

What else have I been up to? We had something called Formal Open Dorms a couple of weeks ago. That was fun. We all get together and decorate the guys dorms. Their sister floors come over and they really go all out. This years theme was "classic board games". The grad/seminary students did Risk - the game of world domination! Some of the other floors were Life, Mousetrap and Clue. For our hall we decorated each room as a different continent. We decorated the hall as if they were walking through the ocean. Then we had actors in each room who were dressed up as people from that continent. As teams came in, they actually played the game in each room. I was the actor in the North America room and was a soldier! Yes, I was all decked out in camo and got to yell at people as they came in. It was a lot of fun! Our hall didn't win, but we declared ourselves third place winners!

Besides that I have been registering for classes for next semester and planning for my trip to North Africa this summer. This week we are doing round one of applications. Please be in prayer with me for these next couple of weeks. They will be a crucial time in developing our team and determining who will be a part of it or not. None of us are "in" for sure yet and are all seeking the Lord and His will for each of our lives and the team.

I pray you are all doing well. I would love to hear from you - what have you been up to lately? Until next time...

In the Trenches

Here is my long overdue update. Sorry I have not written in a while. Life has been busy for me as I'm sure it has been for you. First of all, I want to thank you for your e-mails. I have heard from many of you and it has been such an encouragement! I am sorry I have not been able to personally respond yet.

Things are going well here. I have a ridiculous amount of school work to do and I often feel as if I am barely keeping my head above water. It is such good stuff though. It makes me want to do my homework and I wish that there were more hours in the day! The picture above is of our back porch where I spend many hours doing homework! What a beautiful place God has given me to learn about Him in. I have been learning so much about who I am in Christ and my relationship with the Lord. I agree with Erik (if you get the Wahlen's update) that I have learned more this past month than I have in the past year. It is amazing the things that God is teaching me. It is hard and it is good. I have had many walks with God in the past month! I find that as I am doing homework sometimes I need to just get up, go on a walk with God and talk about it for a while. Then I can come back and continue reading or whatever I had been working on.

Life outside of homework is good as well. I am making some really good friends and that is such a blessing and answer to prayer. The girls I live with are wonderful and I have great neighbors! We have been having lots of birthday parties lately and that is fun. We have another one this weekend! I am so grateful that we are not allowed to do any homework on Sunday's. They have become very special days of rest for me and I have come to see how much I need them. In the future I am going to be very intentional about keeping a Sabbath (be it Sunday or some other day) as I have seen the importance of it. We hear over and over how what we do flows out of who we are. I am learning how to focus on being and it is wonderful!

Another exciting thing in my life is that I am planning on going to North Africa this summer. I am super excited about this and I'm sure you will be hearing a lot more about that in future blogs!

Please continue to pray for me, that I would have deep relationships even though I am only here a short time. Also keep my studies in prayer. I have a lot of homework and it is hard to balance the discipline of study with the rest I need with time with my friends. I have a large amount of work due for my on-line class next week - please pray that I would get it all done! Thank you for your prayers. I covet them and would not be doing as well as I am here without them. Thank you!

God at Work

Hello friends,

I have completed 1 1/2 weeks of class. Should I be celebrating or locking myself in my room and doing homework? My concept of time is a little off right now. In one way the time here has gone by so fast. One day passes, quickly followed by the next. However, it also feels as if I have been living in South Carolina for years! I know that my time here will pass very quickly and I am trying to remember to treasure my moments here.

I love my classes. It is amazing to be sitting in class focusing on my spiritual development as well as learning concepts that will be so useful in my future, as well as now. I am learning about prayer and discipleship, folk religion and animism which is so prevalent both overseas and here in America, Muslim women and creative access methods. I am learning disciplines that will be crucial for the rest of my life. I am learning how to be and how to have everything that I do flow out of who I am in Christ. It is an amazing time in my life and I am so grateful to God for bringing me here.

I just spent an hour at lunch with a girl talking about how God has worked in our lives, how He is constantly molding us and changing us, about His heart for the world and how He allows us to glimpse different aspects of it and begin to understand how much He loves all people. It is these little gifts that I treasure, new friends and deep conversations. God has blessed me with new friends, even though I don't have much time to spend with them, I know that they are there for me when I need them and that I have a support system here as well as all of you back home.

I am taking 15 credits this semester (and next) which is bordering on insanity, however I am ahead in all of my classes and am amazed at how God has blessed me with the ability to do the work that is required and learn so much from it. Thank you for praying, as I know without a doubt that this is a direct answer to prayer.

I miss you all so much. Know that I am well and that when I see you again, I will not be the same person as when I last saw you. I pray that you are different too, as you continue to grow in Christ and be molded into the man or woman He has created you to be.

The picture above is of one of my many new green little friends. This poor little fellow got trapped inside of our screened in porch long enough for me to take his picture. They are such funny little creatures! I thank God for the little things that He gives to make me smile each day, like cute little critters (and keeping the spiders out) :-)

Home Sweet Home

I made it! My parents and I arrived in Columbia on Wednesday. It was a long, but very beautiful drive. The Smokey Mountains are beautiful! We arrived on campus early afternoon and after checking in and meeting one of my housemates we made it to the house where I will be living and moved in.

The house was not anything like what I had expected. I am sharing a room with another girl named Robyn, who is from Tennessee. We have a bathroom attached to our room that we share and out another door in our room is an enclosed patio. Sarah is my RA and housemate. She has a room that also opens onto the patio. Down the hall from us is Jennie from California and across from her will be Linda, a Chinese girl now living in Boston I think. Linda is not here yet as her and Sarah were both her last year. It was nice having new friends to get lost with on campus! I really like my housemates and I think we are going to have a lot of fun together this year!

The other side of our house contains the living room with new furniture that is very cozy. A fireplace (real fireplace, not gas or electric!), a kitchen and a dining room and another enclosed patio that leads to a laundry shed in our backyard. We have a large backyard with lots of trees. If you walk down the road to the left you get to campus, if you go to the right, you come to the point. That is a great place that overlooks some beautiful scenery. There is a gazebo, swing, benches, picnic table and bonfire pit there. I have already been there a couple of time with my housemates.

A fun thing to see here is the geckos! They crawl on the outside of our house and are so cute! The huge spiders aren't so cute, but we haven't found any inside our house yet! I have been having a lot of firsts here. I got to eat my first funnel cake at an IHOP, go to my first Sonic, all sorts of fun things!

I have been on overload with all of the new people and places, but it really has been quite good. I have already been to a meeting about mission trips for this summer. I don't know if I will get to be on one. The school has adopted 4 people groups and this year they will add another. They send teams to these people groups each year to build a consistent relationship, study their culture and share the gospel. It is really an amazing program.

I was very happy to sleep in today and catch up on some much needed rest. Tuesday is our first day of classes, but there is still much to be done before then! Thank you all for your prayers during this time of transition in my life. It has gone quite smoothly so far and I trust God will sustain me and help me through my very difficult (academically) year here. I miss you all and think of you often.

The Countdown Has Begun

It is hard to believe - only five more days until I leave for South Carolina. These past few days have been filled with activity. We had a family day the last Saturday in July. Mom, dad, Isaac, his fiance' and I had quite the time. We ended up spending most of the day at a place called Action City or something like that. We played mini golf, climbed a climbing wall (we all made it to the top!), played air hockey, laser tag, and three incredibly fun games of bumper cars! Then we went to Tokyo House to eat some super yummy food. It was a great day and fun to connect like that with my family before I leave for school.

Last week however, wasn't nearly as much fun. I had to go to the dentist yet again. Have I mentioned that I can't stand the dentist? I hate going there. It wasn't so bad, but the after-effects made me quite sick. So I missed going to visit my dear friend in Iowa. But God knew what I needed. I got to spend some time just relaxing and finish getting ready for school. I am now quite refreshed and ready to head to school on Monday.

These last days here will be filled with 'firsts' and many 'lasts'. Last night the church staff had a wonderful goodbye party for Erik and Christina and I. Tonight night I preach my first sermon in a church setting at our Thursday night service (pray for me!). Tomorrow a friend is helping me pack my office up and then we are going to reward all of our hard work by going to the fair. Saturday will include last minute packing and a trip to a bridal shop to try on bridesmaids dresses. Sunday is my last official day at church and will be a busy one. I am sharing about the International Student Ministry here at church. It is appropriate that it is the last thing I will do here in an "official" capacity. Then on Monday morning my mom and I take off for the long drive south. We will take our time and get there in time for me to move in sometime on Wednesday.

Yes, it will be a busy last couple of days. They are filled with lots of sadness and nerves, but lots of excitement as well. I will miss work, church, friends, and especially family and our bulldog Quigley. Poor thing, he has been so sad lately because he knows I'm leaving again. Ahh, the things you have to give up sometimes in order to walk the path God has laid out before you.... Thank you all for praying for me during my time of home service. I feel that I can move on knowing that God has helped me to accomplish the things that He has set before me. I want to thank all of you so much for your support over the years. I have learned so much from each of you. As home service comes to an, end I covet your prayers for the next stage of my life. May God bless you all as much as you have blessed me!

Time Out

Preparations are in full swing for my transition down south. I will be moving into a furnished house on campus August 16th. It is hard to believe that the time has come already. I'm registered for classes and have begun buying the necessary books. I went shopping for school supplies and am breaking in my new laptop. I am wrapping things up here at church and trying to get in as much time with family and friends as I can before the big move.

There is a lot happening in my life and the lives of those around me. On Monday my parents celebrated 35 years of marriage. This past week my brother proposed to his girlfriend, Brooklyn Johnson. They will be getting married November 10, 2007. Close friends and family are getting married, buying houses, having babies . . . the list goes on and on.

It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of it all. It is easy to get caught up in life and just exist, even if that existence is good. But I have to stop myself sometimes and ask - what is it that I am living for, what am I working towards? I often find myself looking ahead, to the ultimate goal. I want to be a missionary so I look ahead towards that. In order to be a missionary I need to get my Masters Degree so I look ahead towards that. But what am I doing - right now - to spread the light of Christ? Who have I spoken a word for Christ to today? Have my actions today pointed others towards Christ or turned them away?

It is easy to say that someday I am going to be a great witness for Christ. But that someday is today. What have I done today to share the message of Christ with those around me? It is something that when I am honest, I fall far short of. In my busyness I find it hard to spend quality time alone with Christ, let alone share Him with others. But that is what I am called to do. My relationship with Christ is the most important thing in my life and sometimes I act like buying a new pair of jeans for school is. The busier I get, the more time I need to be spending with my Father, I should be leaning on Him all the more, not setting Him on the back burner. Christ is the light of the world. That light is living in me and I need to shine it wherever I am and in whatever I am doing. It's a lesson I am still learning.

So if your life is busy like mine, even busy with good things, I encourage you to take a time out today. Take some time to spend with your Maker. What is it that He wants to say to you today? Listen, then enjoy the life that He has given you to live as you follow Him!

South Carolina, Not South America

I'm sure that most of you know by now that I am going to Columbia Biblical Seminary this fall. It is official, I'll be moving in on August 16th. My home service will be complete as of August 13th and I'll be moving on to the next adventure God has for me. When I tell people that I am going to Columbia this fall, many people say, "Colombia, you're going to South America?" Rest assured, I'm not going that far quite yet!

I don't think that I am fully comprehending where I will be in a little over a month, the changes that will take place in my life, the new culture, back to school. Wow, life will change. At first the thought of going to graduate school did not make me excited in the least. I am not one who particularly enjoys homework or studying. I love the social aspect of college life, the friends, the memories, the homework I could do without. To be perfectly honest, the thought of graduate level work still makes me quite nervous! However, that being said, I am starting to get excited about this fall. I will soon be able to register for classes and as I looked at my options, my excitement grew.

I will be getting a Master of Arts. It is a general Masters degree, I need to take three core classes and the other seven classes I can choose anything I want that is offered that semester. Because I have 30 hours of Bible and Theology from Crown, it cuts my program in half and I will be done by May. It really is a good deal and the classes look so interesting. I think the hardest thing now will be choosing which classes to take. So many look good and would be so useful on the mission field.

I'm also getting excited about . . . buying school supplies!! I know, sounds strange right, but buying school supplies was always one of the highlight of my school year. I love getting new pens and pencils and notebooks... Ah, what fun! I'm excited about living in South Carolina - where it is warm! I'm excited about hearing southern accents and trying new foods. I'm excited about making new friends (also a little nervous about this one). God is changing my heart and turning something that I have been dreading for the last couple of years into something that I am actually getting excited about.

Life will be crazy for the next month and a half preparing for school and finishing things up here at church. This has been a great place to be and I will miss it in many ways. I thank you for your prayers for me during this time of transition in my life.

The picture at the top is my favorite picture that I took in the Boundary Waters. It reminds me that no matter where I go or what I do, God is there. It was a calm, beautiful place and every time I look at this picture I feel calm and God's care and majesty. May you find the quite place in your life today and take a minute to talk to your Father there.

The Trip Of A Lifetime

You will be happy to know that I made it safely back from the Boundary Waters without being eaten by a bear! I don't even know where to begin in telling you about the trip - it was so amazing. There were 12 of us that went total, we were in two groups of 6. We left the church Wednesday afternoon, May 31 and headed up to Pastor Tom's cabin. We spent the night there and left the next morning for the Boundary Waters.

We entered the BW around noon or 1:00 that day and the first part of our trip was a portage. For those of you who don't know, when you portage, you have to cross land carrying your canoe and all of your packs. This was our longest portage of the trip, but luckily it was almost all downhill. Once we made it to the water we loaded our canoes and took off. We were going along nicely and it was a beautiful day. However, on our last portage of the day we saw a thunderstorm in the distance and decided to wait it out on land. It was a good thing we did as what we thought would be a nice shower turned into quite a thunderstorm, hail and all. So we stood under trees (short ones) and got a nice head massage by the small hail. After that passed we took off again, looking for a campsite for the night. The storm must have led people to camp early as we couldn't find a campsite on the lake we wanted and we were too tired to go on. So we found a old campsite and used that. You are only supposed to camp on designated sites up there. You know it is a site because it is (usually) on the map and there is a fire grate and a path to a toilet seat. This had neither so we got to dig our own "potty holes" the first night and it was all a grand adventure!

Friday we got to the island where we made our permanent campsite and got to relax a bit. It was all so beautiful it was hard to take it all in!

The next day we went to see some waterfalls and they were amazing. We made it through the strong current where the canoes before us tipped and got some amazing pictures!

Sunday was a layover day where we got to relax. We did some fishing, and had the best tasting fish I have ever had in my life for supper that night. We climbed Warrior Hill that evening and came out conquerors!

The next morning we got up to go meet with the other group for the day. We started out and the wind was blowing and there were some pretty good sized waves out there. Needless to say we made it and got a really good workout besides! We fished some and had a mini church service with the guys and headed back to camp. Still windy on the way home, it had stormed that afternoon.

Tuesday we headed out. We made it out in one day and I thought I was going to die on some of those portages. But, we made it and were quite proud of ourselves. We spent that night at the cabin again and headed home late Wednesday.

We figure we probably went about 60 miles during our trip. It was an amazing trip. God's creation is so beautiful. If any of you want to see pictures, let me know, I can e-mail you a photo album.

For those of you who have known me a long time, you will be surprised to know that I got my first tan ever in my life (now I know I have to spend a week outside to get a tan!) and I even got a few muscles!!

So, that was the Boundary Waters. It was a trip of a lifetime and if any of you ever get a chance to go, I highly recommend it - if I can do it, anyone can!

Another Adventure

The adventures are never ending! As I look toward Seminary this fall (yes, I am persuing schooling this fall and praying that if God wants me somewhere else that He would close that door) another adventure is knocking on my door.

I leave today, with a group from church, for the Boundary Waters! We will spend a week canoeing and camping and enjoying God's beautiful creation. I'm super excited about this trip, it is something I have always wanted to do and this is probably the only chance I'll ever have! There are two other girls going, we are going to have a blast!!

Please keep our team in your prayers over this next week. We will be staying at a cabin up north tonight (Wednesday) and then entering the Boundary Waters tomorrow. We will get home next Wednesday, the 7th.

Pray for good weather, strength and stamina and that none of us would get eaten by a bear!!

I'll tell you all about the trip when I get home :-)

Now What?!

You may be asking yourself, did Josie get into Grad School? Well, the answer is yes. I got a call late yesterday afternoon telling me that I have been accepted to Columbia Biblical Seminary to get a Master of Arts degree. Honestly, I am quite shocked. I did not think there was a chance that I would be able to get in anywhere on such short notice. If I decide to go to school this fall, there is a lot that I need to do in a very short period of time.

For those of you who are not sure why my blog is called Joise's Jericho, let me fill you in. The Israelites marched around the walled city of Jericho for seven days before they shouted and watched the walls come tumbling down. I see how I need this same kind of thing in my life. I have different "walls" in my life, or things that need to be prayed about. I need people who are willing to come along side of me and march. To persistently and obediently walk around those walls until we can give a victory shout and they come tumbling down.

This is such a time. I need you to join with me in prayer about Seminary. Here are some of the issues:

1) August is coming up very quickly, there is a lot I need to do to prepare and a lot of ministry that needs to be passed onto someone else if I leave the church right now.

2) Do I go now or wait until Spring or even next Fall? If I wait until Spring, I would have to arrange housing for two separate times, with a move for the summer in the middle. (I can get my degree in one year - just two semesters of 15 credits each). If I wait until next Fall, there is so much I could do here at the church and pay off my undergraduate loans before I go to accumulate more debt. However, there are always going to be things here at the church that I want to be involved in and is it ever going to be a good time to leave?

3) Can I afford it? No, God would have to provide like I have seen Him do time and time again. Even though Columbia is very inexpensive comparatively speaking, it is still a lot of money to someone who has none! However, if this is what God wants me to do, I know that He will provide, whether that is scholarships from the school or helping me pay off loans when I am done.

Will you march with me in prayer around this wall until we see it come tumbling down? Part of me thinks that God has been opening up doors very quickly and that if He wants me to walk through them, I had better. Then the logical side of me kicks in and reminds me of all of the debt I have and how expensive school is and how much I have to do here.... I know my God is not a logical God. He often works in ways that seem crazy to me, but fits into His perfect plan.

I was reading last night in Proverbs 20. The first part of verse 18 says, "Make plans by seeking advice." So, I am asking your advice.

Thank you for your prayers and concern for me and what God has planned for my life. I so look forward to what He does and where He takes me. Right now I feel like I am in a race car and I'm in the passenger seat holding on for dear life while God has the pedal to the metal! It's all quite exciting!

It's About Time!

Hi everyone,

I know, I have been terrible about getting my newsletter out. So, I am trying something new! Instead of sending you all an e-mail with an attachment of my letter, I will post blogs and let you know when there is a new one! This way, everyone should be able to read them and you can post comments if you would like.

So what has kept me occupied these last few months? I started working full time at the church in February and it has been busy every since! In February I went with the church staff to our district's Ministry Couples Retreat where we learned about love and respect in relationships. It was very good! March we put on a "Mock Wedding" to show international students what an American wedding was like. Last month I was swamped with the District Women's Retreat, a Christian Ministry Fair that I planned, Easter, District Conference and planning our church's Spring Missions Conference.

The biggest development of these last few weeks is that I have applied for Seminary. After speaking with my Candidate Director about what my next steps are, we decided that I do not need to do a year as an Apprentice and that my next step is to look at graduate schools. So I did! I applied for Columbia International Seminary where I can get a general Masters of Arts degree in one year. I have all of my application and financial aid information in and now just have to wait and see what God has for me. It is not likely that I would get in for this fall, but if God wants me there, He will make a way.

Life has been crazy, but God is good. He has provided for me financially and blessed me so that I could be a blessing to others.

Hopefully with this new method of communication, I will be able to keep in touch with all of you much better! Thank you all for your prayers. They mean more to me than you will ever know!