Friday, July 19, 2013

CatchUp, Popo, Kiddios and BEing Still. :)

Hello all!

Yeah...I know.  I've been slacking, truly.  And I have, I will admit.  But life has been happening, LIFE!  So many good things have happened, and I am caught up in all of it.

I need to catch you up on this year's trip though.  We are going to Cholula, Puebla, Mexico, about 40 miles east of Mexico City.  Our team of 15 has been meeting (most of us) and bonding well...we do have 2 members who are remote, but we do our best to keep connected with them as well.

Right now, we are on a countdown to our trip.  As of today, I have 22 days before I board that plane with my team, and I am excited.  Clearly, not nearly as excited as last year...but then again, that was my first missions trip ever, and that kind of build up was to be expected.  Anyway, 22 days until I go to a beautiful country with great friends (lucky for me, my best friend is on the trip as well!), to make even more great friends, I am sure.

I  must admit a bit of anxiety though...nothing to make me decide not to go, but anxiety nonetheless.  There is an active volcano there, Popocatepetl, which is slowly rumbling its way back to life.  Since May of this year, it has been churning and spewing ash and smoke into the air.  This is my concern, since I am asthmatic.  I was recently told by Jeff Izzo, a missionary currently serving in Nicaragua with his family, that "active volcanoes aren't the ones you should worry about.  At least they give you warning.  It's the inactive ones that you need to worry about", which did help.  (Be sure to check out the Izzo Family blog HERE )  Woohoo for me that my bestie is an EMT, and will bring me breathing masks, so I can still go out into Mexico to be The Hands and Feet of Him!
Popocatepetl, as a plume of smoke reaches to the sky. May 2013.

I am almost at my fundraising goal (Praise Him!), and am just now thinking of what I'll be packing, besides the filtering masks, lol.

This has been a different kind of summer for my household as well.  The kiddios are doing different things, and I am making plans because of it.  My daughter went to grandma's in Michigan again this year, and is having an absolute blast!  The boys decided though, that since being teenagers is fun, but spending summers at grandma's isn't so cool anymore, they'd stay home.  My oldest is going into his senior year at school, and got a job.  My youngest will be a sophomore in the fall, and is enjoying a summer of freetime.  While I'm away on mission, my aunt plans to come to my house to stay with them, so the oldest can still work h is regular shifts at work.  I appreciate her for being so willing to do that, so I don't have to worry while I'm out of the country!

My job has gone well, and I've even been given a promotion, which is always encouraging.  That also means that now, I am a salaried employee, with PAID time off, so going on this mission will not hurt my family, financially.  Praise God!

All of this is to say that while I have been busy, The Lord has been busier.  There are times when I don't even know what I am going to do, I am so busy...but then I take a moment and realize that I need to be still.  Be still, and know that He is God...and I am not.  I've gotten much better at that, as of late.

Exodus 14:14 tells me that "The Lord will fight for you, and you only need to be still"...so I wait.



I hope to blog more (now that I've remembered my password...being busy helps me to be forgetful as well, lol), especially since the trip is coming up shortly.  If you know me in person, and you know that I haven't blogged in awhile, call me out.  Speak up!  Let me know!  And I will smile...and hop on it as soon as time allows.

Thanks for being faithful, readers.  I appreciate you, wherever you are!

~yonna