here goes...

So off we go in about 2 hours...(well, to go to O'Hare, but we leave the country @ 7:35 p.m.!!!) It's so crazy to think about being in a different country in 24 hours. Well, more than that I guess... The pink circle above (that you can't read very well...) is Oradea, Romania, and that's where I'll be! We have an 8 hour flight to Zurich, Switzerland, an hour or 2 layover, and then a 2 hour flight to Budapest, Hungary from where we will continue our travels on a 4 hour van ride to Oradea.

I'm looking forward to seeing what God has in store for this trip. It's more than just seeing a new country and visiting a new place and playing with little kids. It's so much more than anything we'll do while we're there. God is a bigger God than that. We have to stand back and let Him do His thing with us as He chooses.

If you remember to, pray for us this week as we're in Romania! We'll be back on April 7th, the day before Easter. Pray for the people we're going to encounter, the students in our group, those of us who are leaders on the trip, the many kids who are left orphaned in Romania, the families who take them in at Caminul Felix (where we are staying & working), and pray that God will do more than we could ever ask or imagine. I honestly have no idea what I'm even stepping into, but here goes!!!

Also, if you would, please pray for a little girl named Regan Mills...and for her family. Her little body is fighting to breathe and fight off pneumonia among many other things. Her life is such a blessing to so many people in a way that we could never live up to...and yet we try so hard and miss the mark. It truly humbles me. It is a confusing and crazy thing how God works, but He still does. If you want to stay up-to-date with their family, check out the Mills' Family blog.

I'm off to grab some lunch and head out, but I hope to update once we get there! I plan to at least send out an email from an internet cafe to let many of you know we arrived, but I'll update if I can!

peace...

catch me if you can

How is it that weeks just keep on flying by, and here we are at the end of March already? Somedays I want the time to fly by so I can get through the busy times and moments of dread and get to something new or different in my life. Other days I wish life would just slow down so I can enjoy those moments of pure joy or more than 30 seconds of a breathtaking sunset on a breezy, sunny evening. But I can't control the time, and that's probably a good thing.

Anywho, as these days are fleeting by, I've been busy being forgetful, anxious, scatterbrained, and curious. I've had moments where I love being by myself, moments where I love being with my family, and moments when I actually wished I lived in community again like in the dorms. (That was a very brief moment, because rarely do I envy dorm life.) Sometimes I just miss the way us girls used to sit around together doing nothing but at least doing nothing together. It's way more fun to do nothing with other people than by yourself in an apartment.

Thankfully, I've had plenty to keep me busy and away from having nothing to do. I leave for Romania in 3 days...in fact, my flight leaves O'Hare in approximately 71 hours. While I'm preparing for that, I'm trying to make sure things are ready for the Bethany Dillon/Warren Barfield concert here on Friday, April 13th (if you didn't know about this, you should come! It's @ 8:00...tickets are free to LCC students, $10 for everyone else...so it's a pretty good deal for a fun night! Bring lots of people too!). Among those details, I'm trying to do what's actually my job and get students to LCC!

Because I like lists, here are the other things going on in my brain that have nothing to do with anything:

• I have pretty much gotten nowhere with my March Madness brackets this year...though I do have Ohio State winning it all, I have them beating Kansas. Too bad they're already out...
• I don't think I have a free weekend until May...is that sad or good? I can't decide.
• My new fave song="A Little Bit More" by Jamie Lidell...the one on the sweet Target commercial. I am in love with it. and I think I'm going to have to buy his music, b/c he's pretty much amazing.
• I hate when sad things happen and when people get sick and when babies are lost and when old age steals the fun out of life.
• I love this weather and the fact that I can run and walk outside again after work in the evenings...and that the sun is out until 7:30 or so at night.
• I'm ready for my new purse that I ordered to come in...
• I hope I can get some sweet pictures in Romania...I'm really hoping for some good ones.
• I'm probably going to have to send my dentist's office a postcard, because now that I've been there like every day since last Wednesday adjusting my crowns, we're all BFF.
• I love this weather. did i say that? and the smell of rain tonight coming through my window was incredible...i want a front porch so badly...

And on that note, I think I'll go back to enjoying that lovely smell...and a new episode of The Hills.

my grill...

I have an expensive mouth.

Or at least, I'm going to after tomorrow.

While I eat my super soft lunch right now of yogurt and peanut butter and jelly, I thought I'd share with you my dental madness. First of all, I would like to let you know that I take very good care of my teeth. I didn't when I was younger, but I do now. And I started off this year making my resolution to floss every single day, and I have! Thus far, that seems to only be causing more problems...

I have a hole in one of my old crowns or fillings that I'd had an appointment to get a new crown for tomorrow. This morning as I was eating a most delicious apple & berry granola bar I realized that something felt weird on the OTHER side of my mouth. To my surprise, I found that a chunk of my tooth was missing...so now tomorrow I will be receiving TWO crowns. Though they won't be made of gold, I'll have quite a costly mouth.

I guess you can't really call it a grill unless they're on the front teeth like rappers...but oh well...

I'll either be hanging w/ Nelly the rapper or someone's Great Grandma Nelly at the nursing home if my teeth keep falling apart...

i'm back

i'm back from vegas. but i don't want to be.

i wish i was still laying by the pool.

blah.

at least the weather's getting warmer in illinois now.

viva...

Tomorrow, I will be seeing this sign live and in person. And I CAN'T WAIT!!!
I will also have you know that the thing I'm looking forward to most is the fact that the low temperatures are expected to be the high temperatures here in IL while I'm gone. Praise God for warm weather. I am ready to sit by the pool (even if it is only 77 degrees) in my swimsuit and bask in the glory of sunshine and warm weather.

Random sidenote: If you haven't heard David Crowder's new song "Oh the Glory of it All" you should hear it. It's good. Though I hope churches don't go hogwild and overdo it like they do every other Tomlin and contemporary "worship artist" song. It's good stuff though.

refreshing words...

These words couldn't have come at a better time than when I was lying in bed last night, praying that I'd sleep through the night without waking up in a panic like the night before. I hope these words can bring you peace in the midst of anxiety like they did for me. I'm so thankful David was so honest...I pray we can be more like him in showing our humanness.

Psalm 4
Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
Be merciful to me and hear my prayer.
Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;
the Lord will hear when I call to Him.

In your anger, do not sin.
When you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.
Offer right sacrifices, and trust in the Lord.

Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?"
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord.
You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.

I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O Lord,
make me dwell in safety.