Also, I'm painfully aware that this post is the first in quite a while, and since I just admitted two sentences ago that I've been doing basically nothing lately, I really don't have a good excuse for the silence. The long answer is a lot of blubbering on about feeling like my life has stopped since I'm not in the classroom and feeling aimless and other emotional baggage you shouldn't feel obligated to carry (not that dramatic, but still), and the short answer is simply that the longer I go without writing, the harder it becomes to write. There have been multiple times in the past month that I've opened up my laptop, drafted a post, then refused to hit publish because, "this is garbage!" It's probably not, but you get the idea. The voices in my head (yes, there are several, mostly with New York accents) can be absolute dears but can also convince me that I have absolutely nothing worth sharing these days... true, to an extent, but making it extra hard to be motivated into blogging.
ANYWAY, now let me tell you our plans for this trip. (You know, barring any emergencies which we- you and I, yes?- will pray to avoid.) We leave tomorrow (!!!) for Hickory, NC, where my dearest friend Sara and her darling mother live. We'll hang out tomorrow, spend the night, then attend church with them on Sunday morning. (I'm counting on them for one continuous pep talk during our stay.) After lunch, we'll head to Knoxville, Tennessee, for our very first missions service. Ahhh! Fortunately, our first service will not be with strangers (oh, the horror!) but with familiar faces of our friends the Hollomans. Yay! They recently moved to Knoxville to Hardin Valley FWB Church and we are thrilled to have our first service with them. (I can't overemphasize how relieving it is to be with people we know for what is essentially our guinea pig. Pray it goes well!)
On Monday we'll leave for... wait for iiiit... NASHVILLE for a few days of church planters' training. After visiting Nashville in college I absolutely fell in love with it and I am SO excited to be able to spend some time there. I've been wanting to go back ever since! We'll also have a service at a church in the area (Grove FWB) on Wednesday night. There are so many places I am looking forward to re-visiting (hello, SATCO) and also our friend Stephen who is starting a church in California will be there with us so we're excited about that too. (Again, I'm pretty hung up on being surrounded by familiar faces... wish you were coming, Lauren! =( Anyway, I'm really stoked for this part of the trip. And if I'm constantly distracted by my quest to meet Jon Acuff then so be it.
We'll leave Nashville and head to Cincinnati, mostly because it's on our way to our next service and Jonathan wants to go to the Creation Museum. I'm still a little leery of Ohio in general (a few horror stories from college travels still haunt me) but Cincinnati is a cool city so I'll be okay, I guess. =) From there we'll leave for the Detroit, Michigan, area for a service with Jonathan's aunt and uncle's church, Southgate. Jonathan did an internship with them one summer in college and loves the church and people so we're excited to visit again and see family! Then Sunday night we have a service in Ypsilanti, Michigan, with Rex Evans at First Church. He and his family are friends from Faith- more familiar faces- and we're so thankful they scheduled a service with us!
On Monday we'll head home- we're considering a stop in Chicago because I love it and Jonathan's never been- and then we'll be back at home in our own little corners... all alone in our own little chairs. (Okay, sorry. Jonathan doesn't want to be likened to Cinderella.)
PLEASE pray that we (and by we I mean Jonathan... clearly this girl isn't doing any public speaking) will be able to convey our need/desire to get to Houston and start our work at Woodforest! Pray that we'll get the prayers/financial support that we need at each service and that we'll have more success in scheduling services over then next few weeks/months. Oh, and safety while we travel, naturally... and pray that I don't do or say anything outrageous. I'll try to keep the movie quotes locked up unless absolutely necessary. (I COULD insert a White Christmas quote RIGHT HERE but I won't... see? I can do this.)
And, folks, lest you think I'm too nervous/paralyzed by fear, just remember...
...I've done this before. Granted, I'm nowhere near as cute these days but the charm of that three-year-old with the heavy Southern accent is still lurking inside somewhere, I hope. =)
Ash
So excited for you and your new journey! Serving the Lord is the best! Praying for your travel safety and quick raising of support!!
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