Forget to blog much?

Haha wow, it's once again been a seriously long time since I've blogged...just over a month now. Well a lot has certainly happened, it's hard to just determine where to begin!

Well at Teen Missions the latest push has been the big annual mailing that we do every year where we send out our new brochures with all the new teams for the following summer as well as other TMI news. I'm sure some of you will even be receiving it shortly as it was completed Friday. In total, we sent out around 87,000 pieces in 1149 trays. This was a massive workload to print, "stuff" and seal! Sean Deegan and I did all the printing and sorting and then this past week all the offices essentially shut down so that the information can all be coalated and put into the printed envelopes and then delivered to the post office. It took us three loads to deliver and honestly Sean and I can attest to the fact that there was never a dull moment! If you wanna take a peak at the team list now you can check out the TMI website at www.teenmissions.org spread the word! :)

Okay so since the last time I've shared on here, I went on Thanksgiving break which was amazing because I arranged to go to my sister and brother in law's apartment in
Boston. It was a wonderful time despite being a bit chilly compared to what I'm used to in (still humid in December) Florida. We had our Thanksgiving meal with some friends of their's from church and then spent the next few days doing tours and sightseeing. I have pics up from the trip on Facebook if you haven't seen them yet.

It's hard to believe the Christmas season is already upon us....it feels like just last month that I got down here in March starting my internship and now I'm 9 months in! Time has gone by ridiculously quickly! God has really blessed me with being able to get a ride up for Christmas break and back so that I do not even have to purchase flights! I will also be able to help drive to keep the non-stop trip going and help compensate for gas. God is so good! :)

What God has been working on me lately (and still is really) is being thankful for the gifts that we have. I am actually going to be doing a chapel on this Tuesday morning at Teen Missions. Sometimes I often feel like the appendix here because everyone seems to have a role in what they do and they are definitely good at it. People at TMI tend to just have skills in things or at least the experience to make it work whereas I feel inadequate in mostly the summer things like construction and work projects. It's really not my niche or comfort zone and yet God has called me to be here. There are, however, many gifts that I believe I do have which sometimes seem more under the radar but I have had friends who have told me how much they've greatly appreciated them and that I should not think them less than other peoples' gifts. It's not like I was not aware about the Bible speaking on the body of Christ being like a real body. It's something that I think I took for granted and wasn't accurately applying to myself. I guess I felt like the baby toe wanting to be a thumb or an eye. It's something that God is still working on me with and I'm trusting Him for the plan He has in me being here. God used men and women in the Bible to do great things which they never thought they could handle or do. I read about Moses a lot because I feel that sort of connection but it's actually an encouragement because of the reminder of God's promises. I know that I do accomplish things here (by the strength of God, I claim nothing myself) especially in the year-round work that happens to keep this place running and God encourages me with little reminders of why I'm doing what I'm doing. It really is a blessing to me to be able to be in ministry here and to work with all the wonderful people that I do.

So anyhow, this leads to me sharing how I often felt that I would be completing my internship and then move on to something else, obviously involving missions work of some type or ministry but I do not feel that God is calling me away at all. In fact, I feel that I'm right where I'm supposed to be and just because my third year of the BMW program is ending, doesn't mean my commitment with God is over here at TMI. Please continue to pray with me about this decision as it is a giant leap of faith for me. There are a few things that need to happen for me to continue on with staff here at TMI though, one of which would be my transportation situation. I'm praying about getting my motorcycle's license when I go home in March (because I currently still have an Indiana license and it's also way cheaper than getting one in Florida) and then buying a bike because you don't need insurance and it saves soooo much on fuel compared to a car. I also want to do a bit more support raising and and sharing about Teen Missions in churches in the area. Please be in prayer with me on this decision and that I would continue to listen to God in where He is leading and guiding. Until next time, Merry Christmas (no political correctness here! heh) and Happy New Year!