Before the Board...

It's been a long time coming.

After two weeks at SIMCO, SIM USA's missionary candidate orientation program, we finally reached the final Monday. For long-term candidates, this day sat at the forefront of our minds from the moment we arrived on campus, at moments, dreading it; at other moments, eagerly anticipating its arrival.

Why?

The final Monday brings the time for the interview before the few, the powerful, the intimidating...

US Board.

That's right. Today was the day that the long-term candidates sat in turn before the board, and it is the board that gets to decide our future with the organization. They follow Scripture, as their "yes" is definitely a "yes", and their "no" sends us packing and reevaluating God's plans for our lives.

So we spent the whole day nervously anticipating our short but determinative half-hour before this dreaded body of pastors, professors, business owners, and other missionaries. We didn't know what to expect, but we knew that God had brought us here for a reason. So we waited.

When our time finally came, we walked into the room and saw a bunch of faces that we recognized.

You see, Tiffany and I went out to Black Mountain, NC, this past weekend to get away. We stayed in a nice bed and breakfast called the Red Rocker Inn, Tiffany showed me around Montreat, the place where she first trusted Christ, and we ate dinner at a nice little pizza place called My Father's Pizza. And it was as we walked onto the patio at this restaurant that we saw a few faces from SIM that we knew, and a few that we didn't. These few were board members, most of whom ended up doing our interview. And as awkward as it was meeting them by chance at a small pizza place 2 hours from Charlotte, it turned into a great blessing as it provided a sense of peace.

Seeing people you recognize can sometimes do that for ya.

So we were set at ease. And we talked. And talked. And talked. Not that that should surprise anybody...

And after we finished talking, we left the room and stood outside the door, waiting for what seemed like forever. Finally we were brought back in to the applause of the board, and we were informed that we have been accepted as missionaries with SIM.

So now we prepare. We prepare to go out and build relationships. We prepare to go out and build a support team. We prepare to go out and build people's awareness of missions.

We prepare to go out and bring the love of Christ to the nations.

And all because God has chosen to love us and use us for His purposes.

It's so exciting.

Life's Not Fair

Man is sinful. No matter how often we try to deny it, to prove that we are inherently good, the truth is we're not. We are born sinful. Simple as that.

I was reminded of this today as we played in the "SIMCO vs. the world" volleyball game. Being ultra crazy competitive, I couldn't help but get frustrated when the other team ("the world") wouldn't play by the rules, or when some of my teammates would flub. Of course, it was never my fault. And I just got progressively more and more frustrated.

And then I got convicted. We were there to have fun, and there was no reason for me to be getting angry.

And that's just one example. Every minute feels as though I have a new story I could use as an example of how I am sinful.

As a sinner, I am fully deserving of death. Scripture says that the consequences of our sin is death. And not just death in reference to the end of this life, though that is included. It is an eternal death, an eternal separation from God.

But God, in His grace, has given us an escape from this death.

Grace. What a great word.

When I was growing up, one of the best lessons I ever learned was the meaning of "grace" and "mercy". Two words commonly included together, they really have quite different meanings. "Grace" is getting something that we don't deserve, whereas "mercy" is not getting something that we do deserve. Taken at face value, they almost seem contradictory. When considering the condemnation of sinners to death, both play a beautiful part in providing salvation. Mercy is not receiving the death that we so rightly deserve, while grace is the life that we receive when we deserve death.

I love that way Reliant K puts it in their song "Be My Escape". They say

"The beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair."

For those who have trusted Christ as their salvation, life's not fair. We don't deserve the eternal life that we've been given. I rightly deserve the death that we've earned. Yet God has given life with Him to all who have trusted His Son. And honestly, sometimes it's hard to accept this grace. It's hard to realize how bad we truly are and to accept that God has freely given us this life. We have earned death, but He has given life.

And sometimes, just sometimes, I'm okay with realizing that life isn't fair. I just pray that it would be not fair for a whole lot more people. And that's why we share God's word with those who haven't heard.

Runaway Wienermobile!

Um, I realize this goes against yesterday's post, as this was the headline I saw on my Yahoo! page this morning...but seriously, how often does the Wienermobile crash into somebody's house?

If you want to read the whole story, go here.

And just for gigges, here's the pic that drew my attention:

(AP Photo/Journal Times, Tom McCauley)

I'm not even going to begin with the off-color jokes that pop into my head when I think of possible headlines...

Featured stories...and what should be

I still have a Yahoo! email address, though I rarely use it. Every now and then I get something important in it (like information regarding Tim and Danielle's wedding), but usually it's junk mail. Nevertheless, part of my Internet routine is to check my Yahoo! page (after quickly scanning facebook for anything really interesting and before scanning over my dad's blog). Today was no exception, so I navigate to yahoo.com, and up pops the page I've come to know so well. I quickly scan the four featured stories that pop up, and the first one...the one that is the feature of features...the one with the picture up first that you will be sure to see as soon as you get to Yahoo!...is about Michael Jackson. Again. This one in particular was about a song of his that is previously unreleased but apparently sounds very similar to another song. Shocking.

I happened to glance a little further down the page and saw a much more interesting headline. Apparently there were a couple of bombings at some hotels in Jakarta (a Ritz and a Marriott, I believe), killing 8 and injuring about 50. This was just above something about Sotomayor's impending appointment, and a few above a video of a man proposing to his girlfriend on a big screen...while in his underwear.

Not gonna lie, judging by the way this was all laid out, I'm reminded again of how messed up our priorities really are...

The Downside of Being an Extrovert

So, we've been in Charlotte just about a week now, and I've slept about half as much here as I normally do. It's weird. Being in Peoria, we get home from work, eat dinner, and then go basically straight to bed. Here at our Candidate Orientation, there are 21 people staying on our floor, meaning I am around people basically all the time.

Now, keep in mind that when I take personality inventories I score almost off the charts in the extroversion category.

And when I met with the staff psychologist in January, he told me that he has never seen an introversion score so low (i.e., he's never seen a score indicating such extreme extroversion).

With that in mind, put me around people and I go crazy. I can't stand being in another room if I hear somebody's voice out in the kitchen or in the great room. I'd rather be sitting there talking to them. It kills me to think of going to bed when other people are up having fun. Or even if they're just up. So I stay up.

Which means I don't sleep.

And then I'm still on waking up early to go open the pool mode, so I get up crazy early after going to bed much later than I am used to, ultimately meaning that I'm sleeping basically not at all. So as the weekend approaches, I find myself almost unable to function. I have a hard time focusing in the sessions during the day because my eyelids are getting heavy. I don't really see a break in the near future, as we are planning a big group outing to a state park on Saturday, and Tiffany and Bruce Johnson (the incoming US Director) are trying to convince me to bike there. And I'm like "What!?!"

So, basically, as much as I like being an extrovert, sometimes it gets in the way of sleeping.

And sleeping is a good thing.

it's really real

In just four days Luke and I will pack up the car and drive to Charlotte for three weeks of missions training with SIM. We'll get our official placement, figure out the finances and logistics, and prepare our materials to start our RDM (resource development ministry - i.e. support raising).

Oh my goodness - it's really happening. The past four years have pointed this direction, and now it's no longer a distant horizon but the next exit! So exciting, yet so unbelievable. And right now - so overwhelming. Just 3 1/2 months ago we were returning to Dallas from our trip to Zambia, and within two days I lost my job and our world was kind of turned upside down. Two months later, we had a loaded moving truck, a lot of sad good-byes with friends and our brothers and sisters at church, and a new apartment in Peoria. Our summer has consisted of lifeguarding, lifeguarding, lifeguarding and sleep when possible (plus a few shifts on the beverage cart for me). Not to mention, I just spent a week in Dallas for Kappa Phi followed by two days in Chicago for a wedding. And now, in just a few days, we're once again driving across the country for a new adventure.

Please pray for us in this time. Pray for clear direction and vision. Pray for good health and energy. Pray that we will not rush through the process but truly do what we need to do to prepare for long-term service. Pray for safe travels. Pray that we remember to breathe. :)

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

Walking Safari Video

So, we brought our video camera with us to Zambia, but we rarely got it out so we don't have much video from our trip.  However, since that's the only camera we came back with (woops!) all I can share from the trip picture-wise are these few videos.  I already posted the first one - the flight over Victoria Falls.  This is the other one - clips from our walking safari while we were staying in Livingstone.  Not the greatest camera work, and I got lazy with the editing so the transitions are pretty non-existent and don't really line up with the song, but the animals were pretty sweet...except for that nasty spider you'll see at the end (which, by the way, is bigger than the palm of my hand).  Enjoy!  

Victoria Falls Video

So, it's been quite a while since our last post, and I have been playing on his new computer trying to get acquainted with all of my new toys.  I decided to try my hand at editing what little video we have from our Zambia trip, and so I've put together a little clip of our flight over Victoria Falls.  It's not great, and the music doesn't really fit except that it's pretty much the song that I sing whenever I watch the video, so I found it appropriate... Anyway, enjoy.  And I apologize for the poor camera work.  I was trying to not throw up while filming.