Dreams (List 4)

Dreams for my Life, Desires of my heart, Prayers of my soul...

These aren't just fleeting dreams that I have for this week. I have all kinds of dreams that last for a few weeks, maybe even months. But these dreams are bigger than that. They are things I've wanted for a decade, since I was ten years old and realized how long I'd have to be in school to be a doctor. :)

to be a missionary
to be a wife and mother
to be an author
to have my own business
to share my sense of urgency for the Harvest with others, help them see the lost of the world, watch them take their step of faith as missionaries

I've wanted to be a writer since I was seven years old. I remember writing a story about a chocolate factory in school. I wonder if my mom kept that? The memory is enough. There has never been a time when the visions of my future didn't include a family. Two kids, five kids, biological kids, adopted kids - I've always wanted to be a wife and mom. I've wanted to be a missionary since I was seventeen after my dad died. I've wanted others to embrace overseas missions since I was nineteen at college. The business idea has taken many forms over the years. My business idea when I was eighteen sounds only vaguely intriguing now, my bright ideas that appeared while in college seem so unrealistic now. Today, I have a new business idea, but by I've got a few years before I set out on this venture and it will probably evolve several times between now and then.

I'm excited to look back on these words ten years from now and see how many of these dreams have come true, and to add to my list. I'm already a wife. Before I know it I'll be a missionary.

Hold on to dreams, embrace the desires of your heart.

Transition

I strongly dislike the word transition. But its coming. I can feel it. I'm lying here, itching to sort clothing, organize stuff, purge and throw away what we don't need. At the end of November we're leaving our apartment. I love this place. It hurts to think that we won't be here for Christmas. I have to pause, because it is sad. And it is hard that we're moving. But, on the other hand, the place we're moving to is where we'll live until we go to Italy. We can be settled there, make it our own. It is a blessing to us, and I am excited - except for when I'm sad.

Alright, that was not how I intended this post to go. I was going to write about how excited I was to pack everything and go through things and be able to get rid of what we don't need. I'm excited because all this stuff is suffocating. I'm motivated to sell stuff, give stuff away, throw stuff away. I even listed six things on craigslist today! Pretty proud of myself, because normally I would just ask Josh to do it. But, he's not here, and there's only so much I can do confined to the couch. (Its a very good thing I have such a comfortable couch.)

I am so looking forward to packing boxes, selling the things we don't need, and living simpler. Don't get me wrong, I think I have the cutest dining room table. And I'm very attached to my papasan chair. I'm not selling everything today. But I am getting rid of clutter. Someday, I'll sell it all. Someday, there will be an entire page on this blog titled 'Proceeds Towards Ministry in Italy." Someday. I do still have to live here after all.

For right now, we're mainly getting rid of books, clothes, and unused household items. Oh - and hopefully a dining room table.

List 3

Weird side affects

• I'm all itchy. They anesthesiologist said it was a side affect of whatever awesome drug he gave me.
• My neck hurts. Side affect of having a tube shoved down my throat and than yanked back out.
• I keep burping. For a laparoscopy your stomach is filled with gas so the organs are more visible. However, they can't take the gas out. So, I'm just the burping Queen. I could out burp the best of them today. Its quite entertaining. I was asleep on the couch yesterday and scared Josh because I burped really loud and high pitched in my sleep and he didn't know what it was.
• My mouth tastes like dentist office cotton balls on steroids. Another side affect of anesthesia.
• I get to sleep ALL the time. And watch whatever I want on TV.
• Great food from great friends.

Okay, so maybe those last two weren't side affects, but they came with the itchyness and burping. I've been so blessed to be so well taken care of. I'm so thankful to all my friends who volunteered to feed us, to my wonderful husband for taking such good care of me every moment, and to my MIL for being there with us yesterday and for doing all those little things. :) Thank you.

Couch Time

Thank you for all your prayers! Surgery went great, very smooth. Josh got to see some cool pictures while I was in recovery (I'll get to see them in a couple weeks at my follow up appointment). We spent most of our time hanging out in my little recovery room waiting for me to pee - which took forever! Oh my. They wouldn't let me leave until I peed, and my body apparently thought I needed to have three whole IVs and spend 7 hours sitting around until it was ready to cooperate. (That's seven hours after I woke up from the anesthesia.) I was so swollen from all the fluids, my hospital ID band on my wrist was cutting off circulation!

So, here I am, enjoying my couch. Trying to burp up all the gas they pumped into my abdomen. Seriously, I've never burped so much in my life. And ask Linda - some of them come out all high pitched while I'm sleeping.

Life Has Returned...Sort Of

I'm back from vacation! Definitely ready to tackle the challenges these next few weeks contain...at least I thought so until yesterday. (More on that maybe later.) Life really won't be normal until about a week from now, but at least I'm back in my comfy bed in KC.

Surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning, 8:30. Hopefully this procedure (laproscopy with the possibility of laser treatments) will correct the infertility we've been struggling with. (I have endometriosis, after stage II its not possible to conceive without surgical intervention.) I'd very much appreciate your prayers!

The new normal is just around the corner. Here we go!

I hope to get back into my usual blogging routing next week while I'm home in bed recovering.

Viewpoints

On my flight home from Canada today I read a new book, Viewpoints by Steven Shadrach. Its about support raising. My boss had it on his desk last week, sent to him by the publisher I think, and I borrowed it for the plane. (Originally thinking there was no way I'd have time to read it with all the other things I needed to accomplish on the plane and in the airports. Fortunately my laptop battery died so I wasn't able to do homework.)

Anyway, I highly reccommend this text. I was greatly encouraged reading it, and it really forced me to evaluate our methods of support raising. It had some great points I'd never thought of before, and really brought about the need for urgency. I always think of the word 'urgency' in terms of the harvest; but - how can we get to the field and reap the harvest which is our end goal, if we do not have the same urgency in support raising. Ministry in Italy can't happen until we get there. Josh and I are determined not to deploy to the field until we are fully funded, so that we can devote oursevles fully to the ministry. We don't want to be burdened with worrying about future trips to the states for support raising purposes. That is an unneeded and preventable stress. My point, and the author's, we must have an urgency about our support raising - and our partners will see that urgency.

I have several new ideas to revamp our support raising strategy, I'm still mulling them over in my head. But I would love any feedback, suggests, comments, ideas that you may have. Your advice is always welcome. I'd love to hear what you think. For those of my readers in the same boat as I - chime in! I'd love to hear from all of you! If you've previously/currently raised support, what has worked for you? If you support missionaries/Christian workers - what were there methods? What would you like to see as a ministry partner/supporter?

After vacation I'll post some of my thoughts on the book, after I've processed it more in my mind. Look forward to seeing that in a few weeks!

Oh Canada!

Coming to you today from Winnipeg, Canada. The weather is beautiful here - very fall. Though I've no idea what the temperature is because they use Celsius. I would guess its hovering around 65, with light winds. Bright sun, trees changing colors. Fall.

I'm off to vacation tomorrow morning - so very excited! I'm trying desperately to not think of all things things around here that I've not completed. So many things have fallen to the "I'll do tomorrow" pile. Perhaps this is just a symptom of trying to do too many things.

Like right now - I desperately need to be working on a homework assignment which must be submitted before I leave for vacation tomorrow. I'm thankful there's no internet (well, at least no free internet). If there was I'm afraid I would be not as diligent about doing homework ahead of time. I'd leave a few things to do while on vacation.

I've enjoyed my time in Canada - finally putting some names to faces, and just getting a fresh perspective. Hopefully this will help me do my job better.

Well, I'm off to the airport shortly. See you soon Kansas City. But only for a short while :)

(If I didn't need to pack my suitcase for vacation, I'd probably sleep at the airport.)

1:47 a.m.

It's 1:47 a.m. Tomorrow I fly to Winnipeg, CA for a business trip. Wednesday I leave for vacation, returning the following Wednesday. Two days later surgery. It'll be October before I'm back at my desk. Oh - and then it's only for a week before I'm off to Chicago to recruit.

Logic 201 - week one complete. What have I gotten myself into? Currently enrolled in two classes: a fore mentioned Logic and Life of Christ III. OT Poetry class starts November 1. Oi. And this is in addition to the life I actually like. Thank goodness for life groups and friends and ... well, everything that God has put here to give me the energy to get over the next hurdle. One at a time.

One step closer to Italy. A tiny, tiny step. But...in a year all the steps, the classes, the phone calls, letters, conversations, tears, and joys will bring us to the curb at MCI. Leaving our home and friends and then we'll be on our way. With life packed into 20 tubs. But its the life that doesn't fit in those tubs: the memories, the prayers, the friends who we'll leave behind - that's the day we're looking forward to.

Can you tell it's 2:03 a.m.? Perhaps I'll rewrite this tomorrow and actually make sense.

Prayer Warriors

Prayer Warriors
About a month ago we attended our church's monthly Family Gathering service. This is a Wednesday night service that focuses on corporate worship and prayer. Time and attention is focused on prayer for the needs of individuals in our church family. We were sitting next to friends, L&B, and they asked if they could pray for our support raising efforts. I was so consumed with thankfulness and encouragement. They remember. I know they're praying for us. I rememeber the day she told me at lunch, a little out of the blue, that they wanted to be a part of our ministry. I am so thankful for them. And just a few days after that night, we were blessed with new ministry partners that exceeded the personal goal we had set for that month. (It was the end of July when our salary from Avant was decreasing - though it didn't put us at a full salary, the gift was more than what Josh and I needed for our household budget.)

We need more of these people on our team. More prayer warriors. I know our supporters are lifting us up, and care deeply for us and our ministry. But I also know that there are people who aren't yet part of our ministry that would pray for us daily. So, I had an idea. October is the next month that Josh's salary from Avant decreases and his salary comes from our personal support. How awesome would it be if people were praying specifically for us every day in October? For our support level to rise, for deepening relationships with our partners, for success in recruiting, for encouraged and positive spirits, for time management in all our commitments (work, deputation, school, ministry).

Adopt A Day
Would you consider committing to praying for us for a day in October? Adopt a day. We would love to hear from you, from questions to whatever day you'd like to pray. If you are able to adopt a day please let me know so we can have someone praying everyday. (I think I'll post days taken below.) This would be so encouraging for us! Maybe you could even let us know that you're praying, and we can let you know how blessed we are by you!

Email me at: Baldwins@avmi.org

Note: I personally suggest October 23rd, it's my birthday and you could pray for me to eat wonderful cake.

What September Holds For Me

Small group and snacks.
Business trip to Canada! I had to purchase my ticket under the name Meghan Murphy because I've failed to obtain a new passport.
New people.
Flying. In a 24 hour window I'll visit MCI, MSP, YWG, MCO. Whew. Not in that order.
School work.
Vacation. Yes. Happy birthday Moms.
Good food.
Laundry.
Surgery. Ouch. It's outpatient. But, I've never even broken a bone before. Nervous? Actually, surprisingly, no.
Drugs. I'm hoping for Vicadin.
Movies. Lots and lots of movies.
Couch time.
Falling way behind in my job.
Hopefully not falling behind in school work.
Friends. Who care for me, encourage me, and make me laugh on a regular basis.

Then it's October! Holy wow.

Thoughts While In Target

You see the strangest assortment of people in Target at 8 pm on a weekday.

Why is light syrup a dollar more than regular syrup?

I really like that blue bowl. Oh wait, $12.99. I still like it.

I would like new mascara.

Edy's ice cream on sale for $2.79 gets me every time.

I wonder if the Pyrex would explode if I bought it.