Hi Everyone!
Just wanted to let you all know that I have arrived safe and sound in New Zealand after a very long flight! I will update you all soon!
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Friday, July 8, 2016
The Final Count Down
Yes, my friends, we are in the final count down. This time next week I will headed out on my adventure, and flying somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. Am I ready? Everyone keeps asking me this question. No, I am not ready. Packing is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, and I keep having to scale my packing back more and more to meet all of the required limits while also having everything that I need. It's not easy to pack everything you need for 5 months into one 50lb suitcase and two carry-on's. Mentally and emotionally, I am getting ready though.
Preparing for this adventure has been an emotional and mental feat to say the least. I spent many weeks not actually excited. I continually got really frustrated with people when they would ask if I was excited and then proclaim that "they were just so excited for me." If you read the story of how I ended up going on this trip, it wasn't of my own idea this time around. This trip wasn't in the plan or the schedule. I wanted to buy a house and put down real roots for myself. So, I struggled for weeks. I was terrified that I was going to get kidnapped and sold into the sex-trade. I was terrified of leaving my familiar environment and the people that I live life with. I wasn't excited about resigning from my job and leaving that behind, as that is part of my familiar environment. I have gone through moments of being terrified that my plane is going to crash spontaneously or be hijacked by terrorists or that the ship will sink into the ocean and I will be eaten by sharks. Yes, I am known to think of worst case scenarios; it is not one of my positive qualities. I wasn't excited about this trip, no matter how many people were excited for me.
Slowly though, as God has prepared me and as God and I have walked through my fears, I am now excited about this adventure and this journey. I am excited to see all that God is going to do, and all the ways that He is going to show up. I am excited to go on a complete adventure and do something crazy. I am excited to completely unplug from the life that I know.
This blog is titled "Journey to the Center of the Earth." When I decided to go on this trip and be obedient, I began thinking about how I would communicate with everyone, and I remembered that a friend of mine had an ongoing blog while she did her DTS several years ago. When I began thinking of the blog and what to title it, that (Journey to the Center of the Earth) came to mind. For me, this is a journey to the center of my earth- a journey to the center of myself. I am leaving all of my familiar, all of my comforts, essentially, I am leaving everything behind. I am going on an adventure to the center of myself, and my prayer is that as I journey on this adventure, that God will do an incredible work there. That He will begin to rebuild and reshape the broken places within me. That is my prayer for this trip. I pray not only will God show up and do incredibly things in, around, and through me, but that He would also bring great healing to the broken areas of myself and rebuild something even better.
Preparing for this adventure has been an emotional and mental feat to say the least. I spent many weeks not actually excited. I continually got really frustrated with people when they would ask if I was excited and then proclaim that "they were just so excited for me." If you read the story of how I ended up going on this trip, it wasn't of my own idea this time around. This trip wasn't in the plan or the schedule. I wanted to buy a house and put down real roots for myself. So, I struggled for weeks. I was terrified that I was going to get kidnapped and sold into the sex-trade. I was terrified of leaving my familiar environment and the people that I live life with. I wasn't excited about resigning from my job and leaving that behind, as that is part of my familiar environment. I have gone through moments of being terrified that my plane is going to crash spontaneously or be hijacked by terrorists or that the ship will sink into the ocean and I will be eaten by sharks. Yes, I am known to think of worst case scenarios; it is not one of my positive qualities. I wasn't excited about this trip, no matter how many people were excited for me.
Slowly though, as God has prepared me and as God and I have walked through my fears, I am now excited about this adventure and this journey. I am excited to see all that God is going to do, and all the ways that He is going to show up. I am excited to go on a complete adventure and do something crazy. I am excited to completely unplug from the life that I know.
This blog is titled "Journey to the Center of the Earth." When I decided to go on this trip and be obedient, I began thinking about how I would communicate with everyone, and I remembered that a friend of mine had an ongoing blog while she did her DTS several years ago. When I began thinking of the blog and what to title it, that (Journey to the Center of the Earth) came to mind. For me, this is a journey to the center of my earth- a journey to the center of myself. I am leaving all of my familiar, all of my comforts, essentially, I am leaving everything behind. I am going on an adventure to the center of myself, and my prayer is that as I journey on this adventure, that God will do an incredible work there. That He will begin to rebuild and reshape the broken places within me. That is my prayer for this trip. I pray not only will God show up and do incredibly things in, around, and through me, but that He would also bring great healing to the broken areas of myself and rebuild something even better.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
FAQ
1) Who is YWAM? YWAM stands for Youth With A Mission, which is a missions organization that began in the 1960's. Now, they are involved in missions work all over the globe in a wide variety of facets from photography to medical missions ships. You can learn more at: YWAM.org
2) What is a "DTS"? DTS stands for Discipleship Training School, which is a missions training program within YWAM. The school is a total of 20 weeks. The first 12 weeks are spent in training at a YWAM base focusing on various topics of missions along with focused training on a specific topic. My particular school is focused on medical missions. The last 8 weeks are spent doing outreach.
You can learn more about my specific DTS at: mrmdts.org
3) Where am I going? My training base will be in Tauranga, New Zealand, a costal town on New Zealand's north island. The last 8 weeks of outreach will be done somewhere in the Pacific region. When I have more concrete details of our outreach location, I will share them! :)
4) How long will I be gone? Approximately 20 weeks. I will leave mid-July and return early December.
5) Do I know anyone else going? Nope. I don't know anyone else. This is a complete adventure!
6) Is this affiliated with my church? While I love my church quite dearly, this trip isn't planned through my church.
7) What about my job? Understandably, this has been a very popular question. I will be resigning from my current position as a RN at Kennestone. It is not possible for my manager to hold my position for 5 months, as my leave does not fall under FMLA. I do love my job in CCU a lot, and that has been one of the most challenging aspects in regards to this trip. When I return, Lord willing, CCU will have an open position for me to fill. If not, I will see what God has in store. All "plans" for post-trip are variable and not set in stone. I may decided to just move permanently to New Zealand. ;)
8) What about my rabbit? A friend has graciously agreed to watch Maleficent "Mal" the bunny, so she will be in good hands while I'm gone.
9) Why go now? Why not wait a year? This has been a popular question from my friends at work. In all honesty, from a job perspective, this isn't the greatest time to leave; I have just gotten settled into my position as an ICU RN. However, from a life perspective, this is one of the best times to go. I have very minimal commitments holding me to where I'm at- I have no husband, no kids, no house payment that has to be a top priority. I'm choosing to trust God that this is the best time for me to go.
2) What is a "DTS"? DTS stands for Discipleship Training School, which is a missions training program within YWAM. The school is a total of 20 weeks. The first 12 weeks are spent in training at a YWAM base focusing on various topics of missions along with focused training on a specific topic. My particular school is focused on medical missions. The last 8 weeks are spent doing outreach.
You can learn more about my specific DTS at: mrmdts.org
3) Where am I going? My training base will be in Tauranga, New Zealand, a costal town on New Zealand's north island. The last 8 weeks of outreach will be done somewhere in the Pacific region. When I have more concrete details of our outreach location, I will share them! :)
4) How long will I be gone? Approximately 20 weeks. I will leave mid-July and return early December.
5) Do I know anyone else going? Nope. I don't know anyone else. This is a complete adventure!
6) Is this affiliated with my church? While I love my church quite dearly, this trip isn't planned through my church.
7) What about my job? Understandably, this has been a very popular question. I will be resigning from my current position as a RN at Kennestone. It is not possible for my manager to hold my position for 5 months, as my leave does not fall under FMLA. I do love my job in CCU a lot, and that has been one of the most challenging aspects in regards to this trip. When I return, Lord willing, CCU will have an open position for me to fill. If not, I will see what God has in store. All "plans" for post-trip are variable and not set in stone. I may decided to just move permanently to New Zealand. ;)
8) What about my rabbit? A friend has graciously agreed to watch Maleficent "Mal" the bunny, so she will be in good hands while I'm gone.
9) Why go now? Why not wait a year? This has been a popular question from my friends at work. In all honesty, from a job perspective, this isn't the greatest time to leave; I have just gotten settled into my position as an ICU RN. However, from a life perspective, this is one of the best times to go. I have very minimal commitments holding me to where I'm at- I have no husband, no kids, no house payment that has to be a top priority. I'm choosing to trust God that this is the best time for me to go.
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