Apple Pie and Laundry

I have been going like crazy lately...and I think today being the first day I have not had a full plate of tasks to GO and do- my body has responded by just wanting to sleep. I woke up kind of achy and sore (we did an ab workout for PT)...I have struggled to be motivated to do much.

This month has been basically Anne on the go. We did our Cross Country Public Transit Training- found myself and 9 others in my group on bus, plane, foot, rental care, train for a week. We saw MO, AR, LA, and AL...St Louis, Arkadelphia, Malvern, Little Rock, Texarkana, New Orleans, Birmingham and Oak State Park (we camped out in the woods two nights). I have been in the Atlanta airport 3 times in the last 2 weeks- SO CLOSE TO HOME! Three days after going on transit training I found myself in Virginia for a weekend of rappelling and talking with youth and then training at ILC. The training was incredible. I met some neat folks preparing for the mission field...after 6 days in VA I came back to MO...and two days later everyone left for break. Here I am now. :o)

I made a homemade apple pie for a Thanksgiving dinner with my folks here in MO. There is some left over (because we had a dozen types of dessert for 38 people!) and I am eating some tonight. In the meantime, I am also doing laundry and surfing the internet for tips on Bible storying. Hot tea is also steeping- ah, I enjoy hot beverages!!

We (me and 4 other leaders) picked up a hitch hiker yesterday. It was a neat experience. I was talking to a friend of mine, Buddy, tonight...we were discussing conversations we've each recently had with non-believers about Christ, the Bible, and whatnot. This time in MO has been a perfect time and the nature of this program has been a perfect tool the Lord has used in showing me the need to share the Gospel of Christ with people. For so long I have hidden behind the notion I needed relationship with people to feel comfortable in sharing Christ because I did not want to 'push people away by being a pushy Christian'. Well- there are times I am to not talk and other times I must be bold- regardless of level of relationship I have with folks. This semester I have been challenged and encouraged by the Spirit to share...to talk about Jesus with people on planes and trains and buses and on the streets. There have been several times this semester I have been confronted with the weight of the Gospel...and the reality people need to go to the ends of earth to share the message, while at the same time to not idolize the foreign mission field..and to not see it as the end result of preparation for evangelism...there is not a 'Gospel sharing' switch I should turn on and off with thinking Peru is what all of this preparation is for. No- share today! Share with people around me today! Peru is the not end goal....glorifying God wherever I go- stateside or foreign mission field.

The house is quiet with the exception of Waterdeep and Andrew Peterson playing on my iTunes. I had to walk outside to the next building to do my laundry tonight- without fail, the Missouri sky is stunning tonight. The moon is crescent and a burnt orange. The sky is so big out here (no buildings or immediate trees to cut off th view)...one of my favorite things to do out here is stand outside at night, especially since it is starting to be chilly and the air is crisp. The stars are beautiful!

I am off to Peru in less than two months. Actually, the count is 52 days and I am gone. Whew...I do need to go now and get in the Word. My study habit has been anything but a habit...There is something to be said about the Spiritual Disciplines.

Please pray for my group. We are winding things up here in Kansas City. Everyone is gone this week for Thanksgiving and when they return there is not much time. We are trying to learn Bible Storying en espanol. Also, we have to split our group into smaller groups and this has been such a difficult task to agree on between me and my co-leader and the missionary down in Peru. We aren't necessarily seeing eye to eye on this and all parties involved want to be used the most efficient way...we just don't agree on what that looks like. Pray for the way this should go and a peace to be given to us with the decision in how to split up. One of my girls still doesn't have all of her money- so pray for those types of logistics as well. Pray we will be diligent in our study time in the Word-being proactive in our spiritual preparation, as well as in our language prep. Things are about to shift once again and I pray we cling to the Rock, not to things that are temporal or will hinder.

Love you, guys...I hope to see some of y'all in December. Thanks for reading.