Saturday, July 26, 2008

Preparing to Leave

It's overwhelming in some ways to process all that we have seen and done during this trip. We head back tomorrow and in many ways my head feels like it's swimming from this one. I really feel like God has continually been putting spanish speaking communities on my heart and I've done little to nothing to engage with that. So...goal for the year...one spanish phrase a week...

Monday, July 21, 2008

Ministry

Man I felt inept today. Leading in a culture when you don't speak the language can be downright exhausting. Liesa and Alex did an amazing job with translation and communication though ... very cool stuff. I really appreciated the chance to see them in action. I feel like I'll learn a lot more from this trip, but it's going to take a lot out of me to get there.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Preparation

Today was interesting...saw a bit of the surroundings of Juan Dolio and the layout of the Dominican as we flew in. Couple of hours to unpack followed by dinner and a briefing on what we'll be doing for the next few days... it's pretty obvious that this is going to require a whole lot of flexibility and a willingness to fly by the seat of the ol' pants. Thankful for rad chaperones and that Gomez came along, makes the trip feel more accessible... not sure why that is.

Today we start our first day of ministry... please pray!

Launch

Chilling in the ATL airport with 4 hours to go til the flight to Santo Domingo. Got some Caribou coffee in my system (soooooo good) and I'm actually enjoying the more frustrating aspects of travel...

want my expectations to be expanded for what God can do with this team... want to see myself grow beyond chaperone to a vessel through which God can do the stuff...

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Limbo

Limbo is ridiculously frustrating. I've had approximately 3 weeks in between trips and I've spent most of that time looking forward to the next trip. It's the whole watched pot scenario. It's just that I realize that there is a sort of resignation, not that it's all that bad, that comes from finally returning after a long period of travel. A sense that it is time, at long last, to settle into the status quo of work, home, etc. But, in between trips, there's that tension that all at once tells you to rejoin your life and to stay somewhat separate. To focus on the travel that you haven't completed yet.

Man, I want to take off again...

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Prep

Problem inherent in trying to work around a 11 hour layover...

Laundry, Packing for both trips is fine, but I don't have much room for overlap and don't want to do laundry when I'll get in at essentially 11 and will have to be back at the airport the next day at 7...

Monday, July 7, 2008

Recap

So, basically, this is the plan, and the reason for starting to blog again:

LA, San Diego, Dominican Republic, Cambridge, Oxford, London

Not necessarily in that order...

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Murphy's Law

Things that can go wrong in transit:

1. First flight delayed
2. Second flight is missing baggage and runs out of water (for the bathroom)
3. Third flight is cancelled
4. Fourth flight doesn't load bags
5. Fifth flight switches security areas without notice

What?!?!?!?