Packing

I am spending my last Friday in Austin packing. It is a rainy, cold day; a perfect day to spend inside thinking about leaving this place. Yesterday, one of my friends asked me to edit a paper she wrote for a class. It was so refreshing to work with words. I like to think that I am good at crafting these words into coherent thoughts that other people can understand. Working with someone else’s words to make them better and more expressive was a rush, a thrill. A few days ago when my coworkers and I were hanging out after work the owner came by and gave each of us a one word summary of what he sees that we do well. His word for me was “communication.” I don’t believe that he even knows that I am going to be the Communications Intern with the World Student Christian Federation. I think that his choice of words is just one more sign from God that I am choosing this path wisely.

I received a lot of money yesterday. Two of my regulars donated towards my trip as well as an old family friend. I am so thankful to them. I still find it amazing how people are willing and generous with their money. It is inspiring. I also received a lot of praise yesterday. It makes it much easier for me to go on my trip knowing that so many people here will be praying for me and thinking about me. I feel that I am beginning to see the why God wanted me to move to Austin. I am also beginning to see that I can learn to have faith that God is going to support me in Geneva. I am looking forward to moving back to Austin as well.

I leave tomorrow to go to my parents’ for a few days and then I leave the USA on Tuesday. This time next week I will be in Geneva.

Happy Valentine's Day

There is nothing too interesting going on in my fundraising and my preparations for Geneva. I feel that I have hit a stagnant state of my preparations. I still have things I could be doing (my To Do list is VERY long) but I even so I feel like I have done about as much as I can do. Fr. Jeff (at St. James) had an idea that people who have already given support to me stand up during our service at six o'clock and say that they are supporting. Maybe then other people in the service will do the same. Two of my friends are more than willing to do that for me. Another woman in the church, who gave me money, is not willing to. I completely understand her reasoning - but I wish she could because I think she is influential in the church. But I respect her decision to do that.

I am leaving in just about one month, hopefully. I guess I need to start packing and thinking about all those type of things. I am such a last minute packer that I just assume that I will be in a frenzy the night before I leave and stay up until a few hours before my plane takes off. I now have more things to add to my To Do List.

I suppose I'm also getting nervous about actually going. I somehow feel like I hoodwinked these people into giving me this job. The WSCF is even more amazing and awesome than I thought they were. I recently read their Annual Report from 2007. It sounds like they are doing such great stuff around the world. They want me to help them continue to do it. I am just in awe of the work that the students involved with SCM's are doing. The more I learn about the WSCF the more I am so excited to be a part of their mission. I hope that I can help them to keep on doing the work that they are doing. Part of the reason that I feel inadequate is because that there is always this idea that extraordinary people do these extraordinary things. In reality it is normal people and everyday people that do these extraordinary things. I know I'm not anything extraordinary - but the work that the WSCF does is DEFINITELY extraordinary. I somehow feel that I should be extraordinary too.

All of these emotions are coupled with my emotions of sadness and fear at leaving a place that I've called home for the past 8 months. At the same time I am excited to have a place to come back to. I can still call Austin home, even if I happen to live in Geneva for a little while.