Swinging into a new semester

I find myself, even though it is only Tuesday, looking forward to Friday. It was a very long day and I am beginning to feel the weight of the semester. I do know that God will get me through this one, just as He has the past seven. This past week has been one of growth, a direct blessing of your prayers. I have been blessed by the quality "Rocking Chair Time" that I have had with God this past week. The passage that I read each night, focused in Psalms, has always been exactly what I have been dealing with that day. Praise God that He knows me better than I know myself. So we had our meeting yesterday and we have decided to have a Valentine's Dinner on February 13th now, because Gap Creek is free that night and we decided that would reach a greater audience than the babysitting night. So we began planning that yesterday and it is shaping up to be a good event. We will start selling tickets next Monday, so hopefully we will get a good response. We are going to have the spaghetti dinner at both 5:30pm and 7:30pm. Tickets will sell for $10 each, but we will also be accepting donations.
Please bring these requests to our Father this week:
- Stamina for me this week, and others on the team as the semester gets in "full swing"
- Provision for the funds
- Wisdom in planning out the details of the Valentine's Dinner

You are a blessing.
Until next time,
Monica

Do you have time to call me before class?

So this morning I got a text message from my mom that wanted to know if I could talk to her before class. I was concerned at first, because normally mom doesn't text me that early in the morning, so I called her and she just had some questions for me. All that to say, that that made me think that might be something that God says to me on many days, especially recently... Do you have time to call me before class? I don't know why I struggle with that so much. He is the creator of the universe, and more importantly my Savior, I many days I don't make time out of my schedule to "call him before class". Hopefully there is change on the horizon.
So an update from this week...
God is good... I am constantly overwhelmed with the blessings of friendship. We met on Monday and things seem to be progressing. We chose the theme for the week on Monday and it is going to be "Worshiping God" with our head, heart, hands/feet, soul. Everyone chose their station: English (Dr. Votaw, Melissa), Lesson (Bria), Games (Becky, Caleb), Crafts (Lucy). I will be filling in wherever is needed along the way and the actual week of. I am very excited about the possibilities that this theme will bring. We also decided that we are going to have a babysitting night fundraiser on the night of February 12th, for those couples that want to go out for Valentine's Day. This coming Monday we will talk more about this. As we go into the next week, please bring the following things to our Father, on our behalf:
- Patience in planning the week
- A continued attitude of flexibility throughout the whole process
- Continued trust in the faithfulness of God to provide the funds for the trip.

I hope you are doing well.
In Him alone,
Monica

Called to return

And so the second part of the journey begins... As of about a month ago, I have been in preparations to return to the Dominican Republic. I always knew that I would be returning to this place that absolutely captured my heart, but I didn't know that it would be this soon. I plan to lead a team from my school during the "Week of E"... Week of Evangelism (aka Spring Break). I am very excited especially because Meliss is a part of the team. I am so excited to be called the same time that Melissa is and be able to experience God in the DR at the same time as she does for the first time. As the details continue to work out, I ask for your prayers. We would like to have 10 people to go on this trip, but right now we only have 7. I believe that God will work everything out for the best, but I still fight my human need to have things figured out. I guess it is just the "old me" coming back that I thought that I got rid of this past summer. Please also pray for our team as we begin at tomorrow's meeting making the outline for the VBS that we will be doing during that week. Pray for creativity, team work and patience. Also, I would appreciate your prayers as I continue to lead this team. It is still a new experience for me... I am learning a lot, but I know that there are still other things I have yet to learn. On another note, school started last Thursday, so throw that in with everything else that needs to be done. Praise God that He remains faithful and constant. I will continue to keep you updated throughout the preparations. May God richly bless you.
In Him,
Monica