The final stretch

Again I am sorry for not updated as frequently as I should... I really do appreciate all of your prayers and support throughout this whole process of preparation and I ask that you would continue to keep us in your prayers. Our team met yesterday to talk about some final details and it is continually setting in that I will be returning before I know it. What a blessing! God definitely used this past summer to teach me, mold me and bless me and I am excited to share that with the other people on my team. I am also very excited, as anyone would be, to see the children that I met this past summer.
I wanted to share with you our verse for this trip:
"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:10-11).
We will be working through this passage while we are in the Dominican Republic in order that we would be able to maintain the proper focus and direction in-country.
In the next post I have included our prayer calendar. Please keep our team in your prayers as we make the last minute preparations and then as we leave in 11 days :).

Thank you for your love and support.
Monica

Friday Nights

So it has been a long last couple of weeks, and finally I was able to take a breath last night. I really enjoy relaxing with people, but when I really need to "recharge my batteries" I need to spend some time alone. Last night was one of those times. I was able to watch some TV, go for a run and just spend some time with our Father, which is always re-energizing. I don't know why I forget that in order to pour into other people I need to be filled up by the Living Water. So last night I was listening to the radio and the Desert Song by Hillsong. The lyrics are below..

The Desert Song
This is my prayer in the desert
And all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in the hunger in me
My God is a God who provides

Verse 2:
And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames

Chorus:
And I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon forged against me shall remain

I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

Verse 3:
And this is my prayer in the battle
And triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand

Bridge:
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

Verse 4:
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I've received I will

I also spent some time in a passage in 1 John 2:15-17. What a convicting passage about being in the world, but not of the world.

So the update on the trip...
We had the Valentine's Dinner last weekend to raise money for the trip. Eight wonderful people came to the dinner, and it was an opportunity to bond as a team as well as spend some time with the guests that did come to the dinner. God used the opportunity for His glory and for that I am thankful. Next weekend we will be doing a service project as a team. Melissa will be coming over to Knoxville for the weekend to go with us, so that will be a blessing. I am getting excited about going down there, as the time gets closer. Please continue to be in prayer for our team as we make the final preparations.
Blessed by you,
Monica

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

Week 10

I'm HOME!!! It is crazy to think that this time last week, I was still in the DR. Even though adjusting has been a bit difficult at times, God is faithful and I am continually amazed at the things that God is teaching me. The last week in the DR I had the distinct opportunity to organize the "Almacen", which is the storage building for all of the materials that are used by Orphanage Outreach at the Monte Cristi Site. Things include everything from sports equipment to art supplies that are used at camps. I spent literally 3 and 1/2 days organizing this building. At the end of it, I had set aside a bunch of baseball equipment that can be used to be distributed at a nearby baseball organization and the cabinets where is such a way that future camp planners won't have to rummage through materials that they are looking for. For most people this project would have seemed overwhelming and I'll have to admit that there were times during the project that I would think, "What would happen if I just shut the door on this and ran away, fast?" For me though, for the most part, it was strangely comforting. Aside from the fact that I LOVE to organize things, it was a good start to debriefing for me. I spent the whole summer around lots of people, which, for me, is very draining. I was able to spend time thinking about this past summer all the while organizing the almacen. God is great how He has things to work out.

So I have been back for almost a week now and I will return to school on Sunday (hopefully to start training for the soccer team...given that we have enough girls to play). I am excited about returning to a schedule and routine, but kinda hesitant because I don't want my old way of doing things to swallow me whole. I will share one of the main lessons I learned in the DR.

In the DR there are porches on most of the houses. Nothing extravangant, but more times than not they have a couple of rocking chairs on the porch. Because in the DR they do not have large front yards, the porches are part of the town activity. The rocking chair to me represents relaxed time with someone else. Often times you don't have an agenda or a specific purpose, but just willing to spend time sharing hearts. That is view that I want to take in taking "Rocking Chair Time" (RCT) with God, friends and family.

And so I want to thank you once again for all of your thoughts, prayers, encouragment and support. I will be sending out a summer recap with some pictures very soon. I hope that one day we are able to sit down so I can share the stories, relationships and conversations that captured my heart this summer.

Blessings to you,
Monica

Week 9

Wow... I can't believe the title for this entry. This past week has flown by!!! On Saturday a group of 30 volunteers came down from Tom's Church in Arizona and then another group came down from Central Michigan University, His House. This week it was different having volunteers here, but it brought much needed energy to this place. My role this week was being Heather's right hand gal... so I did a bit of everything... I also was able to teach a few English classes, which was great as well.
This week groups worked on the foundation of another Ramada and helped to put on some finishing touches on the Ramada that KUC helped to start. We also did a VBS in the morning at the school on the orphanage campus. We did a camp on God's Love. Monday: Days of the Week, Months of the Year (Creation)/ Tuesday: Emotions (Jesus Calms the Storm)/ Wednesday: Prepositions (Jesus Feeds the 5,000)/ Thursday: Family Members (Martha and Mary). Megan and I worked on the English class together. It never gets old to see the lightbulb go off after they learn and remember a word. In the afternoon we did a VBS in two different locations: both in rural places. We went to a town called Damajagua and Batey Libertad. Both provided their own set of challenges and blessings. For the English part we taught numbers and colors to the VBS in the afternoon. Along with teaching English I also got to lead the opening and closing for the camps. One very special part of the opening and closing was the puppet show that CCV (Tom's church) prepared and presented. The kids were absolutely astounded at the show. They did a great job!! We also got to spend the remaining time in our day with the boys. They continue to amaze me and bless me!!

There are so many stories that I have to share from this week, but right now I am in the empty volunteer center with the boys and the volunteers with so many emotions running through me... I might have some more time to write later because I have the chance to do airport duty... I will be home in a week and I will be able to share many pictures and stories!!! Thank you so much for your support and prayers. I look forward to sharing my summer with you soon.

In Him alone,
Monica