Friday, August 11, 2006
The process
we'll collect the moments one by one
I guess that's how the future's done
--Feist
Last week, I got an email letting me know my application for NC has been approved. The info packet (with a ton of forms to fill out) came over the weekend. Yesterday, I got an email from the team leader in SA letting me know the start and end dates of next year's program.
Piece by piece, things are coming together.
It's weird, because finally hearing the dates made it seem like reality rather than just an idea. I pulled out a calendar and started looking at weeks and months and when to leave. I even started to look up flight schedules and discovered there aren't any for dates that are more than a year out. My return date is more than a year away. Hmm. That'll be interesting.
Wednesday night, I went to a women's dinner at church, and one of the women at the welcome table remembered me from a group we'd both been part of in the fall. She greeted me with: "Barbara, right? You were going to go to Africa, I think." My answer: "I was. And I did. And I'm going back." It was exciting to share a little with her about all that's taken place since the experiences I'd talked with her about back in December.
A lot has happened over the last few months, and there's a lot more to do. If I start thinking about it, it gets a little overwhelming. Fundraising, forms to fill out, letters to write, visas to be obtained. (I have to get an FBI background check for that last one--!) But the rest of this will happen in the same way things have come together thus far: one step at a time. As much as I'd like to have everything settled, now, it'll come--each piece falling into place when I need it. And not before.
At this same dinner on Wednesday, a passage from Corrie ten Boom's The Hiding Place was mentioned:
A small reminder for me, but a good one.
I guess that's how the future's done
--Feist
Last week, I got an email letting me know my application for NC has been approved. The info packet (with a ton of forms to fill out) came over the weekend. Yesterday, I got an email from the team leader in SA letting me know the start and end dates of next year's program.
Piece by piece, things are coming together.
It's weird, because finally hearing the dates made it seem like reality rather than just an idea. I pulled out a calendar and started looking at weeks and months and when to leave. I even started to look up flight schedules and discovered there aren't any for dates that are more than a year out. My return date is more than a year away. Hmm. That'll be interesting.
Wednesday night, I went to a women's dinner at church, and one of the women at the welcome table remembered me from a group we'd both been part of in the fall. She greeted me with: "Barbara, right? You were going to go to Africa, I think." My answer: "I was. And I did. And I'm going back." It was exciting to share a little with her about all that's taken place since the experiences I'd talked with her about back in December.
A lot has happened over the last few months, and there's a lot more to do. If I start thinking about it, it gets a little overwhelming. Fundraising, forms to fill out, letters to write, visas to be obtained. (I have to get an FBI background check for that last one--!) But the rest of this will happen in the same way things have come together thus far: one step at a time. As much as I'd like to have everything settled, now, it'll come--each piece falling into place when I need it. And not before.
At this same dinner on Wednesday, a passage from Corrie ten Boom's The Hiding Place was mentioned:
Father sat down on the edge of the narrow bed. "Corrie," he began gently, "when you and I go to Amsterdam--when do I give you your ticket?"
I sniffed a few times, considering this.
"Why, just before we get on the train."
"Exactly. And our wise Father in heaven knows when we're going to need things, too. Don't run out ahead of Him, Corrie."
A small reminder for me, but a good one.
Labels: mission
| posted by Barbara | 9:17 PM