What a Week.

My dear friends and family,

This past week was... very unusual. On Tuesday, I had all four wisdom teeth pulled. Yay. From Tuesday to Sunday I was on painkillers---by the by, my brain shuts down to about 1/4 its normal rate when I'm on painkillers---and I've been slowly coming back to life. On Wednesday and Thursday, I went to orientation for my mission trip. I surely hope I took good notes: I do not remember much. On Friday, my family loaded me into a van and drove up to Kentucky Kingdom (Yay, Six Flags). On Saturday, we drove the rest of the way to Chicago. That evening, my sisters and I joined our Great Great Aunt at Drury Lane Theater for a night of old, old patriotic music. On Sunday, we spent a good deal of time with our aunt and her sister, our Great Grandmother (89 years young). On Monday, we drove back to Tennessee. Today I am researching at the Library for a missions presentation that I will make to my church tomorrow night.

In that week of time, it seemed that God was trying to teach me a hundred different lessons at once: humility, trust, obedience, dental hygeine, family relations, other relations, patience, honesty, yeah, it was all there. It seemed like I was getting rebuked, reproved, and reminded everytime I opened my eyes. When it got to a point where I was nearly ready to give up altogether, God gave me Proverbs 29:1 -- "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." That pretty much scared me back into submission.

And from a friend, to follow up the correction, He gave me Psalm 73. Yes. It has been one rough and tumble week, but I am determined to remain loyal to my "King of the Jungle" (For those of you who don't recognize the Steven Curtis Chapman reference, that's the title to a very old, very good song.)

I leave for Knoxville on Monday. I am both scared out of my mind and thrilled to start the adventure. Please keep praying for me. I will send out email updates when I can. You can check my website for prayer needs, other needs, and probably more frequent updates.

That'll do it for me... I mustn't monopolize the library's computer any longer!

Amanda

Happy Memorial Day!

When I try to thank my Veterans, or try to express my patriotic gratitude and pride.... all powers of expression escape me. I can say one thing, however: THANK YOU!

In the beginning.

Well, I had my first official meeting as a NAMB missionary. We met at the Baptist center, all 100 of us that will be serving in Tennessee, and we learned a bit about being summer missionaries. I'm hoping I'll be able to read my notes because I was heavily medicated the whole time... Tuesday I up and got all four of my wisdom teeth pulled. Yay. I've been slowly coming back to reality (poor Cakup, thank you for putting up with me, and forgive me for the things I may have or may have not said for the last few days.... herm...) So, yeah. I have one penicillen (how in the world do you spell that?) and one painkiller left. After that, if my face continues to feel like it's trying to tear away from my skull and slide into my lap, well, I hope extra-strength-Tylenol will work. :)

This weekend is going to be a whirlwind trip to and from Chicago. And I just found out that the great grandmother we're going to visit has a tumor in her stomach. It's amazing the things that you can miss when you're on painkillers! Please pray for her.

This week I'll be packing, cleaning, getting my teeth checked (braces?), making last-minute phone calls, and in general preparing for Knoxville. The biggest thing you can pray for right now is leadership. My supervisor retired on Monday. So she hears me coming and decides to retire. That's comforting, isn't it? No, actually, she has legitimate reasons. But please pray for the center and its leadership, and for how I will fit in.

Well, it's time fo me to try to catch some of that ever elusive beauty sleep.

Goodnight to all!
Me

Ah, I love moving-- so invigorating!

Well, I think I'm just about moved into this new address. How exciting! I needed a refreshing move. I mean, I feel like a completely different person from when I started the Valley! Besides, I've grown jealous of my girlfriends' missionary blogs; I wanted one of my own. So. Here it is. My very own missionary blog. I know it still has some kinks--I'll need to readjust some of my nifty little toys so that they match the new address--but like unpacking boxes, I'll have to tackle those as I come to them.

Hear that? That's the land of html calling my name... Must go play with the script!

Coming soon...

This, my dear reader, will be where you can keep up with me from now on...