Tuesday, January 25, 2011

I'm back...

Not from Mozambique... I still haven't left, but I’m back.
My work with TDP is emotional, many a days I’m completely tapped and on the verge of tears. Grandpa Charlie’s death pushed me emotionally over the edge. The weeks following his death were hard and I avoided a lot of things, but mainly TDP. It’s not to say I didn’t work, it’s not to say I didn’t try, but the reality is I pushed anything that required thought off till another day. I did what I could, which wasn’t much.
We had a Memorial Service for Grandpa Charlie near the cottage in Sawyer, MI. Despite the insane lake effect snow, we had a good turn out and celebrated the life of Charles Berg.
I can’t explain it but that following Monday was the first day in a while that I felt like myself. I headed back to work trying to pick-up the pieces and push forward. I was excited to discover that two women had emailed me asking about volunteering at TDP and I was excited responding to them.
I’ve really been in need of a volunteer who has the time to come into the office on a weekly basis and has a basic knowledge of computers. I’ve had so much going on that I haven’t even known what specific things to pray for as far as volunteers go.  So all I’ve been praying is "send me help!" One of the ladies, Nicole, that wrote to us asking how she could help has agreed to come into the office two times a week. Not only that but she has a great heart and feels very passionate about what TDP is doing in Mozambique.
If you know ten things about me, odds are one of them is my love for Australia. It all started back in 6th grade when I did my country report on Australia and started dreaming about traveling there. Some of you even know that I made a video to apply for The World’s Greatest Job in Australia in 2008 and today if you ride in my car with me you will notice that my GPS has an Australian dialect. What does all this have to do with anything, well Nicole is AUSTRALIAN!
Would I ever in a million years asked God to send me an Australian to help out in the office?! Uhm no. It just absolutely amazes me how good God is. I mean really I don’t even know how to put this in words. So if you don’t understand what I’m talking about… let me know and I’ll attempt to explain.
TRIP UPDATE:
Good news here too… I got my shots about 3 weeks ago. They cost me $509! I’m $400 short of my $3,000 goal! I’m hoping to purchase my ticket in the next 2 weeks, but I’m waiting for a few more checks to come in first. My goal is to be on a plane no later than February 20th and it looks like my flights are going to cost around $1,800, but I continue to try different combinations looking for a better deal.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
PRAISE – Nicole my new office helper!
Vision/Planning – How to lead move TDP forward financially and with policies and procedures.
Financial Support – I have a few more follow up calls to make so pray that people feel led to support me and that they do so in a timely manor =)