Amanda's Blog

Easter... better late than never...

2009-05-09T09:53:00.000-07:00

Greetings long lost bloggy friends! To appease Mr. Jon Pray and Tamsen Wright... here are some late Easter pictures with the necessary commentary.

Easter was great! Super relaxing! Saturday night mom and I end went to my church, Bridgeway's Easter service and Sunday morning we (and my sweet friend Aundria) had breakfast with Andrew, Amy and Noah then went to their church, Metro Calvary for an Easter service! After that Aundria and I had a great community nap time and ended up at Olive Garden with my mom and Grama for dinner... you know... where normal people eat Easter dinner. I'm pretty sure tradition is out the window til I have kids...

Of course... a family portrait :) How fab does Amy look?!

Frame worthy... that's for sure.

we're related. (maybe this commentary isn't all that necesary)

Here's the good stuff... sweet Noah snacking on the "treats" found on his Easter eggs

Easter had come up a few times in conversation with my girls... it spurred a sweet conversation over togo's about why we celebrate Easter and the subsequent conversation was about how cool Jesus is because He's the only one that can come back to life after He died! ... but then I had to explain how really... other people have come back to life... like the little girl, as Lazarus but didn't really come back to life on their own... Jesus made them come back... so really Jesus still is the only one who has the power over death. Brooke seemed a little disappointed that Jesus wasn't the only person that came back to life after He died but it was a necessary conversation none the less that they will hopefully remember :) ANY point being... the girls had NEVER dyed Easter eggs! What a shame... something had to be done. After a short trip to the grocery store and with paint shirts on... the dying games began. And of course... we bought the sparkle pack, complete with glitter paint to finish the eggs off!

a reluctant update

2009-01-23T21:14:00.001-08:00

it's sad but true, I quit the cleanse.
I don't remember much about the night I decided to quit. Blame it on the lack of caloric support, perhaps I was distracted by my stomach yelling at me for drowning it in something its designed to reject. Maybe it was the 45 minute of self-induced torture that reminded me all too much of the bacterial infection we all suffered in Africa.
Here's how it went down...
After stopping by moms to pick up the salt I returned home and made the killer concoction. When I explain it to people now I realize I sound like an idiot and they repeat to me the ingredients like maybe I had made a mistake. 32 oz? You chug 32 oz after not eating all day? And you mix in salt? Just salt? 2 teaspoons of SALT?! Yes... yes you do, I reply. Supposedly quickly (but in my case after 2 excrushiating hours of abdominal pain) your body says "WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO TO ME?!" and rejects the wonderful "salt water flush". It rejects it... along with everything else it can take with it. Insert flushing of toxins here. "The master cleanse, rid your body of harmful toxins" sounds much more appealing.
My appologies to Mark, whom I cursed on the phone after attempting to sleep off the abdominal pain. I think I remember him saying, "don't be ashamed if you have to quit, Amanda" and "you chugged 32 oz of salt water 2 hours ago and NOTHING has happened?!?!?!" ... quickly... and I mean quickly there after it began working. all too well. Secondly I'd like to appologize to my dear sweet roommate who heard the toilet flush far too many times in 45 minutes, I'm sure she would have liked to sleep peacfully but for some reason I thought ridding my bowels of TOXINS was a better idea. I think I yelled at Mark (again, sorry Mark) "I'm NOT doing this again!" "I can not eat but I am NOT putting myself in this much pain for this long EVERY NIGHT FOR 8 MORE DAYS!" Then I realized with the salt water flush a non-option the "flushing" part of the cleanse would be left to the tea. The all too unreliable tea. I spend WAY too much time in car to be drinking a tea at least twice a day that sometimes will attack it's victim right away... but sometimes not for hours.
I like to think that my ugly fight with the African bacteria in Malawi did enough cleansing for me. If not,
I am and will forever more be... Amanda Raelynn Piercy, a toxin carrier.
It's a symbiotic relationship really. They get a nice, cozy, warm place to live and I get to maintain my sanity and not hate my life.

On a lighter note, I got into a car accident Wednesday driving home from work. I'm tired of talking about it so here's the short of it: Driving home from work, new Folsom bridge, minding my own bussiness, BAM *insert creepy daunting noise coming from my car here*, "I think I just got into a car accident. Oh crap. Oh crap". I was the front car (didn't rear end anyone else) in a four car "pile up". All is as well as can be expected. I'm fine. Slight neck pain, headache, tense muscles, the usual. Rumor is it was cause by a sudden lane change. Obviously, not my fault, thankfully. Anyway... here were are. My insurance lady, Alexis, has been great. As has my ex-claim adjuster sister-in-law-extrordinaire Amy. I'm driving moms car and hopefully soon a rental while we wait for the police report to finish settling the whole thing (according to my CHP boss it can take Folsom PD like a month. Yay.) It's possible my cars totalled. Yay. I'll keep my precious blog stalkers up to do. Fear Not.
The Lord is good to meeeeeee *singing* and so I thank the LORD... for giving me the things I need the sun the rain and the apple seed... The LORD is good to me... (pardon the musical interlude.
Until I hear about my car, or I decide to torture my body again...

i want to die.

2009-01-20T19:51:00.001-08:00

i just did the salt water flush... something ill have to do daily if Im going to continue and I want to die. Not literally but I feel sooooo sick to my stomach. Even if I can handle the not eating and surviving on 400 calories a day while still feeding my girls all day... theres no way I can do this every day. I feel miserable... and so far its not all that productive.
bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh.
maybe mark will inspire me. and maybe ill eat breakfast in the morning.

will power? yes please.

2009-01-20T14:56:00.000-08:00

soooo last night the tea worked a little magic but not much. and i'll admit... this morning i had a bite of cinnomin roll FRESH MIGHT I ADD! I got to work and there was freshly baked goodness floating around. I did it because a. i was hungry but b. i hadnt made the lemonade yet and it wasnt going to be for like 3 more hours that id get to have some and i hadnt technically started the cleanse yet. Buuuut it was a good reminder of my lack of will power so hopefully ill be more inspired to make it happen.
Im almost done with two servings of the lemonade and will put very little cayan pepper in my serving for dinner (its important to have it in... does something like breaks up mucus but its a little too much sometimes). The hardest part will be doing this while Im working. I make the girls food all the time so not only do I see it but I smell it, cook it, and clean it up. baaaaaaah.
Mark (my cleanser friend) says I need to do the salt water... yuck. Ill stop by moms tonight, she had the right salt and make that happen. He says I'll see "results" in just a few minutes. Scary. It's like revliving the bacterial infections in Africa... on purpose. weird.
My girls have been good today, actually really obediant, thank the Lord. I think eventually I'll tell them because I'm tending to get snippy around food. Like no... I don't want to spend 10 minutes in the pantry discussing your snack options (because I want to shove every one of them in my mouth).
Over all, a good lesson in self control and will power. I'm not sure I'll last to 10 days I planned. I'm not sure I really need to go that long but we'll see. I'm taking it one day at a time. One day at a time. One day at a time.
Im actually excited about doing the salt water. I wanna see results! For some reason it seems grossly encouraging!
Phew...

a blog not for the faint of heart...

2009-01-19T18:50:00.000-08:00

hello to my few and far between blog buddies!
For the next 10 days I will be blogging about my experiences doing the master cleanse. It's a juice fast designed to detoxify your body. It's gross. I've read lots of people's blogs about their cleanse experiences and they inspire me to do it! Maybe mine will inspire you to detox... maybe it will just gross you out (sorry). So here's your warning... my blogs for the next 10 days or so (if I make it) will be about hunger and bodily functions :)
I going to call my good friend Mark for some inspiration, he's done in a few times and then Im off to pick up my moms electric juicer thing and then the grocery store!
I'll blog more about the specifics of all of this but it's already 7... I still need to hit up moms and the store AND drink my first round "smooth move", my laxitive tea. woo woo! and then have time to let it work before bed ;)
Feel free to comment! I can use the encouragment... I only lasted a day last time I tried it!
*UPDATE*
Im home. Sipping my Smooth Move tea. It's not gross but not yummy. Maybe I'll grow to like it. At Raleys they had a chocolate smooth move tea. Probably not ideal but I thought it might be worth a try- I might be desperate for a treat soon! They had everything I needed but the maple syrup- I'll have to pick it up tomorrow at the Nugget while my girls are at school.
I'm starting with my tea tonight. I'll drink it every evening and hopefully not need to do the sea salt guzzles in the mornings. Once my girls are in school I have a few hours to myself in the mornings, that's when I'll make my lemonade for the day. I'll squeeze about 10 lemons a day if I can stomach as much lemonade as I'm supposed to every day (60-100 oz). Anyone have a lemon tree?! This is going to be like $10 a day in lemons haha.
There are supposed to be lots of benifits from this cleanse... here are some of the ones I'm looking forward to...
*a cleansed system (free of toxins and build up thats supposedly stuck in our innards thanks to our fab processed diets)
*clearer, brighter skin
*increased energy
*feeling better (they say you didn't even realize you didn't feel that great to begin with)
*sometimes you can lose a few pounds, but not my motivating factor (sometimes visably, sometimes of crap from your innards)
Day 4 will be my hardest day... check back for updates!

San Diaaagoooo!

2008-12-30T12:45:00.000-08:00

Im in San Diego! Horray! Last night was so fun! Tyrone and Andy and I went to the SDSU basketball and then hopped on over to the Blarney Stone where we ran into none other than my fabulous friend Mark Sayovitz!! YES! Wonderful! We had a great time and I even got to visit with Bryan, my old roommate Sarah's brother! He's in town with his roommate Alex for the Campus Crusade conference. Today Im getting hair did and meeting everyone at Cass Street for some cheap blue moon (who are we kidding, Im having a roy rodgers) and shuffle board! Im excited for shopping with Sarah (what better place than San Diego to stock up on bathing suits, flip flops and sun dresses) for HAWAII (my nanny fam is taking me to hawaii for with pro bowl in Feb) and for New Years! Brittni gets back in town wednesday and I cant wait! I miss her like craaaazy! And Im STOKED for Kelly and Camerons wedding on Saturday (the real reason Im even in SD this week)
I know you're all thrilled with this update- if I would have thought of it I would have uploaded some of the pictures weve taken in the last few days while I was waiting for Andy to pick me up... to little too late :) the three of you would read my blog will just have to wait. Sorry.

Merry Tahoe!

2008-12-23T14:14:00.000-08:00

My fabulous nanny fam is too good to me and brought me along a little Tahoe trip last weekend! We went up with their family friends the Shipleys. Their girls are the same age as my girls and go to the same schools. I spend lots of time with Jen and Randy at pick up and drop offs at school. They're a lot of fun and super nice! We had a wonderful time in Heavenly village at the Marriot. It was BEAUTIFUL! Saturday was perfect weather and the girls went to ski and snowboard school and everyone went skiing. Sunday was a little gloomier but we had a wonderful morning snow tubing! Each busy day ended with a chilly run to the spa. There's nothing more relaxing than sitting in a hot spa watching people ice skate in the snow.

I got a new camera from the Barkleys for Christmas so watch out for lots more posts! I hope you guys have a fabulously Merry Christmas!

I'll be in San Diego next week! YAY!

Here are some tubing shots!
This is me and the Shipley girls on a tube train! woo woo!

A Barkley (my nanny fam) family photo
Elizabeth (nanny fam mom) and Delaney. A classic Laney pose.Here are the girls! Kaitlyn, Brooke, Sarah and Delaney pre tubing

My "bosses"

to make up for lost time

2008-11-30T16:17:00.001-08:00

I thought I'd make it up to the Pray's and my other blog lurkers (those who check my blog and are secretly irritated I don't update it but I don't know they check it so I don't think to update it...) and update you all pictorally (is that a word) on my life since I've moved back to the sac-towney... er. sacramento.

Here we have some of the lovely woman of the FPC high school ministry at HUME LAKE. Laura Lenters, me, Kathryn, Marie and Renee. We sadly missed my dear Cindy Bal. We had a blast, of course! Very few discipline issues, some RAD RAD conersations, crazy games, intsense spirit days and sweet memories made at the lake :) Nothing like Hume. I got to see a lot of the staff I've worked with in the past up there which was SO fun! Both of my old bosses went from newly married and now both have two kids! My old boss Kevin told me I was one of his best workers... totally flattering because I thought he hated me. Yay!
Here is my cabin. All 10 of them :) They were really fun and a great mix of girls! I think my spleen was rupturing as this photo was taken.

I got a fish! This is my precious nephew Noah holding my fish. My mom affectionatly named the new fish Wooden Spoon in rememberance of my old beta, Spatula. Noah liked meeting him and was an excellent help in picking Wooden Spoon out. He's a good fish.My grama turned 80! We had a real fun birthday party for her during the summer. Swimming. Yummy food. Family and old people.

I visited Lindsay in the Bay area! We hung out with Nonnie and went to Half Moon bay for pumpkins! Then I turned 23.

I got new cousins! My Aunt Jayne adopted two sweet sweet little ones. They're actually related somehow (my gramas cousins somethings great grand kids or something) but now they're just my cousins! Koa is 4 and D'Lila is 3. They are crazy cute and so fun! Love em!
Last but not least here are my girls! Brooke is 7 and Delaney is 4. The first picture is more recent and post Laneys attempt to cut her own bangs. They are adorable girls with hearts of gold! I am so so blessed to be with their family and fall more in love with these little monsters every day I'm with them.

That's all for now! I'll try to post more often so they don't have to be so long!

thanks giving

2008-11-27T08:34:00.001-08:00

waiting for the parade to start and inspired by jon and carly's sassiness last night... here is this years thankful list.
The Word. Bridgeway. My family. Coffee shops. Deep conversations. Pumpkin spice lattes and carmel apple cider. Study dates. Flood. Malawi. Mission trips. Rain. Eddie and my hip hop class. Dancing. Singing. Mrs. Leighton. The Barkleys, my nanny fam. Sherilyn Smith. High schoolers and little kids. Coloring. Mountain Dew when I need a kick in the pants. Quality leadership. Naps. The beach. Cell phones (sometimes). Clean water. Bobby pins. Janna, the girl who does my hair. Ruby Tovar. Jeremiah Kim. The Prays. Lindsay. Drill team. Vacations. Laughing. Freedom. Nice people. Shannon. Adam and Corrie Klekowski. Kelly and Cameron Perry. Reunions. Justice. Dan Hoffman. Old and new friends. Heaters. The Bal's. The Battenfields. The military. Cozy sweatshirts. College. Spanish. Al and Rosa. Slippers. Beds. Girls. My mom. Cleaning. Puppies.

2008-11-20T18:39:00.001-08:00

Alright alright...
I'm pretty sure no one checks this anymore but I got tagged! I've also heard a few feisty comments from Mr. Jon Pray about my lack on blogging... so Pray family, this one's for you!

1. This one doesn't follow the rules because it's quite obvious, considering my last post was in June. I'm a horrible blogger. I check everyone elses blogs ALL the time... even people I don't know's blogs. Confession: I'm a blog lurker. Heck, I even check Ross the intern's blog... you know, the guy from whatever that late night show is. I love it, I want to be his friend. Heck I want to be everyone's friend.

2. I love and I mean l-o-v-e taco bell. Go ahead, tell me it's cat food, dog meat, I've heard it all but I don't even care! If it is... then bring on the cat food! And squeeze on some extra soupy cheese! I could eat it multiple times a week (and my first year or two in college I did). There isn't one thing on the menu I don't like. Quesadillas, nachos, tacos, Mexican pizzas, gorditas, burritos... love em all. Im kinda hungry.

3. I am a closet hip-hop dancer. Since my first year in college (minus a few year hiatus for San Diego) I've taken a hip-hop class at my gym. It's my favorite. The teacher is hilarious and so much fun and there's nothing like letting your inner back-up dancer out. The people watching on the cardio machines probably laugh at me but who stinkin cares?! I'd like to think that as long as I've danced I've learned enough to make me not look totally ridiculous but I feel slightly cool. Every once in a while someone I know will be working out during the class and realize I'm in there and be bold enough to say something. They're always surprised. I'm lucky if it's someone from church... those are always the most entertaining ones. Give it try one time, just drop it like it's hot. See what happens!

4. I am a HUGE KCRA news fan... and I mean huge! I feel like (or at least like to pretend) I know all the people on there! I was seriously sad when I heard Dave and Lois were retiring, they've been on my whole life! Del Rogers, or who my mom and I affectionately call, Pumpkin Head, worked all the high school football games (which if you knew me in high school was a huge part of my life). I have a serious passion for my favorite meteorologist mr. mark finan. I don't care if he's balding. I've loved him in a weird, Doppler radar kind of way, since I was like 7.

5. I like to rollerblade. That's right. I said it. Go ahead, make fun. Yes it was cool in the 90's and isn't anymore. I'm ok with that. People who live in San Diego don't even really believe me when I say this but it's kind of cool there. People rollerblade on the boardwalk! You just don't notice them because rollerblading ISN'T that weird! My roomie from SD, Brittni and I used to rollerblade from PB to Mission beach on Sunday dates and it was totally cool. Think what you may, I rollerblade.

6. I go CRAZY when people (which is most people in the greater Sacramento area) don't know how to merge! I mean seriously... it will happen naturally if you a. don't come to a complete stop in the merging lane b. don't freak out when i am merging and slam on your brakes when im coming. AND if you do slam on your breaks don't get mad at ME! You're the idiot driver who doesn't know how to let me merge! You're the brake-slammer! Not me! i mean really it's not a hard concept... just make a little tiny bit of room and let me do my thing. People in Southern California get it. They have to. Here it's like the end of the world and no one knows what to do. It's just merging.

ooooh... sorry to end on a sour note.

here are my tags...
oh wait. i'm the last one to do it.
i'll re-tag people?
Heather
Amy
Carly
Kate
Tamsen

and I'll try to blog more. sorry bloggy friends.

Ops I forgot!

2008-06-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post this! This is an article written by Mindi, who I lived with last summer. She is working in Ethiopia this summer- check out her blog! The article talks about the initial contact we had with the village behind our compound last summer.

Update Update Update!

2008-06-19T12:43:00.000-07:00

I write from Sacramento! YES! I live here! I just got carpet and lino in my new place and can't wait to officially move in this weekend. I am LOVING my job! The girls are sweet and the parents are super relaxed! I am definitely feeling like this is right. Finally! Praise God!

On a not as exciting note, my nephew, Noah is sick sick. Long story but basically he is in the hospital with a resistant case of pneumonia. After days of breathing treatments and antibiotics in the hospital it looks like they will knock him out today, take a CT scan on his lungs and do a procedure where they look in his lungs and hopefully remove whatever is left in his lungs. He is surprisingly upbeat and happy-go-lucky for his situation. Shadowridge, Andrew and Amy's church has been awesome coordinating home-made and healthy meals for them at the hospital. Mr. Noah Bean has a sweet supply of new toys and watches lots of Elmo and Pooh. They have lots of visitors to keep Noah distracted and the hospital staff has been great too! So please, keep Noah, Andrew and Amy and their doctors in your prayers!

Here he is watching t.v. from his crib in the hospital

This is Noah listening to a story "Uncle Dan" was reading to him. So sweet.I'll pictures of the new place up once I get my "new" hand-me-down camera from Amy!

My good friends Ruby and Jeremiah just got back from another trip to Malawi. They went with a team from my San Diego church, Flood to commission our church plant there, Flood Malawi! They had a great time and the grand opening service at Flood Malawi had over 100 people present! What a blessing for them to see so much hard work come to fruition (I love that word). I loved every one of Ruby's pictures but here are a few that I think are extra special!

Here is the dynamic duo reunited in Mtsiliza! Thoko adores Jeremiah and although they said he was shy at first clearly loved seeing his auntie and uncle again!

Thoko and Ruby! His face looks so much older than last year, you can check the older blogs, pictures are up of him. We're a little concerned about his health because of his eyes and legs but he is in the feeding program now so hopefully that will help him out. We love that little monster.

The Flood team got to attend this years African Bible College graduation where our Pastor, Matt "P Matt" was the speaker! Yay! Here is Chikondi, she interned at Mtsiliza with us getting ready to walk! So exciting!Thomasin "Tamsen" lived with us last summer and she was the Valedictorian! Go Tam!
Here are some of the widows we worked with last summer when they saw Ruby and Jeremiah. They said they went CRAZY as you can see by their faces! They were dancing, singing, chanting and crying! Oh to live with that kind of passion for people...

This is Jeremiah, Graden (a friend from San Diego), Promise, Ruby and Z. Promise and Z lived and worked with us last year too!
Ruby and Jmaih got to see Miriam and Chance too! They are engaged and will get married next year. Miriam graduated from ABC last year and worked with us at Njewa and Chance has graduated from ABC too and spent last summer working in Uganda. He is now helping to run the Njewa site and work in Lilongwe. The girls doing the internship this summer will get to spent lots of time with him! They're awesome!Ill try to post again soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good Dinner Better Friends

2008-04-22T22:29:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was able to get together and share dinner with old and new friends. Mawi, Kelsey and Jeremiah went to Malawi with me and were able to join fellow Flood college groupers Rachel, Karin, Leslie and Sarah who will be doing the same internship we got to participate in last summer, this summer. We all got together tonight at my house for vegetarian lasagna, salad, french bread and a yummy ice cream concoction (possible recipes to come like the oh-so-famous recipe mondays/thursdays of Carly Pray and Miss Kate Wright). More importantly we got to chat about Malawi and the internship. Hopefully we didn't confuse them too much. We encouraged them to educate themselves, find and pursue their passions and expand their view of this internship. We want to be a source of information and guidance for them as well as supporters and a cheering section for the girls.

I thought I'd post some pictures, partly for the girls and partly just to remember some of things we chatted about tonight. Here's to Malawi and more conversations, girls!

Here are the girls that worked in the widows program. This is regular "village attire". Unfortunately it's not a shot of Angie's quilt skirt but the picture does feature Funa (to the right of Mawi)'s chitinge, traditional Malawian wrap. Sarah, I'm holding my "nalgene"!

Food. Here we go. Don't be scared. Nsima, the big white blob is pretty much tasteless and feels kind of like playdough. If you're lucky you'll get to taste it at "culture night". You'll also see mini usipa, the tiny whole fish. The rest of the stuff is "relish" there are three kinds on this plate. The cabbage relish (my favorite- cabbage, tomato, oil and onion) is at 12:00, next to that is egg relish and then... well to be quite honest I don't know what the brown one is... it's probably salty though! Yay Rachel!

Here are the widows girls with the widows! Yay! The program is huge so this is just one "class". Chikondi, the girl kneeling furthest to the left is wearing "national wear". Wearing it shows respect and is the nicest dress up outfit Malawians wear. She was wearing it because this was our last day in the village and we had a party. The widows and Funa are all in their chitinges. Please girls, note the babies tied on their backs.This is Jeremiah, wearing his teaching gear with Thoko, the little boy he told you about tonight. He's precious. Jeremiah made him a tie out of the scraps from the widows so they could match. Heart warming, really.Here is church wear! There are many important things in this picture... 1. notice Jeremiahs tie. The cool guys in Malawi wear their ties short like that... who knows why. When in Rome... 2. The girl on the left is Monica- she started the widows program and Rachel, she's from Folsom! Woot Woot! Nor Cal! Church attire might be different if you guys go to Flood Malawi but this is a safe bet you'll always have your jeans if Flood Malawi is more casual.

This is Ruby's, Kelsey's, Angie's and my closet. We each took two shelves, one for clothes and one for stuff. There were shelves in the bathroom for that stuff. Ruby brought a ton of clothes but this is pretty much all we each brought- pretty simple. I kept an extra pillow case for dirty clothes under my bed.This is a Sunday after church. Everyone else went to ABC to play soccer but we stayed at the compound to watch movies and do our nails :) Lovely! This is inside where you'll probably live. Bunk beds! Notice the laundry (socks and unmentionables) drying on our beds, the sheets, and mosquito nets. LAUNDRY! Hand washing with one bucket for everyone! The Malawian girls can teach you how to do it well. We brought the concentrated detergent but you can also bring one for all four of you until you can buy some in town (Malawian detergent is in the yellow bag on the shelf). It's made specifically for hand washing but they both work well. It's up to you! Everything but socks and undeewears go out on the line behind the dorms.

There you go... just to wet your appetites!

VIVA MEXICO!

2008-04-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

What an amazing week, as always! The post is a little late, sorry, but better late than never right?!

Here is everyone in front of our fabulous San Diego hosts, Fletcher Hills Pres. This year we took 90+ high school students and adults! Crazy but fun! They were fantastic!

Our group was split into 5 teams... here's mine! They're rad students! The students spend months planning and preparing to put on 4 days of vacation bible school for local church's and their communities. They did a great job preparing a themed vbs called "en sus brazos" and were totally flexible when we arrived at our church for Sunday service and learned they didn't want us to put on a vbs!

We spent two days mixing and pouring concrete where we were standing in the last picture... here's the finished product!

Our Mexican host church, Iglesia de Cristo has AMAZING ministries in place that we got to help support! They have a group of neighborhood kids of about 25 that we hosted a one day of vbs for but in addition Anna runs a program in another neighborhood for 70+ kids! They also have a rad elderly ministry. A group of 100+ seniors meet down at the harbor once a week to pray and fellowship. Anna and her congregation care for these amazing people calling them their adopted abuelitos. We got to spend a beautiful afternoon with them right by the water. The students and adults adopted 4-5 "abuelitos". They learned eachothers names, prayed and sang together in English and Spanish. They will (hopefully) send a card or two throughout the year and lift them up in prayer. It was so exciting to get to forge new territory for FPC and Azusa Pacific as well moving from children's ministries to elderly!

The week was really encouraging for me personally! I was surrounded by people who know me and love me well. As much as I adore San Diego there's something to be said for having history with people. I loved getting to spend time with Mary Sob, Marie, Sarah and some of the other girls/women on the trip but I was especially blessed by my time with Godly men. Scott Battenfield and Senior "Curt" Hobbs are two men I've known for years and years who love well. They, among other men on the trip, exemplify Godly men and fathers. They love their children well, but put their wives before them and most importantly, God first. Thank you guys for your encouragement, character and love. You're the best!

The Hardest Easiest Question

2008-02-08T23:42:00.001-08:00

"What do you want, Man P?"

Last night I got to talk to my good friend Dan for a fantastic two hours. Dan knows me well, he loves me and cares for me well. We spent the summer together in Malawi and ironically have talked about our experiences very litle. Last night he asked me (again) the question that seems impossible for me to answer- what do I want?

Here's my easy answer... I want to be in God's will and know it. Even as I type that I know it's a cop out. True, yes but not the whole truth. That's not even an answer, what am I thinking? Why do I have such trouble answering that question? Am I afraid of my own answer? Am I afraid to dream it? Probably. Dan kept telling me, Man P you're in the best place ever, you have every option available. I remember crying on the phone to my amazing brother before I left for Africa. I felt like I had nothing to come home to. He made Dr. Hokoda proud and reframed my negative thinking telling me that I had everything to come home to, anything. Why isn't that exciting for me? It should be! Am I avoiding my own responsibility in it? If I try something and it's not perfect then it's not my fault, I didnt chose it. I don't think I'm afraid of failing... then what is it?

I know my next step in life is a stage. All of life is- little steps and stages put together to make a beautiful and hopefully faithfully used God-given time on earth. I know in my head that whatever I end up doing next is not what I have to do forever. I could, like Dan suggested, go back to Africa for a few years and then come back.

Dan will be talking at some conference about what team leaders can do to prepare their teams traveling to Africa. Here's what I don't think I could have heard enough- most people don't really care about your experiences in Africa. I think most people care a little but don't know how to ask the right questions to hear about it. They want to see one or two pictures of the cute snotty nosed orphan without shoes and they want to hear, "it was amazing, it changed my life, they have so little but are so happy" bla bla bla. Does anyone really have that report when they come back? ... that was tangent.

Oprah a few days ago was about the law of attraction and the power of possitive thinking. A little cooky, yes, and a bit off but almost inline! How do get what we want and know we got what we wanted if we didnt know we wanted it. Flood encourages us to make "dream boards" or what they called on the show "vision boards". You cut out images and words from magazines that reflect yours dreams and where you want your life to go. What would Amanda's new dream board look like? Maybe Ill make one tomorrow.

I want...

passion

purpose

family

community/connection/intimacy

excitment

I can't wait to go to Mexico this year. When can I ever? That ranch represents clarity in my life. It's where I first felt God's calling on my life to live on the edge. It's where I first fell in love with waking up each morning with no other purpose but to glorify God. It's where I first felt used meaningfully. It's my holy ground. I can't think of a better place to ground myself and do some good old thinking and soul searching. Maybe I'll be able to answer the hardest easiest question of my life there. maybe. Maybe it will be life Africa was for me and create more questions than answers. We'll see.

Lord, give me courage to answer the question. I think you're glorified in our dreams. I don't believe you want us to fear them. I miss dreaming, what's going on in me that has made me stop? You are the Lord of our dreams and the One who can make them come to fruition. Father, take my hopes, fears and aprhention and let my dreams soar. You are a soverign God and my heart has refuge remembering that you hold it in delicate balance.

to clarify...

2008-01-26T19:34:00.000-08:00

I am not engaged... not even close.
My brother called me tonight, after supressing the urge from 2:30 this morning to call. He read my blog early this morning and was convinced I was engaged (or at least was asked) and had neglected to tell him. Just in case you had the same thought I'd like put you at ease... I'm not :) And! If I were, and you read this blog... you'd probably among the first to know!

I'm off to a goodbye party for my friend Chelsea. She's moving to Australia tomorrow! Crazy! Afterward we might be headed to one of my and my roommates favorite places in San Diego- Incahoots for some good ol line dancing! YEE HAW!

P.S. I went to the bay and walked this morning... if you live in San Diego and haven't walked around the bay- go do it! Its a really nice walk... if you can get over the sound from the freeway ;)

African Relections, more to come

2008-01-17T18:10:00.000-08:00

January 17 2008, 5 months from the day I left Malawi, Africa. I feel like I am just beginning to process the chaos and beauty I experienced for two of the shortest and longest months of my life. Will I ever fully process my experiences in Malawi? I don’t believe I will. They were times that challenged me beyond belief, exposed me to unimaginable heartache and accustomed me to a love I had yet to know.
I absolutely love to talk about Malawi and Africa as a whole. I thrive off questions, good and specific questions. Teaching people about the realities of Africa, poverty and the joy of salvation I experienced there gives me life. My time in Africa was not spiritually filling like my time in Mexico almost always is but it was spiritually real. The reality of death in Africa is so much more vibrant than it is here and that is depressing when you realize so many of the dead had tribal beliefs and were likely unsaved. At the same time the reality of death brings a joy of salvation we aren’t blessed with in North America. When death is real life is real and I long for nothing more in my life than a true sense of reality… I think. Authenticity is what I love and that is what I got.
In one of my pre-Africa journal entries I write, “where you lead, I will follow- scared and excited”. That is still my montra but now I am unsure of the path. In May I knew I was headed to Malawi, confident in God’s lead but now I sit in my beautiful, ridiculous, room temperature house wondering where I’m going. Where ever it is I long for it to be drenched in His presence. I was so afraid that I was called to full time missions then. Now I feel like I’m ready to go- I just am not sure that’s where I’m supposed to go. I sit in limbo wondering. If full time missions is it then God, lets go. It will hurt, it takes time, Malawi taught me many realities of full time missions. If that is my future I’m ready to go. I just long for the go ahead. I feel like I’m sitting stagnant at a fork with two amazing, beautiful and vibrant paths ahead of me. Each filled with much joy, hardship and love. How do I know which one is for me? Are they both for me and God will be wherever I am? Is it like choosing a college? Pray over it, make some pro and con lists, think a little logistically and go? They are just so drastically different- much more different than San Diego State or Sac State. Every single thing would be different. I know that in what seems like no time I will be looking back at this entry and thinking- why was I freaking out. God is good and so is His work in my life. I was headed in the right direction. I trust in that now. I just get stuck in thinking about where I will be looking back from. Will it be a humble shack in Malawi or Mexico as I relax with my missionary husband after spending all my energy loving on the oppressed and sick? Or will it be from my cozy bed in the U.S. as I consider raising a family near my own? Both will be filled with love, passion and energy. That’s how I live but they are night and day. I feel like this is the turning point- I am at the edge of something beautiful, it’s just over the horizon but when will I catch a glimpse of what’s to come?
In another journal entry I ask God to reveal to me the places I run to when I want to hide from God or His calling. Am I hiding? Is that why I can’t decide? I still pray Lord, they my heart is yours first. I used to think I wanted You to have it first because You wouldn’t let it break. That’s not true. You will, for the things that break yours and I continue to pray what I have prayed since high school. Lord, break my heart for the things that break Yours. I desire more than anything to be motivated by what motivates You. I long to make change where you desire to see it. If that motivation comes from a broken heart then bring on the breaking. I want to love how you love and teach what You teach. You are my Master, Healer, Redeemer, Father, Lover, Friend. You are good and faithful. Teach me what I need to learn and may my desire to learn from You never be fully quenched.

“I call, You answer and you came to my rescue and I want to be where You are”.

A Christmas Past

2007-12-31T13:58:00.000-08:00

After a sweet prompting from my dear friend Carly I thought I would update my blog! Carly, thanks for the shopping trip in your closet here's to you... incase you dont know my dear friend, here we are pre-cameron on her back patio while Noah and Macy played together.

I hope you all had a great Christmas! Im currently in Sac soaking up time with family and getting to work with my mom! So fun! I've been working in "the field" (of social work) for a few years now on my own but for the first time Im working with my mom! Its kind of wierd but awesome at the same time! We find ourselves telling the girls the same exact thing, responding to something the same and just enjoying our time together. I love my mom.

Before I left San D my precious roomies had a Christmas party at our house! It was so fun! We love love love having friends over and enjoying eachother. Aaaaaand we got to do it with Christmas trees, lights, cocoa, and Christmas carols!

Here's a nice shot of some of us belting out some Christmas carols. Brittni found a sweet feature on our far too expensive cable that has Christmas kareoke. You bet we took full advantage of that!

This is an unrelated but fun picture none the less. It was at Flood's college tacky tinsel Christmas party. Party of the classic san diego tacky Christmas sweater party tradition. My "babies" or bible study girls and I had a blast. Here some of them are looking oh-so-tacky. Love you babies!

My home home church has a rad family Christmas eve service every year. My mom and I went and got to see old friends, sang good carols and partook in one amazingly interactive retelling of the birth of Jesus. Good work Children's Ministries- it was so fun! The was complete with the little ones collecting the offering... or "Jesus' birthday present" if you will. My favorite kid was the one going from pew to pew asking with hands outstretched "do YOU have anything to go to JESUS?" ... scratch that. My favorite kid was the one wandering the isles yelling "SPARE CHANGE... ANYONE HAVE ANY SPARE CHANGE" good job fpc... you're raising those future bell ringers well. I also got to hear Abby Battenfield sing in a little quintent. She did a great job and made this babysitter quite proud. Good job Abs!

I am LOVE LOVE LOVING getting to spend time with Noah! Hes growing SO fast (as they all do... right?) And melts my heart when he calls me "P" and more often than not... "Di di P" We'll see where those names take us. He is a happy, silly boy who is rather adventurous. I cant wait to see him grow up! I love that kid!

Here's a horrible shot of me but a great one of Noah enjoying his Christmas present from yours truely... a sit n spin. He'll probably break something on it... a bone... a table. those are the best toys- arent they?

I just cant resist more Noah shots... here he is getting ready for Christmas eve at Nonnies. So cute.

That's all for now, Carly, Ill try to keep up better! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Fire update

2007-10-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

An answered prayer... the fire didn't move too much last night!

The fires have grown and a few more have started but today aircrafts dropping water and retardant have been allowed up today. There is still no end in sight.

The is still breathable but schools are cancled all week... too bad that doesn't benefit me any more haha

They are allowing some of the 5130,000 evacuees back to their houses but hundreds and hundreds of them are demolished.

My church Flood has set up a make shift call center today. They are calling affected members and linking them to the help they need. We will hopefully put our huge house to use. We offered up to 4 people to stay for up to three days. We'll see who we get!

Thanks for your concern! Ill keep you updated if anything changes!

San Diego Fires

2007-10-22T23:51:00.000-07:00

Hi friends and fam!

I just wanted to update you all on what's going on in San Diego and how I and my loved ones down here are doing. Thanks for your concern and prayers...

If you're checking this you've probably already heard and are wondering how I'm doing (thanks!). I won't bore you with the details but basically 1/4 to 1/2 million people have been evacuated with about the same number of acres burned in San Diego county. For more details go ahead and check the website I've been checking http://www.sandiego.gov/ohs/reverse911/index.shtml

My house is fine and idealy placed considering the locations of the multiple fires. I live at the junction of the 5 and the 8 (for you nor cal'ers... 5 and 8) at the boarder of "Linda Vista" and "Bay Park". The fires are however kind of closing in around us. To be quite honest if we ge evacuated there are not too many places left to go.

The closest evacuations are in Del Mar which is probably less than 10 miles up the 5. The fire is not in Del Mar as of now but they are excpecting it to be. Between Del Mar and my house is mostly houses and businesses, not a ton of brush and vegitation, which is good. We're praying it doesn't move through La Jolla and Pacific Beach because we'd be the next area.

The air isn't that bad yet either. We'll see in the morning. Today it was just obviously smokey with some ashes around. The highways aren't clogged either.

Rest assured- we have bags packed with overnight stuff and important papers (passports, birth certificates, social security cards ext) and i have a sleeping bag, blow up mattress (thank you mexico trips) and a small pillow. We're ready to go if we need to go- hopefully we won't.

My church and friends are taking care of eachother and everything will be fine. It just might be a freaky few days. If you'd like to call, you may but we're not really supposed to use our phones that much to avoid clogging the systems. Buuuut if you're like my mom and will feel a million times better having talked to me just call.

Thanks for your concern! I'll keep you updated as I can!

Amanda

Pictures... finally!

2007-08-30T16:05:00.000-07:00

Here we are! Better late than never, right?!

This is me holding baby Grace and sitting with Beatrice (Grace's big sister) and her friend. I took Grace from Beatrice's back so she could go play net ball with the other girls. She was stoked and her team even won! This was a typical afternoon for our team (only for the first half of the summer for me). We would go into the outer villages with our kids to run little mini day camps for the kids.

This is the feeding program... actually just the kids washing their hands... in Mtsiliza. I spent most of my summer in this village working with the widows, doing evangelism and working on sponsorship. There are almost 400 kids receiving aid in this village.

Gift is the son of one of the widows. He would spend the mornings with us bouncing from lap to lap. He's a precious one... well they all are. Ruby took a picture because Gift and I matched that day... green and green...

Flood interns doing what we do best at the lake. We had a midsummer retreat at Lake Malawi where we recharged, spent time with the Lord on the beach, snorkled and just relaxed! Oh! And we toured a crocodile farm and saw the fish aqaurium- 85% of the worlds aquarium fish come from Lake Malawi! fun fact.

We're not supposed to have favorites. If I happened to have favorite this little spitfire, Thoko would be at the top of my list :) As we found out at the end of our time in Malawi is one of the widows kids. He is super crazy, energetic and has a hard time following directions (which is an ever bigger deal in Africa than in the US). We spent the summer loving on this boy like crazy and saw a huge change in his behavior! He spent hours on our laps just cuddling and playing little games like how dirty can I get Amandas sunglasses.

Okay... Im having problems adding pictures now so Im going to stop. Ill try to add more later... if you want I have more up on my myspace and facebook.

home sweet, northern hemisphere

2007-08-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

Im home! Although Africa was amazing and my summer was divinely appointed it is so good to be home! The travel was smooth- long but smooth. I thought my jet lag wasnt too bad but I ended up awake last night until 3am. I'm feeling fine however. We arrived in what seemed to be the most humid place on the planet, sunny Southern California at about 1:30 pm yesterday. All our luggage went through and we met our rides promptly after we all sailed through customs. My teammates date drove us to North County where two of my fantastic roommates and best friends, Kara and Brittni, met me. I was appalled at their completely normal summer San Diego attire and felt completely embarrassed looking at them. None the less I was stoked to see them. They received me well and we started our short trek home. It was so good to be with them again. They told me stories about the two of them and our third roommate, Sarah, moving into our new house. They laughed at me saying, "you're like a foreigner", as I got excited to hear really old songs on the radio and stared out the window like I'd never been to San Diego. Kara had been preparing for me all day she said... she got my car washed, made welcome home amanda cupcakes and bought me a selection of cereal and fat free milk (the milk and cereal was upon request... my most missed food item). What good friends I have!
Our new house is just as beautiful as I remembered! The only sad news is our spa doesnt work yet but an electrician is coming... don't you worry ;) haha. My roommates promptly showed me "our Mexican place", Niko's... you can see it from my bedroom window. It's maybe two blocks away. Wonderful! For dinner I had half of a Niko's bean cheese and rice burrito and a bowl of lucky charms... mmmm. I was home. hahaha. Then I got to work unpacking my room- one of my favorite activities. The girls have lived here for over a month but my stuff was never unpacked from the move. My room is a bright, cheery, light blue almost aqua. It looks like water... one of the things I missed in Malawi, the ocean. I cant wait to finish decorating, doing laundry and having everything clean and in its place. Oh how I have missed order and cleanliness in my life haha.
After multipule phone calls and emailing I fell asleep at about 3 am. I awoke to a lazy morning at about 9 am and here I am 20 minutes later... still in bed, blogging. Ill start my day soon I have tons of laundry to do and errands to run. Oh! Good news! My mom said I got 100% and 90% on my RCW2 and Social Worker 2 applications and that Im on the hire list for both of them. I think Ill call the county later today to get those balls rolling. Keep your fingers crossed for the Social Work position but we'll see where God leads me.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support! Ill keep blogging as I process the experiences God has given me this summer.

Coming Home!!

2007-08-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

This is it! Goodbye Malawi. This day snuck up on me while at the same time I thought it would never come. Safari was AMAZING! I took some video and my friends got great pictures! We saw everything from lions to baboons! We saw a leopard hunting, lions eating a kill, hippos, elephants, birds and heard hyenas laughing. It was a blast! The food was good and a welcome change. I woke up one morning to the sound of an elephant trumpeting outside my window. We would sit and have lemonade as we watched hippos float in the river right next to our lodge. How awesome is Gods creation! We got in some much needed afternoon naps and enjoyed the time together on the drives. We just finished debriefing which is a much needed but boring process. There is a lot of introspection which is much too introverted for me. We discuss our experiences, process things and prepare for "reemmersion" back into our native culture. They say we've been here long enough that going back home will be just as hard and overwhelming as coming to Malawi was in the first place… we'll see! I can't wait to be home!
We just had lunch (pizza in town… yummm) with George and Chimwemwe from Flood Malawi! What a blessing! They are such amazing men of the Lord! They are hospitable, welcoming, wise, fun, faithful and encouraging. I feel so blessed to have spent time with them here! Working with Flood Malawi has been one of the highlights of my summer! I love hearing their passion for their own nation and people! Their vision for Flood Malawi is thrilling and encouraging. I am so stoked to see how God blesses that ministry. I have full confidence in the church here.
I have loved my time here, learned important lessons, met amazing people and have been challenged in new ways. I don't know where God will take me after this place… which is exciting and anxiety provoking but I trust in His plan! Thank you for helping me get here- I am sure it was Gods will for me. I can't wait to see you all and if you would like to hear to tell you about my time in Malawi. I love you guys! Keep us in your prayers as we travel home… you are in mine!

Going on Safari

2007-08-12T15:08:00.000-07:00

Ziquienda! (the chichewa whats up)

Hi friends! This will probably be my last update but go ahead and check next Saturday just in case!

Yesterday was our last official day of ministry. It was hard for sure but they were all good, healthy goodbyes! We had a little party with the widows in the morning at Mtsiliza. We made cookies for all of the ladies. We had a blast making them, it was a little taste of home. Despite all the African cookie making setbacks they were actually really good! Oatmeal raisen and chocolate chip with no chocolate chips... mmmm! The women worked on our projects for a while, ate a ton of cookies and then we sang and danced together! They asked us to sing for them and taught us some sweet african moves. The goodbyes were happy filled with kisses, hugs and thank yous... and some other things in chichewa that we didnt understand but were clearly good wishes!
In the afternoon we had a goodbye party in the village called Mguyie which is behind our compound. After word got around that there were going to be treats hundreds of kids showed up. We played some games and split them into smaller groups. From there they received half an orange, some buiscits and sobo (kind of like tang... i hope that makes you smile jon pray). The kids were obviously stoked and quite greatful. They met me bowing or received their sobo on their knees to show respect. Precious. Precious I tell you. After a few more games and lots of hugs we were back to the compound which is about a 3 minute walk away.
Last night about ten of the oldest girls from Chitipi, one of COTN residential care homes, came to Njewa (our compound) for a sleep over. It was SO fun! We bought them soda, cookies and chocolate (our goal was clearly to make them sick) and watched the cronicles of narnia while we colored and painted nails. Yep, African teenage girls love the same stuff we did! And of course... in true African style and Flood tradition... there was dancing.
Speaking of dancing! Last sunday night we had a brii (a fat malawian bbq) with the Flood Malawi crew! That might have possibly been the highlight of my summer! The food was AMAZING! Beyond amazing... there was the most tender meat I have ever tasted! mmmmm mmmm mmmm Really good potato salad, fruit salad soda (a treat here)... ugh... it was just such a good meal. But even better than the food was the company! George, Sean and the rest of the crew were there! It was strange at first how comfortable and Flood like the atmosphere felt. Honestly, I think I had a little culture shock at first. It took some time to let loose and feel comfortable but in no time we were dancing with the Malawians, chatting and shoving our faces. It was a side of Malawi we dont see with COTN. We sang worship together, shared in Floods vision in Malawi and laughed and laughed. It felt like home. God is good!
Monday we leave for safari! I cant wait! Weve heard the raves from the short term teams about safari. Apparently you wake up before sunset, board the jeeps and take off. Thats when the most action happens, watch animals and stop for tea. The afternoons are time to relax and sleep because before sunset you take off again... stop for tea and return to the lodge for dinner at about 9pm. Im so excited!
After safari we start debreifing. It will be a time of individual and group reflection and prep for home. They assure us returning home will take a lot of adjusting and that we've acclimated here. Even things as simple as wearing jeans or seeing girls in shorts throws us for a little loop... we'll see what it's like returning to sunny san diego at the height of beach season! haha.
I have learned a lot this summer... most of which I probably wont realize until Ive been home for a while. Something huge Ive seen first hand is the reality of spiritual warfare... I know I sound crazy but it's true. We have nothing but halloween to compare it to but you see and experience the reality of evil spirits here. They are engrained in the culture and passed down in family lines. There is a lot behind this... Id love to talk to you about it some time and I might blog about it when Im home but its for sure something huge Ive learned. The devil is real... as real as our God. Good thing God has already won the battle and is ultimatly stronger! But we shouldnt underestimate the devils power... that's how he fools us is making us think he's not real... just a though. God's big! Horray!

Malawi is called the warm heart of Africa. Come here for a day and you'll see why. They are by far the most welcoming, tender hearted people I have ever encountered. I have learned hospitality and selflessness from the interns I work with, the people we encounter and mostly the women in the widows ministry. The widows have also taught me what it means to work hard, fight for your family and perservere. I love those ladies.
I am also greatful for the exposure I have had to the realities of long term missions work. I have seen the impact of short term teams and experiences many of them. Ive done the work of longer term missions and understand more what that looks like. I am not sure if that's where I am called but if I am I will have a better understanding of what I would get myself into.

We fly home a week from this sunday, the 19th in the morning. We will arrive in LA monday the 20th at about 1pm. It will take forever to get out of the airport but our first stop will be in & out. Ill get a number two, no onion with pickle, barqs rootbeer and a neopolitin milkshake. Ill meet my sweet roommates (whom i miss like CRAZY) in north county san diego and they will humbly drive my sick butt (from in & out overload) home to our new house! YAY! My phone has been off over the summer but it will be on again the morning of the 20th. feel free to call... if im sleeping or dont want to talk I just wont answer or ill turn it on silent :) I cherish my time in Malawi but I cant wait to be home! To be clean, to have quiet, to drive myself places, to eat what i want when i want, to be with people who know me deeply and to talk to my family... finally!

Im praying for a safe, easy journey home and that I will have time to rest and a job upon my return. There are some good possibilities but I'm praying God will open doors for me where He wants me. Also I'm praying for an easy transition back into American culture and little culture shock.

Thank you guys for your support, love and prayers! You're the best! Im done here and headed back! I love you guys!

BIG PS! Congrats Carly and Jon! I saw little Cameron! He's precious! Tell Mac P says hi and I love her! I cant wait to see you guys and meet Cameron!

Update Number two!

2007-07-28T12:21:00.000-07:00

Hello dear friends! I'm sorry my updates are so few and far between. We only have one day a week that we can get into town and that is often interupted. Alas- I'm in town right now! Horray! Here's what has been going on in warm, sunny Malawi...
We spent a very long very challenging week in the COTN village of Chiwengo last week. It was by far the most stretching time we've had here in Malawi. There is a group of interns that are spending their whole summer in Chiwengo, they are all girls and very sweet and domestic girls. They have spent their summer helping in the long term care homes in Chiwengo. They do chores, lead devotions with the kids, color, bake, cook, clean, carry water... very precious, valueable, domestic things. God is working everywhere and in Chiwengo the work is calm and slow. They spent the summer in their routine when along came 14 Lilongwe interns (me and my team) to mess with their lives for a week. Our team has 5 boys and we are just louder, crazier and have way more energy. We were able to releive the Chiwengo girls of some of their chores giving them free time but in the mean time we just created a lot of choas. Choas that we are used to, thrive off of and need to survive in Lilongwe. Needless to say- there was drama. It was clear God's hand was in dividing which interns would be in Chiwengo and which would be in Lilongwe. After many many meetings to discuss problems, plenty of irritation, and prayers for gentle hearts it was finally time to go to the lake! YES!
After the choas and drama that was our week in Chiwengo all the interns were off to our weekend midsummer retreat at Lake Malawi! The lake is huge and rather ocean like! The water is beautiful, the waves reminded me of San Diego and the sun was great! We spent our time in devotions on the beach. chatting, napping and relaxing. One afternoon we paid some locals to boat us out to a near by island! SO FUN! The boat ride was so pretty and reminded me of mornings on Folsom lake with my dad and andrew... but prettier... with clearer water... and african... At the island my teammates cliff jumped (don't worry mom... I didnt) and we all got to snorkel! it was fun to watch everyone try and many fail horrible freaking out and inhaling water. The fish were cool- mostly brown and blue. Lake Malawi is the 2nd most diverse lake in the world and 85% of the worlds aquarium fish come from it. No mom... I didnt see the cool fish that saves the little fish from danger by letting them swim into it's mouth. Bummer. Alas- we had a blast! We also took a walk down the beach and toured a crocidille farm! COOL! There were thousands of them! It was amazing to see... and a little frightening becuase they're feet from you and separated only by a chain link fence. I won't discuss how they'll end us as purses in London... but it was fun! We also got to see an "aquarium" It wasnt what I expected but it was neat to see how they farm the lake, package and send them all over the world. The lake was relaxing, reenergizing and got me all pumped up to finish this internship strong!
The widows program is going great and it's getting harder and harder to think about leaving them. They are so precious and exemplify such beauty and strength. We are working on creating patterns for them, teaching them basic business stuff, teaching them how to make new products and leading bible studies. We will spend this month preparing them to run their business without any interns to help them and writting proposals for ideals that new interns can take and run with later.
The Flood short term team is here! What a blessing! They are a little taste of home! And as you all well know... people just get me all excited. Tamra, their team leader brought us letters from the Flood staff and some of our friends. They were so encouraging! Just what we needed after such a hard week in Chiwengo! Thanks Adam, Maile and Breanne! You can't even imagine how much they meant! Go figure... I cried. Oh yes... and they brought a ton of american snacks... that made my night!
Right before be left for the lake we ran into Sean, one of the men on staff at Flood Malawi. My church in san Diego, Flood is helping a group here in Malawi who are starting a Flood Malawi! It was SO awesome to see him! It was obvious he was just as excited to see us as we were to see him! Next saturday night the flood interns and the flood short term team will meet up with the Flood malawi team for a brii... a giant malawian bqq with music and dancing! I cant wait!
Well... that's about all... I am loving getting to know the girls Im living with, ministry is great, God is here and He is good! I miss you guys like crazy and I cant wait to see you again!
If you'd like to see some pictures go ahead and check the links on this page (they are on the left) to my friend Dan's Blog and Jeremiahs (they link is called don't join the village) they were able to post pictures. I am also having my friend dan send andrew a mystery picture of me... he says its good... i havent seen it. andrew* will post it with this post. so you guys can see what it looks like over here!
Thank you for your prayers and thoughts... I really can't explain how vital they are to me... it's one of the things that keeps me going over here. I love you guys!
Amanda

*Note from Andrew: I didn't get the picture, so it will remain a mystery.

My first post from Africa!

2007-07-11T21:45:00.000-07:00

Greetings from chilly Lilongwe, Malawi! Things are going great! God
blessed us with a simple, easy trip over here- there were no problems!
After a week of acclimation and orientation we started our ministries!
I have to make this email quick because we have little time in town
today- not the mention the internet is wicked slow. So here's a run
down of what my weeks look like here in beautiful Malawi...
Four mornings a week I work with a few other interns in a the widows
ministry in a village called Mtsiliza. The ministry was formed a year
ago to help the 30+ widows who care for their own children and orphans
(most of them at least 6 to 8 kids total) create an income for their
families. They pray, study the bible, sing, knit, crochet, and sew
together. The other interns and I lead Bible studies, teach business
techniques, create patterns and run a store at the COTN camp where we
sell their things to the American short term teams! We also spend one
morning a week in the homes with the widows which has turned into a
super rewarding and really fun time! Yesterday morning I learned how
to mud the floors in their houses (its how they clean-weird but true),
how to make the Malawian staple food, Nsima and a relish with cabbage,
onion and tomato. We also washed dishes. And get this mom- they kept
saying "wow, you know how to cook!" haha... little do they know... we
ate it though- the kids said it was good! So fun!
In the afternoons we either go to Mtsaliza or one of the other COTN
villages and accompany the children as they venture to another village
to do evangelism. Its so fun to watch the kids who are effected by
COTN teach other kids about their God. It's always a fun time to see a
new village, meet some new faces and learn crazy Malawian games!
We are the chosen interns to venture into the village behind our camp,
Njewa for the first time! How fun! Most of the kids there had never
seen white people- or as they affectionately call us "AZUNGU"! It was
an awkward experience at first but but now they know us and are stoked
when we come. Most of the children in the village are pretty severly
malnourished with big bloated bellies. They are probably the poorest
people I have ever seen. They also have a drinking problem in th
village. Frackson, a Malawian who works with us said it one of the
saddest villages he's ever seen. Because there are enough parents there
COTN won't start a feeding program or a home there but will teach
parenting techniques. In fact, the widows from Mtsaliza will come to
Mgui (the village behind Njewa) and teach the women their skills to
create extra income! How exciting! We do regular programs with the
kids- games, songs, bible stories ext. and are in the planning stages
of implementing programs like parent ed. and substance abuse ed.! How
exciting! Keep them in your prayers!
Wed morning and Saturdays are our days off where we can do loads of
hand washed (horray) laundry, rest, go into town and do whatever. The
other widows girls and I end up running the store a lot during that
time.
I have been in pretty good health minus a little bacterial infection
that has now hit every American intern. It knocks you eight off your
butt hard. Buuuut God is good... so is cipro- the antibiotic that
saved us! Alas- I am good now and praying for good health!
We leave Saturday for another village about 2 hours away called
Chiwengo- we'll be there for a week. After that we go to Lake Malawi
for our mid summer retreat. So exciting! That means though no email
for two weeks- sorry friends!
I LOVE knowing you guys are all back home thinking about me and
praying for me! I love it here but I miss you guys! Thank you SO much
for your love and support! Keep the Malawians and the work here in
your prayers please! I'll try to email as much as possible it's just
such a process! Love you guys!
Amanda

I made it!

2007-06-25T16:44:00.000-07:00

I've made it! I'm safe! The place I'll be staying in even has flush toilets! One of my roomies is from Folsom, CA! Only like 20 minutes from my hometown. How crazy is that?

This has been posted by Andrew. Amanda should be able to start making her own posts in a couple of weeks.

Tomorrow is the day!

2007-06-21T23:49:00.000-07:00

It's my last night in the states for two months! Tomorrow morning I'm meeting most of my closest friends for breakfast in PB at the Broken Yoke. I have a stop to make at the closet in PB and then to my house for last minute details. We're meeting half the team at my place at 2:30 and hopefully on the road by 3. Thanks to our friends Ryan and Tyrone for driving us up to LA. We'll check in our baggage and grab some dinner before our first of three flights. We head to London, then South Africa and into Lilongwe, Malawi.
Tonight has been hard. I'm not feeling fully one emotion or another I think I'm just fully overwhelmed and feeling a total release at the same time... if that's possible. There has been so much planning and preparation that is finally over. Some loose ends may not have tied up but at 2:30 tomorrow things will have to work out without me. I wish I could just fast forward to when we will be in country. Too bad it doesn't work that way! I know though that God is using each step of this process to mold me into a woman of strong character and that it is all a part of the journey He intends for me. God is good.
This will be my last post for 2-4 like I said before. Again, thanks so much for all your prayers and support. You are precious to me and I value your support tremendously!

the countdown begins!

2007-06-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was spent entirely on preparing 6 50lb boxes full of supplies for our team to take over to Malawi! It was crazy but a good day spent with my teammate Dan and really helped me feel the reality of the trip!
We leave San Diego about 3pm on friday and our plane leaves from LA to London at 9pm! My roommate and good friend's mom is here right now and she helped me roll my clothes last night for packing. Im so stoked to see what God is going to do in Malawi but at the same time totally overwhelmed by it! He IS good and that's the bottom line so we'll see what comes!
Amy (my sister in law) got back from Sierra Leone, Africa on saturday. She posted all her pictures online! I looked at every one and they got me all excited to go! My way is fully paid (thank you a million times to you guys who sacrificed to make this happen!) our house is secure for when I return and I have all of you guys, a great team and our HUGE God on my side! What else could a girl traveling across the world ask for?!
When I arrive safely in Malawi (possibly before) I will be able to make one phone call. I will call my mom who will call my brother who will post on this blog for me. He will be my contact for the rest of my trip. I will email him and he will post the email on here for all of you to read! This is the way COTN wants us to communicate with home. Please continue checking and lifting us up in prayer!
Here are some things on my prayer list...
Safe travel and ease with customs and what not (we'd like to keep all of our bags and supplies)
That our hearts would be prepared for what is to come
For the hearts of the people we will encounter in Malawi- that they will be soft and drawn to God's heart
Physical safety and healthy bodies
For you guys and my family (general safety, health and well being but that my family especially doesn't feel anxious but can trust fully in the Lord's provisions... easier said than done, yea?)
Thanks again for all your love, support, and prayers! They are very precious to me! It makes it a million times easier to go knowing I have so many people praying for me here!

a great end and a better beginning

2007-06-15T22:57:00.000-07:00

As is the story of my life- I moved... again. Sarah and I are staying at our good friend Mailes for the end of June and the beginning of July. Sarah, Kara, Brittni and I start renting at our new house July 15th! Horray! Two GREAT friends Mark and Tyrone will move my stuff while I'm in Africa so I can come home to my own house! Thanks boys! ... er big strong men.
Tomorrow is my last day of work at Polinsky as a student worker (an important distinction because I applied to work the same job in a different position when I get back from Africa). I turned in my uniform and my key. The women in my cottage (and Mr. Steve) threw me a pot luck during our monthly staff meeting today. There are some of the most inclusive and loving women I've ever met. I have absolutely loved working with them and I will miss them greatly! Because the women are all from different countries we had quite the collection of food! It just geared me up for new African foods! From the pot luck I brought home a sticky rice/seafood (i think...)/chicken/sweet raisin dish thing miss melen made (she's from the Phillipines), a Philippino fruit dessert/coconut milk thing miss loida made, a tamale from miss consuelo and a homemade dessert tamale (pineapple) from miss myrna, an overnight staff. So fun! Polinsky has given awesome experience in the system, gave me a more realistic view of the world, given me endless people skills and allowed me to give my heart to countless children. I totally appreciate my time there!
The countdown for africa is t minus one week... or something like that. I leave a week from today on June 22nd at 11pm out of LA. After I finish at Polinsky I have 5 days to get ready (packing, planning, errands, prayer and thought). I'm stoked to have a little down time!
Amy, my sister in law gets back in the states tomorrow! I'm excited to hear about her trip!
I'm headed to bed (a common activity after blogging) because we have a support breakfast for the team in the morning and then I work from 2-10. I'm enjoying living with Maile, trying to see as many people as I can and attempting to prepare for who knows what!
OH! And... great news! I have reached my support goal! My friend Curt called to see if he could help me out with my trip and his contribution will complete my payments! Thanks for all your support! I love you guys!

The Calm Before the Storm

2007-06-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was my party! So fun! What a blessing to have so many people that love me and support me! It was a blast seeing everyone- I wish I could have spent more time talking with each of you! Thanks for coming and for helping with the last bit I need to raise! I'm only a few hundred dollars short now! Score! Here are some pictures from the party...
Paul, Chrissy, April and Laura chatting in the sun room.

These are my beloved Battenfields +1 -2. Josh and Julie we missed you! I have LOVED watching the Batts grow... ew... I sound old... but it's true! Josh and Ben are taller than me and quite the gentlemen (but mostly cool). Abby (blue suit) got old instantly with her deceiving bangs and I think might be more mature than me. I didn't think it was possible but Anna (pink suit) is getting sweeter and more gentle as she grows up. Ellie (purple) is as pure, transparently beautiful and just as fun as ever! Scott and Julie thanks for being great models of a Christ-like family and for treating me as one of your own. I love you guys!

My cousin Julia stayed for most of the party and for a while after! So good! I miss her like crazy when I'm in SD and can't wait to spend time with her! She's such an encouragement and just so much fun! Love you J!

As my sister in law Amy is in Sierra Leone, Africa with COTN I get to be in Sac with my brother and nephew! We're missing Amy a lot but I'm loving the time with Noah and Andrew! It's been a slow week- what a change! It's nice to just relax, nap with Noah and visit with nor cal friends and family.

This is Noahs response when you ask him, "How big is Noah?" After he puts his arms up every adult in the room squeels, "SO BIG!" and claps. It's more like Noahs trick to get the adults to look silly...

He's just cute. It's hard to get a picture of him without a finger in the way. He likes to poke the camera.

Here's a praise! Brittni, Kara, Sarah and I have a house for next year in San Diego! It's perfect for us! It's in our price range, a bike ride from Mission Bay, 4 bedrooms and 3 baths, practically brand new, has a spa and is just beautiful! Some friends in San Diego will move us into the house in mid July while I'm in Malawi. I'm stoked that I'll a place to come home to when I return from Africa! Here's the house!

Speaking of Africa... our departure date- June 22nd (I checked) is fast approaching! We're getting final emails and wrapping up lose ends! Crazy! I'm starting to freak out a little considering what it would be like if I died there or decided I never wanted to come back to the states but I every day I'm feeling more ready to go. I think by the time we leave I'll be more than ready and antsy. I have no idea what to expect but I can't wait to embrace what God has in store for me, my teammates, and the nationals.

After Noah wakes up we're going on a La Bou run. I miss La Bou. Thanks everyone for reading this! I really doubted that people did but you all told me you did at the party! Woo!

Remember this is where I will post in Africa so check here for updates! I can start posting two weeks after I arrive.

$641.46

2007-05-27T22:44:00.000-07:00

This morning I felt motivated to check the mail even though checks have stopped coming in and a still have quite a bit of money to raise. In the mail I found a random check from the county (what seems to be a pay check) from last month. weird. How did I survive on my tight college kid budget while not picking up a pay check? The check is for $640 something dollars- more than a regular check because that pay period was Spring Break! The $20 bill is from one of my favorite coworkers whose husband got laid off. He is still looking for work, have two kids and they still managed to give. What selflessness! Miss Emily- thanks for being such a rad example of a giving heart! Mr. County pay man... thanks for mailing me a check that should have just sat in the Polinsky safe until I realized I was missing a paycheck!

This is my crazy room. I'm totally ashamed of it but it fully describes my life right now. Dawn (our roommate that owns our condo) is putting it up on the market. For every day this last week we have had to move in and out of our room and move our furniture around so she could have new floorboards and carpet installed- chaos. I've been dealing with that on top working 8 consecutive 10 hr shifts. LOVE IT! Craziness but Sarah (my roommate/best friend) has been amazing doing all the grunt work while I'm at work. Thanks Sar!

Speaking of how precious Sarah is- i found this note and these movies on my computer after work tonight! She rented some movies for us to watch together! I love her. I also enjoy that right now as I'm writing this blog Sarah peeked out the window (at 11:15pm) and said, "hi stan!" apparently she named the critter (raccoon or whatever) that lives outside our window. That's why we're friends.

Last but not least here is my Africa bag! I'm beginning to pack! Mom took me shopping last weekend and we got almost all my clothes and the stuff I need at Walmart! Moms are the best! I have a huge stash of snacks, all the toiletries and fun things medicines I'll hopefully never use! So fun! It's for real! I'm going to Africa!

I'm off to watch the movie with Sarah! Love you guys!

It happened!

2007-05-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

Finally! I graduated from college on Saturday! It was so fun! I had an awesome weekend with my family! We spent time at the beach, ate good food, hung out with friends and celebrated! Mom and I went shopping and got TONS of stuff for Africa! I have most of the things I'll need over there! How exciting! I'm actually going to go wash it all... I just wanted to post the only pictures (from Andrew's phone) that I have so far because I haven't posted in a while... sorry!

Remember! My party is in a week and a half! Hooray! See you guys June 2nd!

Look at that! A pretty folder with a nice letter in it... don't be fooled. My diploma is in the mail. How anti-climactic.

This is me and my super favorite professor Dr. Hokoda!

mostly pictures

2007-05-12T23:10:00.000-07:00

Tonight I scheduled my last hours working at Polinsky before I leave for Africa. It was exciting but actually pretty sad. I've loved working there. I'm applying for permanent positions there and a social worker position for when I get back. Pray that it all goes smoothly would be GREAT!
My supervisor Miss Edma gave me lots of pointers about applying and the whole county process is general. It was super helpful and so encouraging to know that she's doing her best to help me get hired. She's an awesome supervisor and is totally supportive of my trip! She even sponsored me! Two of my other coworkers have too and they were actually insulted they didn't get their letters sooner. Polinsky has been such a blessing! People ask me about africa every day I'm at work. Residents and staff. I love being able to share the little I know about what's going on there. Half the battle is awareness. Plus (actually not plus... the most exciting thing) is it gives me an opportunity to share about how God lead me there! I get to tell them that I'm not just going to do a good thing but because God loves the people of africa! Don't you love when God comes up in every day conversation. It's like He's totally relevant or something! LOVE IT!

Here are some pictures from Bryan house warming party (he bought it... in san diego... nuts) and our last growth group dinner!

Me, Britt, Dan (africa friend) and bryan... not sure why this was funny... we're ninjas.

Here are Kendra Stacey and I at BJ's for our last dinner. Each of us made one of these to kind of wrap up what God has been teaching us this year. They turned out crazy creative and were a lot of fun to make. It was awesome to listen to each girl describe how they saw God in their lives all year.

Me, Erica, Jill and creepy Kendra outside BJ's waiting for our table.

This the whole group! erica, edge, me, sarah, nsh ("nicole" or whatever her parents named her), jaime, jill, kendra, stacy and sarah in neither row. this is the only picture of all of us we have. these girls have been so encouraging! I've loved being stretched and challenged by them! They are awesome women of the Lord and I'm so stoked to see how they continue to grow!

Brittni and I have been practicing making mean faces since we went to the haunted trail at balboa park. curt showed us up without even trying. dang.

party anyone? hair cut? death by otter pop?

2007-05-10T23:44:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard from the million other ways I've been trying to get the word out...

I'm having a graduation/africa party! Here's the info...

Saturday June 2nd

Open House 11-4pm

We will be BBQing and swimming (among other exciting things)

It's at my moms house (that's in Sac San Diego kids)

6800 Lonicera dr.

Orangevale, Ca. 95662

R.S.V.P. to my mommy (Nancy) or the grama (myrtle) at 916 721 8035

... but let's be honest if you don't r.s.v.p. it's no big deal just don't eat ;)

Come! I'd love to see you all! Some of my wonderful Growth Group girls are coming from the bay area, old friends, old Bible study leaders (can't wait to see you Amy!), family... it's gonna be insane!

On to more pressing news... i got my hairs cut (yes dad, all of them). i know... thrilling.

These are some pictures from our last community group :( We just hung out and ate otter pops and cookie dough. Everyone wrote in rad journals that Kelly made us and then prayed for us. It was an awesome time to see everyone before they all leave for the summer (um... sad). I've been so encouraged and blessed by being a part of this college ministry. I've learned the meaning of community like never before! This group is seriously my little (or 65 member) San Diego family. Without further blabbing here are the pictures...

This is Jill, me, Erica and EJ at community group "africa night". They are some of my "babies" as we've dubbed them. That means they're in my growth group I lead- they call me momma. sometimes momma man p. I love em. Erica will spend the summer in Chicago doing urban missions and EJ will be in Costa Rica on summer project! They make a momma proud. We had a fantastic end of the year dinner tonight... pictures to come.

I just like this picture of me and EJ "edge"... mostly i like the otter pop. mmm. blue.

Here we have Matt, Brittni, Jeremiah, Mark, Justin, me and Kelly in the front. This is the our community group leadership team. "The Fam" as we affectionately refer to ourselves. Brittni is one of my best friends down here and a future rommie. Mark is... well... they're all great friends and Jeremiah will sit next to me on a plane for 36 hours. Yes ladies and gentlemen... we're going to africa together... again, thank you uncle roger for the mp3 player!

This is my journal! Love it!

Kelly brought us (J-my, Dave who is going to uganda for 3 weeks and me) up to talk about our trips. This is a regular face of Jeremiahs and I was choking on my otter pop (the second or third one... i lost count) promise I wasn't moved to tears although that is not unusual for me.

Brittni voted the seniors (brittni me and mark) make a wow face. mark didn't get it at first and i had problems not laughing.

Last thing I have to say is I'm about $900-1,000 away from my goal still. I'm still praying God will provide like He has in CRAZY ways already!

I love you guys!

I've never seen a U-haul behind a hearse

2007-05-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

Last night at Flood Matt gave a sweet sermon called "Turn or Burn: Is Hell Real?" *hint: blog title* We're in a series called (Know) Doubt. We've been tackling intense issues that are important but rarely talked about it the church. If you're interested check out the mp3s on our website!
The message titles are...
"Buddha to Jesus: Aren't All Religions the Same?"
"Good God!: Does God Cause Pain?"
"Fact or Fiction: Can I Trust the Bible?"
and in a few weeks we have, "Wars and Women: Is Christianity Oppressive?"
"Straight and Narrow: Is Jesus the Only Way?"
I love it! I can't wait! I have really enjoyed the message series... just wanted to share! What hit me most last night was when Matt was explaining how Hell is an example of God's love for us. Sounds weird, right? Some people say if God was such a loving God He would make everyone go to heaven. But here's Matt question... how much does love mean if there's no cost? If God paid no price for us to spend eternity with Him then cool, whatever, everything is hunky dory. BUT! I love this part! He didn't! He paid hell for us! How do you know love it true? When it has been tested and proved true. God paid Hell for us because He longs for us to be with Him that much! Love it! Fear of fire doesn't bring about the kind of heart change that God's all about- experiencing His immense love does! I want to be a person moved by His love!

Woo... I get all excited thinking about that but I'll try to calm down and give you an update...
We had an Africa meeting last night. We talked about our strengths and reviewed a couple devotionals about servant hood. Next week we're washing each others feet- intense servant hood! I'm stoked! I've never done it before! (I give lots of baths at work but this is quite different)
Checks have pretty much stopped coming in and I still need a little over $1,000. That's not a lot compared to what I've been blessed with already but daunting considering how much I have in my bank account. Provisions will come! He's been faithful so far!
That's about all for now... I'm going to go do a little work on my huge 590 paper (a research paper on autism and sensory integration... sounds like a blast huh?) before I have lunch shop for a graduation dress with maile... ill let you know how things turn out ;)

5 days of college left!

2007-04-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

It's true! Finals start a week from wednesday! Class is canceled monday which means only five days of classes! Horray! I have two finals on thurday the 10th, an in class memo and an exam in Intro to Counseling. Could be worse! I'm in the midst of two papers- one is pretty short and insignificant but it's taking some time becuase it's research based and the other is supposed to be 20-15 pages and also researched based. Regardless... I'll get there and each day the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter!

Also! An old old family friend just found me on myspace! It was so fun to look at her pictures and some what catch up with her.
I got the first big batch of thank you letters and graduation party announcements out! Horray! What a relief!

This our community groups last meeting together for the semester and it's really sad! I have loved serving in the group and watching God bless the ministry!

We're getting a little stressed about the living situation for the summer and next year. We have girls to live with but Dawn (our current roomie) is selling the place we live in and the other girls we want to live with are stuck in their leave til August. It's just silly logistics that God will work out and we'll look back and laugh at how stressed we were about it. Still though some prayer that that works out and that we are calm and smart about it would be great!

I'm going to get to bed so I can be rested for tomorrow!

I love you guys!

These are two of the girls I'll be living with next year! Just so you can put some faces to prayers... this is Brittni and Kara. They've been a huge blessing in my life! They're awesome friends and awesome women of the Lord! Brittni is going to grad school next year at SDSU in speech language pathology and Kara has another semester at State in Statistics. She works for the Padres right now and wants to do stats for baseball! Love them!

Strengths... found!

2007-04-22T22:37:00.000-07:00

One of our homework assignments from last week's Africa meeting was to take the Gallop's Strength Finders Test. Drum roll please... here are the results...

1. Woo "Winning others over"
I love meeting new people, finding common ground and engaging in conversation. As the book defines this strength, "There are new people to meet, new rooms to work, new crowds to mingle in. In your world there are no strangers, only friends you haven't met yet- lots of them." Can I get an amen?

2. Strategic

This one means that I like to make sense out of confusion. I like to take chaos, create a strategy and go for it. "Select and Strike" as the book calls it.

3. Beleif

Apparently I have core beleifs that are "eduring". These beleifs make me family-oriented, altruistic, responsible and mean I hold high ethics. My work must mesh with my values and it must be meaningful and matter to me. hm... looks like I'm in the right field!

4. Arranger

I am a multi-tasker and a conductor. I "jump into the confusion, devising new options, hunting for new paths of least resistance, and figuring out new partnerships- becuase, after all, there might just be a better way". Sounds like it compliments strategic well.

5. Communication

My "word pictures pique people's interest, sharpen their world, and inspire them to act" eep. big shoes to fill, huh? It means I love public speaking, hosting, explaining and describing. accurate.

And my friends... as promised... a picture of the team! It's not a good picture but at least my camera took the picture before one of it's spasms.

Left to right- back row: Dan, Kelsey, me, Mawi, Kelly, Jeremiah

Left to right- front row: Angie and Ruby

google maps

2007-04-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

Some of my team memebers suggested checking this out... I thought you guys might enjoy it!
It's a google satalite map of Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. It doesn't look much like a capital though. Apparently Lilongwe is more like a region not a city. The area Ill be living and working in is like a sub section of Lilongwe.
Enjoy the map!

cheap tickets... score!

2007-04-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

Last night we had our culture night for the Malawi and Uganda teams! We did an activity where we examined our own background and learned that we can't really make an assumptions about where people come from. We also talked about how each person has a unique story and how ridiculous it is to assume we are all the same. This is all a common theme in my major so I hear it often but it's so sweet to talk about it in a spiritual context!
We ate a bunch of Malawian and Ugandan food to prepare ourselves. I think I'll survive. Ruby says the first couple weeks will the hardest in regards to food becuase every new person we meet will want to cook for us. Corrie Klekowski says all the food made by the locals will have "bone chips" in it. lovely. There was a pretty good peanut soup thing that i mixed rice and black beans into. It turned out pretty good! I was very happy to see that cheese sandwiches (white bread and a kraft single) and fruit salad (mangos, bananas, and apples) were Malawian! Apparently though the interns generally cook for themselves.... this is good news for my digestive system! I am a little worried about continual headaches from the amount of onion and pepper that was in each dish but that's survivable!
My team dropped from 12 members to 9. The size feels more managable and actually I'm stoked becuase that means more intimate friendships! Woo! Ruby is doing an awesome job with keeping all the logistic stuff in line. I'm so glad she'll be there with us!
Oh! Cheap tickets... go figure I got distracted... focus amanda... Flood was able to get our plane tickets for about 600 or 700 less than expected which means the total amount I need to raise is lower! Ruby will get us a more accurate number but Im guessing I only need to raise about 1500 more! Awesome! Thanks again to everyone who has already given! I'll keep you updated and I'm be working on those thank you's!
I'm sitting at our condo waiting for my new computer to come! Horray! I'm going to go and work on graduation announcments, party invitations and thank you notes!
Thanks again for being such a blessing in my life and for your support! I can feel it!

2,000 to go!

2007-04-12T18:41:00.000-07:00

I am OH SO HAPPY to report that I almost to my goal!
I just totaled everything including what FPC is sending and I have a total of 3,250! That means just about 2,000 left! God is good!
I am in the middle of catching up on a bunch of Africa homework that I missed while I was in Mexico! I have a bio to write, some study of culture and some other stuff to get done. Hopefully I'll have some time tomorrow to work on it too.
Next week I have it in my calander to work on thank you notes and graduation announcments! Excpet those in the mail in a few weeks!
I am off to continue my Africa homework and to get ready for Bible study! My girls will be here soon!
As soon as my new computer comes Ill be able to upload pictures and I promise to get some your way!
Amanda

The No Computer Woes

2007-04-09T09:11:00.000-07:00

Sorry friends! I know it's been a while since I've posted but I have been without a computer for quite some time. Good news though! A computer is in the mail on the way to San Diego for me to post my little heart out on. Don't you worry Nina... the posts will continue! Okay... here are the updates!
I just spent an amazing week with my students from Roseville back in my second home, Ensenada Mexico. My team spent the week working and ministering at a childrens mission called Mision Las Lomitas. It's a small mission from a large church in Ensenada. I got to see a ton of kids I had met last year, that's one of the best feelings in the world. I was an official translator which was super crazy. I was pretty positive I was completely incapable but as always God provided. He gave me the words and the childrens program went just great! The last day of our program I had an awsome time helping the kids understand the concept of the Holy Spirit. By the end the were practically yelling to me precious answers like, "He is with us! He helps us! He guides us!" We were able to repaint a mural for the mission, paint over some graffiti, let the children help put a person touch on the site and build a retaining wall to make the mision a safer place for the kids to play. The students were responsive, the adults were selfless. I love this trip.
Before I left for Mexico I you guys made it possible for me to meet my first financial goal on my way to Africa! Flood needed at least $1500 to purchase our plane ticket. I am happy to report I turned in a total of over $2000! I am a little over a third of the way to the total! I haven't been home in over a week so I look forward to seeing what arrived while I have been out of the country.
Let me tell you that fundraising for this trip has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life. I understand the this is the Biblical method of missionary and I love giving to others who are going but manis it hard to be on the receiving end! Every letter I open I think to myself, "you shouldn't have" or "this was too much". I am loving the somewhat painful experience of remember that giving is joyful and that the money isn't ours to begin with and that it's not going to me it's going to the children and to furthering the Kingdom. Regardless, thank you a million times for your faithfulness. You guys mean the world to me.
I'll post again when I return to San Diego and get everything sorted out.
My mom and I watched this video on the COTN website. It's awesome! It talks about Malawi and the work COTN does there. Check it out!
http://cotni.org/29-malawi

It's happening!

2007-03-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

It's real! Within the last two days I've recieved 11 letters back with a total of over $600! It's so exciting! I'm stoked- it's feeling more and more like the trip is actually happening! (It is happening... it's just hard to feel connected with the reality of it because Africa and our departure date are so far away). I am preparing to help lead the Mexico mission trip with First Pres. Roseville! I can't wait to see all of the students and get back into that Mexican dirt! God has been opening doors... actually flinging them open and pushing me through with this trip so I'm so excited to see what happens! We leave March 31, I'll let you know after Easter!
I off for a late late dinner and bed early! Tuesdays are long ones for me and wednesdays are awesome but even longer!
Thanks again so much for your support! God is really showing me through the humbling experience of raising support how much He has blessed me with a rad support system! I really appriciate you!
Amanda

letters letters letters

2007-03-05T15:07:00.000-08:00

Hi friends! I'm working hard on my support letters so this will be short! Thanks so much for being faithful friends!
We had our meeting last night and it was great! Super legistical but great none the less! We got the number... $5,300. Seriously it freaks me out but I trust in God and His ability to provide! If He wants me to go He will provide the means, right? There are twleve rad college kids on my team. Im stoked to get to know them better! Ill try to post a picture of all of us for you guys to see. I know a handful of them already but most of the team is new to me! Horray! I love new friends! Everyone was pretty shy and a little hesitant but I'm sure we'll be comfortable with everyone in no time!
Our mission became more clear last night although we will always be flexable. We will be helping COTN expand their ministry into a neighboring villiage. To do this they need to identify enough orphans to justify their expansion... thats where we come in! As of now we will be living in straw huts and scouring the villiages to meet orphans! Meeting people... nothing makes me more excited! In the middle of our two month trip a team from Flood will come and they will be our man power to put on a week long camp for the orphans we have met!
Ill keep you guys updated... thanks for reading this and for investing in me, this trip and the orphans of Malawi.
P.S. The pictures on my support letter are actually children in COTN villiages... precious huh?!
Thanks again!
I love you guys!

Welcome!

2007-02-23T22:29:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Thanks for joining me in my new adventure in blogging! Props to the Pray's, Kate, and Jeremiah for the inspiration. This is how I will keep my friends and family (that's you!) updated on my life... more specifically- my trip to AFRICA this summer! I'll let you know about the plans, the process, fundraising, pictures, meetings, prayer requests, praises, my feelings... well everything! So here we gooooo!
Latest News:
Our first team meeting with Children of the Nations is March 4th
After much prayer and agony my talk with my supervisor at Polinsky (work) went GREAT! I can "flex" and work fridays instead of Sundays on the days we have meetings! Awesome! God has yet again provided!
I will start working on support letters soon and they'll be on your way in no time!