In a happy place

I just got back from a short (i.e. under 24 hour) fundraising seminar for the InterVarsity Internship. I must confess, I'm starting to realize just how little I've tried to get people interested in what the Internship has in store for me versus the Kenya Global Project. I guess people are probably just more likely to talk about that since it is 1. coming up sooner and 2. a little more intriguing since it's such a rarity. Still, this weekend really let me get excited about what the Internship will mean, and I'm really glad about that.

I'm also really glad that I got to hang out with 5 other people who are looking to do the same thing. Of course, none of them will be at UNM with me; there is a guy in Mosoula, a guy in Wachovia, and three girls in Boulder, but it was the first time I've really been able to meet other people who are in the same place I am with IV. As a bit of a hindsight I also realized that it was probably the first time I've been this excited about what I'm doing with the Internship since it's the first time I've actually had to think about it more than Kenya. I'm still not really sure why God wants me at UNM for the next year, but I'm really starting to have a passion for that work next year, even if it's not what God has for me for afterward.

Also, for some reason the trip back home was incredibly relaxing, even though my flight was delayed for about an hour and a half. I think it was a lot of things. For one, I've been doing a lot of worrying lately about school, fundraising, graduation, the future, etc., but I didn't really think about much of that this weekend, which was a very nice change from the past month or so. I've always had kind of a head knowledge that God would get me through this time, but I think I'm finally able to believe with my heart and live as if God will get me through this. Sure, there is still a lot that I need to get done before now and when I leave in June, but God knows that I'll get through it ok, so I don't need to worry about it. What an awesome God I serve!

As a bit of an aside, I realized that my default settings only allowed people who have a Blogger account or something related could comment on my posts. If any of you had wanted to before but couldn't, I apologize. You should be able to now.

A little update

Well, I finally got access to view my accounts to see how my fundraising is going. Normally if I was just doing the Kenya Global Project, the money would all come through me, meaning I would do all of my own record keeping and just pass stuff along to those who need it. However, since I'm also doing the Internship, my accounts apparently required a certain amount of sophistication to make sure money goes to the right place, meaning that for a while there I got to live in a bit of "fundraising Purgatory" as the Hope college group dubbed it.

That's all over with now, though, and I'm already excited to see how God has been providing! I haven't gotten a chance to really call anyone up yet to talk to them personally (although some people have called me--thanks for the encouragement!), so I wasn't really sure at all what would have happened, but I actually already received a lot of money for the Kenya GP and some for the Internship as well! In fact, as of writing this, I have $2930 for Kenya and $300 for the Internship, praise the Lord!

So some stuff that you guys could pray for especially for this month:

• Pray, of course, for my preparation for the trip--that I would be ready spiritually, mentally, and physically and that I would be able to raise the prayer and monetary support I need for both the Kenya GP and the Internship.
• Pray that I would meet the fundraising deadline I have coming up: I need to have at least $3200 raised for Kenya before May.
• Pray also for a trip I'll be making next weekend (April 24-25) to Colorado for a fundraising seminar for all of the Interns in the region: that it would go well and be informative and that it wouldn't cut too much into my school work (that's about the time a lot of stuff will be due for me).
• Finally, please pray that I'd be able to finish up the year well. There's only about 5 weeks left before I graduate, but there will be a lot of stuff that has to get done between now and then and won't get too stressed out, but just rely on God's provision.

Thanks again for your support, everyone! I'll try to get out another update soon, hopefully much sooner than the time I waited to write this one... Have a blessed week!