Roommates!

Believe it or not I am no longer living alone.

At first the idea of having 6 housemates (including 1 roommate) kinda freaked me out but as these 5 weeks have passed I have decided that living with 6 other girls isn't so bad.

This is what I enjoy about them:

1. There is always someone home to talk to or play games with
2. There are people around to have movie marathons with
3. There is always food in the fridge (and ice cream in the freezer)
4. The house is generally clean
5. There are late night gab sessions (usually interfering with sleep hours but always worth it)
6. There are unexpected surprises, laughter and hugs
7. There are lots of good stories to be told

So here are my roomies...I will introduce them to you from left to right:


Renee - She is working at the CGO in the publishing department. She was a missionary in Ukraine for 5 years and is originally from Michigan.

Helen - She is also working at the CGO but in HivHope. She lived in Kenya for awhile and is now engaged to be married to a cool guy here at NMSI.

Amy - Affectionately known as "my roomie". She is a true Floridan from Orlando. She is going through the COAT program with me and plans on working at the CGO in the short term missions division.

Jessica - She is on Home Assignment from Kenya where she has lived the last three years. She is originally from Chicago and just moved this week to Wisconsin to do an outdoor missions training for the next 9 months.

Beth - She too works here at the CGO in the publications division. She just moved here permanently from Pennsylvania and was my thanksgiving buddy at my family party.

Jenni - She is going through COAT with me and is planning on moving to Cambodia to rescue girls out of sex trafficking.

A Quote To Think About...

My COAT training has been full of reading...by this I mean up to 5 chapters of reading each night for homework.

One book in particular I have not been to fond of. It is tedious reading that runs around in circles and doesn't really say a whole lot. Today being 300 pages in, I finally found a quote that I highlighted as one I liked and I wanted to share with you all.

"Whatever we "own" is really entrusted to us by God, borrowed and reverently used by us for a time, after which we must let go one way or another - either through giving and sharing or through dying and releasing our former possessions to others. Even the molecules that make up our bodies are on loan to us. One day we will give them all back, rendering an account of how we have used them through time - time also being a precious gift of which we have been made stewards." -Brian McLaren

I liked the reminder that this quote offered....the reminder that earth is our temporary home and that we should live like it.

So often I get caught up in my home, my job, my possessions, my friends, that I forget that it is really God's home, God's job, God's possessions, God's friends.

Nothing really belongs to me, I am just a steward of what He has given to me for a short time.

My prayer is that I steward the things He has given me wisely!

How Big Is My God???

Watch and See...



When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? (Ps 8:3-4)

He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. (Ps 147:4-5)

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Ps 8:9)

Sitting in Silence

Today is a good day. It hasn't been full of extra noise or things to do but it has just been a day to appreciate silence.

This last month has been great but it has been so busy that I have hardly had a chance to breathe. Today I am sitting in my kitchen in silence. My roommates are out and about, the lights are off, the music is off, and its just me.

I am learning to just "be" rather than to be the one that is always "doing". Don't get me wrong...it is not bad to be a doer but it is when it takes over and you can't just sit and enjoy the stillness around you.

So here's to my quiet day...The Lord knew I needed it and I am so glad that He has blessed me with these few hours of silence.

Be still, and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10

Mosquitoes, Mosquitoes, Mosquitoes...

Itch a little, scratch a little...itch a little more!

Each morning I awake to some new mosquito bite some where on my foot or leg...the crazy thing is that they don't start inching until a day or two later but when they do....watch out! The things are about the size of a quarter, with some even bigger and they are driving me crazy!

As of today I have 15 of them but tomorrow I am sure my count will change.

I joked to someone today that NMSI is in a very strategic place for missionaries training to go to Africa...because believe it or not, I think I have been bitten more here in Florida than I have been in Uganda.

The only difference is that I don't need Malaria meds here...or at least not yet!

Any "stop itching fast" remedies out there??? If so...please share!

My Groupies

This is a picture of our COAT group.

We have 4 kids and 19 adults going through this 9 week training. People here come from all over the world.

There are people from Michigan, Ohio, Missouri, Kenya, Mexico and the sorts.

I love the diversity of the group and the diversity of the ministries that we all represent. I am so excited to see God using each and everyone of us to spread the good news.

Over the last few weeks I am getting to know everyone a little bit better and look forward to developing deep relationships here.

Please keep all of us in your prayers as we work, and learn, and grow. Pray for us to take the challenge posed to us to be "open, honest, and vulnerable"

My Schedule

Believe it or not...Florida has not been a vacation.

Each work day (M-F) starts at 8am sharp with a stand up meeting. I am not quite sure of the purpose of this meeting but I know that we literally stand up during it.

At 8:15 we have office devotions in which we read and discuss a passage of text together.

At 9am we start all of our official COAT activities. This is different on each day but so far we have been having orientation meetings to find out everything that happens at NMSI. There are spiritual formation classes, perspective classes, financial stewardship classes, international division meetings, technology orientations, media orientation and much, much more.

We have an hour lunch and then end the "work" day around 5.

After the day at the office is finished we then have homework to accomplish before the next business day.

Here is a picture of some of my new homework books (and books I brought in hopes of reading) for the next two months:

let's just say....I'm busy but love it and am learning ALOT! I am just hoping that I have enough room in my brain to hold all my new knowledge!

Our Field Trip to ECHO

Yesterday we went on a field trip to a place called ECHO. Their goal is to try and stop world hunger. They have a super cool farm in which they try and re-create the different climates and growing patterns around the world. They have plants from around the world and experiment with products that you would not normally expect.

For instance, below are large drums filled with cow manure and water. These drums are connected to a gas skillet and the fumes from the manure mixture give off enough gas to cook meals on the skillet for 4 to 6 months...go figure!

Also very fascinating are some of the planting environments...these plants below look like any other flowers you or I may grow but believe it or not they do not have any soil...I always thought plants needed sun, soil, water and air to grow...turns out the soil is optional, I saw plants that had carpet as their "soil"! Believe it or not the ones here have soda cans and socks as their "soil"!

Along with the fascinating things I saw, I also had the opportunity to eat many yummy things...like leaves!

Okay...I know it sounds gross BUT did you know that their is a leaf that tastes just like a cranberry! There is also a leaf that tastes like spicy mustard, and still another that is equivalent to drinking 4 cups of milk and 6 oranges. There is also a small tomato that contains 100% of your daily vitamin c...Crazy huh!

My Pumpkin

So Wednesday night was pumpkin carving fun at NMSI and I think my pumpkin rocked!

It is by far the best one I have ever carved.

Here's my masterpiece and no I don't hire out =)














Hope you had a happy halloween!