Savoring Each Moment

I have found these last few weeks to be extremely busy, but also wonderful.  I have enjoyed the time I have spent with good friends.  I cherish these opportunities as in a few months I will be leaving these friends behind (in location) and living closer to my friends in Kazakhstan.  For the last several months I have been thinking, "just a few more weeks and things will slow down and I will be able to get into a routine".  Well, this week I came to realization that this will likely not happen until I am back in Kazakhstan and summer is over.  I only have about two months to develop any routine before I start visiting with people one last time before flying to Kaz.  For my own sanity, I will need to develop some basic routines for the coming weeks, but I will also have to hold them loosely as last minute things come up.  

The plan is for me to return to Kazakhstan mid-April.  This leaves two and a half months to finish preparations, complete and ESL course, raise additional support, purchase plane tickets, apply for visas, complete my grad school class, see everyone, and a million other things.  In some ways this seems like a long time, but I know these months will fly by.  

As I look at the upcoming months, I have to remind myself to live in the moment.  My desire is that I would enjoy each day thoroughly for what that day brings.  I don't want to rush through this time and plan to spend time savoring each moment.  I know I will need God's help to do this.  I look forward to the moments of joy and surprise He is going to bring my way over the next few months.  

Here are some things I have been up to these first few weeks of the new year

• Time in Muncie catching up with friends
• Training the new staff person in the Interlink office that will be responsible for delegations
• Giving an in-depth training of the database that Interlink uses
• Preparing details for a Kids Connection Drive taking place in Lynchburg.  We had 18 new sponsors sign up during our first week of the drive.  Our goal is to find sponsors for all the remaining children at Ulan Orphanage. 
• Creating a video to highlight Ulan Orphanage and the need for sponsors
• Finished approximately 2/3rds of a course that will prepare me to teach English.  
• Spent a week with a friend in the hospital.  My shift was the night shift.  We had fun laughing, talking, taking walks, going exploring in wheelchairs, chasing off doctors and nurses, and causing mischief in the midst of a challenging hospital stay.  She will hopefully get to go home today.  
• Finishing assignments and my first test for my grad school class this spring
• Catching up with my host home and friends in Lynchburg

Thanks for your prayers as I face the busyness of these next few months.