fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la

I know. it is soooo not Christmas. but i was just thinking of all of the great gifts i have been given.

yes, some of them came in wrapped packages with bows and bags.

but most of them....

i did not have to unwrap. [God is going green]

these past few weeks i have been reflecting on my life. i am again at a cross roads, a point of decision, a fork in the road, a do-or-die [a bit dramatic maayyybe.]

as i pray and worry, and pray and worry, and try to decide where to put my foot next, i can't help but think about how good my life is. i mean really. it is the best.

take my average Sunday morning
10:10 am - alarm sounds-push snooze
10:15 am - alarm sounds again, get up
10:17am - coat and shoes over pjs, do not brush teeth [yet]
10:18am - walk roughly 40 steps to the north, enter St. Paul's Newman Center
10:19am - drop $1 in the little basket, take one steaming home made caramel roll of the counter
10:20am - skip 40 steps south to my house
10:21am - sit on the couch and eat my caramel roll
10:24 am - two options [1] climb back in bed [2] stay on couch with coffee and read and chat with roommates

i mean really? it is rough. and that is only 14 minutes out of my entire week. it only gets better.

i also have THE BEST friends in the whole world. no joke. i love them.

oh.and earlier this week - as i was driving home from a meeting, i saw a freestanding porch swing on the side of the road. found two nice boys, with a truck. and it now sits in my backyard.

don't get me wrong -- there are bad days in this life of mine. but i promise, if you take a look around you, a few deep breaths and go out and get your self some good old fashion perspective, you too will begin to see the millions of blessings, miracles, and little ways that Jesus takes care of you.

so as i continue on this journey called life, and wait to see what adventures my Jesus has planned for us next, i get that nervous/excited butterfly-ish feeling in my guts. because i know that He has something BIG planned. something far beyond my awesome imagination, and if His next gifts are half as good as his old ones. . . i might explode.

i'm baaaa--aaaaack.

so. blogging. it really is a strange thing. i mean, i am basically addicted to several other blogs on the interweb --- truly, i can barely get to sleep with out knowing what funny thing nienie's kids said today, or what fun project these two are up to. i do have a great life of my own, i am not living vicariously through these little websites...really.

it is actually just fun. it reminds me of when you read a really great novel. i mean REALLY great. the kind where the characters become your friends. as you find your self getting closer to the end of the book -- you read just a little slower, and a little slower, until you are reading at a first grade speed just to savor those last few moments together. [has this ever happened to you? or am i just a freak?] when you finally read that last word your heart sinks. bittersweet. you wonder -- what are they doing now? what am i going to do without them tomorrow?


this is like blog reading -- but the people in these stories are real -- and they keep going -- and tomorrow, or if they get behind, the day after tomorrow, they will have more to tell you [and the 4 million other people who read their blog] and if you really wanted to, you could get in your car and drive to their house. provided you knew their address and you called ahead to ask if you could come over, and they weren't totally creeped out by their super blog fan.

but anyhow -- i do not attempt to place myself on the pedestal next to these great bloggers i love. i just want to share parts of my heart and my head with whoever has time to receive them. and really, i think that blogging is more for the bogger [me], than the bloggee [you].

therefore, this post shall serve as the second, okay, third attempt at becoming a blogger. I do not promise daily updates, or always mindblowing bits of wisdom -- but i do promise to share bits of myself, what and who i love, how i live, and the hilarious things that happen during it all. see you soooon.

picture taken from http://cuarts.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/blogging.jpg

i knew this was going to happen

Soooo....no one is really shocked by the fact that it has been almost four months since my last posting....

but none the less, i haven't forgotten my hope of being a "blogger." With all of the time i spend reading other, more dedicated people's blogs -- one would hope that i have collected enough inspiration to press on with my own.

so here i go -- i hope to get the word out on this soon and in my next newsletter so that the hope of an actual audience of readers will encourage me to write.

I have lots of great "mission tales" to share -- and hope for many more to come...

so. Stay tuned!

the newest fargo family

I would like to proudly announce the newest FOCUS FARGO FAMILY!!

FOCUS TEAM NDSU 2009-2010

from left to right :

Justin and Hanna Pieper and almost one year old Xavier
they hail from Nebraska and are a GIFT to my life.
Tim Olson
He will serve with us for the first semester. two words: hil-arious.
Lucas Martin
Self-proclaimed "cattle kid" aka skinny cowboy, Illinois born and raised
Yours truly
unworthy, super excited Team Director. watch out NDSU
Melissa Weeder
the newest member of the fam. Nebraska bred, kind as a kitten.

There you have it folks. learn to love them -- you will hear much about them before this blog runs dry.

Monday....monday

so blogging huh. . .

weird. mostly because i have yet to send out the web address to anyone. [pause to add that to my to do list]

Monday. poor thing. it always gets a bad rap. my monday however redeemed itself in a big way.

Today at FOCUS Summer Training we had the pleasure of listening to the wisdom of Dr. Edward Sri, professor of scripture and theology -- walk us through Salvation History -- aka Genesis to Jesus. woof. 5 hours of mind blowing info.

Catholics are often attached to the stereotype of not knowing scripture very well --- we here at FOCUS are out to break the trend. This is the fourth time i have heard a similar presentation on the Bible -- and the fourth time i have had my mind blown. amazing. I am re-inspired to dive deep and learn more about OUR STORY.

Growing up i learned about Noah, and Moses, and David, and red water, plagues of frogs, and other cool Bible stories -- but i couldn't tell you who came first, why the frogs, or anything else. Knowing the order and the why changes EVERYTHING. Realizing that the story does not end with Jesus, but barely begins and that WE are living in the story -- -i mean i could just on and on and on. . . . . .

but since no one is reading this anyway. . . ha.

conquering fears one...word... at... a.... time....

Here we go...

truthfully i have been wanting to start a blog for sometime now. it always seemed like a fun way to share your life with others. being away from home and running around America with the title "Catholic Missionary" tacked before or after your name -- makes for some fun and interesting adventures.

this will hopefully provide a fun record for myself of the fun times i have -- and a way to invite you along. a journal to share. i was visiting my dear cousin Amy yesterday and after seeing her fun blog, i was re-inspired to start this up. The first time is always the scariest. it seems so permanent. maybe i have conquered in a small way my fear of commitment :) who i am kidding. there is totally a delete feature on here!

see ya soon.