bits and pieces

so i wont go into extreme detail (the only person who would be interested in that would be Leah and maybe Rolla, and i already spoke with them (: ) but here are some highlights:
-travelling with amy was full of laughter (: and i loved it!
-when we arrived at the airport in lima and no one was there to pick us up amy and i stood in front of about 100 people or maybe more and waited for our names to be called out and she said "i prepared myself for this, this is the worst case scenerio, if no one is here by 3am i am busting out my guitar and you are going to preach and we are going to have a revival right here."
-when we were learning about God's love and reef (4 year old) learned that God loves you even when you lie, he was shocked and it was awesome (:
-anytime a baby fell asleep in your arms or a little one wanted a hug (:
-anytime a parent thanked me for being there
-the way the kids LOVED the crafts and remembered the lessons
-hiking up a desert mountain
-trying ceveche and cow heart for the first time
-realizing that i am a fan of committment, i often believe the lie that i dont committ or i shy away from committment, thats not true, the opposite is true. i am kind of like "hi my name is danielle, want to be best friends forever?" and then i stick to it. i was sad to leave those families and still miss them. i am thankful for a heart like that.
-read Psalm 16:5-6 and Psalm 119:111 i was overwhelmed by the fact that i have a new inheritance in the Lord and that my earthly inheritance is beautiful because it is what the Lord has used to bring me to Himself.
thanks for reading (:
my next trip is to LA and then back to uganda (:

peru peru

so thus far we have totally been on vacation. amy and i arrived in the airport around 12am sunday morning. we went through immigration and customs very smoothly. we walked through security for the last time and waited for someone to call out our name. and we waited, and waited, and waited. we watched people reunited with their loved ones, people meet taxi drivers, people look a little shell shocked and find taxis. and we waited and waited. finally at 1 we called the guest house and found out that the listro´s flight was late and that they would be landing in about 30 minutes and we were going to hook up with them and get a ride to our hotel. so we waited some more.
we hooked up with the listro gang (mom dad and 5 kids). we completely loaded down a van and rode the 15 or so minutes to the guest house where we dropped off everyone but christian (dad) and then rode the 3 minutes to our hotel.
it was pretty hilarious to see amy´s reaction to the room. it was really nice, in peruvian standards.
we are currently waiting for the bus to come get everyone and take us to the hotel where the conference will be.
more to come!

packing

ugh packing...a necessary evil. getting ready to leave tomorrow! cross another continent off my list (:

gearing up

wow it seems like a million years since i have posted anything! God is so good and has already begun to fill 2010 with new adventures.
i am currently preparing to leave feb. 27th to volunteer at the South America Mission Conference in peru. my pastor, skip macmillan, was asked to teach at the 5 day conference and he asked me and a team of people to come help with worship and childcare, obviously i am helping with childcare (: we are putting together a vbs-ish program for the kids.
i used skip's notes and made lessons that correlate with what he is teaching
day 1 the 4 kinds of love (greek words)
day 2 receiving God's love
day 3 loving God
day 4 loving others
we also need to come up with crafts if anyone has any ideas.

this is for michelle (:

so i am not in another county, although it sometimes feels like it, i am in the big apple (: it has been a great visit so far. catherine came and picked me me from the airport (a little gulu speak for you) and we rode the bus to her beautiful and spacious place in the city where we were soon greeted by amy collins and trisha (both from uganda) and another of catherines friends and we all had delicious chicken tacos together and caught up. then easter sunday we got up and had a glorious breakfast and went to her church to celebrate the resurrection. it was great. the service was much more traditional with readings and such than eternal but it was beautiful and the people were so lovely and welcoming. then we just walked around all day and toured the city, went through the park, and chatted. one of our favorite things to do is to speak gulu speak to eachother. every now and again i will throw a "thank you please" or she will say "even for me" and it is great cause we both bust out laughing. we also have a million inside jokes that keep us laughing all day.
last night after dinner we went to a hip hop club where they have an open mic night every sunday night called E O Dub (End of the Week) it was pretty cool to be seeing the underground hip hop scene first hand. we went to hear dujeous which was sort of a featured guest for the night. it was a lot of fun. i was surprised at how many different kinds of people were there. that is one thing i love about this city, there are all kinds of different people.
today we plan to go to Fire Island and see the beach and have a yummy lunch somewhere and then head back to the city for sushi and a movie.
tomorrow i get to see margot!! (:
one thing that has been really neat for me is just remembering that God is everywhere and no matter if i am on a plane to another country or just another state He is with me and He is the same. Catherine and I have been talking a lot about trust and the freedom in trust and what it means to really trust. And as usual whenever we share about our lives i am constantly reminded of the ABSOLUTELY AMAZING community of people i am surrounded by daily at home and cant help but sing out in praise to my Father for blessing me that way.

recent thought

i was emailing trisha my pabo sister and would love to hear feedback from this idea (especially you teacher exchange kids)
i do get sad when i think about the lack of community in some parts of my life but i just take it as a challenge to foster it where i can. the more i am away the more i realize what amazing people God has surrounded me with and it makes me want to take advantage of all the time i can to be around them and to learn from them and to serve and love them.

traveling home

so my journey home started with a 4 am wake up at the hotel. we finished up packing and left by 5. we got to the ferry a little early, around 630 and it left at 730. as you sat down in the ferry they handed out cavaras (little plastic bags) to ralph in because the 2 hour ride was pretty heinous. i just kept thanking God that i didnt have to do this often. luckily i met a nice canadian girl and she shared her fresh ginger with me. that and a piece of gum helped me not have to use my baggie. she shared my taxi and we found a bank for her to get money at and then sat at the airport for hours. my flight left at 530. i flew to dubai and had just a two hour layover and headed to the states. the flight was ok, i got to see a couple movies which was nice and i slept a good bit. i had a pretty long layover in jfk but i met some girls who had been in sudan. it was fun to talk to them and share stories. it was also great to talk about the work we had been doing and sort of problematize things together. the flight to charlotte was super short and i was greeted by some of my favorite people in the whole world.
it was much different coming home this time. i was ready to be with people. i think i felt a little too ready and didnt rest enough because i got pretty sick tues - fri but i luckily felt better by sat and had a great welcome home / house warming party where i got to see more of my favorite people.
something i am still chewing on and would love feedback about:
so i must say that i miss africa but i am ridiculously blessed by my family here in the states. you ladies are amazing and my eternal family rocks my face off. i am just swimming in love and blessings these days. the thing that hit me this year in africa was not only accepting but embracing the fact that God gives us just enough for today. that manifests itself in so many ways. we can be free to love and serve and give our whole selves because we know that He will replenish us, we dont have to worry about tomorrow or hold on to yesterday and can live in the present, it necessitates a dependence on Him that i know i would not otherwise do naturally, it makes it impossible for us to take the glory and honor for the blessings in our lives and protects us from taking too much of the burden of the trials and hardships in our lives, and so many other things...