alive and excited!

hey all!


my apologies on the break between posts. time here goes by fast and all of a sudden i realize i haven't blogged in a while.


well, here i am.
the silent retreat was interesting. it was hard and long and i thought a lot and met God many places.
let me restart; maybe be more coherent.
we began the retreat last thursday around 2pm. the first thing i did was sleep. i was pretty lost as to what to do - because, surprise surprise, i like to talk, but i couldn't. the rest of the day and over the next 48 hours, i proceeded to read many books in the Bible and meet God in a new way there. reading scripture is the spiritual discipline i struggle with the most, and i had prayed that God would meet me in His word in a new way - and guess what? He sure did. it was interesting - and good - to read about our ancestors in faith and all the advice to us from those wiser than i (ie paul's letters)!
during the retreat, God really affirmed that i was made to be with people - i was so drained by the experience of not being able to BE with people. i am definitely extraverted. if anyone ever doubted that.
God also talked to me about surrender - that was cool. surrender is hard, and i think that we all write it off too often. i don't know exactly where God is taking me on that one, but we'll see. life is an adventure.


so that part was the "alive" part of my blog post title. i am alive. i made it through an incredibly long 48 hours of silence and - dare i say it - even enjoyed parts of it.


the excited part is about assignment! i don't know where i'm going yet (I FIND OUT TOMORROW!!!), but they did reveal the almost-firmed other location!
just to refresh your minds, ukraine has been confirmed for a while. a team will definitely be going there.
the other location - which is ONLY 95% CERTAIN, so don't go around quoting that this for sure is an option - is the philippines! wow. so exciting!
when i find out where i'm going and who i'm going with, i'll let you all know. we take our team pictures and Bible verses, as well as make our prayer cards tomorrow too.


as well as being exciting, there are a lot of practical ramifications of finding out my assignment location. i have to get my travel vaccinations, health insurance, and open an international bank account for team finance. this part of this experience is so eye-opening.
i mean, at home i live with my parents where my mum cooks for me and does my laundry most of the time (thanks ma, i love you lots :) ); sometimes i jack the car to go see friends and then i have to pay for gas, but i'm pretty carefree. but now, when i go overseas, i will have to cook, grocery shop, clean, do laundry, etc etc all for myself! i think this may be one of the more stretching parts of trek. we shall see how it goes.


well, our next session speaker has arrived. ciao for now!


lots of love,
tejal :)