Ben getting married

My brother is tying the knot in three days! I can hardly believe it. I've known it was coming for a long time now but still I can hardly wrap my mind around it. I don't think it's supposed to be that big of a deal, and I mean, people get married all the time, right? Well for some reason I've gotten sort of emotional thinking about it, with a pretty big dose of nostalgia in there, too. In a good way though, I suppose. I just remember playing as kids and all the fun we had. We weren't always each other's most favorite person, but we definitely had our moments. Ben has been such a wonderful brother through the years and has taken good care of me. Through childhood, adolescence, boarding school and college, Ben has been there for me. He's one of my very best friends. Sheesh I sound like I'm writing a eulogy. I keep telling myself "he's still going to be around!" Well yes and no, because I'm leaving Blacksburg for good now and he's entering the family man stage of life so I don't exactly fit in anymore. But that's alright, really. I'm so very happy to be a part of his big day and it's been fun watching him fall in love and teasing him the whole way through! Plus, I'm getting a new sister out of the deal so it can't be all that bad. (jk Hannah in case you read this I really do love you!).

Anyways, I got a little sentimental and wound up with this:

A bit of this, a bit of that.

As I was getting ready to write here I got a random song stuck in my head - "New way to be human" by Switchfoot. Ok, that's an old song. How does that even happen? Minds are so weird sometimes.

Anyways, These past couple of days have been great as excitement has been building up in me about the next phase of life I'm headed for. As of monday I will be homeless and I'm currently unemployed and have a college debt to pay BUT I couldn't care less. There are awesome things in store for my future and I can't wait to see what they are. I don't want to let any more life pass me by. I want to live it to the full, every moment of every day.

God is so good and takes wonderful care of his children!

One more thing, my mom and I were accepted into the TESOL course at LADO International! From August 3 until August 28 I will be extremely busy taking classes 9:00 - 6:00 everyday but I am seriously looking forward to it.

For more info on the course, check out their site: LADO certificate course.

A vision, materializing?

After being tossed to and fro for what seems like over a year, I'm again settling on another idea. I have had so many dreams and hopes, but pursuing them has never brought anything to fruition - except perhaps learning a bit more about myself and the way God wishes me to live my life. I hesitate to mention this new idea because it always seems like once I share and voice my interests, I watch everything crumble into dust and have to explain to everyone what happened. Still, I'm too excited to not say anything.

So what is it now, you may ask. In my previous post I recounted my discussion with a missionary couple from Venezuela. That talk has turned me in the direction of teaching the english language, both as a way to support myself, but also a means to reach people for Christ. I've been trying to devise a plan to get training, pay off college debt, join a sending agency and just take care of all the other things that stand between now and my being able to serve overseas. I was originally thinking of heading back to Venezuela to join a team training Venezuelan missionaries. I'm not ruling this out, but for some reason after hours and hours of research about TESOL, I have become particularly interested in Thailand. Not only would it be a fascinating country to get certified in and teach, but the population is considered to be only 0.7 % Christian. There is a huge need here for the spread of the gospel and other kinds of work. I'm just getting started on this path but more than ever I am very determined to see this through!

Still, before I make any "permanent" decisions, I need to wait before God for his leading and confirmation. Much prayer is needed!

Here is a link for the TESOL certificate program in Bangkok.
http://www.auathailand.org/sit/index.html