Prayer Request...

Hey y'all can you pray for my friend Melissa. She is in the hospital with some stomach issues. I guess the doctor's don't know what's going on right now so they're doing tons of tests.

Please keep her in your prayers!

Thanks.

Coming Home...

I am back at home...lounging in my bedroom with the nice cool air-conditioning. I just had a nice dinner, and my dog is by my side. Things seem to be back how they were before I left for Haiti...

It's interesting though because somehow things don't feel the same. I'm not sure I'm ready to write about Haiti right now...in fact I know I'm not. I don't think I've really even begun to process through my trip. I did want to let everyone know that I was back and safe.

I had an amazing, wonderful trip. God is amazingly good. I know that this trip has only made me crave more of the same kind of work. So I ask for your prayers as I seek God's guidance in that.

Hopefully tomorrow I can sit down and take some time to put some of my thoughts into words. But for now, know that my entire team was incredibly blessed by the trip. God has definitely taught us all a little something about his world. I ask for your prayers for the countyr and people of Haiti.

If you're interested in some pictures from the trip, my amazingly cool friend Lindsey (who was also on the trip) was way less of a slacker than me and has already created a little slideshow of our experience so you can click the link to her blog on the side of my page!

Enjoy!

More to come....

Did I mention???

Did I mention that I'm going to Haiti! I am so excited!!!!!!!!!

So much...

I suppose there is so much for me to say right now. I haven't written in a while. Life has been busy...a good busy. I have been super busy with work, and it's all been good stuff. May has been a month of feeling very affirmed in the things I do with my job. Sometimes sitting at a desk makes me wonder why I bother with this type of ministry...but then I have opportunities to be in the trenches...to be serving, encouraging, caring and sharing. That's when I feel whole.

I don't have much time to write now either, but I leave in a few days for Haiti and I'll be gone for a while. So I just wanted to check in and ask you all to pray for me next week while I'm gone. I really hope that my time there, even if it is short, will in some way share some of God's goodness with a people that need it so badly!

So to everyone that I haven't talked to in forever, I still love ya, and I think about you all the time (especially you carrie!!! feel better soon!!!) and I can't wait to talk to you when I get back from Haiti. I'm sure I'll stories to share...maybe they'll even be entertaining.

2nd night...

This is the second night in a row that I haven't been able to sleep. I'm not exactly sure what my deal is. I know I am tired. I can feel it...but when I lay down...restlessness sets in.

It could be the 6 gazillion things I have going on in my world this month. I might be a tiny bit stressed out about this community service project I am planning for a bunch of area churches...it might be the antimalarial medicine rearing it's ugly head. Maybe my body has just decided that insomnia would be a cool thing for it...I don't know. I just want to go to sleep and I can't.

I made myself a glass of stress relief tea. My roommates have so many teas with natural herbs in them. The one I am drinking now is chamomile and lavendar. It's supposed to calm my restlessness and relieve my stress. Do we really think this is possible. I don't know. I've never been much into herbal anything but I'm ready to give it a whirl. Turns out it actually tastes pretty good...a mixture between bit-o-honey and chewing on one of those mint toothpicks. That might seem like a weird combo, but when you put it in a cup of tea, it's actually pretty decent.

I just hope it makes me sleep and lets me get some rest. There's a lot that needs to happen tomorrow...and nobody like a crabby Rachel.

I feel like me...

I think it's strange that there are moments when I just feel more like myself. Right now is one of those moments. I'm sitting in a coffee shop. (Let's hear it for free internet.) I have a cup of strong coffee and my head phones are making it easy to slip into my own little world. I won't lie...of course I'm watching the people around me. There are the two girls who don't look much older than me who have their kids here. Their two daughters are dressed all in pink, one even has a tutu. They are dancing around the coffee shop like they are performing on a stage...it reminds me of when I was little and my mom would play the piano and I would dance around the front room of our house...how she kept from laughing at me I'll never know. There are a couple groups who seem to have come together for study groups...I've been there before, but I never got much done in study groups. I usually spent more time chatting with friends and solving the world's problems. There's a group of high schoolers sitting in the corner booth using "studying at the coffee shop" as an excuse to be together and share those all important stolen touches and kisses while their parents aren't around. There is a group of middle aged ladies enjoying a meal with their friends, two friends who appear to have met up after work to have a quick dinner, and the guy sitting by himself, staring at his computer just like I'm staring at mine. Maybe places and moments like this make him feel like himself too.

There's about 20 girls in their 20s...some type of college group maybe. They'll all dressed up with hair done. I remember a time when I got all gussied up to go to the coffee shop...those days are over. Here I sit in my t-shirt and jeans. My hair is slightly dirty (no surprise) and pulled in a ponytail on top of my head...a scarf is tied in my head trying to keep the frizziness at bay. I read part of The Tempest...

It just feels good to be sitting here, not thinking about anything specific, and letting my mind wander wherever it pleases.

I'm reminded of my many trips to the coffee houses of Minnesota. In my opinion, no one does a coffee shop better than Uptown. I miss Pandora's Cup...even the smoky Plan B. I miss hearing Danielle order the chai tea and saying it's like "thanksgiving in a cup." I miss Gruber and the random conversations about boys. I miss fake eyelashes and glitter thanks to laura doing my makeup before heading out. I miss the randomness of coffee houses. But most of all I miss opportunities to just check out if I feel like it. Yeah I like spending time with my friends and the people in my life, but every now and then it is good to just sit down be me.

Last week...

Last week I was completely lazy. I think I slept more last week than I have slept in a long time. It happened to be one of the weeks at work wher there was very little going on during the day. My evenings were filled with activities but work was slow. Sure there were things I could have gotten done...like moving the easter boxes out of my office down to the garage...but I didn't. It was a good week for me.

Of course now I look ahead to two weeks of craziness leading up to a community service event...and then Haiti!!!! May, and the entire summer will prove to be quite busy. I'm good with that though. I like busy.

I feel like I have exciting stories that I could write here...but they just won't come...so I'm off to accomplish some of the work that should have happened last week! Happy Monday everyone.