Moving on...

Howdy!  Just a quick note to my compadres who read this blog.  I've decided to move it over to a new site, so if you want to keep up with my blog, head over to www.missionsmusings.wordpress.com

As always, feel free to comment on posts, share, and let me know what you think in general.  I just switched over today, so there isn't much there yet, but I'll be doing a lot of tweaking over the next few days, and hopefully updating the blog much more regularly than I did with this one.

Thanks!

Finding My Voice

Another day, another blog post.  ;)  

I hope you don't mind that I'm indulging myself, at least briefly, in an experiment here.  I'm learning a lot as I work on this writer's challenge I'm doing.  (See yesterday's post if you have no idea what I'm talking about.)  I'm actually hoping to do a guest post for another blogger soon, and perhaps even host someone else on this blog to liven things up a bit.

One term that I've seen and heard used off and on since I did the School of Writing last year is the term "writer's voice."  What is this?  Basically, it is an individual writer's style and way of writing.  I think everyone has at least some gut-level sense of this starting out, but it doesn't really mature until you start doing the work for yourself and writing regularly.  Some writers have a more distinctive "voice" than others, because they have been doing it longer, or because they've thought about it more.  

I'm still figuring this out for myself, and I'm really not sure what my "voice" sounds like yet, in writing terms.  I'm just getting out here and thinking with my fingers, then putting it up for people to see.  Writing like crazy when I get the time, taking a break, coming back and polishing.  This is the process for me at the moment.  

What does any of this writing stuff have to do with missions though?  This is, after all, supposed to be a blog about my experiences as a missionary.  Believe it or not, it's actually having a real impact on me, and helping to shape how I do things here, including areas outside of the writing arena.

I can't say enough good things about my experience at the School of Writing last year.  I learned so much, and am realizing more and more how broadly it can be applied.

My position with School of the Bible sometimes involves teaching on different subjects.  Honing my "voice" will help me communicate the bible more clearly to my students.  Thinking things through in writing terms has already helped my teaching some.  Who is my "audience"?  My students, of course.  It has changed the way I prepare my teachings as I think more consciously about not just what I will be teaching, but who I will be teaching it to, and how to best say what needs saying.  I really think what I've learned about writing has made me a better teacher this year.

I have also been managing the school's social media for over a year now.  (You can check it out at http://www.facebook.com/pages/School-of-the-Bible/59697764870 and follow us on Twitter at @YWAMTylerSOTB)  Doing social media has its own unique challenges.  Trying to keep things concise enough for Twitter's 140 character limit while still communicating the essential information can be tough, and I don't always succeed at it.  Facebook is a bit more forgiving, thankfully.  I love the opportunity to get the word out about what is going on at the school though, and hope to see a wider audience learn about it.  There is so much of value to be learned by digging in to God's word, and each year I staff I just learn more.

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I'm also somewhat of a journal junkie.  I've been journaling for twelve years now, including all of my time spent in missions.  I'm currently working on a brief rundown of my missions experience, but it's hard to summarize.  Eventually I'd like to write something a bit more full-length about my experience in missions, lessons I've learned, and hopefully some stuff that will encourage others.

So I'm processing a lot right now with all of this.  And, being who I am, the best way to think is on paper (or a laptop, as the case may be.)  Trying to figure out how all of the different pieces fit, and praying for God to guide me on how to use my love of writing for Him.  I would love to find a way to effectively fuse my love for God with my love for the people around me and my love for writing.  I'm not sure what form that will take yet, but I will keep people posted on here, I guess, as the story continues to unfold.  Baby steps.

So, to those who are reading and following this latest adventure, thanks for hanging with me as I "find my voice" as a writer.  There are many ups and downs in missions life, and it's certainly not glamorous, but I love what I do.  It's an honor and a privilege.    Thank you to everyone out there who has prayed for me, encouraged me, given to me financially, or just been a true friend.  I am one lucky woman.

And now...your turn!  To all of my readers: what are you up to these days?  What are you trying to master, or exploring?  I'd love to hear some comments and find out what's up in the wider world of my readers.  :)

The Writer's Challenge

It's time for the apparently more or less annual reboot of my blog.  A rather quaint and quiet corner of the internet most of the time.  

Let me start by saying I've been journaling for years.  I quite literally have a suitcase full of old journals, and I have no idea where I'm going to put them, since I sure as heck am not throwing away the memories inscribed in this random collection of assorted notebooks.  Twelve years and counting.

But it was really only in the last year or two that I have started being challenged by others that writing is more than just something I do in my free time, just for the heck of it.  Some dear friends who I trust and respect actually took the time to point out that writing is something that I'm actually good at, that it is one of my giftings.  

On the advice of one of these friends, I took the School of Writing at YWAM Woodcrest (www.ywamresonate.com) last year.  It was a wonderful, hard, stretching, amazing three months, and I am so thankful that I did it.  I (hopefully!) learned a few things along the way, including what some of my strong and weak points are as a writer.  I went into the school thinking I could never, ever write fiction.  And here I am, chipping away gradually at a novel.  I have no idea yet when it will see the light of day, but you have to start somewhere, right?

My main focus is teaching and doing other things with the School of the Bible, which I am firmly convinced is one of the best jobs in the world.  But I've never really stopped writing, even if it was just journaling my thoughts at the end of the day.  I started doing some other crazy things like reading blogs about writing better, and stumbled upon one by Jeff Goins (www.goinswriter.com), a missionary and writer who issued a rather direct challenge on his blog.  "You are a writer, you just need to write."

Jeff issued a 15 day writer's challenge a few days ago, which I've decided to take up.  Apparently several hundred other writers are doing the same thing.  And that was the first part of the challenge-simply to acknowledge the fact that I am a writer.  I am other things also, and do other things of course.  But I am a writer-it is part of how I'm wired, and something that I will probably do in one form or another until the day I die, whether I ever make a dime off of it or not, whether I am ever acknowledged for it or forever remain anonymous.

It really has been an interesting challenge so far, and we're only 3 days in.  The challenge today was to get up extra early and simply write.  I honestly tried...but I'm not exactly coherent in the morning.  Hence the reason why I am writing this at 9:30 p.m.  The point is not the time of day or night though.  The challenge is simply, as Jeff puts it, to show up.  To put in the time to improve our craft as writers.

I'm not sure what else will be involved as this challenge progresses over the remainder of these two weeks, but I know I'm really enjoying it so far, even though it is extra work squeezed in around everyday life.  Yes, writing is legitimate work, believe it or not.  It has also been encouraging reading comments from other writers on Jeff's blog, seeing that I'm not alone in my thoughts and experiences here, and maybe picking up a few tips from other writers along the way as well.

All that to say, I am using this writer's challenge to officially reboot this blog.  I'm sure the blog will continue to evolve as I grow as a writer, and hopefully a few people will be encouraged by what they read here.  I'm a writer.  It's time for me to write.    

Of puppies and plotlines

It's hard to believe that I have finished my first full week of YWAM's School of Writing.  Time really does fly by when you're having fun.  I'm at an interesting point in life anyways, taking a brief break from my regular work with YWAM's School of the Bible and missing everyone there, yet at the same time loving the people I'm with here at the School of Writing, and loving what I'm learning.

Our first week focused on narrative writing, which is something I've never really done before.  Though I don't think it is my strongest point as a writer, it isn't as hard as I thought it would be, and it's a good starting place for learning.  We've been learning how to write scenes, how to make things real to readers, and how to write so people will actually want to read our work.  (A rather important point.)

So I thought I would post a story that I wrote as part of an in-class assignment.  Please remember that this is unedited, and was written in all of ten minutes, so it isn't the most amazing thing you will ever read, but ya  gotta start somewhere, right?  The story isn't really finished yet.  I should add that we did some research before writing about puppies.  They brought in four absolutely adorable puppies for us to love on.  This is my kind of research!  ;)

So for lack of a better title, here is my story, "Puppies in an alley."

"It was a hot summer day in Lindale. Joey was walking by Rockwell's sweating and wishing he had thought to wear a sleeveless shirt. As he walked along, he heard a loud yipping coming from a side street. 

He debated whether or not to just keep walking, but curiosity won out, and he made a quick right turn to find the source of the noise. Next to a dumpster, Joey saw a small cardboard box, with the edges of a navy blue towel hanging over the edges. He walked faster, and was not surprised when a small dog charged out, growling at him. 

“Take it easy. I just want to have a peek.” 

It may have been something in his tone, but she slowly backed away and gave him just enough space to inch by. Kneeling down, he saw some black puppies, with short fur. They were yipping to each other, play fighting and trying to climb the edges of the box. The sight of something so small trying to growl fiercely made him laugh. 

One of the puppies, perhaps braver than the rest, stuck its head up over the box directly in front of him and licked his hand, which had been resting just on the edge.

“Hey little fella. You look like you need some help.” 

With his free hand, Joey scooped up the small pup, who fitted perfectly in the crook of his arm. The dog leaned against him as if seeking comfort now that it had been lifted from the only world it had known. The mother dog, who had been standing aside, rather stiff and on guard, suddenly launched herself at him, growling much more fiercely than the puppies."

As I said, it's just a beginning, but I'm having fun, and learning a lot.  Does anyone want to add to the story?  Feel free to comment.  :)  

The Incarnation was more than just a footstep

It's Christmas, the "most wonderful time of the year."  My favorite season.  I've been doing some unexpected thinking this Christmas though-thoughts that came from an odd combination of hearing Christmas songs, and reading a friend's facebook postings describing the current development of their unborn baby.  Oftentimes the descriptions I hear about Christ coming to earth, either in song or word, make it sound as if it was just a quick step out of Heaven.  A long step, yes.  A drastic, humbling step.  But just a step.  As if one minute He was in heaven, and the next minute He was that little baby in the manger.

I'm sure it isn't a conscious thing when I hear phrases that seem to imply this.  Maybe it's just because the Incarnation is such a mystery to us anyways that we just can't handle more.  It makes our brains hurt trying to comprehend the wonder of it all.  But here are a few scriptures that have me thinking that there was more to it than just a quick step down to earth.  The highlighted emphasis in the following scriptures is, of course, mine.

Matthew 1:18-21  "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.  And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.  But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.  "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

Luke 1:30-31  "The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.  "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus."

Luke 2:4-7  "Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.  While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."


So what is my point, and why am I highlighting these phrases?  Theologically, we as Christians hold that Jesus Christ is "fully God and fully man."  One of the mysteries of our faith, which I'm sure has been written about by many people who are much smarter than I am.  And I have no doubt of its truth.  But something struck me recently.  That baby in the manger...that baby who was also God in human form...yet that baby was also, somehow, fully human.  And where do human babies spend their first 9 months?  Developing in their mother's womb.

God as a baby in a manger is hard enough to take.  But God taking the step of truly making Himself one of us, starting off as that small embryo that gradually learns to recognize its mother's voice in utero, that develops a heartbeat as it grows within the womb is mind boggling.  Really, each baby born is a mini-miracle of its own, straight from the hand of a loving God.  But God Himself being humble enough to go through that?!?!?  As I said before, thoughts like these blow me away and can make my brain hurt because they are too big for it to fully handle.  For those of you whose "love language" is quality time especially, this will give you something to think on, that God Himself took that time in order to reach us.

I don't have any deep words to wrap up this blog with.  All I can do is sit in awe realizing that Jesus, our Immanuel, "God with us", loved us enough to go to the utmost extreme to bring us back to Himself.  It was more than just a footstep from heaven to that manger.  His stay on earth began with nine long months hidden where no one could see Him...waiting to come out at just the right time to breath the air of His own creation, the creation He would win back to Himself at utmost cost.  It was more than just a footstep.

Merry Christmas!

A little bit of holiday fun.

Just a little something I found funny.  A more serious blog will be coming soon.  Merry Christmas!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...A Christmas rambling

Yep, it's that season again-probably my favorite holiday of the year.  I love the time with friends and family, the food, the music, the decorations, and of course most importantly the fact that it is a celebration of Jesus' birth.  :)  As I type this, I'm listening to Amy Grant singing about a "Tender Tennessee Christmas", which is a bit amusing when I really stop to think about it.  I've driven through Tennessee a grand total of two times in my life, and really have no burning desire to spend the holidays there, but I still love the song.  (In case anyone really wanted to know, which I'm sure you didn't. ;)

On the topic of music, I've always found Christmas music to be some of the best worship music out there.  I know not all of it falls into that category obviously, but if you stop and think about it the emphasis in many of the songs is one of joy and honor.  "This, this is Christ the King!", "O Come Let Us Adore Him", "Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Immanuel".  Most of it just naturally leads me to worship.  I have to admit to also being a sentimental sucker for "The Little Drummer Boy."  I know it is a totally fictional story, but the whole idea of a little boy giving the only thing he has still gets me every year.  On a similarly random note, whenever I hear the line from "Do You Hear What I Hear?" that goes "a child, a child shivers in the cold.  Let us bring Him silver and gold."  I catch myself fighting to not say out loud "get the kid a blanket, for crying out loud!"  (While conceding that gold would buy a very nice blanket indeed.)

This is shaping up to be a busy Christmas season for me, between finishing things out here with School of the Bible, fundraising, packing my life up to move into a dorm as soon as I get back from Christmas break...oh, yeah, and shopping for gifts, plus the rest of the normal busyness that seems to go with this time of year.  I will be up in Seattle for a few weeks, spending some time with my family and hopefully seeing a few friends.  There are always so many to see, and so little time to see them all.

So how do I end this rambling Christmas blog entry?  All I can do is say a very Merry Christmas to everyone, and add a scripture that is probably familiar to many of you:  John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life."  Oh Come Let us Adore Him!

Ye olde video fun

Ok, so I thought I posted the actual video the first time, but evidently not.  Here's the video I planned to post.

The changing of the Seasons

Once again, it seems to be about time for my annual blog post. I really do have the best of intentions, but seem to have a knack for neglecting this blog in favor of other pursuits. Maybe this time I can really kick-start it up again. :)

This past year has been a good one, full of both challenges and blessings. I've had the privilege of teaching in our School of the Bible here, both last year (class of 09-10), and with this year's awesome group of students. I really do love my job. I also had the opportunity to visit Seattle for a few weeks back in August (thanks Mom and Dad!) to see people again, relax a bit, and enjoy a break from the brutal Texas heat.

A new season has come again. Fall has always been my favorite time of year; cooler temperatures (although here in Texas we are still wearing t-shirts), the changing of the leaves, pumpkin pies and sparkling cider...I could go on and on with what I love about Fall, but I will spare everyone the lengthy list. The new season has also meant the beginning of a new School of the Bible. Once again, we have a wonderful group of students. 16 students, from 6 different countries. All are thinkers, and all are hungry for God. I love hanging out with them, as well as teaching in the classroom setting.

But this new season is also a time of change for me in another way. While I love what I do here, teaching as well as helping out in our Christian school's office part-time, there are other areas in my life that I feel it is time to develop. I've been journaling for years, and seem (in the expressed opinion of others) to have at least somewhat of a knack with words. I even had a snippet of my work published a few years back. :)

At this point, I am planning to make a big change in my life. I am going to be moving to YWAM Woodcrest, which is just down the road from YWAM Tyler's main campus, to do a School of Writing. The School of Writing will run from January-March, and will focus on learning how to write in different genres, as well as covering editing and how to market your work for publishing. I'm including a link to the page, at the end of this post, for those who want to see all of the details.

There is one big challenge, however, and that is the need to raise the tuition to attend the school. While I have part of the tuition raised, I still have a ways to go. I would like to ask those who read this blog to pray about giving towards my tuition. If you would like to give, you can make a check out to YWAM with a separate note saying that it is for me. If my name is on the check, they can't process it. All gifts given through this are tax-deductible. The address to send the checks to is P.O. Box 3000, Garden Valley, TX 75771.

I have also added a paypal button to this blog (kudos to my friend Jeff Holton for helping me with that!), for those who wish to give that way. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how to make that tax-deductible, but it is still an option for anyone who chooses it.

To wrap this rambling up, I just want to say I am realizing once again how blessed and thankful I am, and looking forwards to what is next.

http://www.ywamresonate.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=118&Itemid=54

It's been awhile...

Ok, I've neglected this blog for waaaaay too long...

I would like to claim that I have just been too busy, but really, it's just a matter of how I've been allocating my time.  I really do want to start blogging more often again.  :)

A brief update on life at the moment:
I'm still living in Tyler, TX, and still on staff with YWAM.  I went through YWAM's School of the Bible (aka SOTB) last summer, and ended it with an amazing outreach in Nepal, during the month of July.  Since then, I've been involved in staffing the latest SOTB, which began at the end of August 2009-it's hard to believe it's already half way over!  I have the privilege of teaching from time to time, as well as encouraging our students in the everyday rough and tumble of life.  I LOVE our students!!!

On the personal front, there are a number of areas in which I am being challenged right now...I will probably blog more about some of these later.  Suffice it to say, there is a lot floating around in my head right now.

And thus ends my rambling for the day...  :)

live blog from class

Welcome to the wonderful world of the School of the Bible classroom.

Theoretically, we are discussing economics right now...in reality, at the moment the discussion is centered around authority, who has it in various situations, and what is right. (For example, when is it right for the government to intervene in a situation with children, what happens when people pray for healing but don't seem to receive it, etc.) I love some of the discussions we get into here! There is quite a bit of variety in our class here, in age, experience, country of origin, etc., so the discussions often get quite lively.

Eventually, the discussion usually gets back to the topic du jour, but it takes a while sometimes. :)

It is hard to believe that the year is almost finished here at School of the Bible. It has been a busy year, but a good one. There is still a lot on my plate: preparing my final project (a paper and 45 minute teaching on the book of James), our regular homework, gearing up for my one-month outreach to Nepal, etc. It gets a bit challenging sometimes-my brain can feel so full that there seems to be no more room for even one more fact, no matter how valuable. But, overall, it has been a good year and a real time of growing.

A continuation of current class conditions-now we are discussing the free market economy and how it has changed in the past few years. What did Wal Mart music look like two years ago, and what does it look like now, because of the popularity of digital music services?

To switch back somewhat to the subject of a previous paragraph, my plans after outreach are to stay on here and help staff the next School of the Bible, which will start in September. (I get back from outreach at the very beginning of August.) It is still a real time of change and growth for me, but I'm excited. God is so good, and I'm excited to see what will happen in this new season that is opening up.

Well, I had better wrap this blog entry up for now. It is almost time for a break in class anyways.

God bless y'all! (I'm still learning to speak Texan)

p.s. if anyone who reads this blog uses Twitter, I recently joined, so you can now follow my frequent, rather random updates. My handle is missionsgirl. :)

God's mercy, and Greek wrestling

This has been an interesting but good week.

On Monday and Tuesday, we ditched our normal class schedule in favor of spending time in prayer and worship. (we also switched the schedule from starting at 7:45 a.m. to starting at 9-and there was much rejoicing!) We had some really great worship, and then wound up with different people in our school just being honest about where they are at right now.

"Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed." "Confession is good for the soul." We had some really good times of prayer and ministry with each other. God is so good and so faithful. Wednesday night we also had a time of prayer and foot washing by our staff-a big blessing.

On a completely different topic, I am continuing to contemplate the monumental task of comprehending New Testament Greek. I am discovering just how little I really know about nouns, verbs, and the like. Right now, we are learning how Greek grammar works, and learning some of the Greek words, in preparation for translating 1st John later in the school (with the aid of a computer program-don't get too impressed.)

An example: How to translate the word "speak" when the "parsing code" (i.e. reminder of what is a verb, noun, etc. in shorthand) looks like this: V-PPI-3S? Thankfully, our staff has been extremely good at going over things second and third times, allowing us to use our lesson notes during quizzes, etc.

The point of this, you may ask? To better understand what God is saying in His word. There is a big difference when reading about how God deals with sin when you can see whether He is talking about someone who sins once and repents, as opposed to someone who is continually sinning and rebelling against Him. This should be an interesting study.

Well, I think that's enough for one update. We are looking at the book of Judges today in class. This should be good.

Weekend roamings, and ponderings on Deuteronomy

Howdy Y'all!

Oh, the joy of monday mornings. After two cups of coffee, my brain is fully functional, and life is happy. ;) I hope that everyone who is reading this has had a wonderful weekend, blessed with good weather, good friends, and good fun. (I suppose bad fun would be an oxymoron.)

It is finally starting to feel like fall here, or at least the Texas equivalent. Temperatures in the 70s, so we can still wear t-shirts, but not be sweating all day long. :)

On saturday, I joined some friends for a 3 mile walk at a local park, with wonderful weather and the chance to pick a friend's brain on some of the customs of Nepal. (She has been there before, and I will probably be going there in July for our final outreach.) We topped it off with a visit to a locally well-known burger joint. In the evening, I spent some time with another friend, who is attempting to teach me the fine art of sewing. Perhaps I will post some pictures, after I complete my first project!

This week in class, we are spending some time looking at Deuteronomy. A book that is often thought of as a boring book of laws. We will be taking a closer look at these laws, and asking what God's purpose was for them-just some restrictions, or loving boundaries to keep His people safe, holy, and happy. Are these laws even obey-able? Another question we will be looking at. We will also be reading the book of Ruth towards the end of the week.

I don't have any deep thoughts on this book of the bible yet, but I'm looking forwards to taking a closer look, asking a few questions, and finding out more about who God is by even the seemingly "mundane" laws He gave in the Old Testament. I would challenge everyone to do the same. Take another look at the books that seem unimportant for today, ask a few questions about who God is-you may just be surprised at the answers!

Well, happy monday everyone. Enjoy the beginning of a new week. I will try to post more as the week goes on and we learn more about Deuteronomy.

monday night musings

A mellow monday evening. All of my homework is finished, and I have the chance to contemplate, perhaps read a good book, and just chill out. Homework tonight was reading Leviticus 1-13. The description of some of the different kinds of offerings, Aaron's ordination, and how to identify your garden-variety clean and unclean animals.

We also had an informal outreach meeting tonight. Our first outreach for School of the Bible is next month-a "leadership outreach". Basically, we will be interning at a church, "job shadowing" the pastor, and getting a better feel for the internal workings of a church. The cool thing about School of the Bible is that you have a lot of flexibility in basically setting up your own outreaches.

Myself and four others from the school will be traveling to Ohio to do our outreach at a church pastored by a guy named Mike Huckins, who taught in our school for hermeneutics week. (basically a college word for biblical interpretation. Feel free to make use of it to impress your friends and family. ;)

There isn't much else to say right now. It has been a good day, and I am interested to see what all we will discover as we look at Leviticus this week. Oh, and I am really, really glad that we didn't get any Greek homework last friday, since I would probably be doing it right now instead of writing this blog! More on that another time.

Until my next musing,
Susie

Pondering the Plagues

Here it is, my very first blog post ever! Hopefully I will be able to post often.

Right now I'm sitting here in the classroom during a break between teachers. Our topic this week is the book of Exodus. We just took a quick look at the 10 Plagues. It was quite interesting to me to find out that every single one of the plagues was directed at one or more of the gods of Egypt, showing their powerlessness in the face of the true God. (if you serve a god who controls the sky, for example, it would be rather embarassing if someone else's God darkens the sky with "a darkness that can be felt" for three whole days, and your god can't make the sun shine.)

Well, break time is over. Hopefully I can post more later today.