Hey all--
I just wanted to run an update to you all. This will be the first of many, so if you don't like receiving these updates, please leave the group. :) No hard feelings at all. I understand that getting all those crazy notes are super annoying sometimes! But fyi, I only look forward to noting you all no more than once or twice a week. But for fuller or more updates, yall can check out the blog @ http://daniellelor.blogspot.com.
Anyhoo, there's isn't much to update about. But here they go:
-I am sick. I have an inkling that it is NOT H1N1, but I could be in denial. :) Honestly though I think it's just a soar throat/cold and I hope it passes away VERY SOON. It's very annoying... So please pray for me and my whole team. There are some people that are way more sick than I am on the team. :\ If we dont pass a good "health" test when we arrive in China, then my whole team might get quarantined for two weeks for the fear of us Americans passing on the contagious H1N1.....
-Classes are over. I still have a take-home final and a paper to finish though... maybe one more assignment. Please pray for motivation.
-Done packing. At least I hope so. I really do not want to open up my suitcase and add more stuff. I just want to take things out of it instead...I feel like all the clothes I brought really arent going to do me well because I really dont know what to expect to be wearing overseas...
-I have this really cool transformer digital watch. I bought it the other day for only 5 bucks. It was on clearance. Pretty sweet deal. The best part is that I can "transform" the cover that opens up to show the time underneath. It can be Optimus prime, bumble bee, or the red icon that represents transformers... I think i lost optimus prime though... he fell off some where.
-So many crazy Thailand opportunities have come up for me. Already two people have an interest in what I feel like I can be doing in Thailand in the future to come. Crazy huh? And TWO is A LOT for me... The field director of OMF Thailand wants to meet with me in Bangkok and talk. Wow....
-I leave on Monday @ 11:30 am. Please come bid me farewell @ NWC, Robertson Student Center. Keep in mind I wont be able to chat with you for like 20/30 minutes. So come early to say good bye to me and the others! :)
-First place we're heading is Beijing. From Mpls, there will be a 12 hour flight to Tokyo. Then from Tokyo there will be like 2/3 hour flight to Beijing. One of the first things we're going to be doing in Beijing is the "Amazing Race." Lol. Our host is going to pair us up with Chinese university students and have us run ALL OVER the city of Beijing and race eachother by doing a scavenger hunt or something of the sort... hahaha. Oh man that's going to be REALLY interesting....
-and lastly... the thing I keep reminding myself of is that I will see ASIANS EVERYWHERE... wowzers.... I will definitely have to get used to that. I need to spend like an hour sitting down on a random bench and just people watch and soak it all in......
-That's all for now!!! Sorry for burdening you! Feel free to comment/ask questions, etc.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
2nd last class
I'm in class right now. The Southeast Asian team is doing a presentation about the area in our prep workshop class right now. Can't believe I have to be packed by today/tomorrow before our last class tomorrow night. Crazy! [And to think I still have so much homework to do... sigh.]
Well, with the combination of eggrolls, the dessert banquet, breakfast in hell, and massages, the team raised about $2260. Not bad eh? We're still selling t-shirts too, for $10 bucks. Comment for more info.
Anyhoo, gonna go and pay attention now. I'm excited for Friday's good bye party. :)
OH! Saw David A. Livermore today, author of the book Serving With Eyes Wide Open. It was such a challenging and informative read. It was so sweet seeing him. I am not gonna lie, but I do genuinely look up to him. Wow. it was pretty surreal/sweet to see him. He's definitely one of those "revolutionaries" that I've always wanted to meet. :) Me is therefore, happy.
In addition, about 10 youth members surprised me at Old Chicago last night. It was definitely a surprise, and it was very sweet to see them. :) I liked it, even though I am pretty sick right now. Which is the perfect time to update you all by saying that yes: I am sick. I am one of the very many people from the tam that is now ill.
Sarah talking, with Dan and Chris in the background.
Well, with the combination of eggrolls, the dessert banquet, breakfast in hell, and massages, the team raised about $2260. Not bad eh? We're still selling t-shirts too, for $10 bucks. Comment for more info.
Anyhoo, gonna go and pay attention now. I'm excited for Friday's good bye party. :)
OH! Saw David A. Livermore today, author of the book Serving With Eyes Wide Open. It was such a challenging and informative read. It was so sweet seeing him. I am not gonna lie, but I do genuinely look up to him. Wow. it was pretty surreal/sweet to see him. He's definitely one of those "revolutionaries" that I've always wanted to meet. :) Me is therefore, happy.
In addition, about 10 youth members surprised me at Old Chicago last night. It was definitely a surprise, and it was very sweet to see them. :) I liked it, even though I am pretty sick right now. Which is the perfect time to update you all by saying that yes: I am sick. I am one of the very many people from the tam that is now ill.
Sarah talking, with Dan and Chris in the background.
Monday, October 12, 2009
1 week to go
And I am behind. In packing. In homework. In so many things. I almost wish that we werent leaving until two weeks from now instead of one. The past week has been INSANE because weve been doing so many fundraisers/retreats/etc/homework/classes...
GAH! (That means I want to pull my hair out)
I have a lot of late homework... that's my biggest stress for now. If my mother and father read this then they shall be disappointed/ashamed of me.
Anyway. You all know what my to-do list is (listed above in the first paragraph). In addition, I know I have about $65 more to go, but I actually have $160 dollars that have not been registered to the total. So thank you Lord, for providing! Wooo!
-Danielle
This is the whole team this past Saturday at our team retreat. It really wasnt a retreat though, I feel. :\ (not enough sleep)
Chris, Ruth, and me. :)
GAH! (That means I want to pull my hair out)
I have a lot of late homework... that's my biggest stress for now. If my mother and father read this then they shall be disappointed/ashamed of me.
Anyway. You all know what my to-do list is (listed above in the first paragraph). In addition, I know I have about $65 more to go, but I actually have $160 dollars that have not been registered to the total. So thank you Lord, for providing! Wooo!
-Danielle
This is the whole team this past Saturday at our team retreat. It really wasnt a retreat though, I feel. :\ (not enough sleep)
Chris, Ruth, and me. :)
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Is the church really a family?
At the end of the day, I find that I'm really only there for my family, not my church family. I'm never around my parents as often as they'd like, but I know that when I have a car accident, they will be there. When I am graduating, they will be there. When I have a dessert banquet, my siblings will be there to support me. Whenever my parents or siblings are going through something like that, I know that I will always be there, and that I will always come to their defense.
Unfortunately, I havent really made those type of expectations for my own local church. My brothers and sisters in Christ. My spiritual family. My eternal, everlasting, real family. Since I havent made those expectations for them, maybe that's why when I needed my church family the most, they were not there for me. You reap what you sow, you know?
For the past years, I've watched people come and go, and never have really seen myself, nor anyone else from the church, REALLY go out of their way to love those people that come and go (for various reasons: willingly, unwillingly, or other reasons--school, career, illness, etc). Sure, we might pray for them. But at the end of the day, we like to pick and choose the people we love. We will go out of our way to call the people we love and to love them through our actions. I even find myself doing that. AND THEN, unfortunately, I witness non-Christian friends/family members go and comfort those people that come and go. They don't find hope and edification from their spiritual family, but from their earthly family. [What a disgrace on us as a church. :'( ]
On the other hand, Christ seems to have been a little different. He chose to love the world, blemishes and all. Not just a particular group of people based on how well along they were, their similarities, etc--He didnt choose just to love the Jews. Instead, He chose to love Hmong people too. He chose to love the Karen, the Taidams. The Laotians, the Diego, the Somalis. Everyone. And yet, as His children, I feel like I have just been running in circles and have been a bad example: selfish, unwilling to do the little things before I do the big things, seeking to indulge in the current trends of this age, etc.
Sigh.
And at the end of the day, I find myself finding comfort in not the Church, but my two non-Christian friends and my own earthly family. I don't know why I'm not there for the Church nor why the church isnt their for one another when Christ called us to leave our mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. Especially us Hmong folks, I know many of us cannot say no to our family. But we say no to our church family---the real, eternal family.
Why is that? Is the church really a family? Why don't we really open/be vulnerable with one another? Why can we not stick with a local church?
Please enlighten me. Thoughts, comments, questions, are suggested. Thanks.
Unfortunately, I havent really made those type of expectations for my own local church. My brothers and sisters in Christ. My spiritual family. My eternal, everlasting, real family. Since I havent made those expectations for them, maybe that's why when I needed my church family the most, they were not there for me. You reap what you sow, you know?
For the past years, I've watched people come and go, and never have really seen myself, nor anyone else from the church, REALLY go out of their way to love those people that come and go (for various reasons: willingly, unwillingly, or other reasons--school, career, illness, etc). Sure, we might pray for them. But at the end of the day, we like to pick and choose the people we love. We will go out of our way to call the people we love and to love them through our actions. I even find myself doing that. AND THEN, unfortunately, I witness non-Christian friends/family members go and comfort those people that come and go. They don't find hope and edification from their spiritual family, but from their earthly family. [What a disgrace on us as a church. :'( ]
On the other hand, Christ seems to have been a little different. He chose to love the world, blemishes and all. Not just a particular group of people based on how well along they were, their similarities, etc--He didnt choose just to love the Jews. Instead, He chose to love Hmong people too. He chose to love the Karen, the Taidams. The Laotians, the Diego, the Somalis. Everyone. And yet, as His children, I feel like I have just been running in circles and have been a bad example: selfish, unwilling to do the little things before I do the big things, seeking to indulge in the current trends of this age, etc.
Sigh.
And at the end of the day, I find myself finding comfort in not the Church, but my two non-Christian friends and my own earthly family. I don't know why I'm not there for the Church nor why the church isnt their for one another when Christ called us to leave our mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. Especially us Hmong folks, I know many of us cannot say no to our family. But we say no to our church family---the real, eternal family.
Why is that? Is the church really a family? Why don't we really open/be vulnerable with one another? Why can we not stick with a local church?
Please enlighten me. Thoughts, comments, questions, are suggested. Thanks.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Eggrolls
Been fundraising. I feel like we're losing more money than making... but I'm not so sure. I hope we do reach a certain amount tho. Too bad we're all ICS majors and not math majors lol...
Anyhoo. We've been selling eggrolls. Whether we do make a profit or not, the team building was loads of fun and worth it. I totally enjoyed having my team at my house. I dont know if they realize this, well I guess I'll tell them, but inviting them was my gesture of them being welcome into my home. :) I was so excited to have them there. I just like revealing a part of who I am to them; I think it's important to do that. My home is like a piece of me.
Anyhoo. Here's a pic of us hard at work. Some of the White-European ladies almost look like Hmong wives/daughter in laws!!! Lol. The Hmong girls and I were saying so. Lol. ;)
Anyhoo. We've been selling eggrolls. Whether we do make a profit or not, the team building was loads of fun and worth it. I totally enjoyed having my team at my house. I dont know if they realize this, well I guess I'll tell them, but inviting them was my gesture of them being welcome into my home. :) I was so excited to have them there. I just like revealing a part of who I am to them; I think it's important to do that. My home is like a piece of me.
Anyhoo. Here's a pic of us hard at work. Some of the White-European ladies almost look like Hmong wives/daughter in laws!!! Lol. The Hmong girls and I were saying so. Lol. ;)
Friday, October 2, 2009
$65 to go
That's how much more I need to raise. But I'm sure that I already have that amount...they just haven't added all the other donations.
Well, I am really behind in some stuff. Agggh. Sometimes I want to give up when I'm stuck in a rut like this. How do you get out of this? Do you still take it bit by bit? I guess it doesn't help and drop everything... which is what I'm kinda doing.
This next week I have two research papers, two finals (I believe) and two presentations, lol. Double everythang. In addition, this week the team and I are doing some hardcore fundraising. :P It's all so last minute but I hope that God will bless our efforts.
Well gonna go do some worship now in chapel. Two more weeks until we leave! WOW it's really happening...
Well, I am really behind in some stuff. Agggh. Sometimes I want to give up when I'm stuck in a rut like this. How do you get out of this? Do you still take it bit by bit? I guess it doesn't help and drop everything... which is what I'm kinda doing.
This next week I have two research papers, two finals (I believe) and two presentations, lol. Double everythang. In addition, this week the team and I are doing some hardcore fundraising. :P It's all so last minute but I hope that God will bless our efforts.
Well gonna go do some worship now in chapel. Two more weeks until we leave! WOW it's really happening...
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