Leaving

Okay, I think all of you know that I am leaving for Egypt (again) tomorrow. It's unsettling leaving again and leaving for so long. I was really excited and I'm trying to stay excited. First, pray for safe travel. I've never flown alone before. I've only just begun to drive on the freeway alone.

While I am gone... Pray for my sister. As a family, we went to therapy together. I wouldn't say it was eye-opening. It was an odd experience. I can see she has come a long way. But there's such a long way to go. She got a tattoo on her inner fore-arm of a large cross and our cousin's (the one who killed himself) initials and death-date. I often hear her putting herself down and speaking of things she can't do. It's been heartbreaking. She's finally stopped blaming herself for things that have happened. Just pray that she begin to see the worth in herself. Pray that she not regress to where she was. Pray that she not start smoking again. Pray that her health improve. Any prayer her way would be helpful.

I went to the doctor recently and was told that one of the side-effects of my medication is high blood pressure. Surely enough, my blood pressure is unusually high. There was not enough time to try another medication before I left. I've been under a lot of stress lately and that just makes blood pressure worse. I'm aware that if it gets bad I should just get off the medication. It's the fourth one I've been on in the last four years for the same problem. I've had this one for about two years now. I guess just pray that my heart is strong enough to deal with everything. I'm not a smoker, so that's good. But the doctor wants me to regulary check my blood pressure while I'm gone to determine if it is the medication. She wants to make sure I don't have heart trouble.

There will be four of from Western in Alexandria this time. The girl I'll be living with says she is Christian. The two guys who are there talk about seeing no reason for believing in anything. Pray that God work on them. Pray that I can be effective in their lives. Also, pray that I understand their questions, if they have any, and allow God to work and speak through me. We will also have class with students from England and Utah. Perhaps pray that we can have some common ground, specifically God. And that we all can enjoy each other's company but also focus on school. But I guess pray that there's always time to talk.

Those are the specifics I can think of right now. Thanks.

Car Accidents Suck

Hey,

Eric Hammond, a good friend of mine and Ben's, was in a car accident on Wednesday (Aug 22). According to the police officer he was surprised that Eric was still alive (the crash was that bad). Anyway, Eric is in stable condition, however, his pelvis is broken and his lower back may be broken as well - the docs are not sure yet.

To make matters worse, he is in excruciating pain. He was on a morphine drip and vacatin (sp?) and still in extreme amounts of pain.

So, it's a miracle that he survived, but please pray that he will heal quickly. With injuries as severe as this he is in for a very long recovery process, pray that his spirits stay high.

update

I'm home, all's well.
it hurts a bit, but the drugs haven't worn off yet, so I'm doin better than I could be.
God's faithful, always is.

Digital Zion

I'm having surgery tomorrow.
I'll be in a lot of pain for the next two or three weeks.
Please pray that my recovery will be quick and as pain-free as possible.
I'm not worried about the surgery, just dreading the pain.

the ride is ending

I have 5 more days at Cedar Point. I'm physically more than exhausted. My attitude at work has been really poor lately. I really just don't care. Our management is kinda screwy, and we don't get treated the greatest. It's affected the way I interact w/ guests and co-workers. It's hard cause I pretty much have lived at work this last month. (70 hrs a week) I've been very absent-minded lately, and tend to not know how to put my thoughts into words. Even typing this, I'm having a hard time. I don't know how, but pray for these things. Especially as I will be leaving a lot of people that I've built different relationships with, that in my weakness God can be strong.
Ben and I have been dreaming up different possibilities for "Mission:Cedar Point." I have gone to a few different places in Sandusky, shopping around to find more information about other seasonal work, places to rent, or the possibility to have a gathering place that employees could come and hang out. Pray that God leads my walk in these next couple days as I'm talking to different people. Pray that He guides my words and the interactions with these people.
Pray for the possible future of this mission. If it is I or Ben, or somebody else that takes it on. The potential at this mission field is great.

Amber

Amber is a girl I've been friends with since my freshman year at Western. If something can go wrong in her life, it does. Today, she has three doctors appointments. She's been getting pretty horrible migraines (the can't talk kind) so, she's getting an MRI for that. She was also found to have tumors on her ovaries. The doctors will be checking soon whether or not they are malignant or benign.

Firstly, pray for her health. Second, perhaps pray that things could start working out better for her. Third, a combination prayer/praise, Amber is not Christian. She was afraid when I started attending church freshman year because she's had so many horrible experiences with Christians. This October, her boyfriend was hit by an SUV and told he'd never walk again (by the way, he's walking). I had a few conversations with her over the phone and she started asking about Jesus. She is aware that He is someone she might need in her life. She has acknowledged that there is a higher being. Yesterday when I was talking to her on the phone I told her I would pray for her and she said it made her feel special. I'm not sure she's going to invite Christ into her life any time soon but I think she's starting to realize He can help her.

praise

Jonathan came out of surgery just fine, and he's doing fairly well for having come out of surgery today.
The bad news is that he'll have to have valve replacement within the next couple years.