Fund Raising Monday

Here's the latest on the fund raising front.

Right now, I feel good about this week. :-)

OH!
I forgot to mention this: I GOT THE VISA. It arrived on my birthday. Thank you, British Border Agency, for the wonderful birthday present!
(...that I paid for....)

Firkin Birthday!!

I went to The Firkin and Crown with me mates this evening for a final birthday hoo-rah. It was wonderful. I got the Guinness Steak and Mushroom Pie. If you like mushrooms, then get it!! Otherwise, you'll have a lot of mushrooms to pick out. I don't like mushrooms, but I picked them out and it was still delicious. They have the BEST vegetables at The Firkin!! They're so buttery and wonderful and filled with love. The next time I go to The Firkin, I'll be getting the Bangers, Beans, and Mash. I'm excited!

I got a lot of travel stuff, like a pillow, flashlight, a wee-umbrella, and a backpack that folds in on itself. Oh, and a mysterious envelope that I'm not allowed to open until I'm in the UK....

This past Wednesday when I went to Atlanta with a friend of mine, I saw a different British pub. I think it's important that I inspect it as well to try their food and atmosphere. I enjoy The Firkin, and there's no way it can be replaced.

So...on with other opportunities of fund raising and contacting people and prayer. Fund raising is hard. I'm not being faith-filled enough, and I'm not keeping my head in the game....

Okay. It's time to send a letter to Lynnette at Time For God with some important documents (a signed contract/charter, police check, etc.). Oh, and the same stuff needs to go to Ben at Yeldall Manor.

Work.

I met one of the sweetest ladies today who was so interested in my mission trip. I was touched. If you're reading this, HELLO!! :-D

I also saw someone that I went to church with a few years ago, and I saw his wife. HELLO, YOU TWO!! :-D

There are a lot of things that are aggravating me at work. I could go on for days about everything, but I'm not going to do that. I don't want to. I mean, I want to, but I don't...if that makes any sense at all.... I've been trying to figure out how I can make all of these negatives look differently and make them positives. I need some patience.

I guess that's what I'm really needing right now: patience. I'm really running low on patience with people. All KINDS of people that I run into on a daily basis aggravate me...and it's a matter of patience. I need to shut up and toughen up, really.
Be kind, deal with it, move on.
Be kind, deal with it, move on.
Be kind, deal with it, move on....

And...I don't want to be a wuss in these kinds of situations. I don't want the opinions of others to bother me as much as they do. I don't want to search for complements like I do (at least, I feel like I search for complements). I don't want to annoy people with my self-consciousness. I don't want people to feel as if they need to check up on me and work to be sensitive around me.

There are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many reasons why I think that England is going to be good for me. I think God has A LOT of good in store for me. It's going to be an extremely hard year, but it's going to have so many good things come from it. I'm excited about this year because it's going to be filled with new experiences and I know that I will be a better person for it, though I don't know how I'm going to be a better person. I'm nervous...borderline scared...of the process of changing and growing, though.

God has been a force in my life thus far...He's not going to just up and leave during this time when I serve Him and obey Him....

Neat Fundraising Thermometer

I found this website that makes fundraising thermometers. I thought I would add it to the blog.

I got $35 for my birthday, so I've added it to the funds. Woohoo!!

Wow I feel a lot better about some things.

This week is Annual Conference for the North Georgia Conference for the United Methodist Church. Being a member of a UM church, and being an alumni of a UM college, and going on a mission trip to England along with three other Reinhardt alums, I was asked to go to Annual Conference to a dinner in honor of Reinhardt College and briefly share about what I'll be doing, how I got to where I am now, etc. Dinner was nice, and the conversations were helpful and uplifting, and I enjoyed the evening.

After dinner, Leigh, Ashely, Christina (gotta give my shout-outs) and I went to Ben and Jerry's ("and on the eighth day, God made Ben and Jerry's") and then walked around Athens. I'd never been to Athens, and I must say...nice place! I like it lots. We walked around UGA's campus, Leigh gave us a brief tour, and then we saw Sanford Stadium. It's smaller than I thought...but it's still really big...but every time I've seen it, it's been on the TV. The camera adds 10 pounds...or in this case, "10 acres and 10 thousand people" (one of the four of us said that, but I don't remember who).

After doing some sitting and some walking and some talking about all sorts of things, I feel a lot better about fundraising. I've been nervous about fundraising for a little while now for a number of reasons. I've been nervous that maybe God won't pull through this time, even though I've spent so much money thus far with applications, a passport, a Visa for the UK.... I've felt the tug to go somewhere for three years now! Positive things kept coming up...over and over again...and I thought, "this really is a God thing!" Not that it still isn't a God thing, but I've had some reality present itself to me, and it's been rough.

Two things that I've been reminded of over and over again is 1) the fundraising process is half of the mission trip experience, and 2) that if all of the money were donated all at once, then I wouldn't appreciate it as much.

Yup. That's the truth.

I feel much better about this process. I am still a bit worried, but I'm not hopeless like I was earlier. God has a plan, and He knows what He's doing. As long as I remain faithful, NOT hopeless, and I continue to look for His will, and as long as I continue to find new ways of fundraising, everything will be fine.

Shoot. I have to get ready for work.

Buuuuuuuuggggggghhhhhh.....

I did it.

I sent the stupid visa application in today.

It's out of my hands...literally and figuratively. I'm not freaking out like I thought I would, but I am nervous.

Oh well. Whatever. The only thing I know to do is pray that if the UK Border Agency Officer see something that he/she doesn't like, or has a question/comment/concern, that she/he will contact me so that I can put his/her mind at ease.

Perhaps I need to send another bribe--I MEAN...gift basket with an assortment of teas and scones and marmalades and clotted cream....

Have you ever had clotted cream? It's a lot like whipped cream...if it isn't actually whipped cream. It's pretty good. It isn't the first thing I would think to put on a scone or other baked good along the lines of a biscuit (American biscuit, that is...not an American cookie), but it's nice nonetheless.

I got my Criminal History today, too. That was a trip. The walls in the "waiting room" (or holding cell) were donned with printed and cut-out pictures of cute animals. Puppies and kittens snuggled next to each other, bunnies and ducks.... It was weird. I didn't like it. Oh, and everyone working there seemed to not be having a good day. They reinforced my initial judgement when I asked them how their day was going.

That last sentence makes sense, but it doesn't use the words I want to use. There's another word I'm looking for, but I can't figure out what those words are.

Now I'm about to get some dinner, go BACK to work (Old Navy called me and asked if I wanted to work again tonight), and after work I think I'll run by the post office and mail the Criminal History results to Ben at Yeldall Manor. I have nothing to hide; I'm clean as a whistle.

That phrase never made sense to me.... Whistles aren't clean because you've had them in your mouth and you're spitting on them....

Whoa Be To The One Who Screws With This Plane Ticket....

SO I haven't bought my plane ticket yet.

I've seen some incredible airfares out there, but I'm nervous that some of these fares are coming from sketchy sites who will end up taking the money and messing around with my head. I've been reading all about some of these sites and how people have been fighting with them for months (even, in some cases, a year) and I don't want to get into any of that. I don't have the time nor the patience.

Then again, if someone screws me over, I'll just pull the God/Missionary card....

"Do you have any idea what you're doing? You are keeping a missionary from doing the will of God."

...Yeah...that might work....

Sorry about that last post....

If any of you read the post that I just deleted, I'm sorry about my meltdown.

I've been really REALLY stressing over this whole UK Visa thing. I had a total meltdown last night.

This morning, I called Time For God and Lynnette, being the dear that she is, helped to put my mind at ease. I guess I've had this situation put together in my mind of the British Border Agents having a no-exception policy, and that I'll never get this Visa, and everything will fall apart and I'll fail miserably.

Welcome to my everyday fear of failing miserably, and praying that I don't screw up any more than I have to.

So...I'll do what I can, and I'll do what Lynnette suggested I do, and I'll go from there.

I just need to use the faith that has been given to me...not more faith...just the faith that has been given already....

More Letters are Ready

I'm almost ready to send another batch of letters out.

Once again, I'm sitting at the computer before work, listening to Shiny Toy Guns (AH! they're amazing!) working my fingers off getting letters written, addresses typed, envelopes printed, and stamps stuck.

...And once again, I'm freaking out.

BUT THEN, I think about how amazing God responded to the effort that I put forth. The response was amazing, and I'm encouraged to keep going. I love that saying that goes something like, "you miss 100% of the shots you don't make." True-that. If I don't make the effort...if I don't give God the raw materials...then nothing will happen.

By raw materials, I mean the letters, the money for the envelopes and stamps and note cards, the time to put it all together, and the faith that God really can do something if I just give him a mustard seed....

My iPod just beeped at me telling me it's time to get ready for work. Actually, I have seven minutes until it's time to get ready for work.

I need to remember to add Time For God's and Yeldall Manor's websites to this blog. 'Twould make it easier for people to check those websites....

LIGHT and the End of the Tube

::DEEEEEEEEEPP SIGH::

I feel like I've been spinning my wheels trying to get this Visa for the United Kingdom. There are half a gillion websites, and I feel like they're all telling me to go to a different website, e-mail a different person, fill out a different form, etc. Finally, though, I've reached some sort of answer as to how to go about filling these forms out, where to go, how to get there, when answers should be made, etc.

I have an appointment this Friday with the British Consulate in Atlanta so that they can gather my biometric information...or something like that.... I was told by someone over the phone that I would need to fill out yet another form, which I can find on some website. I couldn't find the form. I don't know if it exists. If the form does, indeed exist, then I just won't fill it out. The British Consulate can print one out for me and I can fill it in when I get there this Friday. All will be well. I'm tired of freaking out over this.

OH! And I was told that I could receive a response in 5-15 business days. This is NOT what I read online earlier today; I read that it could take 60 days. There's quite a discrepancy.

I just used the word discrepancy. AND I almost spelled it correctly the first time. I'm really proud of myself.

Soo...I don't know if I should believe 5-15 or 60. I just want the thing in my hot little hands as soon as possible. Maybe this will be like the US Passport. I was told 4-6 weeks, and it was at my house waiting for me in 3 weeks....

I have also received my first donations!! I'm really amazed at how generous people are. I have a long way to go, but I feel soo much better knowing that other people believe in me to donate money. I've got a fair amount of my own money invested in this, too. I didn't say that in my first letters, and I really regret that. When I get paid tomorrow, I'll be writing a healthy...and scary...sized check to Mom for money that I owe her, AND check to Creekside UMC.

Speaking of money, I still need to pay for my Visa. $212 to get a Visa!! BAH! that's a lot of money....

I received my book, Kate Fox's Watching The English, from Barnes and Noble the other day. I've been reading up on conversation codes, and "weather-speak." It's really quite interesting to learn about why the English talk about the weather so much. It's not a pathological interest in the weather, but rather a way of starting a conversation...a way of inviting another person to conversation. It also acts as a conversation filler...when there's an awkward silence or something like that. I've been reading on how to respond, too. I've been highlighting rather important passages when I come across them. I have a feeling that this book will be VERY useful.

I'm going to check my e-mail, and then I'm going to continue reading.

Oh poop on a stick. I've just done something to the computer monitor and my start button and tool bar and all of that have disappeared. I've done this before, but I don't remember how to bring it back. Oh, for the love.... I hate PCs.