Here I am - at home - and it all feels like a dream. One month ago, I was flying across the Pacific ocean in a little white boat, dripping salt water, smiling broadly and counting the flying fishes as they exploded from the bow. Today, I put on a bike helmet and ran into a hail storm to protect the pink petunias in my front yard. One month ago, I had a classroom full of children relying on me to be their teacher, mother, friend and protector. Today, I woke up at 9:30, painted my fingernails, ate a hot dog and watched the Calgary Stampede on television.
So much has changed since I left Majuro. I'm not sure I have the words to explain how I feel at this moment, so I'll just say what's been going on recently.
We flew out of Majuro amidst a tropical rainstorm, just like the day I flew in. I said goodbye to all my SM friends in Honolulu, then continued to LA, then Seattle and finally to Spokane. It was grad weekend at the academy I graduated from and my youngest sister, Kiara, was Junior Class President. My whole family was there, so I joined them for the weekend before driving all the way home. About a week later, I began work at the Alberta Conference Office as a Secretarial assistant to the Vice President of Finance for our church. I work Monday to Thursday, with Friday to Sunday free to relax and enjoy life.
That's where I am now. Camp Meeting is coming up and the office has been almost frantic with preparations. Wednesday, I photocopied nearly 3,000 pages of seminar notes to hand out to attendees. I've been asked to be the editor of the Camp Meeting magazine, called the TODAY Paper, so I'll be working on that on Monday. It's a different summer than I have ever before experienced. I'm not working at summer camp like I have for the past three summers, for various reasons.
Like I said, a lot has changed.
There is one thing that I am excited about. Burman University has asked me to be the Missions Director for this upcoming school year and I have accepted. It was a decision that I did not really make. For months, while I was in Delap, I kept thinking of ideas for the missions program to implement when I came home - events, fundraisers, a newsletter, a Youtube channel, a giant world map with all the SMs that Burman/CUC has ever sent out... the list grew longer and longer. This was all great except that I wasn't part of the executive team for the missions program, so I could submit these ideas, and definitely help with accomplishing them, but it wouldn't be the same. I wasn't discouraged, but my experience with Adventists has not always been positive in the field of event planning and promoting (no offense meant to anyone). I was going to just give the people in charge a list of my ideas and then wait to hear from them, if I ever did.
Then, I got a message from Pastor A, asking if I would be willing to be considered for the position of Missions Director. I thought about it for a couple days, and definitely prayed about it, when I realized that I already had my answer. Why should I overthink this decision, when I had been wanting it for so long and God had prepared me for it by giving me passion and ideas?
So, I said yes. Simple as that.
I prayed for God to give me ways to serve once I got home and this opportunity was dropped into my lap. Why would I say no?
"It's a lot of work."
"It's my passion; therefore, it's not work."
"It's a lot of time."
"I've got time. It's how I use it that's the question."
"It's a lot of responsibility."
"God wouldn't have given it to me if I wasn't ready."
I ran out of excuses, said yes, and have been excited ever since. My degree program is on track, I have a great career-boosting job that I am going to love, and from those two things, I may be able to change the world!
Things are looking up...
