three weeks in

Although I have ventured into the 3rd week of PRIME, I would say that I am still in a time of transition. Even though I've learned faces and names and my way to and from the church (which now only takes me 25 minutes :), I'm still a new face trying to figure out how I fit in. The church is a mega one (over 2,000 attendees), which I am used to because of my home church, however, it's a bit hard to make friends. Thankfully, I was out here in time to attend the college small groups kick off though! That happened two Sundays ago and my first small group meeting is tonight at 7:00 :). Be prayerful that some good friendships come out of this weekly get-together.

Since my last post, I have

1) Attended a conference put on by the Institute of Global Engagement. It was held at Georgetown University (in DC) and was a dialogue about bringing peace between Evangelicals and Muslims.

2) Met a British American girl who was raised in Napal and knows RuthAnn Price!! (for those of you who don't know, that is one of my missions professors at HU).

3) Gone the wrong way on a one-way street in DC with a big red truck coming my way! Obviously I've lived to tell the story :)

4) Been ticketed for parking in an unlabeled "No Parking" zone in DC (sheesh, this city has been giving me some problems).

5) Had a one-on-one, 3 hour conversation, with an expert on the RightPath personality test. She told me all about why I am the way I am. It was completely insightful and wonderful!! Apparently I have a personality type that only makes up 1% of people! I suppose I'm a rarity :).

6) Met with a missionary who is starting work in Berlin and a missionary couple starting work in Zambia! It's so cool to hear about peoples' passions and the work they're doing for Christ!

7) Had a tour of the Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center because I will be sharing my organizational skills with them once a week starting fairly soon :). I will also get to do counseling training and experience all areas of the non-profit organization. I'm pretty excited!

So, those are most of my highlights. It's been several weeks, so much more has happened, but I'll keep it simple for ya. Again, I would love to hear from you all. Getting e-mails and phone calls from family and friends always makes my day :). You could continue praying for my time of transition. I'm having fun, but everything is still new and different -which is a good thing, but can be challenging at times. Pray for a continuous positive attitude and open heart to all God has in store for me.

I love you all!

actually written june 9th :)

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have made it to Virginia and just completed my second day of interning :). So far, I can tell you all that

1) The church is wonderful! You should check out their website (www.fairfax.cc). I love their outreach program and all that they are about. It's evident to me that God is really working and moving out here...and that's so exciting!

2) I learned today that the pastor of the church is a fellow Hoosier! He's happy to have me on board :)

3) Even though mapquest may say that my daily commute takes 20 minutes, it's very much mistaken! Today it took me almost 2 hours to drive from the church to where I live, but the massive storm and my poor sense of direction may have had something to do with that...perhaps this drive will get better in time.

4) The traffic by DC is rediculous and the Virginians are pretty aggressive drivers! Hopefully I'll remain a friendly midwestern driver, but we'll see...I've got to learn to fend for myself out here ;).

5) People out here are insanely rich...I think I heard that right now I'm living in the richest part of the nation (McLean, VA)! The cost of living is also outrageous though, so I guess that balances things a bit.

6) Virginia is beautiful! I love driving through the trees and looking at the pretty big houses, especially the colonial ones. It makes getting lost not so horrible :)

7) There is tons of history here! That may be obvious, but I thought I would comment and say that I find it all to be really interesting. Hopefully I'll learn lots of random facts and information, so that if you ever come to visit or need a tourguide of DC...I'll be your girl :).

Okay, so generally speaking, my transition here started out pretty rough and it was extremely overwhelming, but I'm definitely seeing God's hand in all of this and I'm getting to the point of excitement. Change and newness is also scary, but it seems as though they always bring about growth and adventure as well :). You all could keep me in your prayers though as I still face this time of transition. Also, don't ever hesitate to e-mail! I would love to hear how all of you are doing! Right now things are kind of crazy and exhausting, but once I get a ruitine going and time to breathe, I'll get back with you :)

Thank you all for your love and support!