Here We Go ...

In December I found out I'd be traveling to Africa. I thought the six months would inch by, but here I am. I leave today. 

I don't know what to say really, other than I can't believe I'm going, but mostly I couldn't have done it without y'all. 

This experience has taught me more about love than I could have ever imagined. I have been loved by every single one of you through this process whether it was liking my Facebook posts, reading my blog, telling me how excited you are, helping me fundraise, donating, praying for me, listening to me worry, finding me money to buy supplies, letting my borrow your iPod for my entire trip or telling me everything I'd possibly need to know and bring with me. I am more prepared and feeling more loved than ever. Thank you.

This love from all of you prepares me to encounter the most perfect love this summer. I can not wait to grow and experience Jesus more tangibly and intimately. In a way that I may learn to love my new friends and you guys better--from what I know and learn of Him. Thank you for allowing me this experience.

Well, I'm packed ...

And when the long process finished (two and a half months in a suitcase), homesickness hit. I truly miss all of you already. 

I miss my Mom and brother. I miss my friends. I miss my camp family. I miss my sisters.  

I bringing so many pictures to Kenya of all of you, but I know I have all of you behind me, loving on me, praying for me, getting excited for me.

I'm ready.

Unfortunately, I will not be allowed any contact to the outside world for my entire journey ... which means I will not be updating my blog. If you still want to keep up with me while I'm gone, you can at Invest Thoughts

Praying for all of you. Thankful for all of you.

"For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake." 

2 Corinthians 4:5

In Him,

Catherine

Counting Down!

So ... I guess I'm really bad at updating. I promise I'll get better--but only for the next week because

I leave in 8 days.

So soon! Time flies so quickly. I can't believe in about a week I'll be meeting my team and getting prepped to travel to Africa. It's still so crazy to me, and most days I still don't feel like I'm going (even though my suitcase has been packed for a week already)!

Alright, let me update you. So the last time I wrote, I was basically biting my nails over receiving my passport. Well folks, let me thank you. Your prayers worked and about a week later, I received my passport (4 weeks before it was expected) and was able to purchase my tickets!! My entire group will be traveling to Kenya together, on one plane (something I was worried about) and I won't have to call any of you and tell you I won't be going!! If you have kept up with my blog, you all know the crazy obstacles I've experienced during this journey and how God has shown me that they are nothing compared to His power. He has made it very clear that Kenya is where He wants me this summer and I can not wait to see what He has in store for me and my team!

Secondly, about 2 weeks ago, our team had 3 members who were not fully funded. As a team, we were about $7,000 short of everyone going to Kenya. One of Journey's alum, created a game to help fully fund our interns. "The envelope game,"which many of you received Facebook invites about, allowed people to pick an envelope with a dollar amount on it (which they donated to Choose to Invest) in hopes of winning a prize or t-shirt. We had Journey Alumni, current interns, and interns' friends (who didn't even know who they were giving money to) donating! I think my entire team can back me up when I say it was so powerful to get Facebook notifications every few minutes about people promising to donate, making sure EVERYONE was going to Africa. Within the week, all three of our interns were funded. Pretty awesome.

Well after some stressful weeks of finals and moving back home here we are! With almost a week before I leave, the dreams have started. I fall asleep thinking about Kenya and it's all I dream about. Sometimes in a good way, but sometimes in bad way and even scary way. Most of my dreams revolve around being homesick. I've had such a nice week at home with my mom and brother (resting after finals, ew) that I know I'll miss not being able to hear from them for 10 weeks!! I think being homesick for my family will definitely be a theme this summer. Despite this, I'm so excited to be meeting new people and making friendships all over the world. Some dreams I've had are just weird though, like forgetting to pack shoes and even a Wizard of Oz like twister coming through Kenya and my team just watching it like nothing bad was going to come of it! I guess all this nervous tension and dreams just mean that I'm excited--I am!!

As I get closer, I'll update you on more packing and preparing adventures! Until then, I ask that you all are praying for me and my team. Obviously, the time until we leave is FLYING by. Pray that we are preparing well and using our time wisely. Pray that we are continuing to look to the Lord to prepare our minds and hearts for this adventure with Him. Pray for safety as everyone travels to Georgia for a week of preparation at Camp Highlands. Pray for Camp Highlands. Pray for relationships to be built between all our teammates. Pray for softened hearts. Pray against doubt and fear. Pray for the journey ahead. It's gonna be a good one.

In Him,

Catherine

So I Need Your Help ...

So I haven't updated in a while, but I figure there's no better time than now to ask for your help.

Let's start with the good news: I'm fully funded to travel to Kenya. On March 28th, I got the call. All my money was in the bank and I was living the carefree life--I was going to Kenya. I even got a surprise, anonymous $500 check to go towards my supplies! I got fully immunized (that yellow fever shot ... OUCH!), I applied for my passport and was set to go. I was so excited and finally I could spend more time focusing on school and my other commitments.

But I guess God likes to keep things interesting. 5 days after I received my funding call, I got some bad news. The team I'm traveling with needed my passport number and expiration date on April 15th ... that's 3 days from today. I applied for my passport on April 1st. For those of you who do not know how the process works, let me break it down for you:
I applied for my passport on April 1st, somehow unaware of the date my team needed all of my information by. Yes, normally you can expedite the application process, but with my mom being out of the country, I did not have enough money to cover the expense, so I had to go with regular processing. Regular processing take about 4-6 weeks, not guaranteed. On my calendar, that all sounded great ... I'd have the passport before I left, for sure. But now that I have a passport information due date,  this processing time isn't exactly working out in my time frame.
I called the passport office on Wednesday (April 10) and they said my application could be expedited, no problem. In order to do this though I had to have my mom standing by me to verify her credit card number. While attempting to find time to call the passport agency with my mom, my window of opportunity ran out.
I called the passport office again today asking if they could give me my passport number and expiration date in order to purchase my tickets. They said they could not give that information to me because they would not be able to release that information until I had the passport in my hand. I asked again about the process of expediting it and its ETA and was surprised to hear that my application could no longer be expedited because it was "too far along in processing." Though this makes no sense to me, I had a very long explanation that ended up with the same answer: it wasn't going to happen.

So, here I am: nervous, a little teary, but mostly scared. Scared that I won't be able to purchase a plane ticket on time. Scared that I'm an inconvenience to my team members. Scared I'm an nuisance to my summer staff. Scared that my passport won't come in time. Scared that I won't be able to go to Kenya. Scared that maybe God doesn't want me to go. But mostly, I'm scared that all of the time and effort and money my family and friends have donated and invested in me won't actually go to me. It's the most frightening fear of them all. If God doesn't want me to go to Kenya. Okay, I know he'll provide me with something else. But if all of this energy and money graciously given to me is wasted, I've failed.

So that's where I'm at. Thankfully, I know that my God is not just the god of money, like He already proved to be, but He is the god of passports and passport agencies and shipping and TIME. And for all the times He has been faithful in this process, I have a hard time believing He won't be faithful again. And for that, my heart is overwhelmed by His love for His children.

So, there's nothing I can do. There's nothing you can do (unless you have a connection with someone in D.C.s passport agency, then by all means CALL ME). All we can do is wait.

In the meantime, I'm here to ask you all another favor. You have already been so gracious in investing your money and time into me and my trip ... I couldn't be more thankful, but here I am suck again in a situation where I need my community, my family.
So please be praying for me and my passport. 
I can't do this one on my own. Thank God for being sovereign and all powerful and the most high King. Thank Him for being faithful and always keeping His promises. Pray that processing doesn't take as long as they expect. Pray that my passport somehow gets to me in enough time to buy a ticket and know that I'm going to Africa. Pray that I will make it to Kenya and remember this as a simple bump in the road where God showed his almighty power. Ultimately, pray that God's will is done in this process and that He covers me in peace, understanding and love, no matter the outcome.

I love you all, with all my heart. I pray that God covers all of us with faith, patience, understanding and love as we walk through this process together. I'm so thankful that I have a community I can reach out to during this time. I promise to keep you updated with any news. As always, I will never be able to thank every single one of you enough for everything you have done in supporting me in this process, but you all have my heart.

Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord! Save us! We're going to drown!"

He replied "you of little faith, why are you so afraid?" 

Then He got up and rebuked the wind and the waves, and it was completely calm.

Matthew 8:24-26

In Him,

Catherine

That's What Sisters Are For ...

So I know it's been a while, but honestly I have been waiting so long to write this post! And I am so excited to share this story with you ...

With this spring semester, came lots of responsibilities, but not just for me. Within my sorority, different members moved in executive officer and chairmen positions. I can not even begin to describe how the Lord has appointed these new officers and chairmen. Not only are they making our sorority a more thriving, influential organization on our campus, but when they heard about my trip, they immediately became interested and wanted to do anything they could to help me raise funds. After a few failed attempts, we came up with an idea: a raffle basket. Sounds simple ... and kinda boring, but Margaret Snoddy, our local philanthropy chair, and Kristin Karschner, our national philanthropy chair, can basically do ANYTHING when they set they're mind to it:

We started off with one basket. It was as simple as sisters walking into local stores and telling them my story and asking for donations. We were able to get purses, necklaces, scarves, coffee and restaurant gift cards donated (even one for a pound of chicken salad ... YUM)! Within less than a week, Margaret and Kristin, almost single handedly, had enough items to fill one basket worth $500 dollars! But I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree because Mark, Margaret's dad, was quick to get involved. He sent a package filled with boxes and boxes of preservative free candy! Then we got a package He packed with probably $500 dollars worth of hair products (straighteners, shampoos, blow dryers) that had been donated for free! But to top it all off, he sent a 42 pound package (that had to be driven from the post office to Marge's dorm) filled with Sigg water bottles. Like what? What a generous family, that has been such an integral part in investing in my journey and allowing my sisters to do so as well. I will honestly never be able to thank them enough.

Within a little over two weeks of work, Margaret had enough items to make two raffle baskets. Both baskets were jammed packed with goodies and together priced at over 1,000 dollars. And last night, we got to raffle them off!! Girls bought tickets at chapter for $5 a ticket. Some girls even bought six tickets (I think I heard the phrase "may the odds be ever in your favor" probably 20 times that night)!  Then I got to talk about what my trip would look like ... I told them about rough camping, making my own food, sharing the gospel, being with children and showering MAYBE four times while I'm there (the whole chapter gasped at that one)! They're honestly JUST as excited for me as I am. Unfortunately, only 2 lucky people could win the raffle boxes ... I wish I could give one to every sister. They all deserve one! But when the 2 raffle winners were announced, Bethany Deskins, our chapter's CCD and my great grand big, announced the total money raised in ONE NIGHT ... $685.95
I couldn't do anything but cry ... It's because of my sisters that I am, for I feel like the first time, actually in sight of my deadline: $666 dollars left to raise!!

 "May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor"

 Meet Margaret! The amazing woman that put this event together!!

Getting to talk to the chapter about my trip

 Tears Tears Tears

 So teary, excited and thankful for my sisters and all they raised for my journey to Africa

The Lucky winners!!

Snoddy Family,

I will forever be in debt to all you have done for me these past few weeks and all the experiences that are to come from this journey that you have graciously invested in. Thank you for your giving and loving hearts that have extended care in many moments throughout my life! I am so thankful to know you and have your influence on my heart. You are wonderful and such a gift from God! Thank you for being a part of my journey.

To Margaret Snoddy and Kristin Karschner, 

Thank you so much for making my trip a priority and continuously brainstorming ways to not only raise money, but raise the most money possible. It is because of your leadership skills and go getter attitude that I am so close to making my goal. You guys are such amazing (possibly one of my favorite) parts of this story. I am so thankful for you. I love you both.

To the women of the Lambda Pi Chapter of the Delta Zeta Sorority,

I can not even begin to tell you how much you mean to me. It is crazy to think that seven months ago, I was plotting ways to not have to go through rush. Everyday, I thank God that He is sovereign and made sure I wasn't only forced to go to rush (thanks Mom), but also chose you guys and that you guys chose me. I have learned so much from our sisterhood and my life has already been drastically altered because of my initiation into this family. Thank you for loving me and accepting my heart and rallying behind what I stand for. I am so pleased to be able to tell the story and say that my sorority gave one of the largest amounts of money to my trip! It honestly reminds me, this campus and my friends and family what our special sisterhood truly stands for. I love you all so much and so pleased to share last night with you guys ... I wouldn't have wanted to share it with anyone else. I can not wait to come back and almost immediately see you guys (hooray for recruitment?) and tell you all about my trip. I promise to shower before coming back. You know you all have my heart. I love you to the moon and back. LITF.

In Him,

Catherine

Somebody Praise Him

So many of you have been texting, emailing and asking me about how my deadline turned out.

First off, I can not even tell you how much checking up with me means! In my mind, this means people are actually following my journey and are invested in what I'm doing. That alone is so exciting and thrilling to know that you have been thinking about me, praying for me and maybe even financially investing in my journey.

Second, Here's how I turned out funding wise ...
Let me tell you how awesome God is and how he showed how his sovereignty in my funding process:

So last week I had $450 dollars to go on my trip. Let's just let that sink in.
I need $5,950 and I had $450 ... leaving me $1,700 short for my deadline of $2,150 that I had to meet in 3 days. So needless to say I was a little stressed.
But as I prayed bluntly with the Lord (sounded a bit like this: God, I have to make this deadline and I need some help so if there's anything I can do you HAVE to let me know), He gave me the idea to make a video. Most of you probably saw it ... I think it's incredibly embarrassing, but apparently: it worked!

After I published the video, I had my team manager Cody call me to tell that in just a few hours I made $350 dollars. Then about an hour and a half later I got a text from Cody: "Another $200! Keep praising!" I'm sorry, WHAT?! God was (and still is) blowing my mind.

I spent the following day responding to emails from you guys about funding and my trip, almost all of them leading to confirmation of donations! I was so excited ... and later that night, the team got a funding update via email. Before I opened it, I prayed. I knew I made money the day before, but if that was the same number I saw, I couldn't be disappointed. God was still working so I took a breath and double clicked on the email. I read through it and saw my update: $1,615. I think I got a little dizzy at the sight of such a huge number, but under it was a note from Cody: "SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!"
After about 4 weeks of getting funding emails, seeing $450 and a note under it that said "let's talk about your strategy again," I was so excited to finally get pumped about funding with Cody and have it hit me in a big way that I am actually going to Kenya.

The money wasn't the only thing God was doing. About every hour, I'd get a Facebook notification that someone tagged me in a post. Usually, it was my name and link to this here blog and a link to donate. I had lots of friends share my need, but I was surprised to see so many sorority sisters do the same. Not only was it an affirmation of how the trip is ordained, but also such an excitement to see how much favor the Lord has blessed me with in my sorority and how He really does work where we least expect it. I can not even say how excited I am to see God's plan and desires reveal themselves. I even had sisters walk up to me and hand me checks towards my trip! WHAT?!

But finally, Friday came and I couldn't wait to see if I met my deadline. When the email arrived in my mailbox, I scrolled down to see: $1,905. In one day I made almost $300 more!
So ... funding turned out pretty good. I am still $245 short, but in two days I made $1,455! Unreal.
Attached to my update, was a list of people who donated (but not their amount). That was the most exciting part to me. I got to see all of my family and friends who decided to invest financially in my trip! What surprised me the most was that I had SO many sorority sisters donate. Realize that this means kids in college still thought it would be an awesome idea to give ... even when on a tight budget. I even had a donor WHO I DIDN'T KNOW!! How cool is it to see how God works?

But the funding journey is not nearing an end. In about a week, I should have $3,075! That puts me about $245 short with $925 to raise by February 7th. I KNOW that this deadline can be met. So keep praying, keep getting the word out and if you feel called, donate!

I am so excited that y'all are getting excited with me! I'll be leaving in only 108 days ... SO SOON! Thank you for all your support and encouragement and love. I honestly couldn't do it without every single one of you.

"I thank God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now."
Philippians 1:3-6

In Him,
Catherine

Just A Reminder ...

Okay, guys. I have a HUGE deadline coming up Friday ... and I'm $1,700 short. Yikes! So if you and your family feel called to give, I'd LOVE your support!

Ultimately, I know that my God is the God of ALL money and He will move it around at His will. If that means patiently waiting until May 17th (one day before I leave), I will. But until then, I  gotta do what I can to get the word out and pray that God meets my needs. So here it is, I'm laying down all my funding deadlines and worries knowing God will do His thing.

So, for all of you who opened my letter and was like: "Oh! that sounds great" or your letter is still being processed by the U.S. Postal Service, here's a reminder (just ignore my developing video editing skills and slight verbal mess ups):

Feel free to make my video your Facebook status or email it to all your friends and family or tweet about it! Whether you're supporting me in funds, prayer or both! I seriously am SO thankful for every single one of you. I don't think I could say that enough! Thank you for keeping up with me during this time. Can not wait to see what God makes happen for Friday!!

"But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." 

Matthew 6:20-21

In Him,
Catherine

Silver Linings

Hey guys!

Here we go. Let me see if I can get my thoughts together. So initially, I want to apologize for the delayed update, but honestly there has been no better time than now to tell you all what's been happening in my crazy life, so let's begin ...

So since my last post, classes have started.

If you were unaware, I'm in sorority and that means: chapter, chairmen meetings, leading sister bible study, and step practice.

In the midst of that, I've been trying to find a community for myself here at school. That was the hardest part of my first semester. Not only has that consumed my time, but also my thoughts and emotions this week.

Trying to find a place to live next year has been rather ... confusing. 

There's prepping for Africa: letters, calls, addresses, licking envelopes and even worrying about this blog post.

Oh yeah, then of course there's eating and sleeping.

All sounds a little melodramatic (I know), but wait, just let me paint the picture for you ...

Despite my rather heightened level of stress, the Lord has been breaking me ... in a good way. I honestly thought I would not mentally or emotionally make it through this hectic week, but every time I thought about breaking down or giving up, the Lord showed up and gave me little things to be thankful for: the mid 70 degree weather (in January!!), His control of time, rain, my big--Claire, the support of my friends and family, deep sleep, music and journaling. Oh, how I am blessed.

So even when I wanted to cry because of all the work I had to do, I rejoiced--my God is sovereign and works all things together for good. Even when I felt incredibly alone, I rejoiced--my God is a great comforter, my best friend. Even when I felt inadequate, I rejoiced--for I am a vessel for the Holy Spirit who works in and through me. And even though I'm $1700 short for my deadline next Friday, I will continue to rejoice--for all the money in the world is God's and He will move it around at His will. 

For all of this, I am sure.

It's all about viewpoint. All situations' tenses can be changed with a slight shift of view. How convicted I felt after realizing how truly blessed I am. The week that I thought would be horrible turned into days absolutely filled with silver linings. And for so many of those things I have to be joyful for:

Shout out to these lovely ladies for helping me with my funding letters

Meet Lexi, my roommate.

And Claire, my big sister within my sorority!

For all of you who have been praying for my week and leading my sorority's bible study,

I am deeply thankful for you and your thoughts and prayers. I am so excited for my sisters, our fellowship in Christ and their desire to learn more about having a relationship with the Lord.

And for all of you who have responded to my letters,

Thank your for your donations and/or prayers. They are incredibly appreciated. And I'm so over joyed to know that the envelopes with "the little Africa" on the back are being looked forward to and that my trip is already being deeply thought about and prayed for. 

Yes, it all depends on your viewpoint and no matter the circumstance, with joy these blessings I will remember.

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice."

Philippians 4:4

In Him,

Catherine