#42

#42. Pray about who/what to faithfully support monthly.

This is a recent opportunity that was presented to me at the Navigators' Fall Conference. I wanted this to be something that was purposed toward the Great Commission. I wanted to be something that had some eternal value.

I went to Fall Conference and they spoke of the 10/40 Window as Christians often do. The Navigators Headquarters is sending a family from Cedar Falls, Iowa to Australia to minister there. There are a few reasons why.

1. The Navigator ministry in Australia is small yet faithful. There are few students throughout the entire continent present but those that are present are willing to labor. They have a passion and a drive to do so.

2. There are less negative feelings toward the Australians in comparison to those from the US. They are going to have more of an opportunity to build relationships with those abroad as there are less barriers to the friendship.

3. Since September 11, 2001, there are many countries that have begun sending their students elsewhere to learn English. That elsewhere being Australia. There is a huge population of international college students in Australia and thus not only will this new "plant" in Australia be one of sending but also one of ministering to students right there.

4. Australians are much more willing and likely to travel in comparison to those from the States. They are not afraid of being sent out. They are excited about being involved in such things.

I have chosen to give $10 a month to this family of six. I am excited for the opportunity to support this sweet family but also to be a part of ministering the gospel to those living in the 10/40 window.

Here's my 101 in 1001 list for reference.

#95

#95. Go to a concert.

Unfortunately there aren't any pictures from this event. Hillsong came to Albuquerque. Once my mom found out, she bought ten tickets assuming they would sell out quickly. She had planned on selling them to our friends and keeping what we needed for the family. All of the other sisters were out of town and so Mom and I were left to attend on August 2. That date might be off a bit.

It was a fun concert. Heidi, Chris, Mrs. Sharp, Chelsea, Garret, Johnathan, Carrie, Anie came with us. It ended up that Mom just gave the tickets as a gift to each of them.

I found that I'm not huge on concerts. They're loud and hot and I find them to be awkward. Do you sit or stand?! Nonetheless, I'm glad I went and completed my #95.

Here's my 101 in 1001 for reference.

#97

#97. Curl my hair randomly for school.

Elissa braided little braids into my hair on Monday night and I decided it was time to accomplish another of my 101 in 1001's. So I curled my hair Tuesday morning. It was fun. It brought me back to the days that I curled my hair every day for school my sophomore year of high school. So fun. I love having curly hair; it simply takes a lot of time. Now that I have long hair it looks a little weird for it to be all curly. I enjoyed Tuesday nonetheless.

#70

#70 Make a successful wheat bread loaf.

Behold, I give you BREAD!

On Wednesday, 4/21, I made 8 loaves of wheat bread. I gave one to the Sharp family. I took three for myself and left four at my parents' house. My parents kept the rosemary Parmesan garlic loaf, one of the cinnamon raisin loaves, the lemon orange loaf, and the cinnamon pull aparts (on the far left). I took the three plain wheat loaves and one of the cinnamon raisin loaves. I love making bread. It is so cool the more I learn about yeast, salt, sugar and their relation in making bread and how that relates back to Scripture.

Update on 101 in 1001

Here' my 101 in 1001 List for your reference.

I've been working on #34 (Read through the Bible) which is going well. It's been a blessing to allow myself (hence escape from legalism) to read through it in a longer time period than a year. I am still in Romans. It is good. God is teaching me and causing my desire for the Word to grow daily.

I've also been working on #58 (Don't eat sugar for an entire year). This I have broken a couple of times. I am ok with that. The time that I did break it my stomach hurt so bad for the entire day after eating this sugar and fat loaded dessert something or another that I have not had the desire to pick up sugar anymore. It is no longer a temptation. I will reevaluate this in December and decide then if it counts or if I should do it for another year.

I'm also working on #44 (take math 181). This is not the class I thought it would be. It covers a little bit of differential equations, goes a little bit into calculus II, and focuses heavily on applied probability within the context of biological life processes. It's a good class but if I had known these things, I would have NEVER taken it.

I tried #5 (exercise for 21 days straight) and #39 (find and disciple a young lady) and failed. That's ok. It's a good learning experience to experience rejection and failure. I will get back up and try again. My God is good.

Progress Update I

I have a progress update on my 101 in 1001 list since it is nearing the end of January.

I am excited that I have completed #32 and have six other goals on my list.

Those accomplishments/goals that are in progress are the following:

#34 Read through the Bible: Yes, I have started and it is a beautiful thing to allow myself 1001 days to accomplish this task for as I read through I desire to savor every bite, big or small, I take. I have made this a goal or a New Year's Resolution so many times in the past and have never accomplished it because I was always so overwhelmed with how much I had to read in that year. It averages out to four chapters a day--not too much if you intend on only taking one bit of what you're reading with you. I also will be honest with you. I started this January 24, 2010. Just two days ago. Twenty four days after the new year had begun. Yes, I have not really been in the Word over the past twenty four days. This sorrows me greatly but when you don't yearn for it, it is so hard to make the time for it. On Sunday, I read Romans 1:1-2 after a wonderful, encouraging, and freeing conversation with Melissa and delighted in every word of those two verses. Oh how I yearn for it again! Yes my life is not always perfect and rarely do I have it together. Grace is good. And my God is good to have grace with me.

#39 Find and disciple a young lady: I have been praying about this one for a few months now. Back in December, I met with a few of the freshman girls from Navigators to test out how we "clicked." I found this to be fun and a good experience. With one of the girls, Kerrie, I had expected for our time to be perfectly awkward and for the time to drag by. Our conversation was good and we were able to go past surface-level topics. My time with Addy and Kayla was also a blessing and I have approached both of these girls about discipleship. Bethany is praying about discipling Kayla and I do not want to remove that opportunity for Bethany. I told Kayla that if she, for some reason, was not comfortable with Bethany, then I could disciple her but first and foremost, Bethany should be given the option first. I also asked Addy about such opportunity telling her to pray about it for the next couple weeks because I do not want to something the Lord is not leading us to do. I have also made it clear that I will not be offended if she does not choose me for it is true. I want her to have the freedom to make the decision herself without feeling any obligation to my emotions. This has been left in the Lord's hands and He shall do with it what He wills.

#44 Take Math 181: With my recent change in majors, I had to rearrange my schedule and it just so happened that a Math 181 class was open and it fit perfectly with my schedule. I love being able to do math again although this is going to be rather difficult. I think it will be helpful in my plan for tutoring next semester and in home schooling my children.

#46 Read 1 book per month every month for a year: I have finished my book for January already: The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers and am almost finished with my second January book (not that this was necessary): Adventures in Natural Childbirth by Janet Shoewegel (sp?). I have enjoyed being a reader again immensely. This has been good for entertainment, passing the time as well as furthering my mind and knowledge.

#58 Don't eat sugar for an entire year: Yes, yes I am doing it. Some people's resounding answer to this declaration is "YOU'RE CRAZY!" Some people's answer is "Wow, I wish I could do that." It started January 1, 2010 and will end the minute the clock hits midnight on January 1, 2011. Honestly it has not been that difficult because I have a goal in mind and I am purposed to achieving that goal. Temptations have been few and far between and even then they are resistible. I did have a dream the other day that I ate a cookie by accident without even thinking. Eek! I certainly hope that does not happen but even if it did, I would continue on for it was an accident.

#85 Organize my photos on my laptop: Ooph! Has this been a job. I've only gotten through three folders. It is one boring job but I am thankful that I am doing it because I want to get rid of all those weird unusable photos that are taking up gigabytes of space on my hard drive.

It is going well. I am thoroughly enjoying this process. I find things weekly that I need to put on my next list. Silly me--thinking in facebook statuses and 101 in 1001 lists. Oh how one must love technology.

#32

#32: Find and purchase a pair of flats that have arch support and are comfortable.

I found these babies a few months ago and had initially liked them. I decided against purchasing them because they were a little crazy and they wouldn't go with everything. The pair of shoes I ordered ended up smelling so BAD! They were so bad that if I didn't take a shower at night, I could smell my feet up at my pillow. ICK! So, despite the arch support and cuteness factor, I threw those away and attempted some new ones. I got these beauties from backcountry.com on Tuesday. I like them so far. They have good arch support and are roomy in the length. They are a little tight in the depth specifically with the mary jane strap but I think with some stretching, they'll come around. If they do not work out, there will be a #32 do-over. :)

101 in 1001

1. Run a half-marathon.
2. Do a sprint triathlon.
3. Be able to run a 7:30 mile.
4. Get in shape.
5. Exercise for 21 days straight.
6. Take a pilates class.
7. Run in the rain.
8. Learn to knit.
9. Learn to snowboard.
10. Learn to play an instrument.
11. Learn to make Pad-Thai.
12. Take a trip with Mom.
13. Take a trip with Dad.
14. Return to SMR.
15. Go to Chicago to visit grandparents, Chelsea, Caleb and [Ryan?]
16. Put my feet in the Atlantic Ocean.
17. Put my feet in the Pacific Ocean.
18. Put my feet in the Gulf of Mexico.
19. Go to the Jemez hot springs.
20. Go to Slide Rock in Arizona.
21. Visit Mma and Papa in Florida.
22. Go on another mission’s trip.
23. Go to the orphanage in Juarez for at least a weekend.
24. Go on a spontaneous, unplanned road trip an hour after deciding to leave.
25. Sleep outside/camp alone for one night.
26. Hike the Grand Canyon.
27. Hike a 14-er in Colorado.
28. Go backpacking [not Grand Canyon].
29. Buy a pair of overalls.
30. Purchase a [large] computer monitor to use as a home theater system.
31. Buy a new pair of running shoes.
32. Find and purchase a pair of flats that have arch support and are comfortable.
33. Memorize the TMS.
34. Read through the Bible.
35. Don’t speak for an entire day but use the silence for prayer.
36. Institute <3 HDAWGs in a semester.
37. Switch churches.
38. Get involved with people my age at this new church.
39. Find and disciple a young lady.
40. Share the Gospel with an unbelieving friend.
41. Share the Gospel with a stranger.
42. Pray about who/what to faithfully support monthly.
43. Develop habit of praying first thing every morning.
44. Take math 181.
45. Take an infant development class/learn extensively about the subject on my own.
46. Read 1 book per month every month for a year.
47. Become relatively fluent in Spanish.
48. Research the Home Foundation [thehomefoundation.net]
49. Don’t go clothes shopping for 3 months straight.
50. Keep track of my spending in a journal for one month.
51. Give up texting for a week.
52. Give up Internet for a week.
53. Give up facebook for a month.
54. Blog daily for a month.
55. Save $2400 in the next 1001 days.
56. Write daily for a month in my husband journal.
57. Make cookies weekly for a semester.
58. Don’t eat sugar for an entire year.
59. Do something nice for a friend anonymously.
60. Send care packages to 3 far-away friends.
61. Write encouragement letters for twenty close friends [anonymously?].
62. Do something nice for a stranger anonymously.
63. Write thank you letters for my professors one semester.
64. Wait for the mail man one day and thank him.
65. Pay for someone behind me in the drive-thru.
66. Do Operation Christmas Child one Christmas.
67. Cook at the Ronald McDonald House again.
68. Math tutor either volunteer or for pay.
69. Make a quilt.
70. Make a successful wheat bread loaf.
71. Finish my life scrapbook.
72. Make a scrapbook of 101 in 1001.
73. Scrapbook my first year of college.
74. Make [sew] a piece of clothing for myself.
75. Make a painting.
76. Make/buy reusable grocery bags and USE THEM!
77. Write 5 short stories on events/memories in my life.
78. Write 5 poems applicable to life at the time.
79. Begin compiling an anthology of my short stories and poems.
80. Begin sending Christmas cards.
81. Host a tea party.
82. Host a dance party.
83. Host a cookie swap.
84. Plan a successful surprise party.
85. Organize my photos on my laptop.
86. Transfer organized and sorted pictures to zip drive.
87. Print organized and sorted photos.
88. Organize printed photos into photo boxes according to year.
89. Print canvases/prints for decoration within my home.
90. Clean out clothes that are too big, too small or clothes that I simply don’t wear any longer.
91. Do one major assignment one week ahead of time.
92. Dance in the rain with someone I love.
93. Take a picnic with someone/people I love.
94. Visit Mississippi and get reacquainted with a friend after carefully praying about whom this should be.
95. Go to a concert.
96. Go skinny dipping.
97. Curl my hair randomly for school.
98. Wake up at 6 am every day for a month.
99. Wake up without pressing the snooze alarm for one week.
100. Drink body weight in oz. of H2O for a month.
101. Develop healthy teeth brushing habits…[night: brush, floss, mouthwash, gel-kam; morning: brush, mouthwash]

This is a list of goals that I will begin to complete starting January 1, 2010 and the 1001 days will be up on September 27, 2012. As I complete each item I'll blog about it and provide pictures if possible. I think this will be a fun adventure over the next 2.75 years.