Greetings from NC.

Hey everyone who actually reads this... I figured now while i have a computer i might as well write something on here. The last couple of days I've been here in Charlotte, NC. doing orientation for SIM.

I couldn't hit on all the things that have happened. But i'll hit on two of them. It's been an interesting time here because i'm the only short termer going out of SIM this month. So i've been here with the staff at their headquarters doing classes meant for multiple people one on one with the instructors. The staff here is full of wonderful people. They probably have at least 40 people on permanent staff.

It's bee quite interesting because i've been the youngest person around. The staff is made up mostly of former missionaries and i'm much younger than most of them. I was sitting in chapel on Wednesday morning and i had kind of an epiphany. I'm kind of a "hybrid" christian. Sounds wierd i know. What i mean by this is that i feel comfortable in tons of christian community settings. There i was with like 40 older people. Singing hymns and praying with them. And i felt totally ok with it. I'm sure i can contribute this to the fact that ive been raised in a fairly conservative setting. But it just became clear to me at that moment that God has been preparing me over my life to comfortably handle lots of differant christian copmmunites and worship styles. So that was cool.

Number two. And i'm sure any of you who know me very well will not be surprised by this....
I'm a cryer.... Period. Any time the Holy Spirit is in the room in a tangible way, i cry. End of story. I'm like a gauge or something for the presense of God i think. This was totally confirmed again to me because every morning here the SIM staff join together at chapel and pray for a particular region or country. And the other day i was totally crying with all these old people around. At first it was unsettling because i'm not used to it happening around strangers. But whatev.

Anyways, i'm done training here. I'm going to ride the bus up to Philadelphia this evening to visit my grandparents. I'm not really sure what you all can pray for specifically right now. It has been kind of weird lately because i've had a real sense of loss leaving everyone up in Alaska. I haven't had this feeling since i was in the Marine Corps. Basically it sucks. The feeling of not really having a home to settle in to is kind of weird too. So those are some things that bug me... that and snakes. But i'll get over that i'm sure.

I'll post more when i can. Probably in Toronto.