All Kinds of Updates

Financial Update:
This week I added up all the funds that have been contributed and I get nearly $5,000. Thank you so much!  TeachOverseas.org asks us to have $6,000 by the end of May, so I'm nearly there. Once I hit the $6,000 mark, I'll be half-way to the goal of $12,000. The Bible shows us with Paul that some of us are meant to be the ones that "go" and some are meant to be the ones that "give". Praise the Lord for faithful givers. If you would like to contribute financially, visit http://www.teachoverseas.org/contribute.php

Language Update:
I know 85 words/phrases in Slovak...sounds like a lot, but I still can't really say anything worthwhile. I'll just keep plodding along.

Preparation Update:
The past two weeks have kept me very busy. I scheduled a physical with my doctor. He ran several blood tests and I have to have one more test done at the end of May.

With my mom's help, I've been looking at international insurance. I think we've found one that is going to work and we'll be ironing out the details for it next weekend.

I reserved my plane ticket to get to training in California. I'm actually using some airline miles I have collected, so it will help bring the cost down a couple hundred dollars or so. But it was a concrete thing that made this experience a little bit closer and a little bit more real.

I'm trying to pack up the things I want to keep in storage while I am gone and get the rest ready for a garage sale. I'm learning to let go and get rid of things. It's a hard lesson to learn, but I'm getting there. Really, its just stuff...it won't do me any good sitting in a building for a year or more. And someone else could be using it. (I think it's probably a good thing to learn this lesson early in my life, too...) I'm planning to use the money I get from selling my belongings to help finance part of the trip.

School Update:
There are only three weeks of school left for this year. All the students are ready to be done and it's getting harder and harder to convince them to do these last few lessons that will tie all their knowledge together. My focus is split between getting ready to leave and finishing what I'm already committed to. Please pray that I'll be able to keep things going on both fronts at the same time.

Emotional Update:
This past week was very tough.  I think because of all the combined factors mentioned above, plus it's starting to sink in that this is for real, and I'm going to be gone for a long time. I can't really explain it any better, but it was just a hard week. I'm spending the weekend with my family (for Mother's Day), so that will help.

Prayer Requests for this week:
For an emotional lift
To know the right questions to ask when looking at insurance
For my teammates/roommate in Slovakia - I don't know them yet, but they have been on my mind a lot.
For TeachOverseas.org as they make preparations for our month of training