Goals for Me! Part Two!

The other day I posted what some of my goals are. Below is a list of the things I want to do throughout my whole life. I have done a few and have a lot more to accomplish, but this would be most of them. (I saw someone else post something like this and found it interesting, so I hope you enjoy!)

Have 2 Children

Run a half marathon

Adopt 1 Child

See U2 & John Mayer in concert (probably not at the same venue)

X See Delirious in concert (thank you, Mike)

Get a certificate in Graphic Design

Go to Paris, France

Go to Italy (visit the city my grandma was born in and other places)

Go to Germany (visit the town my ancestors are from)

Buy a home

Visit all 50 states (I have 13 Down, 37 more to go)

X Go to England

Read all Charles Dickens Novels (I’m close)

Begin free lance graphic design from home

Be in the musicals Oklahoma, Sound of Music and My Fair Lady

Hike up some mountain (I don’t care which one, just one that will get me over my acrophobia)

Wake board

X Sailing (Large boat and I captained my own small boat)

Get on one roller coaster (Again to overcome my acrophobia)

Write a fiction book (I have many thoughts, but no significant direction yet)

Write some articles for something in youth ministry (I have no thoughts on this yet)

X Buy a car (with the help of a loan)

Donate my hair to Locks of Love 5 Times (I have 2 down and am working on #3)

Go on a camping trip (just Mike and I, to see if I can really “rough it”)

Go on a cruise (somewhere, anywhere it doesn’t matter)

Go to Canada (especially British Columbia and Nova Scotia)

X Go to Washington DC

X Go to New York City (thanks for getting married there Brian & Kalee)

Go to Australia & New Zealand

Some obviously require more than others, but I think it's a pretty reasonable list. Just thought I would share what's inside my head. :-)

Goals for Me!

I have always had goals in my life and about 63.2% of the time I follow through with those goals. These are some goals I am making for myself right now...
1. Take a graphic design class at RCC
2. Obtain a certificate in graphic design so I can possibly free lance from home
3. Buy a program that allows me to be able to free lance from home (after or before obtaining the certificate)
4. Step out of my comfort zone when it comes to talking with my neighbors and others I am in contact with
5. Take out the 10 girls in my Bible Study (one at a time) for coffee... or non coffee
6. Run at least 2-3 times a week in my beautiful neighborhood
7. Start lifting weights (small ones) to get rid of the inflammation in my chest (seems like it would have the opposite effect, but it's doctors orders)
8. Eat more healthy (I think I do this now, but I can always do better)
9. And finally (not because it's the least important, but more because it's the most important) I'm going to start trusting God more with the plans He has for me and try really hard not to think about worst case scenarios with my health

I know that number 9 doesn't really sound like a goal, I just need to have it written somewhere that I said it.

I don't know what to say...

I have a multitude of thoughts going through my head right now and I'm not sure where to begin.

First, I want to say that my costochondritis is still here and may not go away until I work it out through exercise. My doctor didn't seem real concerned.

Secondly, I'm trying to find the words to say my next thought without be too vague, yet not super descriptive. Here goes...

I found a lump in that upper girl region on my body. My doctor verified it today and referred me to a specialist. They are supposed to call me within a few weeks. I am extremely scared, anxious, angry and so much more right now. My doctor tells me there is a 90% chance that it is just a cyst that needs to be drained and if it had been a little bigger he would have done it himself (with a needle... oh... yay). The nurse was trying to be a comfort and told me that "we all have them." I'm not sure if that was comforting or just made me think if we all have them how come it's such a big deal. I'm not sure what to feel right now. I know that God is taking me through this time for a reason, but I still want to know why.
So, for now I just wait and pray and wait and pray until I am given more answers.

Connections...

I am trying to make a point of connecting with high school girls in my Bible Study more this year. My goal is to take them out for coffee or lunch or something at least once. There are ten girls in my Bible Study and I figure that's one a month with 2 months to spare. I've said it here so hopefully I will accomplish this goal and can share my experiences on this blog. Now for a story...

For about the last seven months I have been going to coffee (or non coffee as we call it) with a girl named Sarah. We have connected so well and I believe we have a wonderful friendship going on. She wrote about Mike and I on a blog on her myspace so I was thinking I wanted to share with anyone reading how amazing just one connection can be.

Sarah will be entering college this fall and I know that she is anxious, nervous, unsure, and undecided about things, but I also know that she is finding comfort in God even through this next step in life. I look at Sarah and she says she learns a lot from me, but I have learned so much from her also. She has shown me what it's like to trust God with things even when you are unsure. She is someone that I know I will be friends with for a long time and I hope we will keep on meeting in person together for many years (at least while we live close by). She has this calmness about her and this wisdom about things that I sometimes don't understand and then I realize it's her love for God. She is concerned for others, loves hanging out with teenage girls and she really thinks and prays through big, tough decisions. She is a true friend to those she is closest to and you would be lucky to know this girl if you ever meet her.

Connecting with students is an important part of ministry and there is no way I could connect on the same level with every student. I think the most important thing to remember is that after making that connection you can't just leave them when they leave high school, try to continue to connect with them after they leave your ministry and beyond. You can't do that with every student, but you can do it with a few and maybe you will make a little bit of a difference in someone's life.

Ministry...

I don't talk a lot about my ministry on my blog, but something sparked me into thinking about sharing my thoughts on the ministry I do.

I am a high school ministry volunteer at my church. When I was 18 years old I made the decision to be involved in youth ministry somehow, someway after high school. Little did I know that God would put me on the path to doing ministry early on. I have now been doing youth ministry for 7 years. 5 years with junior high and 2 years with high school. If you had asked me 2 1/2 years ago if I would ever volunteer with high schoolers I would have told you flat out... No! Now I can't even imagine going back to junior high students (as much as a I love them).

I was the girl in high school who did everything. I played sports, I wrote for the school newspaper, I was in theater and I was extremely involved at my church. I would not recommend that for any high school student that I come in contact with, but it definitely shaped me into the person I am today and the person I continue to become. This has also helped me to say no to a lot of things because I had the tendency to get burnt out in high school.

I currently teach a Bible Study class on Sunday mornings, I lead the video ministry (it's pretty infrequent) and I volunteer on Wednesday Nights (which I may cut back on this year). This may sound like a lot and I could be doing a lot more. The only downside to this is that it makes me a bit more visible to parents and students and they tend to think i know everything about every event coming up.

I love my ministry and I love high school students. I hope that I am able to volunteer with this age for a long time. At least until God has me move on to another area of ministry!

Tension...

I know that most of my posts are about my health and how many times I have taken xrays and gone to the doctors, but here's one more for you.
If you have been reading my blog you may know that I had/have this thing called Costochondritis (look it up). I am still taking pain medicine for it (which I';m not sure it I still should be) and the pain has lessened in my chest a little bit, but has now moved to another part of my body... my arm. I am working really hard on not being a worrisome person, but this just adds to all my worry. My arm hurts and has been off and on numb/tingly for the last few days and it also seems to be connected to my shoulder. I told my mom about this (I pretty much tell her everything) and she told me it's probably tension. I truly hope it's just tension and not something worse, but I sure would like to have one day without any pain in my body... anywhere! So... I am still debating making an appointment with my doctor, but I continue to pray that it will just go away. So, if you do read my boring medical stories please take a little bit of time to pray that I will make the right decision to either get it checked out (again) or that God will just take it away because I know He is the Ultimate Healer! Thanks for reading!

I'm back from across the pond...

We made it back to California from London on Tuesday and we are just trying to recover from jet lag. It was worse coming back then going there. If you want to read about our trip and see pictures from it then you can go to mine and Mike's joint blog. I hope you enjoy our stories.