Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Looking ahead

Seeing as it's only one day in to summer school and I'm sick of it ALREADY (Why??? Why oh WHY did I sign myself up for this?), I figured I'd take a little looksie at what the REST of my summer is going to look like.

Weekends: as much ocean and mountain time as I can swing. Weekdays: as full of summer fun as I can make them. Strawberry picking, anyone?

The last Friday in July, I'm flying off to Windsor, Ontario for my friends Dave and Becca's wedding. They are some of the bestest people in the world, and I'm sooooo excited for them. They live here in Vancouver, but are both from Ontari-ari-ari-o, so are getting married out there. Then heading off for their honeymoon in Turkey. Luh-keee.

After the wedding, I figure that I'm out east anyway, so I may as well stay there for a bit and do something fun. Will it be a road trip up to Ottawa and Montreal (with a stop at Niagara Falls along the way), or will it be a road trip south to... oh, I don't know... Grand Rapids and Cincinnati? Plans hinge slightly on something beyond my control, so who knows! Maybe I'll just rent a car and see where I end up!

Mental note. Book plane ticket HOME.

After that, I'll have a few weeks chilling out in Vancouver - hopefully with lots of camping, hiking, and beach time - I'm headed to Mexico! I've kinda fallen behind the eight ball with posting about this one. It's been a thought process for a while now...

Back in February, I found out that my church was taking two teams to Mexico - Terrazzas, to be specific, just outside of Tijuana - to build a house for a family living in the slums there, to run some kids programs, and to love the socks off of anyone we meet. At first I was kind of considering it, but pushed it out of my mind with all kinds of excuses...

Naw, it'll be too hot in August. {suck it up, princess}
Well, I only have so much time off, I don't want to spend a quarter of it away and... {and WHAT, Hillary? Helping people?!?! Sheesh}
Well I don't have the money. {not true}
I don't know if I'm called to go. {"Go into all the world..." Sounds like a call to me!}
But that's the stereotypical missions trip: go to Mexico, build a house. {Seriously? That's a reason not to go?}
Blah blah blah.

Yes, I realize how STUPID these sound now.

But the excuses won out, and I wasn't going to go. Then the May team came back, and there was a meeting for anyone interested in the August team, or who just wanted to see pictures and hear about the trip. To be completely and totally honest, I went to the meeting cause a cute boy was going, too.

I AM SO BAD!!!!! SOOOOOO BAAAAD! *hangs head in shame*

So the pics were fun, the stories were great, and I was still not going.

But God didn't really want to leave me alone on this one. He kept pestering me. Like a Facebook spammer, he poked and poked and poked.

You've been wanting to get more out of your own little world. This is a chance to do that. *poke*
You've been looking for opportunities to serve. Well here you go. *poke*
You've been needing a change in the way you hear My voice. I will speak to you on this trip. *poke*
You've always talked about how you'd like to do missions one day. This may be a place to start. *poke*
You have the time. *poke*
You have the money. *poke*
*poke* *poke* *poke* *poke* *poke*

OKAY OKAY OKAY!!!

So I've filled in my application, paid my deposit, and I'm on the team. I head down August 18-25, and I get more and more excited about it every day....


And NO, the cute boy is not going!

9 comments:

Niki Devereaux said...

Hillary, I'm so excited for you to get to go to Mexico, glad to hear God kept poking until you listened. Much better than those facebook pokes ...*creepy*
Anyway, umm, so you're coming to Ontario?? If you happen to meander down to Niagara Falls let me know when and if you need a place to crash...it'd be fun to see you again! :)
Blessings,
Nova

Lawn Mower Queen said...

The son of one of the teachers I used to work with (and who worked with my mom) went down to Mexico on a mission trip much like the one you're talking about.

He met his wife there. They have a 1 year old baby now.

Just sayin'. :o)

And LMK is with you on the summer school suckiness. His is truly awful. We won't be doing it again if we can help it.

sarah cool said...

Hey!

YAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are SO many things that are YAAAAAAAY!!!! in that post! How awesome!

sarah cool said...

OH, and I went to Bible study and eventually became a Christian because a cute boy asked me to go and eventually led me to Christ. ;-) Haha! So, God uses shallow things to bring us to Him sometimes! Yaaaaay Mexico!

Paul said...

I guess I'll have to let you off the last weekend in July.

You'd better be available the weekend before though Miss Hillary, because it would be a shame to come fourty seven hundred miles only to find you're out ;)

Unknown said...

I agree with the many many yays in this post! :) And God did make cute boys for a reason, Miss H. Other than eye-candy, that is.

GR has a bed ready and waiting for you. And kitties willing to snuggle. (who promise not to yowl all night at you!)

nachtwache said...

Awesome x3!! The news about your class in the fall, your trip to Ontario (give my girl a hug if you can get together) and the missions trip to Mexico. Ole!
I just love the way you write.
God speed on your adventures!

Jean said...

Good thing you listened to the pokes! He could've started using a sledgehammer on you! :)

I don't have an extra bed, but am only 10 minutes (7 if I speed) to Anne's house... :)

Shle said...

oh how fun! you and me will be in Tijuana at the same time! Im going from august 3- 22nd you should come to the orphanage I'll be at while im there! seriously i would love to see you ! ! ! ! ! !

xoxoxoxo