Adventures of the Out-of-Towners

Work is out of control right now. While we're grateful that the Department of State and USCCB are not waiting until the end of the fiscal year to send the vast majority of the refugees (like they did last September), it's still daunting to look at the board and see a new arrival notice almost every day. To add to our workload, we've been contacted by several Iraqi and Afghan special immigrants. While I am so excited for these individuals and their families, their unique situations often take a great deal of time, which usually involves driving to their new home. You see, in order for an Iraqi or Afghan special immigrant to come here, they must have an American sponsor. Usually, the sponsors are the military men and women for whom the special immigrant interpreted while deployed overseas. The special immigrant and their family are basically welcomed into the home of the sponsor for however long the sponsor and special immigrant agree. Some live with their sponsors a while, some temporarily. While I greatly admire the service men and women for acting as the special immigrant sponsors, I wonder why they can't live somewhere closer to Columbia? Since our office covers not only the Columbia area but the entire state except for the St. Louis and Kansas City areas, we are the resettlement agency for those who live in the more rural areas. Last week, Senad and I drove to Tecumseh, a tiny town about four hours south, to meet with some wonderful special immigrants. We almost died about five times, including running into a bit of a problem on one of the roads:

"What the heck is this?" Senad asks.

Yes, that's right. The road ends here folks.

It can get difficult providing services to these individuals when they are so far away and in a place with which we are entirely unfamiliar. Pray that I will be diligent to serving these individuals, especially since the government has strict time limitations on how long they can receive services.

In non-work related news, Isaac and went to Louisville last weekend to attend a preview conference at Southern. Though I was physically exhausted the entire time, what with almost dying in Tecumseh the day before and then driving to Louisville at 5:00 in the morning, the weekend was incredibly awesome. We got to eat lunch with Phyllis and her precious boys. I also ran into several people I went to school with at Union and even a guy who married a friend from back home in Pensacola. We met some other potential students and some great professors, some of whom I now think of incredibly highly because of their unswerving devotion to my Florida Gators. Yes, it looks like there is a nice contingent of the Gator Nation living in the Louisville area, and while I am glad to have converted a few lost souls in mid-Missouri, I will be glad to live in a place of acceptance once again. We think Isaac will begin Fall 2009, so pray that the Lord would make the transition smooth for us and that His will would be clear to my thick-headed brain.

One more thing: my beloved friend Clemma and I are taking a cake decorating class together at Hobby Lobby. It's entirely new to me, and my skills are still developing, but we're having fun getting half of the icing all over ourselves and eating the other half. I will post more pictures of this new adventure later, but I wanted to put this one up for Becca, the most un-lame birthday girl I know. Because we couldn't make it to her birthday party, I thought it appropriate that this cake should bear her name. It's a yellow cake with chocolate pudding layers and chocolate icing. I chose the red detailing specifically for Becca. And we all know how much she loves clowns...

Welcome to the "Quarter Century Club" Becca!

"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:7