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Youth working at Feed My Starving Children!

So life has been laid back lately, but I have been thrown a few full days too!

Last weekend I chaperoned a youth trip to the cities, and it was awesome!  I really got to know the youth, and saw how awesome they have become.  We voluneered at We listened to many speakers (including Bob Lenz), saw multiple bands play (like Captive Free), and played a lot of catch phrase!  The best part was the speaking because of the heavy topics that they tackled, such as abstinence from sex, drugs, and alcohol.

This is the stage at Youth Encounter in Minneapolis

I have been sporadically substituting as well.  I subbed on Thursday for our Fantastic Fives class (after Preschool but before Kindergarten...), and tomorrow I am subbing for the Enrichment program (the place where the Preschool, Fantastic Fives, and Kindergarteners go after their half day of school is done if their parents don't pick them up right away).  It should be a fun afternoon!  I have been in about once a week, and have some days set up in advance as well.

This is just part of one of the
freezers holding Danish!

I baked yesterday too.  The date for our sale is approaching: it's this saturday...as in...3-1/2 days from now! We have over 70 (which was the number we were aiming for), but we want more!  We have already sold 5, and 3 more are leaving the house tomorrow.  That means I am going to bake another 6 on Thursday or Friday to have those extras :)  We are out of freezer space right now, so we have to wait until later to bake so that they don't get old!  The danish are selling for $9 a piece, or $26 for 3.  We are also pre-selling some if we run out--we'll bake next week too if needed.  We are excited to have all proceeds donated to my mission in Macau!  We will probably make a sign with 丹麦面包 written on it, and/or "Made for Macau!"  I will also be including my prayer card and/or a thank-you note with each Danish!  Too bad I missed out on putting those in the Danish that have already left!

All in all, I am fundraising, but feel strange doing it during Lent...thus my fundraising is slow at this poing.  There is a council meeting coming up in April at which I will present my missionary position to the council at Memorial.  We'll see where it goes from there.

The wireless internet at my house is not working very well, so I am going to save this quickly before I lose internet connection! I'll try to add photos before, though!

Updates!

I updated my blog, as you can see.  Leave comments letting me know what you think of the format, or what I could add or subtract to make it better!

So today was great.  I presented my mission placement to the district office of the LCMS in South Dakota, and I will soon find out if they decided to join me in this partnership.  Then I went with my dad to the bowling alley to see if he was able to bowl with his crushed finger, and we came home to fill out my exit counseling for my student loans.  Then, we made dinner, and (get this..) I ate fish.  I didn't eat a lot, but I ate it, and I almost enjoyed it.  I'm still not a fan, but I didn't completely dislike it like I normally do.  Maybe this is just one step closer to eating seafood!

On my to-do list, after crossing off "nothing":

• Write thank-yous to the churches I presented at.
• Write my support letter to send out.
• Contact Sioux Falls churches to ask about fundraising.
• Make more 丹麦面包!  (danish!)
• Taxes...ugh. I have to file state tax for the first time ever...
• Apply to be a substitute teacher, so I have enough cash to pay off student loans starting in July
• Sleep!!

I think I'm gonna start with the last thing on my list, though!!

Baking :)

I am back in South Dakota, and my schedule is filling up quickly!  Between babysitting and substitute teaching, I am starting to fill up my calendar...everything is color-coded (cause I'm cool like that!).  Pink is my personal calendar...stuff that doesn't have to do with fundraising or work or anything.  Orange is the general calendar, which means holidays, or...well...NCIS.  Yep, a TV show!  Blue is for working, but not having to do with fundraising, and green is for fundraising.  Blue is starting to make its presence on my calendar more and more, which is a good thing!  I need to start adding green to the mix, though!  As soon as I start contacting people, then green will resurface :)

Speaking of the Green calendar...my mother proposed a fun way for me to raise money.  Last year she bought a table at a sale at Sioux Falls Lutheran School.  At that table she gets to sell her Danish.  It's like a once-a-year farmer's market.  This year, she proposed that the proceeds could go to fund my trip to Macau.  SO.  I have decided to help with the baking and help sell the Danish on April 2.  If you want some Danish, come on by!

Yesterday I was going to start baking at 9am so that I could be done in the mid-afternoon.  But I ended up working out with my friend Ashleigh, so I didn't get home 'til 12.  Well, I started baking at about 2 anyway, and mixed up the dough, and then found out I didn't have enough flour!  So I had one double batch done, and the 2nd double batch was started...but I had to run to the store!  But I got the flour as well as doing some other errands, and got back to bake.  My mom helped me with the second half of the baking, and we took the last danish out of the oven at about 9pm.  Not too bad!  It went much faster than we thought...a quadruple batch!  So yesterday was full of baking, and it was tons of fun.

So now I must ask you!

When we put together the table, how should we advertise that the proceeds go to Macau?  Leave a comment with your favorite of the 3, or a better one!  Here is what I have come up with:

a) Made for Macau
b) Bakin' my way to Macau!
c) 丹麦面包 (dan mai mian bao) [Danish]
d) something else clever that you come up with and leave in a comment

Home Sweet Home

After a long trip, I am home.

I planned to be away from home for about 3 weeks, but last Friday (1 week ago) I received a call that my grandma had taken a fall, and that she was not doing so well.  I said that if I was needed, I would go to Minnesota that Monday to help her around the house, which I ended up doing.

It was great to be there, though I wish it could have been through different circumstances.  I got to see some family whom I haven't seen in a while, and also get connected with a church who may want to become a partner with me in my missionary journey to Macau!

Well, now that I am home I get to do fun things. Like unpack. And do laundry. And clean my room after it inevitably will get dirty when I bring all of my luggage inside from the car.  Speaking of, I should do that before it gets dark.

I just want to leave you with a thought today.  As I was in Wisconsin and Minnesota this past month, I realized how much it costs to live.  That would be a lot.  When my parents take care of me, I don't have to pay much.  But now that I am a big girl, I sometimes have to buy groceries and stuff, and I always pay for my own gas.  Without a job right now, that's kind of hard to pay for.  The worst part is that while I was in WI and MN, the gas prices JUMPED way high!  They are up to $3.54/gal in Minnesota, and I don't know what they are in Sioux Falls because I don't pass any gas stations on my way home in town.  But anyway, that's a lot.  I am assuming that they are just going up.

The cost of living is very high.  It may be higher in some locations than others, but it is pretty high overall in the United States, and in other countries as well.  But think about it: the cost of Life is even more.  The cost of Life is death, because we are sinful.  Try as we might, we cannot get out of that payment alone.  Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death." It's a debt that must be paid.  But it has already been paid: take a look at the second part of the verse! "But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Since we could not get out of it alone, God sent his one and only Son to pay that price for us.  He paid our cost of Living for us.

As the cost of living continues to rise, remember that the cost of Living eternally in Heaven has been paid in full for us!  Thank God for His continuing presence, and for His protection in our lives!