If He Said It...

It was a Wednesday night and watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was a bad idea because I was already feeling a bit emotional.

I was trying to get my mind off of this huge mountain in front of me but just looking away doesn't make anything disappear. Two hours of avoidance had gone by and I knew I had to face it. There was a deadline in my near future and there was absolutely nothing that I could do to meet it.

I needed to hear from God so I approached Him in the laziest way I could: I opened up a Bible Study that I had been doing with a group of ladies, ironically titled, "He speaks to me." I re-read sentence after sentence and it was only after two pages of not really reading that I finally gave up and timidly opened my mouth.

It wasn't long before I became a puffy-faced mess on my bedroom floor.

I realized there were things I hadn't talked to God about, simply because I didn't want to say them out loud. and then I got to the heart of it: "I can't do this God. I have no resources, no money, There's nothing I can do to make this happen. You HAVE to do this."

50 Feet In The Air

Everyone struggles with something in their faith right?
Or, I'm the only one...?

Lately I've really been trying to correct some unbelief I have in the area of prayer.
In short, I'm the kind of person that totally believes in prayer, that God blesses and heals and listens to the hearts of his children. I believe prayer works... for other people.
I've always struggled a bit with the truth that God cares about me and actually wants bless my life in huge ways. Not because I don't believe He is able, but because maybe, there's a reason He would not want to be willing.

It sounds kind of ridiculous to struggle with that, especially knowing that if it were not for God and his plans for my life, I would not be in this place right now, this place in which I am absolutely, undeniably content and even thrilled.

But it's true, I have weaknesses, lots of them, just like you.
*gasp* Yeah, I just called you out.

Missed Flight: Ethiopia #1

Kicked Out

I found out some very interesting news yesterday: My resident visa application cannot be processed yet.
The reason? apparently a letter from my college stating that I am a graduate, complete with school seal, is not good enough proof for the Kenyan Immigration Authority that I am educated.
I guess I'll need to send someone on a hunt for my diploma, which I'm sure is very buried and very dusty in storage.

Would have been nice to have known this before I paid for the letter from school and WAY before it was time for my tourist visa to expire.

I have to leave Kenya.
Not just Kenya actually, the region... something about an East African Visa makes it unacceptable to just cross over into Tanzania or Uganda and hop back in. And heading north seems like a bad idea at the moment; Somalia and Sudan both having their issues. Ethiopia could be an option, but I'm not really sure yet where I'll go.

It's not like I'm not up for an adventure, but this necessary trip was unexpected and therefor not budgeted for.
Not knowing a lot of people in surrounding countries makes it even more expensive because hotels have to be factored in and unless I want to sit on a bus or a train for days, airfare also has to be considered.

I know that God already has an idea for me, He just hasn't told me yet.
I will have to leave by November 30, and will also need to look into acquiring a visa for wherever I'm headed, so please join me in praying for travel details and expenses to be provided for very quickly.

Any suggestions for cheap travel on this continent?

Flying To NBO

I finally caught up on the vlogs.
Here is a REALLY short one I recorded during my very long journey to Nairobi. Airports are boring and sitting in a metal tube for 8 hours is boring so there wasn't a lot to capture.
But I did upgrade to business class which was totally worth it!

Excuse Me, That's Not Your Bag

That's what I would have said, had I seen the person leaving the airport with my luggage.

I landed in Nairobi Last night at 8:30pm (EAT) and proceeded through customs to baggage claim. 2 of my bags were on the belt right away so I hobbled over as quickly as I could, with a giant ankle, and grabbed them. I then stood there for 20 minutes eyeballing the belt and checking the bags that were on the floor (I still don't know why the Jomo Kenyatta airport staff will take random bags off of the belt).

It wasn't there. So I went to the baggage help desk and they informed me that the bag had been on the plane but naturally their scanners weren't working that day so they hadn't scanned any bags that had arrived. So we knew it was on the plane. I filed the report and they said they would contact me if it showed up.

Thankfully, that same night someone had returned it.

They took it by accident thinking that it was theirs... which is surprising considering it had an Air Canada tag on it with my name and address.

And then I got to thinking... they don't check bags on the way out of the airport. People could just grab like 5 bags and take off.

I'm not trying to give you any ideas but it would have been a good thing for me to clearly mark my bag. I normally do but I got lazy.

And even better... If I had neon green bags, no one would get away.

So long story short.. I have all my luggage now.

The flights were as good as two 7+ hour flights could be without being in first class.

And this week hopefully I'll have a plan regarding house hunting.

Thanks for all the prayers for my travels.

Plane Ticket? Check!

I always get scared when booking my own flights online.

Not like I haven't done it a bunch of times before but it's one of those things where if you mess up the data, you could end up paying BIG TIME.

But my confirmation was emailed, I am on the passenger list and my departure date is.... drum roll please....

May 30, 2011 at 5:30pm

I am flying from Toronto with KLM through Amsterdam cause they are cheapest and I have a points card and who doesn't love collecting points?

I have a 4 hour stopover and then I will arrive in Nairobi on May 31 at 8:15pm (EAT)

I put a countdown timer on the left... cause I can.

And that's about it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to add 4 more pages to my to do list.

Something tells me this is going to be a short 2 weeks!

We Did It!

Just a short update to tell you that FINALLY, my monthly support goal has been met.

I've written before about part of the reason that it took so long 

(you can read about that here "You're Not Going Anywhere With That Attitude")

but it's an amazing feeling to know that,

1. God really does have a job for me in Kenya because He's arranged my way

2. I don't have to look like a wandering fool anymore, just a regular fool

3. My patience, the little that I had, is being rewarded with so many answers to long prayed prayers.

My departure date is SOON... very soon.

The date is in my head and I think I will purchase my plane ticket tomorrow.

When I have that ticket, then I will tell you the date.

Thank you a billion times, those that have been praying, giving, encouraging and all that good stuff.

And for those that weren't so sure I was right in the head... it's alright, I forgive you cause,

I'M GOING TO NAIROBI

Sooooo Close!

What can you buy with $80?

a 4gb mp3 player,
groceries for the week,
new pair of jeans (2 pair if you don't shop at the Gap),
2 or 3 DVDs,
a camera,
dinner for two at a fancy restaurant,
new pair of runners,
a couple video games,
a full tank of gas (with some left over...hopefully)

what would $80 a month do for me?

85% and Death by Taxation

I'll let the title speak for itself.
haha.. yeah right.

I started re-looking into flights again.

I like to stay on top of things, know how things work, have my ducks in a row... problem with ducks is that there tend to be stragglers. But I do enjoy feeling knowledgeable occasionally. So I'm entering some tentative dates into the flight search and picking different options to get a handle on price ranges and just as I expected, flights have gone up.

It wasn't a surprise, I'm not worried about that, but when they show you a subtotal that looks decent, expect to have a mini stroke after looking at the total after taxes.