A Preplanned Story

The other night, I sat on my bed reading through my old journal from last summer. There, I recorded my days spent in West Philadelphia as I taught 6th and 7th graders from the inner city with 13 other team members. Memories flooded in and warmed this heart of mine as I remembered my precious students and the wonderful time spent with my West Philly team.

Though we are all doing very different things around the world this summer, I pray that we continue to pray for our students...that God is continuing His work there and that the seeds planted last summer are being watered. I can't believe that it has already been a year...

As I was flipping through the pages, one entry really caught my eye.

June 22, 2009.



Wow, I forgot about that.
"Maybe one day I could put my French to use and go for missions in African Francophone countries...mm something to really pray about."

In French, I wrote "J'espère...un jour," meaning "I hope...one day." I had no idea at that time that "one day" would come just a year later.

I took a moment to reread it a few times. I was so struck by it. In this entry, I recounted the Sunday service at Renewal Presbyterian Church when Korean missionary Michael Oh came to speak. I was fortunate to hear him, dressed in a Japanese kimono, give another moving testimony at Urbana this past December.

So here I am, all packed and ready to go to Cameroon, a Francophone country located in western Africa. It's something that God obviously had in store for me before I even began contacting the Wycliffe representative from Urbana, before I even decided to attend Urbana this winter, before I even entered the church in Dallas that encouraged the trip, before my family even stepped foot into this church in Dallas, before my family moved to Dallas.

God, it's starting to all fit together. These strange little puzzle pieces that you created in my life....it's starting to make more sense. Thank you for being in total control.

So, here I go.
If you would like to keep up with the trip and pray with me, you can find me here:
www.cathygoestocameroon.blogspot.com

I'll be back late June 23rd. See you in a month! God is so good :)

une prière pour ma vie

"The place God calls you is where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." -Frederick Buechner

Father, give me a vision for my life.
I'm not asking for riches or comfort.
I simply want to praise you
because we both know
that is what I was made to do.
True joy is found in knowing you
and doing what you called me to.

So Lord, show me.
Open my eyes, break my heart.
Help me to love until I run dry.
And when I do, please fill me up again.
So I can love again like you do.
Love, Cathy

Birds, Baking, and Babysitting

After leaving two sticks of butter out on the counter to soften, I began to pull out some more ingredients from the kitchen cabinet when my little guests arrived. Having just moved here from Mexico, these two girls are fluent in Spanish and are so insightful at their age, it astounds me sometimes. Nevertheless, they came over to spend an afternoon with me as our moms both headed out to set up for a church event. They came in their matching outfits (something i always wanted to do with a sister), toting their pink princess backpacks full of "cute girly things."

My plan: quick baking, coloring and doing homework, a walk outside to feed the ducks, and possibly a movie to fill in some extra down time

Their plan: making little hearts out of the cookie dough and thereby prolong the baking process, coloring instead of doing homework, a walk outside to get chased by ducks, digging into the dirt hunting for worms (really? HAHA), and watching Finding Nemo halfway before they tell me they watched it already, and oh, coming out of the bathroom with mom's lipstick on.

haha oy.

I must admit though, growing up as the youngest, I love being able to play the older sister role once in a while :) Babysitting is something I inherently enjoy, especially when it involves birds and baking!

lesson 1 on birds
Ducks here are sweet, but the geese can be ferocious. I got mad at the momma goose today. She ran over hissing at me when we got near her family. It seems like when we feed them from afar, they make their way over and eat everything in sight, including crumbs intended for the poor turtles. However, when we come near them, they get angry. Strangely enough, it reminded me of my relationship with God sometimes. When He seems to throw me good, "tasty" things in my life, I joyously come near, yet when He beckons to draw near me, I back away and even respond in a testy way, like that momma goose. I'm sorry God. :(


meet the duck family


baby geese and parents


beautiful sunset over the lake

How wonderful it is to have a Father who still draws near despite my selfish, childish ways. Like Him, I'm going to continue to go visit those birdies with my little bag of cheerios and hotdog buns. So momma goose, see you soon. I'm going to pursue you until you like me! heehee :)

lesson 2 on baking (in regards to oatmeal choc. chunk cookies)
not sweet enough? add more vanilla extract to the mixture :]
too doughy and not enough crunch? add more oats and less flour
still something missing? down it with a glass of milk. heehee.

lesson 3 on babysitting
who says it's a chore?



Besides, baking's more fun with such cute company :]