Confession

The Colorado/cow boy boot wearing/country music listenin girl side of me tends to show itself more in the summer... and I cant stop listening to this song! 

Or, watch the official music video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZjosn2u1gA

And my next adventure: The Fourth Estate!

My passion for Uganda began four years ago when I watched the Invisible Children Documentary at a student council conference.  It was then that I knew I was called to Uganda, to stand up for a country suffering from the longest running war in Africa.  Since that fateful day I watched the video, I have continually supported this organization and all the work they do.  I have also participated in different events Invisible Children has hosted to raise awareness of the cause to the public, as well as meet with my U.S. Representatives and Senators to sign The LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act which President Obama signed May 24, 2010.  This past spring I was able to live and study in Uganda for four months and my love for East Africa and its people have just grown stronger.

And now.... I am a member of The Fourth Estate

There are 4 educational tracks we can choose/be placed in and I am officially in the Developers track.  My group will be lead by the Adam Fink, the Invisible Children's Missions Director so we will be talking about what nonprofits look like on the ground.  We will be focusing on sustainability, working with local and international governments, and the whole programming side of nonprofits - which is exactly what I want to do with my the rest of my life!

As followers of my blog, I am asking for your support (again!).  

 The most important way you can support me is through prayer.  Pray that fruitful decisions and great knowledge will be gained from this conference.  Also if you would join me in praying for Uganda and East Africa as they are still being tormented by rebel forces and child abductions. 

The second way you can support me is financially.  The cost of the trip is $425 (includes 3 nights at USD, 3 meals a day, and resource materials) plus a plane ticket around $500.  Any contribution you can make is greatly appreciated!  You can send checks payable to me, at my home address (11 Sunset rd, Ashland, MA 01721), to help fray the cost of this unique opportunity.

Thank you so much for your all of your support past and present, and I can't wait to tell you all about it when I get home! 

2.5

Well friends, I failed at the 3 posts in 3 days purely because yesterday was pretty rough.  Little sleep, a freezing bus ride from Philly to Boston, 2 hours stuck in traffic on 5 hours of sleep.  No excuse but I want to present my next big adventure in a better way than unhappily trying to scramble some words down... so while i give myself time for that today here is an in between:

Have you ever questioned the education system? Regardless, here is a really interesting documentary to get you thinking! I highly recommend it.

and here is their website: www.waitingforsuperman.com

check back for my big adventure tonight!

#2: The 4th of July

So on this rollercoaster of life post Uganda, I have often questioned what it means to be a proud American. I feel like this word has a lot of baggage. Proud can mean feeling honored, a positive thing, something that is great and inspires greatness. Proud is also one of the 7 Deadly Sins in which pride seems more arrogant, self-assured in a more negative way. So what do Americans mean when they sing and exclaim "I'm proud to be an American...."?
This 4th of July I seriously questioned this. Is it ok if I'm a proud American? Can I completely celebrate this holiday exactly like I used to before Uganda?
I was fortunate to tag along with Logan and his family to Virginia Beach this year, full of proud Americans with red, white, and blue nail polish and eye shadow, American Flag bathing suits, and all intentions of fireworks (which didnt happen because of a thunder storm). However, I had a great deal of confusion the entire day. This is what I wrote to my Uganda friends the next day:

I hope you are all doing well! For me, I'm doing mostly good, but every now and then I have a few days of rollercoaster and deeply missing Uganda and you all. Yesterday, July 4th was one of those days. Yesterday was just a constant state of confusion for me. On one hand, I do love America and love what this country is and has done for me and my family and all of the opportunity it has created for us to bring opportunity to other people. However, there is also the Mere Discipleship/Mirror to the Church attitude side that feels like it should completely disregard our Independence Day because its not God Bless America its God Bless America, Uganda, the rest of the world, etc. This side has partnered with the side that gives reason for the Declaration of Sentiments and Frederick Douglass' speech, "What 4th of July Means to the Negro" which I just finishsed reading and comparing to the Declaration of Independence for my American Lit summer class. Basically those documents are saying "yes, the Declaration of Independence is awesome and I'm so proud that we broke from the tyranny of Britain...but HEY! wake up America, look at those areas where you are doing the exact same thing Britain was doing to you and do something about it...". And then, I was driving down the East Coast seeing all of these towns and cities named for Native American tribes that were decimated by our country and the Belgian Memorial in Rwanda just keeps ringing in my head...


What the heck.

Luckily, while praying "Lord make me an instrument of thy peace" over and over again to avoid looking mad and frustrated at the tourists (in every sense of the word, particularly from that article we read during orientation)... the Lord brought me relief. There were huge storms starting around dusk on Virginia Beach, which clouded the sky, brought a lot of rain, and cancelled the fireworks. Instead, I was able to delight in the presence of the Lord through the most amazing lightning flashes across the entire sky over the ocean from our hotel balcony.

So...what are your thoughts? How did you feel? Any ideas of what is ok to feel without forgetting all of the lessons we learned?


And then my friend Cody replied with this:
at first i definitely felt like things were odd... i mean, how much do we celebrate a country that does have it's fair share of problems? but then i thought to myself... we're not celebrating the problems of america. we're celebrating the fact that we are a free country, and honestly i'm thankful for that. religious freedom is something that a lot of people don't get to experience, and having that makes life a LOT BETTER. i know, i sound so academic. so i guess i just thought differently about WHAT i was celebrating so that i was truly celebrating alongside the people there.


So, with a lot of contemplation and help from Cody, this is where I am. America is great, wonderful, and a place to truly be loved. Without the opportunity our amazing country has provided, my mom would not have been able to grow up here after arriving by boat in 1960 with my Dutch grandparents. She would have never met my father, a grandson to Italian immigrants. With hard work and hope they came to this country and worked hard and successfully gained the American Dream. Because of that, thank you America! And I am honored to say that I am a citizen to a country in which my right to freedom will never be taken away.


I do think the word proud often comes accross as arrogrant, especially in foreign relations politically and socially. In this case, in the general sense, I wouldnt say I'm a proud American. I however will always be thankful, because I have more opportunities than the majority of the people in this world even though as a 20 year old, in debt, college student I feel insignificant and useless most of the time. I can now use my resources to help those people and to not be arrogant but to be humble. So thank you America, thank you to our founding fathers, the men and women who have and will continue to uphold our countries' standards, and for my fellow Americans - may we continue to be humbled by our opportunities and let this wonderful country inspire us to achieve greatness in our own lives.

Goal: 3 Posts in 3 Days!

Friends,


sorry it has been too long since i have updated you...if you are still following because my life is still full of adventures, with the biggest one being announced in 3 days from today!
Quick Update:

• life can still be a rollercoaster, like yesterday had a lot of me missing Uganda in it, but for the most part Ive had the opportunity to enjoy life with my best friend and boyfriend Logan, my family, the beach, and many awesome friends (Colleen, MB, and Julia just to name a few).
• Also, I was so blessed to join in the celebration of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Matt and Lindsay Forstrom! Congratulations! The ceremony and reception were wonderful and you both looked stunning!
• I enjoyed a long weeked with Logan, his parents, and his brother Riley on the beach and in the ocean for 3 long days in Virginia. It was wonderful.

Now, what I really wanted to post about: Summer Reading List


I've already just re-read my favorite book and summer read, Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers on our trip to Rwanda, and I'm currently working on finish Loved Walked In by Maria de los Santos (not too exciting), and have anxiously awaiting Irrisistable Revolution by Shaine Clainborne on deck.
but, it looks like I will have a lot more down time from here on out, so any suggestions?


And if you are looking for some thought provoking great reads this summer, I would highly suggest:

Mere Discipleship, Lee Camp - Mirror to the Church, Emannuel Katongale - Compassion, Henri Nouwen - Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer

(reviews/brief summaries available upon request)

:)