I'm BAAAAACK!!!

I know I seemed to fall off the face of the earth, I promise I did not. : ) While I was in Sierra Leone, I had almost no internet connection and the few times I tried to update, the computers didn't have the software needed.

The trip was amazing and I'll be getting out my newsletter and latest update asap.

Hopefully I'll be able to do a better job of updating this fall.
Thanks for your prayers while I was gone friends.

Staff are HERE!!

Our staff disciplers have arrived and we are excited about what we see! They love eachother, they love the Lord and they are thrilled about the opportunity to pour into the students who get to the field in just a few short days! We have been busy in teaching and team building times. Our Staff put together a rather impressive marshmallow/spaghetti tower, done a lot of memorization and worked on their expectations for the summer. They worked together to write out their mission and vision for our team and displayed it on an apron so that when we're cooking this summer we can be reminded of what we're working towards. Our small but mighty staff are rearing and ready for our students to come in on Friday and Saturday!!!

T-minus 10 Days....

In 4 days I go back to Indiana to get my vaccinations, pack and spend some time with my family. In 10 days I report to what Royal Servants alumni lovingly refer to as "The Hay Field"..... mostly because that is exactly what it is. For one month I will be living in a tent on a hay field. Time on the field is amazingly special. Week one will be a time when the Reign Staff all come together and finalize plans and prepare for the summer. Week two is our Senior Staff week, our summer senior assistants will all be in where we do more preparation as well as training for specific staff rolls. Week three is our Staff Discipler week, the college age Disciplers come in and get to go through training and get a glimps of what their students will go through.... Week 4 is officially "Training Camp" or Student week. The students come in and we spend 7 intense days preparing them for the ministry to come. We do memorization, teachings, worship, time with the Lord, they learn their street ministry. We laugh, we cry, we sweat. It is an amazing amazing time of fellowship and team unity and growth. And then we head to our respective mission fields. Mine happens to be Sierra Leone, others will be Nepal, China, Israel, Costa Rica, Ireland, Eastern Europe and India.

Honoring the Honorable....

So i made the mistake last night of watching the last 15 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan"... fantastic movie... but it makes me cry (a lot). It wasn't so much tears over the horrible things that the young men saw and experienced in WWII, but more because it reminded me about what an honorable man my grandfather was. He parachuted in behind enemy lines as a medic, why? because it paid better and he could support my grandma back home.
By the time i knew my Papaw, his war days were a distant memory that he rarely (if ever) talked about, and even then it was only with my brother or my cousin. But he was so much more than just a soldier, he was a father, grandfather, friend, a mentor and a husband. To me, he was a hero. He was basically superman who could do no wrong. He was the healthiest sick man I've known, and when he died, our world lost an amazing man. He was a great man of faith, a humble leader by example. He loved his family, though often showed it in his own ways. I saw him shortly before he died and he looked at me with tears in his eyes and told me how proud he was of me, I'll never forget that moment.
The greatest comfort i have is that i won't have to live for eternity without him and Mamaw. One day, i will see them again and what a joyous reunion that will be (Mamaw will probably have some sort of prank ready for us)

Celebrating 26 full rotations around the sun.....

Today I have officially completed my trip around the sun 26 times, seeing the light of day 9497 times. It's interesting to look back and see just how much can be done in that time. I can't decide to feel young or old. Over a quarter of a century yet, God willing, plenty of years left to live. If you were to ask me 20 years ago where I thought I would be at the age of 26, I would have probably laughed at you, cause who asks that specific of a question to a six year old... but my answer would have probably been plain and simple... one word... RICH! I had a strange obsession with money, I liked hiding it around the house so that no one could find it, and I NEVER liked to spend it. I'm not sure what I thought it would get me to have money sitting around that I would never use.... but over the years as I grew I cared less and less about hiding change around the house, and more and more about people. Somewhere in the last 9497 days, I knew I would end up in a job where I could interact a lot with people... some time later, I realized it would be with younger people, then I realized it would be with teenagers, then on July 17,2002 I realized it would be in full time ministry. Finally, it was not just full time ministry, but full time missions. I couldn't be more happy with the direction in my life that God has taken me. I haven't always understood (and I won't pretend to understand now) what God is up to in my life.
But I know this now: I moved to Minneapolis to join a missions organization that I not only believe passionately in, but am a product of. I came here not knowing exactly how it would work out and finding each month that trusting God is how the bills get paid and how food shows up at meal times. I have found that my housing situation was unsure at best, only to now be set up with an amazing apartment, with an amazing sister in Christ, in an amazing location at a price that is completely do-able. You can't sit and tell me God has had nothing to do with it.
25 has been an amazing year. a HUGE time of growth, stretching, trust and faith. A time of tremendous victories and some painful failures. I don't pretend to be perfect, but I can honestly say that today, I am more like Jesus Christ than I was one year ago today, and that's the goal: to look more and more like him with each passing day.
Genesis 22:14b "On the mountain of the LORD, it will be provided." not just financially, not just pragmatically, but spiritually, emotionally, physically. God, the great provider, Jehovah-jireh.

Lessons along the way.

It is interesting to me as I look back at life so far and think about the things I’ve learned and the times that I see growth in my life. My greatest times of learning were never in the classroom (although I learned a ton in school and value my degree and encourage all who are able to graduate college). The times that I have learned and grown the most have been when I’m in the thick of something, seeing things happen around me. My experiences, more than anything, have made me who I am. Be it traveling abroad to learn patience and flexibility, leading to learn dependence on God, waiting on finances to learn faith and trust, or pain in my life to learn the value of true friends.


I feel like when we learn this way, we not only gain valuable knowledge, we also gain wisdom. I’m grateful for the lessons of life that God has taught me along the way, and I hope I don’t miss any of them.

True Beauty

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! AND THAT IS WHAT WE ARE!
1 John 3:1a

whew. chew on that one for a few minutes.

Tag Team WOO.

You may have never heard of the book "StrengthsFinder". I had never heard of it before i joined Reign staff... but basically its yet another "gifts inventory" type of test, but better! the reason is that it doesn't look at "gifts" persay, but more at what your strengths are... My top one is WOO which stands for Winning Others Over... mostly the love of meeting people and networking and being generally outgoing and personable.

So i went to this "Short Term Mission Leaders Conference" with my friend and co-worker Margaret Fischer this weekend and just had an amazing time of learning and encouragement! Margaret also enjoys her fair share of WOO and together we networked like crazy! We had soo much fun meeting new people and exchanging buisness cards. We also loved the sessions we went to and picked up a lot of fantastic information that we can use in the future to helpe keep our ministry strong and in line with our vision.

its the little things....

I'm pretty excited today, let me tell you why. I have a facebook group called "Laura is a missionary and we are friends" it is a way for me to get out updates to people who are interested via facebook and as of today I am two shy of hitting 400 members of that group!!! 400 people care about what i'm doing in ministry. Beyond that, the second victory is that i keep track of the hits i recieve on this blog. I am happy to report that as of yesterday's count, i have recieved 1,010 hits on my blog in the last year! Over half of those hits are from people who look at the blog at least semi-regularly! I'm SO excited to know that people are interested. I hope that these numbers will only increase!!!
Thanks Jesus for putting me in an effective ministry position!!

fighting worker.

I'm doing Beth Moore's Bible study called "Believing God". Note to self, when you're trying to hold onto something and not let it go, don't start a Bible study called Believing God unless you're ready to. Well, acctually, Do start a Bible study called Believing God, because its awesome.
One of the things that Beth Moore encourages participants to do is to keep 3x5 cards handy to write verses God is using in your life. last week Nehemiah 17b-18a really struck me. "Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked." The reason this hit me so hard was the discussion that came along. Sometimes we can be right inside of the will of God and yet still be battling with the enemy. In fact, we can expect it! I want to be the type of laborer who works with one hand and is ready for battle with the other.

...finally

So I sent out a newsletter and now I'm putting it online. I felt bad for the people who got it online first and THEN hard copy, so this time I did it the otherway around. It should be a pretty quick read. Please enjoy it.
http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=1543055&da=y

Also, WE ARE STILL ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR ROYAL SERVANTS!!!! SIGN UP AND JOIN US!!!

Back in the office

I know I speak regularly about my love of the office, and its true. Having been out of town for a few weeks, I feel like I've got a little catching up to do with some of my administrative duties. Little by little its all getting done. With every letter, email and phone call, I am more and more excited about what God is doing.

SO Cal... SO Good.

So I've been out here in California with the Yim family these last few days and it has been SUCH A TREAT. (seriously i can't thank them enough for this) I went to Disneyland for the first time since i was 4! we had a blast. Our legs are pretty tired, but two full days strait of Disney/California Adventure will do that to you. Weather's been perfect and the company fantastic. check out my pictures in my facbook photoalbum!
I also got to hang out with Meli and her fam for a little bit (woot!) AND Sarah Etter came over to our hotel and hung out in the hot tub with me for a few HOURS! we were pretty warm by the end but it was SO good.
I fly home bright and early tomorrow and then I get to celebrate Easter and my sister's birthday with my whole family!!!
Thank you Jesus for amazing people in my life.

a week in Indiana

SO.

Its been a good week. I spent the week in Indiana where i was officially comissioned to serve with Reign Ministries on Sunday Morning. Following that, I've spent the week meeting with people to share my vision and invite them to join, as well as touch base wtih many people who already support me. It has truly been a blessed week.

It was also good to get to spend some time with my family. I miss them when I'm in Minnesota, but being home also gives me a reflection perspective that is very positive. I fly out tomorrow for a few days in sunny California! I'm excited to spend time with the Yim family and have a little fun!!!

my logo...

This is my logo.... only with a white background. i was looking for something for the back of my business card, this is what i came up with.  any thoughts?