the gift of Gab

Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.

(J. Sidlow Baxter)

Posted by Gabi at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We had an "inservice" at work today - at Gadabout Salon Spa. As a "thank you" for working hard, and because he thought we had all been under a lot of stress in the past few months, our Tucson attorney, Phil, took all of us to the spa.

We started out with lunch at a nearby restaurant to celebrate Phil's birthday. Jonathan joined us for that as well. It's always fun for all six of us to get together for a relaxed, fun, non-work event. Two of the women work out of their homes on the other side of town, so we don't get to see them very often.

After lunch, Phil and we four women headed over to the spa. (Jonathan went back to the office.) Fun! I wasn't entirely sure what was in store for us...but certainly enjoyed it as I found out!!!

We all got our little robes on and then waited in a small room with some very soft and comfy couches. We were attentively served cucumber-lemon water throughout the afternoon - very yummy.

First up, a full-body massage with Liberty. She totally worked out some of the knots, and I'm feeling it tonight. :-D But I know in the next few days, my shoulders will be feeling great!!! Laying is a dark room with warm packs on my back and quiet music playing, it was easy to relax for that hour. As I went back to the waiting room, I felt like even my hair was more relaxed!

The next treatment was an hour-long facial. I've only ever had a mini-facial, so this was quite spectacular. Ok, except maybe the part where she picked out my blackheads!!! Oh my! Oh, but now my skin is soooo smooth. :-D

Time to put our clothes back on and get our manicures and pedicures. Even Phil had his nails done! (His are the brown toes with copper polish!) All five of us were able to get them at the same time, so there was plenty of chatting going on. I even got a French manicure on my toes - first time! Pedicures are always fun!!!

So after 5 1/2 hours of pampering and relaxing we all trooped back into the office wearing the spa-pedi flipflops. What a great day!!!!

Yeah, it's a rough job, but -

- you know the rest! ;-)

Posted by Gabi at 9:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Yay!! Mom and Dad are back in town!!

They've been away for six months. Two trips to Western Africa bookending a partner development trip to Germany, where they also got to visit with a lot of our friends and relatives. Mom and Dad participate in workshops wherein they teach translation skills and strategies to nationals. This allows multiple Bible translation projects to take place at once.

I usually get to see my parents at least once a week (they live about 30 minutes away from my house) and talk to them on the phone multiple times each week. So six months was quite a long time. I suppose it's good practice for when I leave for the field.

Of course when they got in, they were exhausted. They'd been up for about 27 hours at that point!!! So a bunch of hugs and a few stories later, I headed back home so they could go to sleep. I plan on spending most of the day with them today.

Yay!! I'm so happy that they are home again! :-D

Posted by Gabi at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Sunday was another relaxing day. Church in the morning – we had a series of questions to answer about the churches we visited. We were to look at each of our churches through the lens of an appointee since we’ll all be visiting numerous churches soon. I went to a large church with Kelly Jo and Jon and since it was a very depressing service, I won’t mention the name of it. We’re really hoping that service was the exception to the rule and everyone who knows the church seems to believe that was the case. In the evening, we all got together to discuss our churches.

Tracy and I took the afternoon for some down time by getting pedicures. Gotta love that!!! I’ll do everything I can to dispel that nasty myth about missionaries and their fashion sense. ;-)

After our meeting in the evening, we all got together to make sushi. Asa, a Japanese woman in our class, and Matt, one of the other guys in the class were the ringleaders. Asa brought her rice cookers from home and taught us all how to roll sushi. I even got to roll my own sushi! How fun is that!?!?!? Way cool!

Our mentors all arrived on Sunday night. One of the neat things that World Venture requires is a mentor from our home church. The mentor's role is a combination of cheerleader, champion, taskmaster, encourager, and friend, specifically while we are working on parter development (support raising) before we can leave for the field. My mentor is Laura.

On Monday morning, we had the Recognition Service for all new appointees. This was our opportunity to share our 90-second testimonies/speeches. I was terrified and thought I was shaking throughout the entire thing. Others told me that I did just fine and none of them noticed my nervousness.

Of course, there were many more tears as we heard everyone's story. It was a wonderful service!! About 100 people attended, primarily other WV members and staffers, and obviously our mentors. The only thing I regret was that none of my family and friends (other than Laura) could be a part of it. I am thankful that Laura was there. She was willing to take a lot of picutres of the entire service.

The remainder of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning were a blur of more meetings. Laura and I both found the information to be very helpful. It really helped clarify what our roles are in this mentor/mentee relationship.

When it was time to leave, I knew that I had made some wonderful friends with whom I would stay in contact for the rest of my life. It was so wonderful to see that passion that everyone had for their ministries and to see how on fire they are for God.

I am so blessed!

Posted by Gabi at 10:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, I did promise you an update on the remainder of my Colorado trip. So here we go – just the highlights!

On Friday morning we heard from the treasurer who explained to us a little of how our accounts will work and the options we have of accessing/maintaining them. He also told us about all of the other financial aspects that World Venture manages for us: financial commitments and support, gifts, healthcare, retirement, etc. Once I’m on the field they’ll even file my taxes for me! Talk about motivation to get to Africa!!!

Friday afternoon was nerd heaven, and I loved it! We talked about the World Venture websites and all that we can access through it, prayer letters (both on line and on paper), and a variety of web portals that will come in quite handy. Now, I just have to remember where to find them and then practice. Tee hee.

That evening, the single girls went out to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Linda, long term applications lady I’d been working with to get to Littleton, and her niece Ally were part of the crew. Our brains were all pretty full by that time so the conversation was light and fun.

In an effort to dispel the myth that missionaries are fashion backwards, the Member Development Department promotes having your colors done. Ooooh fun! So on Saturday morning, I had mine done by the wife of one of our facilitators. Turns out I’m a classic winter – no surprise there. It was quite enjoyable, and with my new color palate I’ll be able to shop and dress much more quickly. Very happy about that.

The rest of Saturday was a free day. I went to the pool with Tracy and another WV missionary named Tammy. Great fun until I got burned. Not just burned – apparently, I got some sun screen on my shoulders, but didn’t spread it around real well. So now I’ve got a thumb spot on one shoulder and finger stripes on the other shoulder. Good thing I don’t wear sleeveless tops very often, huh?

That evening, ten of us from our class went to dinner. It was great to get to know people on a more personal level and just have a relaxed conversation.

Posted by Gabi at 8:39 PM | Permalink