I'm home! It was incredible!

I will blog about specifics - soon! Working on catching up on sleep and work right now. :)

Thank you lovelies!

My fundraising is at 100%!!!


Wow! I can't even tell you all how incredibly grateful and humbled I am - so many people gave - new friends, old friends, siblings, coworkers, my awesome grandmom, and three anonymous gifts. THREE.

I didn't anticipate this much love. I want to write later about how incredible and overwhelming this support is.

Thank you to everyone who gave. I give you all a hug! To those who gave anonymously, I'm touched by your generous and giving spirit- without looking for any kind of recognition.

(But just so you know, I'm telling the world that you are three dashing secret admirers!)



I'll post an update on readiness progress soon!

<3 Maggie

Update on trip prep...

I hung out with a few of the folks who are going on the trip and got some of my questions answered. Here are some trip details.

1. There ARE bathrooms at the clinic we'll be staying at, but not when we're out working. That means that if we have to pee (or worse... POOP!) in the middle of the day, we'll have to do it in front of people. But Haiti doesn't have a sewer system. We're coming up with a portable cover-up. hehe. They also don't have a water system - which explains why we're installing the gutter water collectors.

2. I need more shots.

3. We'll be carrying our bags a little bit, but we'll be riding in a truck (that apparently doesn't have shocks) for hours up a mountain. Ouch?

4. Modesty is a big deal.

5. We're going to take little inexpensive gifts for the kids there - apparently they get geeked about that.


More later - starting to get excited! <3

Thank you!

Thanks to so many people who have donated to the Haiti trip! I've gotten two anonymous donations ... so of course I don't know who you are... but know that you are appreciated!!!

:)

When did I see you?

Hello ladies and gentlemen. I'm just looking for something to eat. I know this isn't your problem. I know you didn't do anything to make this happen. Can you help me get something to eat. If you don't have food, can you give me a dollar, a quarter, a nickel, a penny? Once again, I know this isn't your problem. 

...

You guys have a blessed day.

**

I was on the subway in NYC this weekend - which for me was a thrilling adventure away from my day to day in the Ann Arbor area. Several people entered subway cars that I was on, with a similar pitch, stressing each time that they knew it wasn't the passengers-turned-audience's fault.

Of course everyone sat stony-faced, careful not to glance in the man's direction. Even I found myself echoing this behavior, afraid to look at the man. I had a dollar that I certainly could have given each of the men who asked. But instead I joined the crowd, forcing myself to avoid inspecting the beggar. 

I'm not sure what else to say. I sometimes get myself in dumb situations by being overly friendly, and then sometimes I don't treat people like people.

:ashamed:

Zumba, Tickets, and Peace

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I zumba with my good friend Sarah. The plan is to be at my office at 7am, where we head out into the Habitat workshop, play one of a series of tapes, and dance our hearts out. As we would say in the office, "it's very Habitat." I mean that I often use water bottles that volunteers will later drink as weights, though this morning I used monkey wrenches - I looked even cooler than you're imagining right now.

But today was typical in that I got up a few minutes late, and stumbled to get my teeth brushed and workout clothes on, leaving the house at 6:53. In the last couple years especially, I always seem to be 5 minutes late. It's embarrassing to me and feels really rude to leave whoever I'm meeting just waiting for me.

So I speed.

This morning was no exception, but today I got caught.

It's been years since I was pulled over, and as I was waiting in my car with the bright lights flashing behind me, I was surprised by two things:

1. My first reaction was, "Oh, God is warning me to slow down."
Life right now seems to be a sprint. (maybe more about this later.)

2. I didn't have that horrible gut-wrenching panic that I've experienced in the last few years. Instead I felt peace at the justice of it. Isn't that weird?

I thought I'd write more, but now it's my turn in the post-zumba shower.

The Doctor Debacle

Confession: I hate doctors. Soooo, I don't go.

For this trip, I need vaccines and immunizations, so I bit the bullet and after some failed attempts at scheduling appointments, finally ended up at an office near work recommended by a friend.

Well, it turns out you need to know what shots you've had. They can't just figure that out on their own. And there are different types of tetanus shots. AND... it takes hospitals and other doctors office days and weeks to track down past records. They did give me a Hepatitis A shot for good measure, though I don't know what it does besides causing a sore arm for a day.

In happier news, the doctor looked at all of my moles and told me they are fine and don't need to be removed, though technically some of them I just vainly wanted to get rid of.

Less than a month till Haiti. Crazy!!

Donation Update...

I received an anonymous $100 donation. Wow! I'm amazed at generosity that looks for nothing in return. It's also a bit crazy to know that someone out there cares about me enough to donate that much, and not tell me. I wish I could give you a big hug and tell you thanks!

I've also received donations from friends and family, and I want to make sure you know how much I appreciate you investing in me. It's such a blessing to have so many awesome people in my life!

Where Am I? OR You are here.

I had the sincere pleasure of going to Springhill this weekend with the high school students from New Life Church. Of course there was great fun in tubing and cross-country skiing, euchre and basketball and broomball. I had great deep conversations with the students and counselors, but what I want to write about was the theme of one talk:

Where are you? OR You are here.
Like when you try to figure out directions from an old school map - you can't even start to know where to go until you can identify where you are and what direction you are headed.

HOWEVER, I must go to sleep now, this weekend was exhausting - but I will plan to write more tomorrow. :)

P.S. Travel Plans

I'll post more about the trip later, but people have been asking... I leave February 24 and get back March 2, so I've just got a little bit over a month to get ready - including vaccines and shots!

Are we the same?

Tonight I started reading a new novel at the gym before, I'll admit, I was suckered into the last 15 mins of American Idol. It's called the Homeless Bishop and started very stereotypically, which the narrator being fixated by an obviously homeless man in a church service. People move to the other side of the aisle when he walks in and he's given the cold shoulder throughout.

I'm sure we'll soon find out that this is a man voluntarily living on the streets as a social experiment or some such thing.

I've also read Under the Overpass, an account of two young men who lived out this social experiment with a lot of lessons and observations along the way.

I myself have spent several days sleeping in a homeless ministry, but I let those who asked know I was an undergrad student. My big revelation was how similar I was to these folks. Yes, I was a white, sheltered, well-fed college student who had never tried drugs and had certainly never been physically or sexually abused. But at the core we were the same. We could laugh about the same things, and I was ashamed that I was surprised that they had hopes and dreams - that this whole homeless thing or drug recovery was just a stop on their journey, and that they knew they'd get through it and leave stronger. I was surprised that even with the clear understanding that I was a college student there to observe them, I they let me into their lives. They taught me how to play bridge and we watched a Will Smith movie on Friday night.

Following that, I insisted on speaking to the homeless on the street, making eye contact and small talk even when I had received a catcall.

I'll admit that I have let this slip, but I hope that this trip reinvigorates that compassion, and passion. That I would recognize the humanity and enter the trip ready to make friends and learn.

I am going to read When Helping Hurts, that my good friends Jason and Michelle gave to me a few months ago and I have kept meaning to read...

I must go to sleep now, but I am sure I will right more about this experience and these thoughts.

Oh mosquitos!

This is my good friend Kate with a prescription for anti-malaria drugs! That means this is actually happening!

Reasons to support me...

It's interesting to me how hard/humbling it is to ask for support for oneself. I'm so used to doing it for Habitat (where I work) but have never actually done it for anything like this. I'm sure some of you will roll your eyes at this request, and I respectfully understand your sentiment. But please read on and if nothing else, join my trip by praying for me, or being excited for me!


I feel a bit weird about trying to raise support to go to Haiti. Briefly, here's why:

1. I work.
2. Doesn't it seem selfish to ask people to help me do something that will undoubtedly be one of the biggest adventures of my life?


So here's why I'm going to try it anyway:

1. You don't have to give. I'll still be your friend. (maybe) :)
2. I like the idea of having your whole community involved in your life and passions.
3. I've given to help lots of these trips because I want to be part of the work going on across the world.
4. Ultimately a (large!) portion of the money is truly going to radically improve the lives of people in Haiti. I can't even imagine a place without water. In fact, I'm drinking a large glass of clean, fresh ice water right now.

Here's what you'll be part of (I'll add to this as I go):

1. The mission to Haiti.
I've known several people who have been to Haiti in the last year. I think God was preparing my heart and my head for this opportunity. Did you know that Haiti doesn't have a sewer system. (p.s. I promise to blog about the challenges this presents when I return. I know you'll all be morbidly curious!)

So yea, Haiti doesn't have an infrastructure for water. As the Raincatcher's website says, "Water is Life." Raincatchers is the organization we're going though.

I will devote a whole post to my understanding of the need and what we'll be doing soon. For now I know that water is scarce. Money is scarce. Life sounds like a fight for survival.

This is really unimaginably for me right now. (Read this post about how selfish I am)

2. My personal growth.
I've heard that half of the value in mission trips is personal growth. You find yourself challenged in ways you'd never imagined and have to rely on your community and Christ to make it through.
I am hoping to learn some lessons and develop some character through this experience. As I mentioned before, life is pretty stable for me right now, and I want to see what life is like in a third-world country, and do my part to change a life or two.

If you give, you can always say "Why yes... I am responsible for Maggie's spiritual maturity."

3. Adventure/Travel/Excitement.
Growing up we often studied explorers, and pretended to be trailblazers and discovering lands that no man had ever set foot on. I'm pretty sure that this will be the fulfillment of that fantasy.

Perhaps this seems more in the "selfish" category, but my soul longs to travel. I long the adventure, and the food, and the unpredictability of new cultures. I long for knew tastes and the open curiosity between cultures. This trip will be physically demanding (I know you're shocked to hear that rugged michigan hasn't prepared me to hike across mountains.) - and I'm looking forward to that.

Really though, I think God gave us these wonderfully different places on the world, and cultures, food, language, dance and laughter to enjoy. And I plan on enjoying it!

4. An epic, life-changing, mission-focused, unprecedented adventure! 

This will come in handy when you're at your next cocktail party, trying to invent some small talk. After this you can simply say, "Did you know I've been instrumental in installing rain-catchers in Haiti?"

5. I'll love you forever. 
Ok, I'll love you forever anyway.

Thanks for reading this, and for giving if you decide to do so!

Information for giving is located on the right sidebar of this blog. Thanks!

On living the good life. (AKA, I'm so selfish)

I had lunch with my dear friend Rieta yesterday, and we were talking about my life. I can't remember exactly what she'd asked, but I was telling her about my routine (I'm obviously boring to have a lunch date with!) ... that every night I make myself a big cup of ice water, and turn on my heating pad, and have everything just so, and she observed that it sounded very selfish. And it's true, here in America, and especially in my type of situation, my rarely is our life about serving others if sacrifice is involved.

(I think this is different, though not all together untrue when you become a parent and suddenly you can't just sleep in, or go for a run, or (fill in the blank.) )

That's part of the reason I'm so excited about this trip. I hope it will completely shake my reality, and help define some of my direction, and help me be more devoting to serving others. I hope to be in a position to have people over more often again and hope that I do in fact practice more hospitality. Sometimes cooking for someone or letting them sit on your couch can be such a great service. I really want to be someone who's remembered for those types of characteristics.

With that said, there are a lot of things I take advantage of without giving thanks everyday. For example:
Kroger a quarter of a mile away.
Blow dryers
Pavement, and heels to walk on it.
Mascara
A safe place to live.
Bank accounts
Texting.
Facebook.
Carry-out.
Cold Beer.
A bed.
A bike.
Art.

... You get the point.

But what I know from past experience is that it's rarely the-ways-I-go-in-expecting-to-grow-in that I leave understanding. Usually it's a blindspot that I've never noticed I have that Christ suddenly makes hugely obvious.

Anyhow, this conversation was really obvious, when you think about it. As Americans, and as a single woman, I know that my life is pretty cushy, but having someone talk through it with me was needed and appreciated. It makes me reconsider my complaining ways, thats for sure.

The whole point of this was that, I'm excited for how much Haiti will bring this more to light for me.

I'm going to do it!

Just spent some time praying and chatting with people. I sent an email to Gaia, letting her know my decision. Here it is:

I'M GOING TO DO IT!

I talked to my parents - they are supportive. I talked to my boss - I can have the week off. I talked to Chelsea - and she started jumping up and down! I know I mentioned that Kate and I are great friends, so we make a pact not to make sure we give each other space, both for our sakes and for those on the trip.

I wrote a support letter, and will start spreading the news once I hear from you.

Chelsea and I talked about how many things led to this working out - how dissapointed I was, and how I'd told her that I'd wait and see if I got bumped up the waiting list - but didn't really expect to. Crazy! 

I'm also excited because I've always wanted to go abroad and serve - and I've known 4 people who have gone to Haiti in the last 6 months to work with various organizations and shared with me the great need. 

EEK. More details soon.

WHAT?!?

I just got off the phone with Gaia, the coordinator of the Haiti trip - and it sounds like I might be in! I have to pray about it, but I told her I'd let her know tonight. I've ALWAYS wanted to go on an overseas mission trip, and this one is something not only that I believe in, but also with some pretty incredible friends who are really living for Jesus.

Wow. I really really really want to go!

::Deep Breath::