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aggie4jesus
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Name: Kristen
Country: United States
State: Texas
Metro: College Station
Birthday: 12/30/1985
Gender: Female
Interests: Music, youth ministry, missions, ice cream, guitars, sunflower seeds, Panama, duct tape, post-it notes, soap, etc.
Expertise: Carving soap, yelling really loud at FTA events, harassing friends and youth ministers
Occupation: Student
Industry: Media
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  Nonesti2002
Member Since:
8/21/2004
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| Lots has happened since the last time I posted. Most importantly, I'm now working for the Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture at A&M. And in a few days, we've got a trip down to Panama to work on developing some projects down there. One more signpost towards my future.
Open doors are good, especially when they have to do what I'll be doing after I graduate. | | |
| I got back from Panama on April 12, a little more than two months ago. I'll be back in Panama in 53 days.
I got an email from Daysbeth about a week and a half ago, and then today I was reading the SHI newsletter online which has a picture of Luis and Days standing in front of the pickup truck SHI got while I was down there. Both times, as I read the email last week and looked at the picture today, my eyes filled with tears, and I longed to be back there. I love A&M, Central (my church), and my friends here, but I miss Panama more than I ever thought possible.
I am so thankful for email, instant messenger, and phone cards...they've allowed me to talk to both Luis and Daysbeth a few times since I've been back. I've been able to catch up on news down there, the lives of my friends and some of the farmers we worked with while I was there. But I am even more grateful that my folks were willing to shell out some money so my mom and I can go down there for a couple weeks in August, so I can catch up in person. I'm looking forward to walking those mountainous paths, working until I can barely stand up, and drinking bitter coffee made over a wood-conserving stove. More than that, I can't wait to laugh until my sides hurt, wake up at 5:15 to go to 6:00 Mass, and pray in Spanish over a meal of fried chicken, plantains, and refried beans with jam. | | |
| One month from right now, I will be back in Texas. One month from tomorrow, I'll be getting my Aggie Ring. WH08P! Clarity is something I pray for often. I know God has a plan for my life...I just wish I might know what it is. I've always struggled with having peace about the future. I trust God, and I don't have any doubts that He has a place for me. But I wonder where it is and how I'll get there. "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see," says Hebrews 11:1. I have a hard time with that sometimes. In some ways though, I think it's more that I doubt myselft. I wonder if I'm making the right decisions about the future. I mean, right now, my heart is telling me that I could spend the rest of my life here in Panama, doing the stuff Luis and Daysbeth are doing, and I would be perfectly happy. But can I trust my heart? (Jer. 17:9) The heart can be treacherous, and I wonder if I want to stay solely because of Luis and Daysbeth. Yet I really do enjoy the work I'm doing down here, I love the families, and I know I'm making a real difference in their lives. At this point, I would love nothing more than to finish school (possibly with a graduate degree in something Ag-related) and come back down here to work with SHI in some capacity. But is that what God has in store for me? I'm committed to going "into all the world to preach the Gospel to every nation" so that I'll one day see people from "every tribe and tongue" worshipping at the throne of Christ. Can I do that in Panama by working in agriculture and serving "the least of these" even though these folks don't fall into the category of an unreached people? After all, I watch Luis and Daysbeth preach the Good News every day both through their words and their actions. I don't know. Father God, grant me peace and show me Your will for my life. Illuminate Your path for me and give me clarity on what it is You want from me. Most of all, Lord, help me always surrender my will to Yours and trust that You know what is best and that You have a way to get me where You want me. Here I am, send me. I am Yours. | | |
| Two months from today I'll be getting home. This is going way too fast... | | |
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