Sometimes when one is really tired, one makes really stupid comments that end up being extremely funny.
For example, a comment on the benefit of being a plumber after discussing a broken garbage disposal and then a previous instance of where the gray water backing up into the kitchen sink and dishwasher may come from. After said discussion Judy commented, "I would never want to be a plumber!" To which I responded, "Why not, then you could ..."
The discussion was ended by lots of laughter, even to the point of tears in our eyes. I then stated that my comment was evidence that I really needed to go to bed.
Good Night!
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
Conference Weekend
This past weekend, Gospel for Asia hosted a conference entitled Renewing Your Passion. It was a wonderful and busy weekend. Through times of worship, teaching, fellowship, learning, and prayer attendees were able to catch a glimpse of what God is doing throughout South Asia and to give Him glory.
Although I wish I could share with you in greater detail, it would take more time than I have right now. Instead I will let this link provide the insight far better than I could:
www.gfa.org/place
During the weekend I was also able to spend some time with my good friends, Susan and Abby, who attended the conference. It was a blessing to see them and to have them gain a greater understanding of what I am a part of here at Gospel for Asia.
Although I wish I could share with you in greater detail, it would take more time than I have right now. Instead I will let this link provide the insight far better than I could:
www.gfa.org/place
During the weekend I was also able to spend some time with my good friends, Susan and Abby, who attended the conference. It was a blessing to see them and to have them gain a greater understanding of what I am a part of here at Gospel for Asia.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Praise the Lord!
As of Wednesday, September 18th, I have complete funding for my year at Gospel for Asia's School of Discipleship. The process of raising support has been a journey of seeing God provide time and again in amazing ways. His faithfulness in raising my support and providing my prayer team has continually affirmed His call on my life to be here for a year.
Ephesians 3:20-21 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
Ephesians 3:20-21 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
Time with Friends
When surrounded by people that I have only known for a month, and still don't truly know well, there is amazing comfort in spending an evening with friends I have known for four years. Thanks Kevin and Marisol for the fun evening of fellowship.
As much as I am enjoying my new community and making new friends, it is impossible in a short time to develop the depth of friendship that comes from experiencing life together. Having deep friendships is something that I have missed since moving to Texas. Another thing I miss is spending time with families and people outside of my age range. This will change over time as I continue to grow in my relationships with the people I have met, but right now I realize how much I took my friendships for granted.
Throughout my life God has blessed me with wonderful friends. Each time I have moved it has been challenging, but God has always provided new friends. God never changes, and He is the friend who is with me no matter where I go.
As much as I am enjoying my new community and making new friends, it is impossible in a short time to develop the depth of friendship that comes from experiencing life together. Having deep friendships is something that I have missed since moving to Texas. Another thing I miss is spending time with families and people outside of my age range. This will change over time as I continue to grow in my relationships with the people I have met, but right now I realize how much I took my friendships for granted.
Throughout my life God has blessed me with wonderful friends. Each time I have moved it has been challenging, but God has always provided new friends. God never changes, and He is the friend who is with me no matter where I go.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Why we do what we do
Here is a video that gives some insight into why we do what we do. This is not the whole story, and this video is actually put out by a different organization, but the heart of the message is still the same. Enjoy!
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Meet my classmates
Here is a picture of our School of Discipleship class for August 2013.
Cameron, Susy, Damelia, me, Cassandra, Jake, Billy, Caleb, Rebekah
Moving In . . . Starting Out
Saturday, August 17th was moving day for me. I already had all of my stuff in boxes and suitcases, and much of it in storage. The task that remained was to put the boxes back in my car to take them to my new apartment, and once there the real work of unpacking took place.
My friend Rachel had volunteered to help me move in - we both used it as an excuse to get together - and though I thought at first I might not need help, I was very grateful for her help throughout the afternoon. Arriving at my new apartment around noon we carried, unpacked, organized, and decorated until around 4pm. In typical Karlynn and Rachel style, we had a little project that needed work and tried to fix it, which turned into a rather funny situation. The closet rod was trying to fall down - this was after we had hung stuff in the closet. We were able to fix it, after a few laughs and reminiscing back to other somewhat similar situations when we were roommates in college.
After that we made a trip to Target. The trip was less for the few things that we needed to buy, and more for the opportunity to get out of the apartment after spending so much focused time on unpacking. I was very thankful to get it all finished in the one afternoon. Rachel was helpful, but also understood when I needed to think things through to figure out where things should go.
That evening we had a welcome dinner at Gospel for Asia. Right before dinner we were all welcomed by the School of Discipleship coordinator, and then we ate. The students from the January class - who will be here until December - were also a part of the evening which was fun. I had met a number of them before when I came to visit, so it was fun to meet them again. After dinner people hung around visiting and getting to know one another as well as playing four square. I was fairly exhausted after unpacking so I spent time visiting rather than playing. Rachel was able to join us for dinner, other people had family members there, and unintentionally we matched each other after changing out of our moving clothes, it was kind of funny.
On Sunday the students all went to church together. The church is actually in between our apartment complex and the office. We walked in groups and met there before the service. I really enjoyed the church and the pastor is preaching through Matthew. The sermon was very good and grounded in scripture, which is very important to me.
After church we had a meeting with all of the girls and our house mentor which covered some basic details about our apartment life, the upcoming schedule, and other things we needed to know. Then we had a potluck in the Cafe at GFA with all of the staff. This was a great opportunity to get to meet more people. In the afternoon some of the leaders came to pray with the different apartments as we start out our year. Later we played volleyball. I use that term loosely because we basically put as many people on each side of the court as we could and then hit the ball back and forth at each other - growing up we called that kind of play chicken ball. It was fun and lasted a couple of hours. I came in and my roommate was making quesadillas and offered me on, which I of course accepted (my roommate is from Mexico). Then I went and had tea with another student who also enjoys tea - I introduced her to Bengal Spice and she is now a fan.
Monday through Wednesday was orientation for the School of Discipleship. We had different staff members sharing about some of the aspects of the ministry. We took care of schedule details, policies, and all that kind of important stuff. We also took some tours: one was to the various locations of the previous GFA offices before our current one, another tour was around the main areas of the building, and the third one showed us important other locations such as libraries, janitor closets, emergency shelters, and the like.
Thursday we began our office placements. I am serving in the Call Center, so in the future if you ever call GFA for something, I may be the one answering the phone and helping you with your questions. There is a lot to learn in the call center, so I am not nearly fully trained yet, but since I started last Thursday, there has been definite progress. We couldn't even really start training right away because of one person being gone on vacation so our supervisor was busy filling in.
Last weekend I was gone for Renee's wedding up in Edmonton, and life was very busy this past week with training. There are many things that I need to learn to be able to answer all the questions that come in on the phones and through emails. During our building tour - before I knew I would be in the Call Center - our tour guide told us that the people in the Call Center are some of the most knowledgeable people about the ministry because they get so many different questions, and if they do not know the answers they figure them out. It sounded a little intimidating, but I know that God has placed me there and I want to serve there for his glory. It is also an exciting placement because we get to interact regularly with supporters and share so much about the heart of the ministry with people who call.
The first couple of weeks have been challenging but also a blessing. I have been challenged to daily die to myself in a variety of ways, I have learned many things, and I have been blessed to be surrounded by such a loving and encouraging Christian community. God has a plan for this year, and though it will be hard in many ways at different times, I am excited to be here living out His plan for my life.
My friend Rachel had volunteered to help me move in - we both used it as an excuse to get together - and though I thought at first I might not need help, I was very grateful for her help throughout the afternoon. Arriving at my new apartment around noon we carried, unpacked, organized, and decorated until around 4pm. In typical Karlynn and Rachel style, we had a little project that needed work and tried to fix it, which turned into a rather funny situation. The closet rod was trying to fall down - this was after we had hung stuff in the closet. We were able to fix it, after a few laughs and reminiscing back to other somewhat similar situations when we were roommates in college.
After that we made a trip to Target. The trip was less for the few things that we needed to buy, and more for the opportunity to get out of the apartment after spending so much focused time on unpacking. I was very thankful to get it all finished in the one afternoon. Rachel was helpful, but also understood when I needed to think things through to figure out where things should go.
That evening we had a welcome dinner at Gospel for Asia. Right before dinner we were all welcomed by the School of Discipleship coordinator, and then we ate. The students from the January class - who will be here until December - were also a part of the evening which was fun. I had met a number of them before when I came to visit, so it was fun to meet them again. After dinner people hung around visiting and getting to know one another as well as playing four square. I was fairly exhausted after unpacking so I spent time visiting rather than playing. Rachel was able to join us for dinner, other people had family members there, and unintentionally we matched each other after changing out of our moving clothes, it was kind of funny.
On Sunday the students all went to church together. The church is actually in between our apartment complex and the office. We walked in groups and met there before the service. I really enjoyed the church and the pastor is preaching through Matthew. The sermon was very good and grounded in scripture, which is very important to me.
After church we had a meeting with all of the girls and our house mentor which covered some basic details about our apartment life, the upcoming schedule, and other things we needed to know. Then we had a potluck in the Cafe at GFA with all of the staff. This was a great opportunity to get to meet more people. In the afternoon some of the leaders came to pray with the different apartments as we start out our year. Later we played volleyball. I use that term loosely because we basically put as many people on each side of the court as we could and then hit the ball back and forth at each other - growing up we called that kind of play chicken ball. It was fun and lasted a couple of hours. I came in and my roommate was making quesadillas and offered me on, which I of course accepted (my roommate is from Mexico). Then I went and had tea with another student who also enjoys tea - I introduced her to Bengal Spice and she is now a fan.
Monday through Wednesday was orientation for the School of Discipleship. We had different staff members sharing about some of the aspects of the ministry. We took care of schedule details, policies, and all that kind of important stuff. We also took some tours: one was to the various locations of the previous GFA offices before our current one, another tour was around the main areas of the building, and the third one showed us important other locations such as libraries, janitor closets, emergency shelters, and the like.
Thursday we began our office placements. I am serving in the Call Center, so in the future if you ever call GFA for something, I may be the one answering the phone and helping you with your questions. There is a lot to learn in the call center, so I am not nearly fully trained yet, but since I started last Thursday, there has been definite progress. We couldn't even really start training right away because of one person being gone on vacation so our supervisor was busy filling in.
Last weekend I was gone for Renee's wedding up in Edmonton, and life was very busy this past week with training. There are many things that I need to learn to be able to answer all the questions that come in on the phones and through emails. During our building tour - before I knew I would be in the Call Center - our tour guide told us that the people in the Call Center are some of the most knowledgeable people about the ministry because they get so many different questions, and if they do not know the answers they figure them out. It sounded a little intimidating, but I know that God has placed me there and I want to serve there for his glory. It is also an exciting placement because we get to interact regularly with supporters and share so much about the heart of the ministry with people who call.
The first couple of weeks have been challenging but also a blessing. I have been challenged to daily die to myself in a variety of ways, I have learned many things, and I have been blessed to be surrounded by such a loving and encouraging Christian community. God has a plan for this year, and though it will be hard in many ways at different times, I am excited to be here living out His plan for my life.
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