It'll Be Like Herding Cats?

First, let me say that coming up with a title for a blog posting can sometimes be the most difficult thing about it.  And this one, all I can come up with is "Missionary Position," but I just don't feel that would be appropriate, so hopefully something will come to me by the time I'm done writing this.....

The other day I had my final Hepatitis A & B booster shots before my trip to Honduras.  My arm aches and my head hurts and it's more than 48 hours later, but I still feel better than I did after the first shot!  Now, my appointment was with the nurse, no need to see the doctor for a booster shot – don't suppose insurance would appreciate that, eh?  But next Friday, the day I fly out, is my doctor's final day before retirement.  And while I sort of wanted to make an appointment to see him one last time before he left, again, I didn't think the insurance would like my doing so… I'm thinking the words "insurance fraud" might apply.  So Annette, my friend who is also the phone nurse at my doctor's office, must've told them that I wanted to see him to say goodbye because when I (finally) got taken back, they put me in a room so that I could see him between patients. 

I was so pleased to be able to give him a hug and wish him well.  I truly intend to go and get him a "congrats on your retirement" card, but I haven't had a chance to go anywhere other than the Dollar Tree and they didn't have any appropriate cards.  Maybe this weekend.

Also trip-related, we had a pill-packing party a couple of weekends ago.  The medicines that we take are donated or purchased in bulk, so the pills had to be divvied up into like 20 pill packages.  We were encouraged to bring family and friends along a) so as to inform them about the trip; and 2) because the more people doing it, the quicker it gets done!  When I got there, I'm thinking there were just three people from our church going, but I sat down to help a table packing Tylenol-esque meds and the girl beside me asks if I'm from Westwood.  I'm like, yeah, .. why? what've you heard?  And she says she is too!  Who knew!  Now we have four people from our church going.  Her name is Jamie.

We discovered that we are going to be a traveling trip.  Normally, the teams stay at Faith Home orphanage and travel to and from the villages where they go, or the people come to a clinic they set up somewhere.  But our team will stay the first couple of nights at Faith Home and then pack up and travel several hours south and set up a base there.  We'll spend three or four days from the base to villages around there and back before traveling back to Faith Home for a couple of days before flying home.

We have also been informed of our tentative assignments.  Now, before I tell you what MY assignment is,  you have to think... "What would be the most fabulously funny area for Rose to be assigned?"  Got an answer in mind?  Well, here goes... I'll be helping with children's church.  Yes, that's right CHILDREN's church.  I'll pause here for you to get over your laughter.

Finished?  I went to go pick up my team t-shirt and Buck and he asked me what I thought about children's church.  I said, "Well... while I would never volunteer to do something with children, I will do whatever you need me to do.  That being said, if the Lord places it upon your heart to have someone else do that job, you feel free to follow His will."  Although the assignments were listed as "tentative" in the email, I haven't heard anything different, so I'm guessing Rose'll be doing children's church.  He did assure me that for the most part it'll be watching the kids while their parents are in adult church, and I figure it'll be more like herding cats (since I don't speak Spanish and I'm guessing they won't speak Rose), but also it'll only be for a couple of hours and then I can go assist in other areas.  On the bright side, I have an excuse to pack some of my more fun t-shirts, right?  :)

This coming Sunday, Daniel, of the "Mission Moment with Daniel" portion of the service, plans to have the four of us come up to be introduced to the crowd and be prayed over.  He emailed me for the names of the four of us, which I provided along with email addresses, and told me of his plans.  I responded that I was fine with it as long as he did not expect me to do more than be eye candy on the stage because I would not be speaking, and that I was pretty sure I could speak for Annette as well....  that I didn't know Jamie well enough to speak for her, but that Annette and I took a vote (before we knew about Jamie) and we'd elected Brandon our spokesperson.

I have all the stuff that I'm supposed to smuggle (and for any federal authorities who might be reading this, I say that in jest) across the border and now I just need to wander upstairs to find my big suitcase so I can start packing!  Once again, we'll be checking luggage, so I don't have to worry about small containers of liquids!  (yeah!)   So my next posting may be from Honduras... we'll see...