Ushering in the New Year

So I haven’t posted at all really in the last 3 weeks.

And in the last 3 weeks I’ve been sick, a dear couple I am blessed to call friends got married, Christmas came and went (although I barely saw Christmas day since I spent half the day sleeping) and now that December 31st is almost here, I am going to spend the next few days continuing to be quiet and read and listen for God and when he wants to tell me about the coming year. I feel so much expectation for the new year.

There’s an excitement about a “fresh start.”

But I think instead it’s going to be a new chapter instead. Not so much of a starting over as a building upon the last 29 years(!).

I’ll be spending the next 11 months contemplating something really good for the big 3-0 birthday coming up next December. My boss’ wife says I should do something big. And I’m thinking that’s not a bad idea… It’s just figuring that all out…

Hopefully you’ll be there for the journey.

But, until January 1, 2011, I pray that you and yours have a wonderful New Year’s celebration. I’ll be at my church’s annual New Year’s Eve service. If you’re in the Springfield/Northampton area (and that’s a big area), service starts at 8:00 p.m. (give or take a few minutes) and if you need directions, check out the website here.

!deaCamp: Orphan Care

In November, I saw a tweet come up on my Twitter feed from Amber Haines that asked if there were any bloggers interested in orphan care. I sent a direct message back saying that I was interested. After a couple more messages on Twitter, Amber said she would email me the info. So about a week later, I got the email.

I’m excited and nervous for what we are doing for seven weeks starting the first week in January. There is a group of bloggers, those that are more well-known and those, like me, who aren’t as well-known, who will all be blogging about Orphan Care in preparation for the IC//Orphan in NW Arkansas February 25-26, 2011.

All of our posts will be linked on the Idea Camp blog so that you can read all of them or just some of them. Each week we will be discussing the following topics:

• Adoption
• Orphan Trafficking
• US and International Care
• Child Sponsorship
• Community Development
• Foster Care, Mentoring and Special Needs Care
• Orphan Care and the Family

If you click on the picture above it will take you to the Idea Camp blog and you will be able to read other posts by the other bloggers participating. Below is a small blurb about what the Idea Camp is all about:

The Idea Camp is a collaborative movement of idea-makers who facilitate hybrid conferences and develop resources for people who desire to move ideas towards implementation. Facilitated by a growing collective of innovative thinkers and practitioners from numerous disciplines, participants gather around topics of interest to encourage & inspire one another, share practical wisdom from the field, and develop viable networks for idea-making.

If you click here, you can check out the Idea Camp website and get more information about IC//Orphan. Click here for the Idea Camp blog post from December 1 about the Idea Camp in February.

For me, this is a journey that is very personal and I will discuss it more in the coming weeks. I’ve mentioned it before that I have a heart for young women and for those that are victims of human trafficking and many victims of human trafficking are orphans. I also have a heart for adoption and someday I hope that I can adopt as well.

I hope that you’ll come back next month to read about Orphan Care and how you and I can help to change the plight of the 160+ million orphans around the world.

You can also follow Idea Camp on Twitter at: theideacamp

Today is My Birthday

29 years ago today, I was born during a blizzard. Or, at least, that’s what my parents tell me.

And, today, on my 29th birthday, I’m not working.

I decided I needed a long weekend and since I have vacation days left to use, I figured that using it to take off my birthday was a good use of a vacation day.

I don’t have too much planned for today and I did that intentionally. I didn’t want to feel obligated to do anything or be anywhere. This morning I am going to breakfast with my Pastor’s wife. It’s been a while since I’ve sat down with her and why not today? 🙂

I’m not sure what I’ll be doing this afternoon but tonight I will be driving to Greenfield, MA to hear the Word of God from Michael Tyrrell. He’s a wonderful man of God and has an ear to hear what God is saying to him. He speaks truth and has biblically sound teach.

Pretty good birthday if I do say so myself. 🙂

Keep on the look out next week for a post from me about a weekly series I’ll be doing in January and February. I know I have posted too much in the last couple of months and I might not post too much this month either with all that is going with holidays and a wedding but I’ll do my best 🙂

Blessings!

Jen