Haiti Update: January.

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Whew, it seems like just yesterday I sat down to write the December update. I supposed that means April is going to sneak up on in a fury of preparations.



Thank you for the kind words since I announced my intentions to go to Haiti. Your encouragement has lifted me up and grown my excitement for all that the Lord has for me on this trip. I've read every comment, text, e-mail, and tweet with your words and soaked them up!

I had my first missions meeting yesterday. I was excited to finally get a little more info after felling like the last month my mind has been swinging with Haiti info. I will say, I got a little scared when I realized how phyical this trip will be. We will be doing construction, which I knew, but this will include lugging and laying 35lb cement bricks for the foundation of a church in Haiti. Ouch. I've been advised along with the rest of my team to train, physically, for the difficulties we will experience physically. Jillian Michaels and I have some big dates coming up!

I'm pleased to announced I've been officially 'approved' to go from the church - so this trip is REAL!

Many of you have been kind enough to want to help! I've spend some time thinking about how this could best be done. I LOVE finding ways to contribute to others mission ambitions myself, so I wanted to find real, tangible ways for you all to be a part of this trip (if you want too) whether you're a friend, neighbor, family member, or blog world friend. So here are some ways you can help, all of which I would be grateful for!...

1. Prayer. I mean it when I say that if what you've got to give is prayer - I will TAKE IT! I am excited, peaceful, and confident in the Lord's provision for my safety, finances, etc but I will take every last prayer with a grateful heart. This is certainly a crazy little adventure of which, I will need the Lord direction every step of the way. If you're committing to pray for me - I'd love to know about it, and I would also love it if you'd remind me along the way that you're praying and how you're praying! That would really to my heart good.

2. Supplies. If you want to 'give' in a tangible way, I still need a few supplies. I shared before that my Mom bought quite a few things from my list for my trip as stocking stuffers, but there's still some basic supply needs. If you aren't in Tampa but you'd like to send me a supply care package, I will happily e-mail you my address (as long as I semi know you - so I'm not giving my address to creepers ha ha).

Here's a list of some of the things I still need:

- Water purifying tablets (you can google them - they're for international travel)
-Granola bars and...
- Other prepackaged snacks
- Peanut butter
- Dry shampoo
- Baby wipes
- Hand sanitizer ( I got some in my stocking but I'm thinking I may need a good bit of this)

(May I state as a disclaimer that if I end up with too much of any of these things I will happily donate them to my fellow travelers. I promise not to hoard 100s of packs of baby wipes all for me)

3. Treasure/Trash. Yep, you read that right. What might be your trash can be turned into treasure. My sweet friend Jess has agreed to host me a yard sale and I will be accepting any donations of things you no longer need/use/want to be sold to benefit my trip. I figured this was a simple way that anyone who wanted to contribute would have a chance to do so, however big or small your donation. So if you want to clean off your bookshelf, clean out your closet, or get rid of a pile of tees taking up too much room in your dresser save them for me! The yard sale will be Saturday, February 18th in the Northdale area - and I will most likely start taking the donations in the week before (I can't store them for 6 weeks...) Again, if you want to ship a box of stuff, I'll take that too.

4. Finances. I wanted to list this last because I'm not a big fan of asking for money. So I'm not going too. I'm just going to put it out there, that if you want to contribute financially to my trip - that would wonderful. The trip itself costs $900 and in addition I have to get immunizations, a passport, etc. So it's not cheap. I trust the Lord to pave the way and feel completely comfortable with it all. But several of you have asked about giving and I am touched my your generosity. If you're interested in giving money wise - please e-mail me for further info.

(Another disclaimer - if there is a crazy influx of funds I do promise not to use your money on a new handbag - if I raise over what I need for this trip, I will be donating the rest to the members of my team who need funding as well. All donations will go towards the Haiti trip)

For more info on any of the above need listings you can e-mail me at: thequeenbc@gmail.com

Thank you for your continued love and support.

Love,
B

Haiti Update #1 - December.

Give my your eyes for just one second

Give my your eyes so I can see

Everything that I keep missing

Give me your love for humanity

Give me your arms for the broken hearted

Ones that are far beyond my reach

Give me your heart for the ones forgotten

Give me your eyes so I can see

- Brandon Heath

The ball is rolling, friends!

I turned in my application and my first $300 on December the 11th, and hit the ground running towards preparation. On the 12th I scheduled a doctor's appointment to talk about malaria meds & the complications that my ibs may cause with international travel (for January), found out where I'm supposed to go for vaccinations, and requested the prayers of some of my faithful warriors.

On December the 13th I applied for my first passport! I spent the night before tracking down all the info I needed and gathering my proof of identity. The post office in Tampa that does passports is actually less than a mile from my work so I set out to knock that out on a Tuesday over lunch.

This is my copy of what will now be my passport photo!

The wait wasn't bad at all and the two gentleman working were cranking them out. I was in and out in just over half an hour which was a huge answer to prayer since everyone told me it would be a lengthy experience. I managed to do a few days worth of Sonic surveys (for free drinks) and play a little words with friends and before I knew it - it was my turn!

The hardest part has been that to get moving towards the trip I had to fork out quite a bit of cash from the get go - for my deposit and then $180 for a passport. Ouch. But I believe the Lord will provide every cent I need to make this trip a reality. My travel fund took a hit but I'm excited that my family has agreed to make my Christmas presents contributions and several of my friends have asked if they can pitch in!

I have my first mission meeting the Sunday after I return from Christmas in Indiana - so I'll know more then about my supply needs, vaccine needs, etc.

The first person I called to tell about the trip is my friend, Rafael, who spent some time in Haiti and who's excitement for the country and the people after that trip inspired me and I think pitched into my desire to go there, specificially. We finally caught up over this past weekend (he's on West Coast time, which makes it harder). I have to say, that boy inspires me with his hunger for knowledge and his desire to truly help people. I can't wait to tell him all that I see and learn while I'm away.

My sweet friend Jess has agreed to host a yardsale for me in February to help me raise money for the trip - so I'm grateful to her for her support and the donation of her time and driveway!

Until I update again - please keep praying for my trip. April will be here before I know it!

Love, B

Weekend Update.

Well hello loves,

I took the weekend off from blogging and well, alot of other things I normally do. I'm a go getter. I get up an hour early almost every morning to do chores, read my bible, read, etc. before work and I go hard til my head hits the pillow in exhaustion at night. But even I know when I've tuckered myself out and it's time to relax a bit. This weekend was that tuckered out recovery weekend.

Friday I worked all day, babysat for four hours, and then went out. Now, I have a funny here. I told my clients when I arrived (in sweats, no makeup, and a straight haired ponytail) not to be startled when they came home and I looked completely different. Since by babysitting I mean the kids were asleep before I arrived - I decided to use those few hours to get ready to go out with friends afterwards. When they came home I was plopped in front Criminal Minds with curly hair, a full face of makeup, and a fresh change of clothes. She remarked, 'you weren't kidding - I barely recognize you'. Ha!

Well congrat to Daniel who graduated Friday morning from USF - and what fun I had celebrating him at Fly Bar downtown (pic below) on the rooftop.

I, Becca Christensen, stayed in bed until 10AM on Saturday. This has to be a post-college record! But after seeing 2am the night before (which is highly unlike me and my old lady ways) I slept in, relaxed, and even watched a little TV! I managed to get my lazy butt out of bed and to the Nordstrom Rack where I got 2 pairs of Under Armour sweatpants for $9 each! I was so pumped. I'm about ready for my Indy Christmas trip now.

Saturday night I also babysat but this time I worked on some reading, paperwork, Christmas cards, etc. and then came home and promptly fell back into bed.

Sunday consisted of church (GREAT message on Mercy this week), lunch with a sweet new friend, more movie watching (oh redbox, I love you so), a little shopping, a few chores, and some hangout time with my long time friend Sean.

I also got the wheels turning on my 2012 trip to Haiti! I told you all there were big, crazy, awesome plans coming in the year to follow but I'm only now starting to get them in the works! My trip to DC is near having a date, and I turned in my PTO request, filled out my application, made me deposit, and booked a doctor's appointment to work towards a Haiti missions trip in April of 2012.

So, please pray me up as I hit the ground running and prepare to leave the country for the first time, go on my first missions trip, and serve serve serve with all my heart. I couldn't be anymore excited about this opportunity!

Hope your weekends were as fun, relaxing, and exciting as mine.

Love,

B