8 months later and going again

Well, it is a little strange to be doing this again. I have sat down a few times and worked my way through my messages again. It is strange to go back, to remember the stuff that struck me, and to now be a long way away from that. It is kinda scary, but yet awesome to go back and read stories that I had forgotten. It is awesome because the memories flood back with such a richness that really allows me to relive those moments. They also scare me because they make me realize how much I have forgotten. There is no way that I could even joke with myself to make believe that I can remember everything, but it is always sad to realize what you have forgotten.

As for a quick roundup on what has happened in-between these postings (though most of you already know this or may have only met me during this "in-between time." I spent my summer as a counselor at Camp Spalding just north of Spokane. It was an amazing experience to be surrounded by so many people who love Jesus so much and it was a blessing to be able to avoid the "standard" american life for a little longer. CASP was a very "this world" experience where we focused on the plight of humans and were trying to figure out how to seek humanity and social justice. Camp was quite oposite. We were working for something that was a little more supernatural. I feel like it was a good time for me to talk to God and to see what he thinks about life. I had a lot of fun, but by the time it was over, I feel like I had been separated from a lot of what I was fired up on when I got back in May.

After a family vacation to Canada, I moved into a house in Spokane with Cory and Caleb (who are getting their Masters in Teaching. From my first day there, I dedicated myself to living a simple life. I don't own a car (though thank you Alice for letting me borrow one during this snowy Christmas season) but have mainly used an old bike that I found in a shed at camp. I am trying to save up a good chunk of money to pay the government back for my student loans so that I can go abroad (and therefore continue writing for "the blender").

So that brings me to why I am writing again. On January 10, I'll be getting on a plane to go to Central America again. I am going to El Salvador with Mike Johansen to be an elections observer for the salvadorian municipal elections. We will be working with an organization called CIS (Centro de Intercambio y Solitaridad http:www.cis-elsalvador.org/ ). We will be working with them for a little more than a week. At this point it looks like a few days of culture and training in San Salvador, then a few days observing in a smaller town and then back to write reports on our municipality. I am really excited about this job because it is something that truly interests me and because I think it is super important. About 70% of salvadorians don't have faith in this or the presidential election in March. ARENA and the FMLN (the two main parties) are the two most opposed main parties in the Western Hemisphere. They are both slandering each other in ways that put McCain and Obama's mudslinging to shame. This is only a year after 60 people were killed in the elections process a boarder away in Guatemala. Of course this is a country that is full of gang violence and only 16 years away from signing a peace treaty. Not to make it sound more dangerous or to blow anything out of porportion, but this is an important time for the country. The FMLN is leading in the polls and it will be facinating to see what happens.

After observing, we are hoping to hop the border to Honduras and see our families there. I got a letter from the Gutierrez family (my Honduran family) a couple weeks ago. They were really hit hard by the heavy rains this fall. Some of the CASPers have been talking about finding a way to help out and so I hope that Mike, Richie (separately going down) and I can give a little better picture of what was/is going on.

Well, this is getting long (which is a great habit of mine), so I'm going to conclude. I am excited to go back and I hope that you can share my excitement too. Keep checking back, I won't flood your inbox, but just want to keep you posted.

Prayer Requests

• safety: when I tell people what I am doing, I usually get the "won't that be dangerous?" question. I don't think that I will be in too much danger. I will be smart about it and I pomise to not do too much stupid stuff. But I do want the safety blanket of the Big Guy too.
• A good election: duh
• good times with the family: also duh
  
• That I can use this time as a way to grow and know better where I am supposed to go with my life
• God shows more of himself

Thanks for reading. I'm not going to make any promises about shorter posts, but I'll try to keep you posted. I love you.