FOUR MONTHS?

The "dangit I didn't get Mission Intern" has mostly worn off, mostly between the hours of 1-2 AM when I couldn't get to sleep because I was so excited. Well, I was also excited about heading up to Delaware to visit some of Shirley's friends today, but mostly about US-2.

And, AGAIN, I have been paralyzed, because there really isn't anything for me to do right now. (Crap.) Which leads us back to Shirley's constant declarations of, "You need a job."

Boo, job. I am thoroughly not interested, because pretty much the only job I would be able to get is probably total shit. And I am NOT going back to work for the city.

I should probably address that large question that has been popping up everywhere: What the crap is a US-2?

So now you know.

And knowing is half the battle.

Or not.

So now that the initial disappointment has worn off, I'm pretty stoked.

I know that I have somewhere to be in fall. My cell phone will work. I won't have to get shots. I'll still get the mission experience, and I'm only 22. I still have loads of time left to live in other parts of the world, and one opportunity begets others.

So this will be a very good experience, and I know that where I'm going is exactly where God wants me to be.

(Although, if one more person tells me, "I'm glad you won't be out of the country," I might punch them in the sternum.)

And it's a Bittersweet Symphony this life...

Bitter: John and I got hopelessly lost in the dark on the way home from the beach.

Sweet: We got to get dinner with Lauren before we left.

Bitter: It was cloudy and cold almost the whole time there.

Sweet: It was sunny the very last day.

Bitter: Huge parts of me are sunburned.

Sweet: I have a permanent imprint of John's hand on my shoulder, because he cannot apply sunscreen.

Bitter: I did not get a Mission Intern position.

Sweet: I DID get a US-2 position.

So...I don't know how to feel right now.

Weekend

I wanted to come up with a much more clever title for this blog, but oh well. This past weekend was the interview and discernment weekend for the Mission Intern program.

I really don't know how to describe it.

It was phenomenally amazing and humbling to be around so many incredible women. Literally all ten (eleven counting Suzanne) were people I would love to just sit and talk with for days on end. I felt like I got very close to many of them, but I would have celebrated more time with each of them.

I've never been in a situation where I was complete strangers with people on Friday, sharing experiences and opinions and discussing discernment and God's presence Saturday, then having frank conversations about complete and vulnerable life stories and the communion within on Sunday. It was a place that felt like total safety, where we all shared our raw pieces and understood that each of us was a child of God and deserved to be loved and guarded.

Well, it was great and fantastically noncompetitive. We won't hear anything back for several weeks, so now it's back to my favorite Waiting Game. Yay.

I admit defeat.

My iPod is dead.

I am no longer attempting to restore it--I acknowledge its whole-hearted, grinding-hard-drive sad-icon deadness.

So I am writing sad letters to Apple to try and get my purchased music redownloaded. Failing that, I will say farewell to legality and rip it from everyone I know.

In other news, I am currently packing (or not really packing yet, but emotionally preparing to pack) for the Far Away Country of New York. And I'm trying very hard not to get as freaked out about this as I want to.

Just breathe, Amanda...

Wow.

OK, so I have been waiting on pins and needles to hear from the General Board of Global Ministries about this mission intern thing and hadn't heard anything. I was starting to feel a little stressed about this, so I finally e-mailed someone.

I got a response back less than two hours. Apparently, Yahoo, For My Safety, thinks the United Methodist Church is Dangerous Spam. So my lovely e-mail that says, "Hey, come for an interview to work for Jesus in April!" got sucked up in the same junk folder as my last chance to buy a timeshare.

Fantastic! Amazing! I literally started jumping up and down. Happily, no one was home to see me fall on my knees and scream thankyouthankyouthankyou to God, but even if they were I wouldn't have cared. Now the fun part--the last day I would have been able to schedule a plane ticket?

Tomorrow.

Wow.

In short, I'm very glad God poked on me today to e-mail them. But still...couldn't He have shaved at least a week or two off ulcer-inducing stress? Sigh.

Either way...one step down!