I hope this update finds you well. It seems that the first of the month comes around too quickly for my head to perceive so I've resigned to just getting an update out within the first half of the month. Am I the only who feels like there's a zillion things going on and my organizer isn't keeping me organized? Probably not. Such is life, eh?
I had been thinking about this month's update and to be quite honest, nothing came to mind that seemed to be "update" worthy. With three major research papers due at the end of the semester and lots of reading to do in between, my "writing" mind has more or less been preoccupied with school and the things we are studying.
One of my classes this semester happens to be Organizational Theory. It's very interesting because I can apply the readings to GCP, and discussions in class bring up some examples of GCP; I am finding that it is good not simply for enhancing my studies but also because it will help build a better foundation for GCP. A foundation still needs to be set for GCP, despite our being incorporated for 2 years now, and I believe this class will help a lot as I share some of the readings and ideas with the Board and other staff.
So this update contains nothing real new other than a few reminders. I just want to remind you to keep collecting your change for our Providing Change campaign. Next month I will let you know if we have set a concrete date for collection. The other thing that is on-going is our GiveMeaning Project; please take a look and see what you feel led to do, even if it's simply to spread the word to other friends of yours who might be interested in contributing. The link is:
http://www.givemeaning.com/project/communitymalawi
Finally, we always welcome donations which are tax-deductible. For those of you who donated and did not receive a statement from us, please email me and let me know. I know it's tax time; forgive me for not being on top of all of that.
And as always, keep us in your prayers.
Oh, and happy Valentine's Day. May the evidence of a greater love than what little we possess move us to do greater things for the love of man, and utmostly for the love of God.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
GCP Update: Look forward and look around!
This is from our January email update. Sorry for the tardiness!
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Happy New Year everyone!
I can't believe it's already the middle of January of another year! I just realized that I should be sending out another update in keeping with my one update a month. :) I just returned to New York after a truly restful vacation in Southern California. I slept - for the most part - and didn't do a whole lot, seemingly wanting to catch up on all the sleep I've missed over the past semester. And now I'm back in New York, back to work, and back to what winter really is out here. As I write, today's forecast is 19F for the high, and 6F for the low. It snowed about 4 inches I must say, between last night and this afternoon. This is all a drastic change for me considering my last full day in Southern California was spent being really hot (high 70s) and me wearing no socks while lamenting the lack of summer clothes in my stash at home. Yup; I'm definitely back in cold weather.
Well, it's hard to believe that Christmas was less than a month ago. And Christmas time was filled with joy and reflection as well as giving and receiving. But now it's 2009, and what does this new year bring? The last sermon of 2008 that I heard was called "Don't Stop", and the mention of letting go of past failures and successes really struck me. We've all been there - looking back at the year and what we had done; some things we might not want to recall while other things we want to re-live over and over again, cherishing each moment. And in cherishing all the successes and happy moments, I forget to live in the present or find myself setting up a standard for this year by what occurred last year. Not good, I think, because it can limit the attitude in which I experience things in the coming year. So I want to let it all go. I am thankful for what God has brought me through in the past year; but I know so much more awaits me this year. I look forward to more adventures, more closeness with Him, more closeness with the people I love, and just more experiences that make me cherish what life I've been given. I don't want to stop - stop growing, stop experiencing, stop learning, stop seeing, stop talking, stop praying, stop reading, and stop living. I also don't want to stop looking around me. Life is not lived in isolation, and it is not really every man for himself, or every woman for herself. And I hope GCP is one of those methods of "looking around", not just for me but for all of you as well.
As I look forward to this year and what work GCP is looking to do, the first thing admittedly I think about is "IFs": IF I am able to, I would like to go back to Malawi this summer; IF there is something we can do in a couple of weeks, we should look into it; IF the funds are available, I can figure something out for this summer. And in these IFs, I forget that I am not doing this by my strength alone. At our last Board meeting in December, Pastor Newman said we should plan on God providing; and how quickly I have forgotten who really does provide ALL the time, in HIS good time.
So in this update I simply want to ask for your prayers as we look forward to another year of GCP. And I hope that this year brings much excitement and many many blessings for all of you and your families. I look forward to being able to share more things with you and partnering in more projects. I am truly thankful for all of you!
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Happy New Year everyone!
I can't believe it's already the middle of January of another year! I just realized that I should be sending out another update in keeping with my one update a month. :) I just returned to New York after a truly restful vacation in Southern California. I slept - for the most part - and didn't do a whole lot, seemingly wanting to catch up on all the sleep I've missed over the past semester. And now I'm back in New York, back to work, and back to what winter really is out here. As I write, today's forecast is 19F for the high, and 6F for the low. It snowed about 4 inches I must say, between last night and this afternoon. This is all a drastic change for me considering my last full day in Southern California was spent being really hot (high 70s) and me wearing no socks while lamenting the lack of summer clothes in my stash at home. Yup; I'm definitely back in cold weather.
Well, it's hard to believe that Christmas was less than a month ago. And Christmas time was filled with joy and reflection as well as giving and receiving. But now it's 2009, and what does this new year bring? The last sermon of 2008 that I heard was called "Don't Stop", and the mention of letting go of past failures and successes really struck me. We've all been there - looking back at the year and what we had done; some things we might not want to recall while other things we want to re-live over and over again, cherishing each moment. And in cherishing all the successes and happy moments, I forget to live in the present or find myself setting up a standard for this year by what occurred last year. Not good, I think, because it can limit the attitude in which I experience things in the coming year. So I want to let it all go. I am thankful for what God has brought me through in the past year; but I know so much more awaits me this year. I look forward to more adventures, more closeness with Him, more closeness with the people I love, and just more experiences that make me cherish what life I've been given. I don't want to stop - stop growing, stop experiencing, stop learning, stop seeing, stop talking, stop praying, stop reading, and stop living. I also don't want to stop looking around me. Life is not lived in isolation, and it is not really every man for himself, or every woman for herself. And I hope GCP is one of those methods of "looking around", not just for me but for all of you as well.
As I look forward to this year and what work GCP is looking to do, the first thing admittedly I think about is "IFs": IF I am able to, I would like to go back to Malawi this summer; IF there is something we can do in a couple of weeks, we should look into it; IF the funds are available, I can figure something out for this summer. And in these IFs, I forget that I am not doing this by my strength alone. At our last Board meeting in December, Pastor Newman said we should plan on God providing; and how quickly I have forgotten who really does provide ALL the time, in HIS good time.
So in this update I simply want to ask for your prayers as we look forward to another year of GCP. And I hope that this year brings much excitement and many many blessings for all of you and your families. I look forward to being able to share more things with you and partnering in more projects. I am truly thankful for all of you!
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