30 July 2011

Home Coming

As we walked off the airplane and I looked out at the lush green hills, they were familiar; I was coming back, back to a place I know and where people know me. The customs guy was surprised that I was coming back for a third time, "You must like Honduras?" "Yes, very much, I have some special friends who live here." And as I walked out to the meet & greet area I got to hug and squeeze those special friends. It was like coming home.

The best hug didn't happen until later that day. We drove up to the Micah house for dinner and as I sat in the back row waiting for my turn to get out I heard from Mitch up front "Hey, there's Hauner!" I started desperatly trying to get the back door of the van open but my impatience was thwarting my efforts. Finally someone else got it open and I scrambled out as fast as I could, hitting Becca in the process. I squatted down so Hauner could see me around other people and set an extra bag down on the ground so both arms would be free. We locked eyes and burst into smiles and ran at each other. As I got close I leaped at him,wrapping my arms around his neck tight while he held me tight and swung my legs like a pendulum. "I miss you so much, mamí!" All night I could not stop hugging Hauner every chance I could. I've missed my boy.

My heart is so full.

26 July 2011

A day in the life...

Living in cubicle land has it's disadvantages -or advantages, depending on how you see them. One is the ability to hear one side of a conversation. Today, lots of people were having phone calls that were just inappropriate to have in "the open." There was one fella from the other side of the building who decided to not bother his co-workers with his phone call by come to the other side of the building. Wasn't that considerate? Jon and I got to listen to this guy argue and apologize profusely to whoever was on the other end of the phone. It was really entertaining and gave us lots of fodder to joke around with. But Jon always has the best lines. Read this:

Jon Tasker [2:43 PM]:
i wonder if people like that ever regret moving down here now?! I've heard more cell phone arguments that I ever heard before at the other place...now that we have no doors.
Jennifer Streger [2:44 PM]:
If only he knew how much entertainment value he was providing
Jon Tasker [2:45 PM]:
ha, maybe we should bring that up somehow...that one of the positives of moving to this crack infested, fake pink noise, sweat shop layout is that we get to hear our executive leaders argue on their cell phones like 4 year olds.
Jennifer Streger [2:46 PM]:
you kill me

19 July 2011

Thankful Tuesday

#66 Recognition and accolades for a hard year and job well done at work.
#67 A great group of people to travel to Honduras and work with.
#68 Roommate assignment - Charissa!
#69 Devotional partner - Marissa!
#70 New camera!! Now to learn how to use it.
#71 Financial generosity of so many people, what a blessing to have all these people's support.

13 July 2011

Thanks for Siblings & Exhibiting

#64 My brother visited home for a week.

Historically, my brother and I have not gotten along. We have a fierce sibling rivalry, even as adults, although we sound more like middle school students than 30-something adults. We attribute it, in part, to the 4 ½ year age gap that led to a difference of 6 grades; so when I went off to college, Chris was just starting junior high. It makes a difference. But add in the difference in how we were raised, and most of all the differences in our personalities – and the similarities for that matter, and the dynamic can be volatile. I generally look forward to my brother’s visits with a combination of eagerness and dread. Chris is the funniest person I know, he thoroughly entertains me. But he also tends to be temperamental and moody, easily angered. Since Chris moved away four years ago he has come home to visit for July 4th every year. This year he arrived on July 5th and stayed the rest of the week. There was something different about him this time, mom and I both remarked on it, yet we can’t quite put our finger on it. He was mellow, not that he didn’t have a couple outbursts, engaged with the family, friendly, and just plain fun to have around. I was actually really sad to say ‘good-bye.’ And so, I am incredible grateful for my brother’s visit.



#65 Micah Project will be one of the exhibitors at The Justice Conference.

In February I went to the inaugural Justice Conference sponsored by World Relief and it was the best conference I had ever been to, hands down, no competition. Best. Ever. Thanks in large part to Dr. Wolterstorff. I was thrilled when they announced they were going to do a second conference in 2012. When they put out the announcement that they were opening up applications for exhibitors, I decided Micah Project should be among them. After getting the approval from Michael, I quickly submitted the application, and yesterday got the official acceptance. Micah Project will be among the exhibitors February 24+25, 2012!

08 July 2011

Counting Down the Days

Only a couple more weeks until Honduras!

Over the last few weeks I’ve been thinking about the “why” of support raising. For those who are not familiar with this aspect of the evangelical church, it probably seems really weird to ask others to pay for a ‘trip.’ I would agree; it is a weird notion, rather anti-American as well. We value being independent, fiscally responsible, and self-sufficient. Raising support seems to be the opposite, almost downright greedy, when viewed through the American cultural lens. But how do you explain the rationale and logic if we don’t share a Biblical context? That is the crux of the question I’ve been wrestling with lately. Sure, having supporters helps alleviate the financial pinch if I had to cover the cost myself, and that is nice. But the benefit and purpose, from my viewpoint, is that I know that I’m not doing this alone. It’s the difference between an individual sport and a team sport.

 As I’m writing this I have the Tour de France coverage playing on TV. Bicycling is a unique sport in that it is an individual effort, but everyone is on a team (so my analogy may quickly break down). Each team has a “star” rider, if this person crashes the rest of the team slows down, comes around the star and helps bring them back into the pack – they are the domestiques. They’ll let the leader draft from them so that he doesn’t have to expend all his energy to get back on his own. It’s up to the star rider to catch up to the team, to put in effort, to push his limits at the finish line, but the team works together for a common goal of getting the leader to the finish line. While each rider is accountable only for himself when he crosses the finish line, he probably wouldn’t have even started the race if he didn’t have a team. The team provides the accountability to train, workout, improve technically, eat right, and be prepared when race day comes.

My analogy is getting convoluted so let me get to the point – while I could do this on my own, I do not want to, I want a team of people to come around me, support me, be my domestiques  =) , and primarily – hold me accountable. If I have people that I am accountable to, I am going to be sure to put in the hard work of preparing, of giving my all while in Honduras, pushing myself to my absolute limits and then beyond – because I have people to answer to for my choices. It is really quite humbling to ask for support, to admit that I really can’t do this alone, but I can’t – and so I am asking for your support.

There are multiple ways you can support me, the main two being financially and prayer. I received a summary yesterday of the donations thus far and I am just over half way to my $1900 expenses. The church asked that all donations be sent by June 30th – but that was a semi-soft deadline. If you believed you missed the opportunity before – don’t worry there is still time! If you would like to support me, ask for a donation form, print it out and fill in your information, follow the directions of how to fill out the check and mail it to Grace Point Community Church by Monday, July 11th. I’ll be given my final summary on Sunday the 17th and that is the real final-final deadline. Prayer support is also key and even more important than finances, even though that is what I have been focusing on. Other ways could be donations of goods or services, words of encouragement, etc.  Simply – I need your support, any which way you can give it.

Love-Laugh-Live ~ Jenn