I've finally settled in here at orientation in Virginia. Some days have been harder than others, but there have been some enjoyable moments as well. Please pray for me that I'll balance my time wisely while I am here. There is a lot of stuff to do and not a whole lot of time to do it. Anyway, here is some things you should know about FPO (Field Personnel Orientation):
1. Our daily routine includes eating, sitting in a chair for 4 hours, eating, sitting in a chair for 4 hours, and eating again. Trust me, it is not nearly as exciting as it sounds.
2. I tried to fight falling asleep during some of our early sessions. Now I just go ahead and put my head down on the table in front of me.
3. We spent an hour talking about Malaria the other day. Surprisingly I stayed awake for that entire session.
4. I'm not the only person here going to Japan. There is a girl who is the same age as me going to serve with one of the teams in Tokyo. It's nice to have at least one other person going to the same country as I am.
5. My car made it out here safely, but shortly after arriving it became sick again. It still drives okay, but it doesn't always start when I turn the key in the ignition.
Hope all is well in all of your lives. Jarod
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Sushi
Friday night my sister, her boyfriend Jimmy, and myself went out for Sushi. Now my sister has no interest in anything Japanese, particularly Japanese food. So this was a big step for her to take. While sushi wasn't her favorite food in the world, she was a good sport about it all and was able to down a few pieces. I love my sister a lot, but she is one person I'm not expecting to ever visit Japan in the near future. She's lethal with those chopsticks though.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Texas Trip
I had a chance to make a trip down to Texas last week to see some friends before I head off to Virginia for orientation in early February. I stayed with the pastor's family whose church I attended while in seminary. The Sanders family is the most amazing family EVER! I found myself at times just sitting among them watching and listening to them interact with one another. I've never been a hugely family oriented person and I know I'm not supposed to be envious of others, but man someday in the future I want what they got. I love them dearly. Anyway, here's some pictures from the week.
The gentleman in the top picture is Mike Huber. Mike's a really great guy and an even greater father. He's married to my pastor's eldest daughter and the baby in the second picture is his son Cameron. Now everyone tells me that Cameron is a cute baby, and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt since I'm no expert on babies, but my goodness does this child have a drooling problem. I mean really it's non-stop. I was informed that this was just a stage he was going through. Pray that Cameron passes through this stage quickly.
The girl in the top picture is my pastor's youngest daughter Summer. Summer is one of my favorite people in the world. Some of my favorite things about Summer:
1. Some people have to work really hard at being funny, in fact, they often try too hard. Summer....not so much. She's just naturally funny. Sometimes you'll laugh with her; most of the time you'll laugh at her. The important thing to note though is that when your around her you will laugh a lot, and for me, someone who loves to laugh, that's a good thing.
2. One of Summer's goals is to get through college without ever reading a book. I know from personal experience that although challenging this goal is attainable. Let's support Summer in this endeavor.
3. Summer functions on a different level than everybody else. She isn't constrained by such things as alarm clocks, schedules, or speed limits.
4. Summer has the gift of decision making. She's good at making decisions for herself, but even better at making decisions for others. I can be somewhat indecisive at times, so I find this gift of Summer's to be very comforting.
5. Finally, not only is Summer beautiful and funny, but she also has one of the most caring hearts of anybody I know (she's exactly like her father in this respect). I didn't celebrate my first two birthdays while in Seminary because I don't like to make a big deal about my birthday. On my third birthday though, the entire Sanders family came up to the Seminary to visit me, and Summer gave me a chocolate cake that she had made for me. That was one of the sweetest things that anyone had ever given me and is still only one of two birthday cakes I've had on my birthday in the last 8 years.
So please pray for Summer and the rest of the Sanders and Huber families. Pray that God will continue to watch over them and pour out some of his richest blessings upon them. I'm already looking forward to the next I can see all of them.
These are two of my friends from Seminary. JC is on the left and Dong Wuk is on the right. Dong Wuk is married to JC's sister. Whenever I got stressed out at Seminary I would go and spend time with these guys and without fail they would always make me feel better. JC just started a new job at a church out in Los Angeles. I'm so thankful to God that I was able to see him for a short time last week before he headed off. Dong Wuk and his wife are currently going through the application process with the IMB. I'm selfishly praying for God to lead them to the Pacific Rim Region so that I can visit them from time to time. Pray for them during this time as they go through this process and that God will put them in the right position and in the right place that will bring the utmost glory to himself.
Finally, this is my friend Robyn. Robyn and my sister Mindy get my sarcastic sense of humor better than most anybody else. Robyn is really outgoing and a people person, even though she thinks otherwise. She also asks a lot of personal questions in her effort to get to know people, which I found to be intimidating and annoying at first, but which I adore about her now. She's one of the easiest people to talk to and has an incredible fashion sense. Pray for her as she is doing an internship at a hospital in Dallas this semester.
Until next time don't forget about me....jarod j
The gentleman in the top picture is Mike Huber. Mike's a really great guy and an even greater father. He's married to my pastor's eldest daughter and the baby in the second picture is his son Cameron. Now everyone tells me that Cameron is a cute baby, and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt since I'm no expert on babies, but my goodness does this child have a drooling problem. I mean really it's non-stop. I was informed that this was just a stage he was going through. Pray that Cameron passes through this stage quickly.
The girl in the top picture is my pastor's youngest daughter Summer. Summer is one of my favorite people in the world. Some of my favorite things about Summer:
1. Some people have to work really hard at being funny, in fact, they often try too hard. Summer....not so much. She's just naturally funny. Sometimes you'll laugh with her; most of the time you'll laugh at her. The important thing to note though is that when your around her you will laugh a lot, and for me, someone who loves to laugh, that's a good thing.
2. One of Summer's goals is to get through college without ever reading a book. I know from personal experience that although challenging this goal is attainable. Let's support Summer in this endeavor.
3. Summer functions on a different level than everybody else. She isn't constrained by such things as alarm clocks, schedules, or speed limits.
4. Summer has the gift of decision making. She's good at making decisions for herself, but even better at making decisions for others. I can be somewhat indecisive at times, so I find this gift of Summer's to be very comforting.
5. Finally, not only is Summer beautiful and funny, but she also has one of the most caring hearts of anybody I know (she's exactly like her father in this respect). I didn't celebrate my first two birthdays while in Seminary because I don't like to make a big deal about my birthday. On my third birthday though, the entire Sanders family came up to the Seminary to visit me, and Summer gave me a chocolate cake that she had made for me. That was one of the sweetest things that anyone had ever given me and is still only one of two birthday cakes I've had on my birthday in the last 8 years.
So please pray for Summer and the rest of the Sanders and Huber families. Pray that God will continue to watch over them and pour out some of his richest blessings upon them. I'm already looking forward to the next I can see all of them.
These are two of my friends from Seminary. JC is on the left and Dong Wuk is on the right. Dong Wuk is married to JC's sister. Whenever I got stressed out at Seminary I would go and spend time with these guys and without fail they would always make me feel better. JC just started a new job at a church out in Los Angeles. I'm so thankful to God that I was able to see him for a short time last week before he headed off. Dong Wuk and his wife are currently going through the application process with the IMB. I'm selfishly praying for God to lead them to the Pacific Rim Region so that I can visit them from time to time. Pray for them during this time as they go through this process and that God will put them in the right position and in the right place that will bring the utmost glory to himself.
Finally, this is my friend Robyn. Robyn and my sister Mindy get my sarcastic sense of humor better than most anybody else. Robyn is really outgoing and a people person, even though she thinks otherwise. She also asks a lot of personal questions in her effort to get to know people, which I found to be intimidating and annoying at first, but which I adore about her now. She's one of the easiest people to talk to and has an incredible fashion sense. Pray for her as she is doing an internship at a hospital in Dallas this semester.
Until next time don't forget about me....jarod j
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