i'm moving

well, i'm not moving to another state, or another country, unfortunetly. i'm moving to the world of xangaers. yeah, pretty sure i just made up that word...i've been pulled in by the magnitude of ppl with xangas and feel the need to keep up. :) so if you'd like a brief update about my summer, you can look at www.xanga.com/danirupp. :)

God's guidance

well it's 3:50am and in a few short minutes i'll be leaving to detroit where my flight will fly out at 7:50am and then i'll have a slight lay over in miami before reaching guatemala. there have been a lot of lasts lately- last family night with my crazy family who i'm going to miss a ton, last conversation with a lot of people, last "night" in my bed ( i use the word "night" loosely b/c i'm not sure if 2 hours counts as a night- more like a nap to me ), last luxurious shower, last good shave (and i actually didn't cut myself!), last time wearing my hair staight (it will be curly or up when i'm there)...but i'm looking forward to lots of firts too! and i'm sure there will be plenty of them.

there was a cool quote in yesterdays sermon at church and it was "you will not know God's guidance unless you want to be guided" and that really hit home. i want to be guided by Him this summer. i don't want people to see dani rupp, but God in all that i say and do. this is not about me, it's all about Him and glorfying Him and learning to serve Him more. i'm not saying it will be easy- it will be a struggle, but if i want him to guide me i have to give up the reins and let Him do it!

well it's time to go. hopefully i'll be able to update this there, but who knows. just remember in august i will return- maybe slightly tanner, maybe slightly thinner or thicker, maybe slightly changed for the better, but still the same Dani :)

God bless!

adios!

well all, on monday may 30, i'll be heading off to embark on probably the greatest adventure thus far in my life. my flight leaves at 7:50am which means 3am wake up call to get to the airport in time. i should arrive in guatemala at approx 11:30am guate time (2 hours behind us). if you wanna talk to me before i leave call at 419-446-2285. i should be around, spending quality time with my family before i take off :)

i packed today and that was a tad stressful. i've had stuff laid out for awhile, but actually packing it and deciding where to put what and getting it all to fit was a challenge, but i'm pretty proud of myself. i for once did not overpack! at least i don't think i did. most of the stuff i plan on leaving down there anyway. i'm sure after wearing the same clothes for 12 weeks, that won't be too hard! so yeah, everything's packed and ready to go.

but that doesn't mean that i'm ready! no- i really am exicted. i can't wait to get down there and experience the culture and the food and the people- i just want to soak it all up! i'm excited to be used by God to the fullest. it's this before hand stuff that makes me anxious. right now i don't know what to expect, who i'll meet or anything and the unknowns make me a little uptight.i think once i get there i'll be fine, but right now at times my mind is a very poweful force against me. satan is really getting into my head and making me fearful and doubtful. i don't know if i can do this!

i have such mixed emotions right now and it's driving me crazy. one minute i'll be so excited and just want to leave and the next minute i feel so overwhelmed at what's ahead of me and i just want to cry. and i know that as a Christian God had not given me a spirit of fear, but that of power, love and sound mind. i know the verses about being anxious and that i should cast all my cares on Him. and truly i'm trying to, i really am. but my heart has a harder time believing. i would really appreciate your prayers in this area. i want to have great faith and be bold and courageous. i want to stand firm and not be a coward or fearful. and i realize that there's no way that's going to happen without God's help.

i look at the great missionaries and men of God in the Bible and rarely, if ever, does it talk about them being scared or worried. instead it talks about their boldness and how they are lead by the Holy Spirit. i want that so badly, but yet i feel so insecure and little right now. i desire to grow and be stretched and molded but at the same time it scares me to death because i don't know where that will take me.

sorry for rambling. i don't know if anyone can relate with how i feel. it's a battle between flesh and the Spirit. i know how i should feel (spirit)but my mind is telling me otherwise (flesh). i guess today and tomorrow as i say good byes and get ready to leave i'll be praying a lot and remembering FROG- Fully Rely On God.

quick thought

i really need to get to bed, but as i was getting ready to head there,i remembered something else that i wanted to share.

today in church the choir was singing a song called "we believe." and they did a nice job. the song ends pretty dramatically with a big finish "WE BELIEIVE!!" i wanted to clap, but no one else was. there were a few mumbled "amens." but what touched my heart was this little boy who shouted "Yeah!" that got the clapping started. i don't really know if the boy knew what the song was about, but it doesn't matter. the song deserved a Yeah and he was the only one uninhibited enough to do it. i want a faith like that- one that is real and authentic and bold....i think we can all take a lesson from this little boy. God often deserves a loud "Yeah!" don't be too shy or self conscious to do it.

Wally

tara and i were bored last night. we jumped in tara's car and were driving around, trying to think of something to do when tara had an amazing idea! we drove to the nearest convenience store and bought...are you ready for this?! .... a disposable camera and a watermelon- whom i affectionally named Wally. what, you may ask, would you do with a camera and a watermelon? well i'll be glad to tell you.

for the next hour and a half tara and i drove all around and took pictures with our new friend. Wally went swinging, up a tree, down a slide, and up my shirt. he was sat on, stepped on and posed with. he was a pillow, trophy and just an odd object to have in a picture. this may sound weird to you, but tara and i had a blast! we were laughing so hard. and now we have 27 pictures of wally and us. it was some pretty awesome cheap fun with lots of memories made! so if you're ever bored, pick up a friend, a camera and a random object and start shooting! you'll be surprised at some of the ideas you'll have! :)

after taking all of our picture, we decided to relax with a movie. but the movie we watched was anything but relaxing. we watched "not without my daughter" and if you haven't seen it- i highly recommend it. it is a powerful true story. it deals a lot with Islam and Muslims and i actually learned quite a bit- if the info is accurate.

after watching that it was pretty late and i headed home. i can't wait to get our pictures back! i sure hope they turn out!

can i just say that i'm sooo glad to be leaving for the summer. i have multiple reasons- one of them being that i won't have to shop for summer clothes!! the other day i was at work and 3 girls stopped in to eat. and i'm really not sure why they even bothered to wear shorts, b/c the ones they were wearing didn't cover all that much!! they were some of the shortest ones i've seen. so i was still kind of bothered by that when later 2 guys and a girl came in. the girl was only wearing her string bikini top as a shirt. she had on sweat capris over her bottoms (thank goodness!) but even those were worn low. i didn't even know how to react. i didn't say anything, but i don't even own a bikini and even if i did, i the only place i'd wear it would be my back yard which is in the middle of no-where. i caught myself judging both incidences and had to remind myself that i didn't know any of those girls- their personality or who they really were so i had no right to judge them for what they were wearing...or not wearing. and the more i thought about it, the more i felt sad. it is sad that girls think that they have to dress that way to get attention, to feel beautiful, or to be "in style." my heart hurts to think of the low self esteem that they must have to wear that kind of clothing. it shows that they don't value themselves as beautiful creation made by God. He made our bodies and we should be proud of them, but that doesn't mean we need to flaunt them. keeping some things a mystery is ok! save your body for that special someone. it will be well worth the wait!

Wowsers

wowsers it's been a long time since i've blogged! i don't want to bore all of you to death by going through a detailed description of what i've been up to, so here are some highlights. and i'll really try to do a better job of updating this thing, at least before i leave:

* I leave for Guatemala in 12 days (May 30) and have been getting ready for my trip. i haven't packed yet, but i have most of my stuff bought and i think my passport is somewhere and i'm pretty sure i have all my shots.... so yeah- i'm basically ready! :) i'm really exicted and more than a tad nervous about what's in store for me, but i need to remember to trust in God. i have been getting some money in from people help finance the trip which is truly and blessing and shows God's hand in all of this. there is quite a bit of crime that occurs down there and a group of students actually cancelled their trip due to some of that stuff, so your prayers for safety would be appreciated.

* I've been working a lot at Subway (aka Scrubway) and while it's not really what i want to be doing, it's a pay check and i'm trying to have a good attitude. the other day everything seemed to be going wrong though and then i burnt 40 delis! grrr! but i guess you have those days and i've learned to laugh at myself and move on

* Speaking of Subway, we now have coke products and do not give out stamps any more. yes you read right, sub stamps are a thing of the past. don't blame me- talk to subway headquarters. i guess there was just too much fraud and misuse of them.

* i backed into me house. yup- it's true. i was backing up in my car to get my brother and whacked the bricks. busted my tail light and dented my car a bit, but the wall took most of the beating- totally cracked the bricks and moved them away from the wall. that'll be a chunk of change! if anyone feels like donating to the "dani's wall foundation" feel free!

* i've had a great time bonding with my family (shopping with my mom and brother, running with dad, playing with charger with my sister, watching seinfeld and david letterman with my bro...). we get along so well and i really don't know how i'm going to make 3 months w/o them...sniff sniff...i've also had time to catch up with friends from home and that's been a blast. i haven't really done anything outrageus, just hanging out and doing this and that. i did take my good friend tara out for her 21st bday and that was a lot of fun :) i still need to make time to see some more ppl before i go....

* i did get to see some amazing friends this week. i drove out to warsaw and stayed with becca and her family, GOOD TIMES!!! i had a great time hanging out with her and david and i got to meet their friend phil. i got to see becca direct at a jr hight band concert and she did an amazing job. then all of use hung out at a coffee shop until late talking. the next day becca gave me a tour of warsaw and winona lake- it really is a beautiful city. we spent the afternoon being bums in the sun and both got a little burnt, but it was soooooooo nice! then we made cookies and "played" duets on the piano. let's just say you'd never guess that ihad 4+ years of piano lessons. the boys came over and david and i went running while phil and becca entertained jenny, her younger sister. it was a beautiful day for a run and it was great to run with david again, even though for some reason i didn't feel very good. the rest of the evening consisted of david and phil whooping becca and me in eukere, going to david's softball game (they lost but he played great- right david?!), then to ritter's for ice cream. i ended up taking the boys home b/c david's car got a flat and they couldn't get the spare tire on. i got to drive on phil's road that's pry been there since the 1800's and is still in it's original form. today was spent sleeping in, hanging with becca and meeting up with david for lunch at hacienda. i left from there and though i did get a bit lost managed to get back at 4 and got to work by 4:08. :) it was a wonderful couple of days of fun, laughs and fellowship

* i promise i'm almost done. i just have to add that i've been really trying to have personal quite time each day and with God's help i've been staying pretty consistant. for some of the time i'm reading through Acts and it's really opening my mind to so much and the reality of mission work. i'll pry share more on that later, but the faith and the boldness of those early missionaries is mind boggling! it's both challenging and encouraging at the same time.

well i think that's all folks! sorry it was so long. thanks for bearing with me. i hope your summer has been super so far. :)