Luke 1

²⁶In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.³¹You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

³⁴"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

³⁵The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^{c]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[c]} the Son of God. ³⁶Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. ³⁷For nothing is impossible with God."

³⁸"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

I've been thinking a lot about Mary lately. The Bible doesn't give a lot of commentary on what was going through her mind, but if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say she was more than a little freaked out. I'm playing Mary in our church's Christmas production called The Twelve Voices of Christmas. Mary is the voice of wonder, and as I read more about her, I have to say I agree with the assessment. Having never been pregnant, I can't understand all of it, but what I do get makes me admire her all the more. I like that she didn't protest, just wondered at the mechanics of it and then said "Okay, God, I trust that you know what you're doing."

Kinda puts things in perspective...

I've been on an internet fast.

Before you praise/chastise me, know this: it wasn't entirely by choice. The internet at the house was down, and I decided to see if it was possible to live without the world wide web. Surprisingly, it is, but I'm not going to tell you it was easy. I can't tell you how many times I went to Google something only to remember I couldn't.

Quite a bit has happened over the last month. As a result of a meeting with Global Ministries staff and two fellow missionaries in early November, I have created an Advocacy/Support/Friend group comprised of six people, each of whom has played a role along the journey to this point. They are all good at giving me their opinions and advice and ideas, and though we haven't really decided what this will mean in the long run, they are all incredibly supportive.

I spoke at two different churches this month. On November 8, I was at Victory Chapel in Liberty Center, OH and on November 15, I was at Stryker UB in Stryker, OH. It was nice to be back in my home state, and especially lovely to speak with several people I've known since I was much younger.

I am pleased to report that as a result of some very generous donations, I have reached 50% of my needed support. In July 2010, I will be able to attend CROSS-Training at OMS - three weeks of field prep and seminars. I'm praying that I will be ready to move into the compound at Greenwood soon after, and begin traveling.

I am excited to see what the next year brings. I pray that when the time comes, I am ready.

Shalom.