Matchless

I want to love with a Jesus heart,
sweetly, without condition . . .
fully accepting, without question.
To see with Jesus eyes,
always expecting . . .
expecting joy, expecting the best.
To own a Jesus smile,
consistent, constant . . .
even in the face of adversity.
To be helpful like Jesus,
sweet natured, and ready . . .
no matter the task.
To be loyal like Him,
friendship at its best . . .
undying, unselfish, never wavering.
To live a life like Him,
vulnerable . . .
with the word uncomplicated indelibly stamped on the backs of my eyelids.
I want to be just like Him, but truth be told, I know I can't, I can only continue reaching, striving.
He is unique, exceptional, distinctive, holy, and oh so loving.
He is matchless!
He is Jesus!

For those of you who are asking . . .

Global Volunteers
375 E. Little Canada Rd.
St. Paul, Minnesota
55117
Memo: Sue Wagenmaker/Romania
Attention: Greg Copley

You will recieve a letter at the end of the calendar year stating any donations for tax purposes.

Overwhelmed by the underwhelmed

Yesterday I recieved a list of acceptable donations from the office of Global Volunteers. I went shopping! It was all I could do to leave things on the shelves. With Christmas happening during the time I am in Barlad, I find myself wanting to know the names of the babies. I want to know there will be a gift for each of them with their names on it, but I don't want 50 dolls or tubes of A&D ointment, thus I am attempting to coordinate the gift giving with the other 12 on my team. I am bringing only 3 changes of clothes (lightweight, easy to wash in a sink and drip dry) in order to fill the rest of my allowed suitcases with things for the babies. I ended up buying 3 soft dolls and one zip up fleece vest like you find at Old Navy. I controlled myself pretty well. The dollar store and Rescued Treasures helped to keep the cost down. I've started a pile on my extra bed and can't wait to watch it grow.
On another note, I want everyone to be as excited as I am about this. It's so frustrating to me to tell someone about this and you can tell they don't even connect with what your saying. When their eyes glaze over and they quit making eye contact you know you've lost them. I also know that I get a little over excited by things like this. I wish you could see the list of needs. You'd be amazed at what we take for granted. Can you imagine wanting desperately for oatmeal or medicine, or a book on fetal development? Can you imagine only being able to feed your baby one bottle of milk and rice in a day? Ok....overwhelmed. More soon.

Paying It Forward

'We can do no great things--we can only do small things with great love.' Mother Theresa

If you are reading this you know me well. You know my past and present. You know I do not have all the answers or solutions to my own daily challenges. But you also know of my desire to give of my time, talents and resources. You may also know I have been in a time in my life where those things have been “on hold”.

Recently, God has been challenging me to take the focus off of myself and the “stuff” in my life to one of giving and ministering in a tangible way. This has all been part of a process that I believe He is taking me through one breath, one moment, one day at a time. It has been quite a journey, and very emotional.
I want to tell you about the incredible opportunity that is in front of me. I have been accepted by Global Volunteers, www.globalvolunteers.org, to travel as part of a team to the Tutova Clinic in Barland Romania (4 hours by train from Bucharest). The Clinic is for infants and toddlers whose parents have abandoned them because of health or economic problems. Because the clinic is understaffed, most of the children spend their days alone in their cribs. My “job” will be to love, feed and cuddle infants between the ages of 0-2 years. No letter can explain it fully. Go to the website and read. It will move you to tears, and make you want to DO something for these sweet babies.
If you could look into my past, my childhood, you would see a little girl who never knew what it was to truly “want” for anything. I grew up in a large rambunctious family full of spontaneous hilarious love. We were not rich in a monetary way, but we were deliberate in showing affection to one another and oh so blessed. My parents were and are amazing, loving parents. I always knew without a doubt that I was loved and had a safe place to fall. Most recently, I have taken advantage of that unconditional, sweet love more than ever before in my life and I can’t imagine not knowing or understanding the love of a mom and dad. I want all children to experience that kind of love and I know that is God’s plan for children too. We just mess it up a lot.
YOU know this opportunity absolutely screams my name. I am so excited I can hardly stand the waiting. I want to be knee deep in babies who need to be loved right now, today! Please pray! I will be gone for 3-4 weeks living in a former iron curtain country. I know I will not want to come home, at least not without a suitcase packed full of babies. (Pray about that too!) I will update often now and throughout as I have internet access. As you know this does not come without a price tag attached. ($3600.00) I will take out a loan if need be, but if you want to be involved in this way, just ask. If you want to hear more about it, give me a call. I would welcome it. (231) 206 3679.