Week 8 of the New Years Goals
This past week was CRAZY busy at work, and I'm thankful that today is my last day before I take my annual golf trip to North Carolina. My buddy Jeremie and I have been doing this for a few years now, and this will make year 4 of our golf outing extravaganza. This year we've decided to fly down, so we'll be a bit more limited on ground transportation (only one vehicle between the two of us), but that's quite alright considering we'll bypass the normal 24-28 hours in the car (there and back of course). The golf courses are already lined up for us, and it looks like the week is starting to get away from the originally predicted rainfall. God is good. :)
Yesterday, I was asked to give a presentation on my trip to Uganda by my uncle. It was for the local Rotary Club, and even though I had enough time to prepare, I feel I winged it. I guess it's a good thing I'm a master at winging things. lol. It went very well, and one gentleman said he was quite moved by what experiences and insight I had gained from my trip. He'll be contacting me for information on possibly sponsoring a child, so I already feel that my missions trip has become all the more important. Potentially, one more child will have a chance at a better future, and that's worth everything in and of itself. Once again, God is good.
There were some things that I was keeping a bit secret as of last week, but now I can explain some of them. One was that I wanted to help my friend (ex-girlfriend) find a way to do the missions work she's been wanting to do since age 10. That would be through a website I suggested to her last week. One in which she would basically make it a donation site filled with updates on her missions and what God is doing through her and around her on these mission trips. I figured out that if she had 400 people willing to donate $5 a month, she would be able to cover her expenses and medication while living in Uganda. That seems more than a reasonable dollar amount to ask for, and if she can make a way for direct deposit withdraws to be made, all the better. I'll explain the other thing in my "Good Works in God's Name" section. ^__~
And now the updates.
1. Paying off College = Well, it looks like I'll be losing at least $600 of what I wanted to send this month. My El Salvador trip requires that $1,000 down payment at the end of the week, and since I still haven't made a public plead for any donations, I'm limited as to what donations are available. All in all, I'm okay with that, but it could set back my year goal if I don't replenish the missed cash within the next two months.
2. Bible Reading = Sloth boy. Super sloth. Slothimus maximus. In other words, I'm still behind.
3. Good Works in God's Name = Ok. My top secret thing-a-ma-bob. A few years ago, one of my friends came down with leukemia. The opportunity to get tested and see if my bone marrow would be usable for him arose, so I (and numerous other friends) went to have ourselves pricked for testing. None of us were a match, but thankfully they found a near perfect 10 out of 10 match and my friend has been in complete remission for a number of years.
A month ago, I was contacted by the national bone marrow donation organization, and it seems that I'm a 9 out of 10 match for a man who is 62 and I think they said is living in Kentucky. So, I've been going through a series of blood tests, chest x-rays, electrode thingy, and an physical to make sure I'm healthy enough to donate. Fortunately, me having gone to Uganda didn't effect my ability to be used (as I now can't donate blood for a year), so I'll be heading up to University of Michigan Hospital on the 24th and 25th of this month to donate my stem cells for bone marrow growth. It'll be a painful process from what I've been told, but I have a pretty good threshold for that sort of thing, and it's for a good cause.
4. Achieve 2nd Degree Brown Belt Status in Sanchin-Ryu = Still just waiting for a promotion week in the next class series. So probably in May. Then I'll start in trying to get my first degree brown belt, and then... we can officially start in on black belts. ^__^
5. Run a Full Marathon = Been to busy to get out and run. Hopefully, with the weather getting better and the sun shining longer in the evenings, I'll be out and about once again. I plan on running in the Solider Field 10 Mile again, and that is on memorial day weekend (May 29th to be exact). I've got a little over two months to get into 10 mile shape, and that should be pretty easy to achieve. Well... unless I keep slacking off of course... :-P
Well, that's all for this week. Other than playing way to much Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, hanging out with some friends, and watching the movie "Shutter Island", I just kept busy with work and the normal activities of living. By the way, "Shutter Island" was a pretty good psychological thriller type movie... even though I'm not really into those... sort of got dragged there by the group. Still, it was pretty interesting. Not for Munchkins though). ^__~
Take Care and God Bless,
Chad
Yesterday, I was asked to give a presentation on my trip to Uganda by my uncle. It was for the local Rotary Club, and even though I had enough time to prepare, I feel I winged it. I guess it's a good thing I'm a master at winging things. lol. It went very well, and one gentleman said he was quite moved by what experiences and insight I had gained from my trip. He'll be contacting me for information on possibly sponsoring a child, so I already feel that my missions trip has become all the more important. Potentially, one more child will have a chance at a better future, and that's worth everything in and of itself. Once again, God is good.
There were some things that I was keeping a bit secret as of last week, but now I can explain some of them. One was that I wanted to help my friend (ex-girlfriend) find a way to do the missions work she's been wanting to do since age 10. That would be through a website I suggested to her last week. One in which she would basically make it a donation site filled with updates on her missions and what God is doing through her and around her on these mission trips. I figured out that if she had 400 people willing to donate $5 a month, she would be able to cover her expenses and medication while living in Uganda. That seems more than a reasonable dollar amount to ask for, and if she can make a way for direct deposit withdraws to be made, all the better. I'll explain the other thing in my "Good Works in God's Name" section. ^__~
And now the updates.
1. Paying off College = Well, it looks like I'll be losing at least $600 of what I wanted to send this month. My El Salvador trip requires that $1,000 down payment at the end of the week, and since I still haven't made a public plead for any donations, I'm limited as to what donations are available. All in all, I'm okay with that, but it could set back my year goal if I don't replenish the missed cash within the next two months.
2. Bible Reading = Sloth boy. Super sloth. Slothimus maximus. In other words, I'm still behind.
3. Good Works in God's Name = Ok. My top secret thing-a-ma-bob. A few years ago, one of my friends came down with leukemia. The opportunity to get tested and see if my bone marrow would be usable for him arose, so I (and numerous other friends) went to have ourselves pricked for testing. None of us were a match, but thankfully they found a near perfect 10 out of 10 match and my friend has been in complete remission for a number of years.
A month ago, I was contacted by the national bone marrow donation organization, and it seems that I'm a 9 out of 10 match for a man who is 62 and I think they said is living in Kentucky. So, I've been going through a series of blood tests, chest x-rays, electrode thingy, and an physical to make sure I'm healthy enough to donate. Fortunately, me having gone to Uganda didn't effect my ability to be used (as I now can't donate blood for a year), so I'll be heading up to University of Michigan Hospital on the 24th and 25th of this month to donate my stem cells for bone marrow growth. It'll be a painful process from what I've been told, but I have a pretty good threshold for that sort of thing, and it's for a good cause.
4. Achieve 2nd Degree Brown Belt Status in Sanchin-Ryu = Still just waiting for a promotion week in the next class series. So probably in May. Then I'll start in trying to get my first degree brown belt, and then... we can officially start in on black belts. ^__^
5. Run a Full Marathon = Been to busy to get out and run. Hopefully, with the weather getting better and the sun shining longer in the evenings, I'll be out and about once again. I plan on running in the Solider Field 10 Mile again, and that is on memorial day weekend (May 29th to be exact). I've got a little over two months to get into 10 mile shape, and that should be pretty easy to achieve. Well... unless I keep slacking off of course... :-P
Well, that's all for this week. Other than playing way to much Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, hanging out with some friends, and watching the movie "Shutter Island", I just kept busy with work and the normal activities of living. By the way, "Shutter Island" was a pretty good psychological thriller type movie... even though I'm not really into those... sort of got dragged there by the group. Still, it was pretty interesting. Not for Munchkins though). ^__~
Take Care and God Bless,
Chad