YAV Can 2

All right. It's day 2 of the YAV Candidate retreat (hence the title of the entries "YAV Can" - YAV stands for Young Adult Volunteer). I ended up going to bed after 2AM because my roommate and I were talking about life and the future and everything. It was good times. We got up at 6:45AM to get to the dining hall for breakfast at 7AM. I was stoaked for waffles as they have the flipy/turning waffle iron here like they did in the Lighthouse when I was in the dorms at Poly. Amazing.

I had my two waffles topped with fresh strawberries and bananas and whoa, I was full. I think my eyes were bigger than my stomach. We went to our site presentations (so I went to Peru at 8:45AM and Guatemala at 9:45AM). Afterward we met with our small group and it was good conversation. One of the girls had both her interviews today and is leaving for a funeral - she had to make her decisions today before she left at 4:30... which is now. I pray that God leads her and gives her strength as she goes through this difficult time in her life.

We had lunch and then I had my Guatemala interview. It was interesting, honestly I'm still shooting for Peru. I was talking with my roommate again when we ran into each other in our room (I was getting ready for a run with the Tuscon coordinator to talk to him about Tuscon as a national site/hang out and she was going to her interview for South Korea). While we ran I liked that he wasn't trying to promote his site or push me in any direction in particular. I enjoy honesty. We discussed God's calling and he reminded me that it's also about what God made you to be passionate about, not just about trying so hard to discern what God wants you to do... because God gives you those emotions, passions and feelings for a reason. He doesn't want you to begrudgingly 'do His work' He wants you to LIVE for HIM. Why do I have to remind myself of that? It seems silly, it's what my blog is titled and I can't even remember, ha ha. Oh if I could remember everything I should (and that's when I have a pretty good memory to begin with).

I need to meet with one of the guys tonight and go over some Spanish questions they might as tomorrow in my Peru interview (9:45AM!). I'm still a little worried although every caution people mention about how hard life might be for the year you're gone... I've not gotten concerned at all. I feel like I've dealt with so many cultures and backgrounds including disabled adults, children, varying socioeconomic backgrounds, urban, metropolitan, rural, country, etc. I am a pretty chill/laid back person and I guess God made me that way for a reason. I am debating on whether or not I want to interview with Tuscon, it would be interesting to be on the boarder... but I really want to go be immersed in the culture and language, not just dip my toes in it. When it really comes down to it, people are right, it's 2 days - Al and Miriam's wedding days that I want to be home for. The rest of the time would be the daily grind and I honestly don't like the grind much... I want to see the world and live the dreams that God has given me to help people of all nations nutritionally, environmentally, ecologically, etc.

I am still praying about all of these choices in my life. I just need some clarity and to strip all of the other stuff away and get down to the heart of the matter. Where does God want me to be and where do I want to be?

- run for life.