STUFFED

Well folks, I have already broken my weekly blogging spree...BUT I have good reason.  Let me explain...

Thursday
4:45pm--I am wrapping up my day in the office.  It has been a productive week, but I still have lots to do Friday.  I make a list of tasks to get done on Friday so that I can enjoy my weekend!  At the top of my list was blogging about the week so that YOU could hear what is going on  :)

5:00pm--I leave the office to head home after a long day.  Life group is tonight at 7, so I grab a quick bite to eat with Mom before heading to Geno's house.

7:00pm--Life group!  We meet and talk about Scripture, praises and prayers and enjoy each other.  I walk away refreshed and ready to tackle Friday at YMI!

10:00pm--Lights out (yes, I'm a grannie when it comes to bed time).

Friday
8:30am--I arrive at the YMI office.  I notice a stack of letters that look like they need to be mailed.  I think nothing of it...(mistake #1 haha)

9:15am--Brian (my boss) gathers the 5 of us in the office that day and informs us that all 1,200 letters need to go out on Monday.  Translation: we are going to be stuffing, sealing and stamping envelopes all. day. long.

[fast forward 14 hours]

11:30pm--Rose and I are leaving the office after having folded 2,400 pieces of paper, stuffed, sealed and stamped 1,200 envelopes.  Oh...and did I mention that the stamps were the kind that you have to lick?  {Bonus points to Rose}  After that was done, we put them all in zipcode order so that they could be sent out through the post office as a mass mailing.

12:00am--I am home.  Exhausted.  Grateful.  And smiling.  Why? you may ask...

I have a wonderful job.
I work with amazing people.
I got extra time to get to know Rose, one of my coworkers/friends.
The letters were able to go out on time.
Rose and I got to make a yummy homemade dinner together in the middle of our stuffing party.
I enjoyed the time that we got to tell stories, laugh and talk.
I work for an organization that God has used to impact peoples' lives for eternity.

Question: What more could I ask for?

Answer: {Absolutely nothing.}

Big staff, big plans, small office :)

I can't believe this is already the end of my second week at YMI!  I am so thankful for each and every day here.

This week began with lots of organizing!  God is growing our staff, but we are quickly outgrowing the office space we have.  I stayed a little bit late on Monday to play around with different set-up ideas for the office and finally settled on something that would allow for great organizational space, extra intern space and would be able to accomodate a growing summer staff.

Additionally, I have been working on staffing a small event in February and making sure that everything is in place for that.  I still have some work to do, but it is all coming together.

I am starting to get settled into a routine in the office.  I have a much better idea of what my days look like and how to best manage my time.  It is definitely nice to be able to self direct with most of my tasks now.  I am so thankful to be working with people who are patient with me as I learn and need to ask questions multiple times a day.  What a great blessing!

On a different note, this update is going out on Thursday instead of Friday because I am taking the day off tomorrow to drive to Montana to attend the memorial of a dear friend.  I am saddened that she is no longer with us, but I am rejoicing that she is enjoying the full presence of her Father in Heaven.  Please pray for the Cook family when you think of them.  They love the Lord and are praying that the memorial is a great witness to the saving power of Jesus Christ.

This week's praises and prayers:
1. Praise that God is continually providing for Nathan's and my finances.
2. Praise that I get the joy of working in an office with amazing people.
3. Prayer that I will be able to fully staff the February 9th event.
4. Prayer for safe travels as a large group from church travels to the memorial tomorrow.
5. Prayer for safe travels back from trips for Gene and Brian (my bosses)

Once again, I am so humbled that each and every one of you are choosing to support Nathan and me in a variety of ways.  We are thankful to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for calling us to this wonderful ministry of equipping young people to share the Gospel.

Blessings,
Morgann

Week 1!

Well friends, this is my first official ministry blog update!  These will be going out weekly so that you can stay up on what God is doing in my life as a missionary with Youth Missions International.

First and foremost, I want to thank you for your prayers, encouragement and financial support.  Through that, the Lord is able to use me for His glory right here in Tacoma, Washington.  I would have never imagined that I would be working as a full-time missionary at age 21, but here I am and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

This week started with 2 days of training, 9am-8pm.  I learned lots about the organization, my role and where we are headed.  I received great training in support raising and in promoting at conferences and doing church visits.  Wednesday was my day of practical training for my job as the Director of Volunteer Operations.  I spent lots of time going through our volunteer database and making sure that all volunteers have the correct paperwork in and the correct training.  After the paper database was synced with the online database, I got to breathe easy for a little bit.

Yesterday I received my first big assignment – to plan, host and recruit volunteers for an event on February 9^th.  Wow!  I didn’t see that one coming, but it is such a blessing to get to jump in with both feet and support the organization in my assigned role.  Today I have spent the last 5 hours editing sports ministry curricula that have been translated to English.  Tomorrow we have our staff/Board of Directors meeting all day.

Needless to say, this week has been busy and it’s just beginning!!

On top of all of that, both Nathan and I are in full-time support raising, as we are a full-time faith-supported missionary couple.  This means that we are responsible for raising our own salary.  God is already providing, but we have a long way to go.  Our goal is to be supported a $3,765 a month.  Though it might seem like a lot right now, we know that we serve a God who is eager to supply for my each and every need.

I ask you to partner with me in prayer for the following things:

1. Pray that God would continue to bring in funding for me each month through monthly donors.

2. Pray that God would allow me to have a fast learning curve in my new position.

3. Praise God for such a wonderful first week on the job.

Thank you so much for your support.  I appreciate each and every one of you.  If you know anyone who might like to be added to my email list, please feel free to have them email me at morgann@ymimissions.org.

Here is my desk!  It's almost set up :)

Blessings,
Morgann