METE

METE- Missionary Equipping and Training Event.
ECC- Evangelical Covenant Church.
CWM- Covenant World Mission (NOT MissionS).
FOWM- Friends of World Mission.
RC- Regional Coordinator

"What the heck?" I know that's what you're thinking.

This is a snapshot of my last two weeks (I could share MANY other acronyms with you). Did I mention that the mission I'm partnering with to go to Taiwan and teach at Morrison Academy has TONS of acronyms? Lucky for me I grew up in the ECC and CWM and therefore seem to have known most of them BEFORE training started- bummer for all the people who didn't! We learned about a million other things as well and my brain is absolutely full to the brim. I can't even begin to describe the last two weeks, but I'm going to try anyways, so here it is:

New friends. But seriously. There's something about spending 8-12 hrs/day for two weeks that can really draw you together. At this training event there were 7 (kind of 8) other missionary candidates, a 10-month old baby (who was pretty much the only thing that kept us all from going insane during those long days), myself, and dozens of people training us. We are all headed to Asia or South America and we're all passionate about very different things and have very different life stories. Have I ever mentioned that I love diversity and believe that only in that diversity can we experience the fullness of God's love and very nature? Diversity comes in many different forms, race is just one representation of it but...

We spent a lot of time learning about racial righteousness and doing missions well and intercultural communication. How about this idea from Soong-Chan Rah: We need to stop helping people out or up but instead help them across. Chew on that for a minute and see what you think. Are we doing ministry well with those who are different from ourselves? This is just one nugget of truth that has stuck with me from the past two weeks about intercultural interactions. Loved it.

Another thing I loved, getting to spend time catching up with old friends and debriefing everything I was learning or discussing during the day with them at night. Oh, and playing with the year-old baby of the Einfeldts, who are like family to me. Oh and catching up with other friends and going to a Sox game and watching a Blackhawks game and laughing. I love to laugh. I love being with people who make me laugh at myself. I want to laugh more often. Have I lost you yet?

Hmm let's see, what else can I confuse you with. The Enneagram! I'm a 1 with a 2 wing and when I'm stressed I go to a 4 and when I'm relaxed I go to a 7. So if you want to psychoanalyze me you can look up what the Enneagram is and see how to get along better with my strange self. But seriously, this is the best personality test I've ever taken. I highly recommend it. WEPSS.COM It's $10, pretty accurate, very interesting, and may just help you be a better person and work well with others. If you have to hang out with me very often, please take it, because I now refer to my "oneness" all the time.

If I had to sum up what I learned in the past two weeks I would use one word: intentionality. I was reminded by many of the people I interacted with just how important it is to live intentionally. I have been challenged to start living my own life more intentionally. I'm not sure exactly what that means in a practical sense, but I've begun the journey of figuring that out.

So here's to being intentional. In relationship with others, in relationship with God, in the foods I eat, in the activities I engage in, in my impending move to Taiwan.

I learned so much in the last two weeks, now I have a week and a half off before I head to upstate New York for PFO (more acronyms!!!) for another two weeks of Pre-Field Orientation. In the meantime I'm going to be intentional about packing before I send my shipment off to Taiwan next Thursday! Wish me luck, and congratulations to you if you understood anything in this post.