Announcement....

Hear ye, hear ye...we have an addition to the Gordon family. Kyle bought himself a Jeep Wrangler today. He's officially a member of the Jeep club. Now he can do the little finger wave to all of the other Jeep drivers (what is that all about, anyway? I never waved at other Grand Prix drivers...)

He's like a kid at Christmas...oh, wait, he IS a kid at Christmas. It's a happy day in the Gordon household, (almost as exciting as Jill's news!). Now, all he needs is a puppy to ride along with him with the top off in the summer and all of Kyle's wildest dreams will have come true.

Good News!

For any of you who read my last prayer and update, I have some exciting news to share! Sean and his wife Lydia, who have been living in Poland since 2003, emailed to let me know that we've already got a person of peace! There is a woman named Ela, who is good friends with Lydia and a professor at the University where we'll be working with the students. She heard about what Amber and I will be doing and wants us to come to her classes and invite her students to meet with us outside of class! Apparently, this was totally her idea; neither Sean or Lydia asked her to do this, she came up with it on her own. She has been friends with Lydia for two years now and is totally open to studying and hearing the Word of God and even to helping them as they share about Christ, but is not yet a follower of Christ herself! She definitely fits the "profile" of a person of peace!
So, thank you for praying and praise God, who is the Lord of the Harvest...this just totally reminds me that He is "not willing that ANY should perish" 2 Peter 3:9...He has been at work in Northeast Poland, drawing people to Himself, long before we even knew to pray for a "person of peace"! It's His heart that is passionate about each one of us having new life and forgiveness in Christ. What a good God! It's also such a reminder to me, especially at this time of year, that He is Emmanuel...God with us; that He is a God who came to earth to live as we live, with struggles and frustrations and weaknesses, and made a way for us to know Him (John 17:3) and to have "life in all its fullness" (John 10:10). He is truly a God who loves us and cares for us!

Tree Down! Tree Down!

The picture says it all...

We've resorted to tying it down with a rope and nailing the rope to the floor. This poor tree has no dignity.

Home Sweet Home

Hello! I blog to you greetings from Huron, Ohio! I survived the training down in Virginia and am back in Huron for Christmas and New Year's.
My time in VA was amazing. I think it's going to be one those times in life that grows in significance as time passes. I think I'll look back and continue to grow in appreciation for everything that I got to experience and learn during that time. Right now, my brain feels like it's on overload and needs to process a LOT, yet is still reeling trying to think through all that needs done in the next few weeks.
We had a commissioning service in Virginia Wednesday and my parents and friends, Tim and Teresa, came down for it! It was a great day, then I flew home (while my parents and Tim and Teresa drove the 9 hours home!) Thursday. I got to spend some time with my friend Brandi on Friday, then spent today with my family picking out our Christmas tree (by the way, I spent yesterday morning scouting tree lots with my dad...tree selection is serious business in the Gordon household!). Every year we go as a family (or as close as we can get) to a tree farm to pick our tree. It's definitely one of our family traditions. And, if I asked who of the Gordons was the most nostalgic about traditions, who would you guess...Kyle? It's true. He's SOOO sentimental and nostaligic, it's great. So, fortunately Kyle wins the prize for spotting the "perfect tree" this year! Way to go bubby! Right now, my parents are trying to figure out how to replace all of the burnt out light bulbs for the tree lights. There are, like, 20 working lights on the whole strand. Good times. And for any of you who read my Christmas Survey about my dad insisting that we had to let the tree branches "fall" after being in the car for 40 minutes even though it had been standing for decades will be pleasantly surprised...he pulled the tree out of the van, trimmed up the trunk, and put it up on the SAME DAY this year!
As we speak, he's off for a walk over to Drug Mart to buy some new Christmas lights. I'll post a picture of the finished product. And for the Ohio constituents of the Davis family, you'll get to see the finished product in a week!

Christmas Survey

My cousins Amy and Lori have both filled out this survey and I have to admit...I'm a sucker for the online surveys too. Combine a survey with Christmas and I'm sold! Especially since it's been hard to get in the Christmas spirit down here in Virginia...I don't know how you Texas girls do it!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? ewww...egg nog??? Gag me with a spoon! (That's for you Lori!)
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Ummm, hello? The ELVES wrap the presents!
3. Colored lights or white lights on tree/house? Definitely colored blinking lights on the tree...white outside.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No
5. When do you put up your decorations? well, I decorated my door here the weekend after Thanksgiving
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? hmmm...fisherman's stew; crab legs; fondue are some family favs
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: singing songs all the way home from Aunt Lennie's house on Christmas Eve to keep me awake so I'd actually sleep that night (NEVER worked!); staying up most of the night with Kyle; my dad SHAVING before we could go out and open gifts (can anyone say cruel and unusual punishment?!?!);
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? what are you talking about? Is there something I should know????
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? As if! (Lori, I think this one is technically early 90's, but it's close!)
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Colored blinking lights, random and memorable ornaments, tinsel, and the star gets put up by Kyle Christmas Eve
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Thinking I'd better learn to REALLY love it!
12. Can you ice skate? I guess you'd more or less call it ice coasting
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My Cabbage Patch and the tea cup and saucer from Grandma D
14. What's the most important thing about Christmas for you? the more I get to know the Lord, the more I'm amazed that He became Emmanuel...God with us. To think that God, the Creator, would send His Son as a normal baby born to normal people, out of love for us is precious. Of course, I love all the family time, the excitement, the decorations and special traditions, too, but that God stepped into our world to be with ME is rad (I'm really getting into this, Lori!)
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? candy cane ice cream pie with chocoloate syrup on it!
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? cutting down the Christmas tree wtih my family, especially at the old place down in Bellville, fearing for my life as we drove up and down the "mountain" with a tree precariously hanging out of the back of our car, then getting home and dad insisting that we couldn't put the tree up that day because it had to stand up in the garage and let the needles fall....because that 40 minute drive in the car negated the 15 years of an upright position that the tree had previously been in
17. What tops your tree? star
18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? I really like finding the perfect gift that you're so excited to give to someone!
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? O Holy Night
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Yum, definitely, especially in candy cane ice cream pie!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! So, I was trying to figure out how to use these three pictures and divide them into two posts...and then it hit me! A stroke of genius! How could I have missed the obvious! These three pictures CLEARLY go together! Obviously, the picture of the food is from Thanksgiving. We had our traditional turkey dinner earlier in the afternoon at the home of one of our leaders, and since we were all mourning not having any cold turkey leftovers to eat---we decided to all bring different "finger foods" to munch on while we played games Thursday night back at our "home". We had a great time, played some good games (Beyond Balderdash), and ate WAY too much food!
That leads me to the next two pictures. Trying to work off the several thousand calories consumed yesterday. There's a group of us that has really gotten into doing an exercise video called "Turbo Jam". It's kind of like Tae Bo with dancing and fun music. It's great. We don't have tvs in our quads (where we live) so we have to go to one of the other buildings and find an empty room...and cover the door window with a sweatshirt so no one can see =)

Five Things...

Ok, so quite a while ago, my cousin Amy challenged her blog readers to come up with five things we thought other people wouldn't know about us. Other than the obvious (that I'm a slow responder) here are my five, in no particular order:

1) I love trucks. I don't mean wimpy Rangers or S-10s, I mean "big boy" trucks, as my dad calls them.
2) I would love to fire a gun. Not AT anyone, but at a shooting range or something.
3) I really, really, really don't like the eye doctor. I could go to the dentist ANY DAY, but I HATE the eye doctor.
4) I have really poor circulation. Sometimes my hands turn purple. All the kids I taught at school would ask "what's wrong with your hands?!?!?!" in utter shock and dismay. Nice.
5) I don't like meat. I'm not a vegetarian, but if I have a choice, I usually don't prefer meat.

So, there you go. You can now psychoanalize me and find that I'm definitely a red neck at heart. Just give me a big truck, with a horn that plays "Dixie" and a gun rack on the back, and I'm good to go.

A Virginny Hollar!

Here are some pictures from my time here in Virginia so far. I still don't really know how to move the pictures around on the post, so I don't know what this will end up looking like! Someday I'll figure that one out. Somewhere on this post (hopefully!) is a picture of me and Amber, the woman I'll be working with. There's another woman going with us, named Patsy, but I don't have any pictures of her yet. Amber and I will primarily be working with students at the university. She's super fun and really sweet, and so is Patsy. It's been really great getting to know them. And Amber has a strange fascination with mullets, which TOTALLY reminds me of Kyle. We just got back from an evening out with several other women. We went to eat at Friday's, then made a quick stop at Target. We were all so tired, we had to get back and get to bed! My schedule has DEFINITELY changed from the previous two months!
Anyhoo...the other three pictures are pretty self explanatory. I'm at a place called the "International Learning Center" and it's on quite a few acres, with woods and a small farm and a little lake. It's absolutely beautiful here. It's like a small college campus, with buildings of classrooms, a library, a computer lab, dorms, a dining hall and things like that. Last night, all of the Journeyman (which are the under 30 and single crew who are going to serve for 2 years) were invited over to the home of the director of our Orientation program. They hosted nearly 70 of us! It was a really neat time. We had pizza, cake, and got to know everyone a bit more. Today I finished up the second of two Saturdays getting a certificate in ESL (English as a Second Language). It was pretty interesting, and I'm sure all of my teaching family members and friends will attest to how useful that will be whether here or overseas!
So now I'm waiting for Patsy to finish her shower so I can go get ready for bed and crash! Tomorrow we have church in the morning, which is really cool. We meet in small groups of about 8 or so, rather than as a large group. It's a really cool way to do church and gets us ready for what most of us will experience overseas. Well, Patsy just came out and informed me that the leading cause of conflict in marriage is whether you squeeze the toothpaste from the top, middle, or bottom, so that must mean she's out of the bathroom! Time for bed! By the way, married ladies, is that true?!?!?!?!

Yes, I am alive!

I live! Sorry it's been sooooo long since I've last updated this thing! A lot has changed since I last posted and I have lots of great posts that I've written in my mind, but just never got around to moving them from my mind to my computer. So, here's a brief list:
*went to a wedding in Michigan with my friend Brandi...good times
*had a surprise going away party given for me by my friends from church, Brandi and Teresa---I was TOTALLY surprised with my friends from town...then five of my best girlfriends from college came running out!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it. We ate (kielbasa and cabbage, of course!) and DANCED, DANCED, DANCED!!!! It was just a perfect night. I was truly honored and humbled by their love for me. It was just amazing.
*I celebrated my grandma's 90th birthday with my family. It was a precious time. My grandma is an amazing woman and she seemed to really enjoy her day.

So, there's the last month in a nutshell! I am now in Virginia at the International Learning Center in training to leave for Poland on January 3. It's really been great so far. Incredibly busy, but great. We're filling out form after form and going to classes, and eating in a cafeteria (including eating Moraccan food today without utensils!), and living in dorm-type rooms, and way busy...sounds, wonderful, doesn't it?

Today was the first of the immunization clinics. After teasing all of the people going to jungle-type places, I looked at my form for Poland and realized I'm getting 9 stinking shots!!!! Most of them are hepatitis series, and today I had a Hep A (I think), rabies, and polio vaccine. Don't worry, it was well worth it, because I got My Little Pony, Dora, and psychodelic band-aids--it was well worth it.

Here are a few photos of my band aids and my room. (ok, so I was just kidding about the photos---apparently they're not loading on my computer. I'll work on that another time.) Please pray for me that I'd get done what gets done here and learn what I need to learn to be ready for Poland! Thank you =)

Deep Thoughts...

Ok, so I have a confession to make. I love watching DOG the Bounty Hunter. I hardly ever get to watch it, but I love it. No excuses, no deep meaning to it. I just do. Do you think they have DOG in Poland????

By the way, I'm kind of over the Lost thing. It's getting too weird. I mean, come one, we need some closure, or at least some hope of closure soon!!!

Red Hat Society, Here I Come!

Through some different circumstances going on right now, I've really been thinking a lot about growing old. To be honest, it's easy to think "it won't happen to me!". It seems like I'll be "young" forever and I sometimes forget that people who have grown "old" were once young and probably thinking "I'll never grow old!". I see some elderly people and see the ways their bodies and minds are failing them and it's a reality check that I'm not invincible; I won't be here forever. I have no guarantee that my body won't fail me or that my mind will always be sharp (of course, I have to add, that's really open for discussion right now!). My days in this body, on this earth are limited and numbered and will quickly pass, and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. It's a reminder of the Lord's control and reign and my dependence on Him. I must trust Him for my future, that He'll be faithful and His grace will be sufficient to carry me through whatever comes; that His love and care and presence will never fail, and eventually I, along with all those throughout all the ages who have trusted Christ, will be clothed with a perfect body that will never die. This life is temporary.
All this thinking about growing old also reminds me to care for those around me who are in their "golden years". I see that I, too, will most likely one day have to depend on other people to care for me and will long for the company of people coming to visit. It makes me want to care for them right now, knowing that I'll be grateful to anyone who would do the same for me in 50 years. There's also so much to learn! The older generation are living history books! I recently spent some time with an elderly couple from my church and found out that he drove a jeep off of the boat and onto the beach of Normandy on D-Day! How amazing! He is a living part of history.
Of course, my Grandma Davis' approaching 90th birthday has gotten me thinking quite a bit. I'm excited to go celebrate with her, and VERY excited to honor her with the scrapbook of 90 memories of her (thanks to my super-talented cousin, Amy, who is going to put it together!!!). It also makes me think of what my life will be like if I make it to 90 years old. I do not know, but I will cling to this promise:

"My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever." Psalm 73:26

At Least There Are No Wigs in This Movie

...oh, yes, it does get better. This is quite possibly one of my favorite movies. It's the Indian Bollywood version of Pride and Prejudice. It's full of beautiful clothes, beautiful people, and great songs and dancing. The best part is the scene on the beach which includes a full gospel choir, dancing lifegaurds, and singing surfers. How great is that. Sadly, I'd seen Bride and Prejudice before Pride and Prejudice, so I found myself watching P&P thinking "hey! That's just like on Bride and Prejudice!" The storyline is basically the same, but this movie focuses more on the sinister Mr. Wickham and his relationship with both Lalita (this version's Lizzy) and her younger sister Lakhi.
Like I said, the music is great (you can listen here); the dancing is fun; the clothes are beautiful; and there are parts that are hillarious. But, you definitely have to be ready for major cheese. I have to admit...while I was watching it, I was briefly reminded of a little known, late 80's hit movie (at least in the Lehman household) known around the world by one little word...Shag. Good times.

If I Ever Have to Wear a Wig, Please Make Sure it Fits!

I have to admit that I've been on kind of a Romantic movie kick lately. It all started with the "new" Pride and Prejudice that I watched with my mom a few weeks ago. While I've seen movies of other Jane Austen books (Sense and Sensibility and Emma), I'd never seen any film adaptations of P&P. Aside from a few particular details, I loved it. I loved the formality of their manners and etiquette (sorry, I'm a sap for that stuff), the beautiful scenery, and of course the love story. I love that Lizzy (the main character) falls in love with Mr. Darcy mainly because of his character and how he un-cerimoniously helps her family and does what he thinks is best for his friend. She isn't first and foremost attracted to his money and looks (although they definitely don't hurt!), but grows in affection toward him because she gets to know him as a man. I feel like you rarely see that in movies now.
That being said, there were some things that bothered me. First and foremost: HER HAIR!!! For crying out loud, couldn't someone have made that wig fit better??? It was awful. There were little hairs hanging out of the back! Also, while I love the sound of classic writing in those Brittish accents, it was hard to hear and understand. I also have to say that, while most of what Lizzie said (especially to Mr. Darcy) was true and honest without trying to flatter or win opinions of others, she was harsh!
Anyways, I did like the movie and the best part is the ending. I love this line: "you have bewitched me body and soul." Doesn't get much better than that...or does it??????

A Great Day

So, yesterday was just one of those days that was so sweet. It's nice to have those once in a while. It wasn't anything big or exciting or pre-planned, it just sort of happened. My friend Angie came over for the afternoon and, because it was such a beautiful day, we decided to take advantage of it and go for a bike ride. It was perfect. We rode down to a bike trail in Huron that runs along the Huron River and listened to the birds and insects, looked at the pretty flowers, and just absolutely had a great time. It was definitely one of my favorite days of the summer.
Here are some pictures from our wonderful day.
(By the way...I have no idea how to arrange pictures on this thing, they just sort of show up in any old layout, so bare with me!)
We saw this graffiti while riding beneath an old railraod bridge...for Angie's sake I restrained myself from breaking out into "Ice, Ice Baby" with dance moves and all.
The picture of the snake is the snake Angie ran over with her bike. The snake survived; Angie almost didn't.
The picture of the person is Angie (Any hints from the family on arranging these pictures???? I have no idea where these "captions" will show up, so I don't know what to write! Help!)
Anyhoo...we had a sweet day, saw some interesting things, and got some exercise. Good times.

Remembering...

This post actually began as a comment in response to this question from my cousin Amy. My comment was getting too ridiculously long, so I thought I'd turn it into my own post.
Classes had just recently started at Ohio University and I had just left a morning class and went to the Bookstore to check if a book I needed was in yet. I ran into a friend at the Bookstore who told me that a plane crashed into a building in NYC, but I honestly didn't even really think much about it and went home, changed, and went on a long bike ride because it was such a gorgeous fall day. While struggling to get up one of Athens' many hills on my bike, I remember thinking that I never turned on the news to see what my friend was talking about and I'd have to remember to do that when I got back. I peddled home and turned on the tv and soon found that nothing was the same. Images of the planes crashing into the different sites around the country were on every station. I didn't even really comprehend all that was going on, but I remember that I wanted to talk to my dad right away. I also just wanted to hear the voices of the ones I loved and hated being far away from them. I remember my dad saying that he just wanted all of us to be together and go to the Lake. I don't know particularly why the Lake, but that's exactly what I thought, too. I just wanted to have my family near. I remember going to bed that night and looking out the window by my bed. It seemed surreal. I was in Athens, listening to crickets and stillness. Surely not what they were experiencing in NYC. Surely not what thousands of families, waiting and fearing, were experiencing.
I, too, noticed lots of attention given to 9/11 this year, commemorating the 5th anniversary. As I watched, I was again reminded (which I suppose is the whole purpose of Rememberance Day) of my frailty and that I'm not assured security simply because I live in America. My security must lie in Jesus Christ, the One who never leaves, never fails, and never changes, no matter what happens. I must rest in the One who knows the beginning from the end and who still reigns in the midst of chaos, although I may not understand. He doesn't consult me for His plans, but rather tells me to trust Him and know that He loves me and has a perfect plan that, in the end, will culminate in His glory and my good.

"When the earth quakes and its people live in turmoil, I am the One who keeps its foundations firm." Psalm 75:3

Attention Scrapbookers!

Ok, so I've only scrapbooked once in my life...ever. I realize that I may have just sent a few of my cousins into cardiac arrest with that confession, but it's true. I really enjoyed it (it was one of those Creative Memories parties) and even bought a scrapbook to start. However, I literally haven't even taken the thing out of the plastic and that was going on four years ago. For whatever reason (and let's be honest, a huge reason is MONEY!!! That stuff isn't cheap!) I never really got into it, altough I think they're so cute when other people create them.
Anyways, I was spending some time with the Lord, reading the Bible the other morning and came across this verse:

"Every day of my life was recorded in Your book." Psalm 139:16

I just thought that was so neat and it immediately reminded me of scrapbooking! I know people scrapbook to capture memories that are precious and sweet to them and I'd have to guess (being neither a scrapbooker OR a mother) that most mothers would LOVE to have the time and resources to scrap every day of their child's lives...even the rotten ones to remind their children of when they are parents themselves! It was such a precious thought to know that that's the same delight and detail and involvement that the Lord has for us as His creation. He cares for and desires to be involved in every detail of every day of our lives. He's there and He cares. He never forgets or misses a single day, a single hurt, joy, need, fear...nothing. We will never ever encounter a single day that the Lord hasn't promised to be there and paying attention. Acts 16: 27 says "He is not far from any one of us." And His promise is that we have complete and utter security, every single day we will ever live and into eternity, offered to us through Jesus and that "He will never leave us or forsake us" (Hebrews 13:5). Pretty amazing to think about. Any maybe even enough motivation to start scrapbooking for my experiences in Poland!

Is Fantabulous a Word?

Ok, so I'm still teary eyed, but I just watched a great movie. I just got done watching Akeelah and the Bee and I think everyone should see it! It's great and the kids in the movie are GREAT actors and actresses. What a sweet movie. AND I found a new word. My friend Jenn would always say that she had diarrhea of the mouth and there's a word for that! Logorrhea! Who knew?!?!

Warning: Random Musings Ahead Proceed With Caution

So, nothing too exciting to post, just some random thoughts a la my cousin Amy:

~I was just doing some browsing on the web and found an interesting and informative site about the town where I'll be living in Poland. I thought I'd post it if anyone's interested!
~So, I'm watching Lost and watching them all scramble around, fighting to stay alive and I got started to thinking: everything else they were living for was left behind after the crash. I mean, think about it. If I were suddenly stripped of all the stuff I easily think life is about (careers, friends, achievements, retirement, even family) and realize that life really does go on without these things, what's the purpose of life then? All of those things, although not necessarily bad things, are not secure and unshakable (we saw this a year ago in Katrina). I guess that's where you come down to asking what is secure and unshakable, what can be counted on no matter what. I know of only One, Jesus, the One who promises to never leave or fail me, no matter what other junk happens in life...even if I were stranded on a whacked out island! (although, I really wouldn't mind being stranded with Matthew Fox...)
~Another musing from Lost: so, they're stranded on this island, fighting for survival, and they each have different talents and skills and knowledge that is needed for their survival. They can't afford to have petty fights over who's in charge and all that junk. It's just like in a church (or even work or family, really). When we meet Christ, we're each given specific gifts (along with our own backgrounds, skills, and experiences) that we're to use to help the church function in a healthy and growing way. If we're picking at each other, we're not going to make it! On the flip side, if we're looking out for the good of the group other than ourselves first, we'll offer our skills and gifts and get done what needs done!
~My dad and I are going to a flea market tomorrow morning. Why are they called flea markets? Anyone?
~I got a new dress for two weddings and a birthday party in October. It's chocolate chip brown, little cap sleeves, with a little sash around the waist. It's called a "garden dress" and it reminds me of something from the 60's. Now, I just need the perfect shoes.
~I found myself back in Mansfield today (don't ask!) with my friend Brandi. We went to Kingwood Center, this 47 acre estate with a mansion on it that they've kept up as a beautiful garden. It was great walking through the paths and through the house, pretending it was mine and dreaming up what type of parties I would have in the gardens. Wouldn't that be fun?!?!

Ok, well, I'm through. Was that random enough? Have a great Labor Day Weekend!

Witaj (it means "hello" in Polish)

Once again, aplogies for my absence from the blogosphere. I can't claim the excuse of being terribly busy, just lazy and consumed with trying to watch the entire first season of Lost before Sept. 5 (when season 2 is released). I have a whole series of thoughts on Lost, but I'll save those for another post.
I've been waiting until I received my "official" assignment in the mail to post about Poland, but I received it late last week, so here we go!
Shortly before I graduated from college I began to sense that the Lord was calling my life into some sort of ministry as a career and I freaked out, to say the least. I absolutely shot down the idea, said "forget it!" and got myself a job and moved to Huron. To me, ministry as a career seemed way too insecure and scary and not at all what I had planned for my life. While the Lord has been so gracious and has really done some awesome things these past four years, He continued to change my heart and draw me closer to Himself, to a place where I began to truly know Him and trust Him. Even as I think back on this right now, I'm amazed at His grace and kindness to me to patiently show me that I could trust Him and believe Him. I definitely didn't deserve it! Anyways, throughout the past four years He continued to lead towards spending some time overseas serving Him, but I never really thought about actually acting on this. I just assumed I'd wake up one day in another country and there you go! However, back in early January, He really made it clear that this was the time. I began the application process to be a part of a program called the Journeyman Program through the Southern Baptist International Mission Board. The program is for people who have graduated from college, are single, and are not yet 30 and is a term of two years spent overseas. The application process in and of itself was awful in a great way. There were lots of steps including an intensive and extensive health questionaire, VERY personal questions to answer (the Board says they know more about you than your mom, and they're probably right!), references, and lots of other information. Honestly, after finishing the application process, I figured "if I still get accepted, then I know it's the Lord!" Well, I did get accepted and went to a Screening Conference the beginning of August where the Lord really seemed to be opening a place for me in Poland. I got to spend a week last summer in Poland with the man, Sean Stevenson, and his family who started my church here in Huron. So, I will be living in the same town and working with him and his family, as well as another girl about my age (Amber) and a retired woman named Patsy. There is a university in the town we're in, so Amber and I will primarily be working with college students. The young people in Poland are a lot like young people here in that they are tired of "religion" that doesn't have any real meaning in their lives and are hungry for something that is real and that applies to their daily lives. We'll be doing lots of building relationships and just loving on them that way and hopefully pointing them to a real, living relationship with God through Christ.
Let's see...other details that you might want to know...I've been able to take a leave of absence from school; the name of the town is Olsztyn and it's in North Eastern Poland; the family I'll be working with has three daughters named Abby, Cara, and Becca; I'll most likely live in an apartment with Amber; I leave October 24 for training down in Virginia, will be home Dec. 14-28 and will fly out for Poland on Dec.28 for two years; I'll get about three months of survival Polish language training, but most of the college students will want to practice English with us and that will be a big way we'll get to meet people; yes, it's very cold in Poland; no, I don't think they appreciate dumb Polock jokes; I don't know if they tell dumb American jokes...hmmmm, if there's anything else, feel free to ask, but that's all I can think of right now.
So, there you go! That's what's going on in a nutshell. For right now, I'm just working on getting things situated and tied off here and spending time with people. Oh, and watching my new best friends on Lost.
Here is a link for the Northeast Poland website. It's not been updated for quite a while, but at least it may give you an idea!

How Do You Spell ABC's?

Ok, this is for the cousins =) I've definitely enjoyed reading all of yours!

A is for age: 26
B is for beer of choice: Does Diet Pepsi count????
C is for career right now: ummm....used to be Elementary School teacher...now, employed by the International Mission Board to be a missionary!
D is for your dog's name?: Louie, may he rest in peace
E is for essential item you use everyday: my computer
F is for favorite TV show at the moment: Deadliest Catch!!!!!!
G is for favorite game: Catchphrase
H is for Home town: growing up--Mansfield, Ohio; now--Huron, Ohio
I is for instruments you play:flute and shakers and tamborine (don't ask)
J is for favorite juice: Ruby Red Grapefruit
K is for whose butt you'd like to kick: anyone who hurts children
L is for last food you ate: scrambled eggs and a piece of toast
M is for marriage: nope
N is for your full name:Jessica Renee Gordon
O is for overnight hospital stays: none, aside from my own birth
P is for people you were with today: spent some time with the Lord this morning; haven't seen anyone else yet today
Q is for quote: "Are you drinking 1% milk because you think you're fat, because you're not. You could drink 2%"
R is for Biggest Regret: I'd also say high school---I walked around thinking I was too good for everyone, but that was really my safety wall because I was so insecure. I could have cared for and known a lot more people.
S is for status: single, but content
T is for time you woke up today: 8:45
V is for vegetable you love: Corn on the cob cooked over a campfire
W is for worst habit: twirling or playing with my hair
X is for x-rays you've had: Teeth
Y is for yummy food you ate today: the eggs (with ketchup) were pretty good!
Z is for zodiac sign: Taurus