Delayed

Hi Nepal group,
Unfortunately, due to a string of additional "for want of a nail" circumstances, I cannot get a passport promptly, and therefore cannot go to Nepal this September. Thanks everyone for your love and support. I'm still taking the bar in two weeks (no problem there!) and would appreciate your prayers for that.
Looking forward to better news,
Kate

A new challenge

Hi Nepal group,
I just got back from the wonderful biannual trip to Hume Lake. I brought my bar books, of course! Overall, study is going well, but it's an ongoing prayer request. 18 days until the 3 exam days!
Please pray that I receive my duplicate birth certificate here in CA before I have to leave for NY to go take the bar. That way, I can apply for a passport promptly.
More good news soon (I hope!),
Kate

Problem solved!

Hi guys,

We figured out that the accounting issue was probably just the difference between the name Kate and Katherine...whew! Don't worry, they know me by both names now, and both forms of giving work fine!

I spent some time today talking with Sara Minnich, who is coordinating the trip for us (and doing a wonderful job at it, too!). Hearing the details has made me feel very excited and peaceful. She said, probably correctly, that Nepal will be a wonderful break after grad school. I was just laughing to myself thinking, what a Type A break after law school: medical relief work half way around the world! But I think it will be a wonderful combination of giving back and resting.

Looking forward to September!
Kate

Quick post

Hi Nepal group,
Please hold off on any online donations for the time being. I need to double check with accounting and make sure my account has been credited accurately. No worries, but let's just wait a minute. :)
Thanks!
Kate

Hooray for the tenant!

Hi Nepal blog family,
Praise God, I have a tenant, a nice lady who works for Sentara (according to my property manager)! Thanks for your prayers! Bar study seems to be "gelling" a bit more also, but it still takes a ton of time.
Please pray for the long term missionary we will be joining in Nepal. Her name is Deborah Strong. She is currently making preparations for our trip (permits/permissions to hold the clinic, travel to the villages to get ready). Please pray for safe travels, favor, and temperate weather. Thanks for your prayers, support, and friendship!
Love, Kate

12.8%!

"Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but an encouraging word makes it glad." - Proverbs 12:25

Hi Nepal trip friends,

Anxiety and worry have always been two of the sins that come easily to me if I'm not vigilant. Last night, I entered full-on freak out mode marking the date on a caramel bottle at work. They expire after 2 weeks, and I realized that it would be July 1st in 2 weeks. July is, of course, the bar exam(!), and also the drop dead date for my house to be rented. (Technically, it was June 1, but my savings fund was devoted to that water over the dam...) As of right now, both are major prayer requests: Still need a tenant ASAP, and, despite my diligent study, the bar exam is inherently a prayer request for me and my friends taking it!

At the same time, at least 12.8% of the cost of the Nepal trip has been raised--maybe more, since I calculated a few days ago. Thanks so much to my Luis and to Ken and Janet for their generous donations, and to anyone else I may have missed! So, good things are happening, little by little.

My Aunt Christine gave me the analogy of intersecting time lines for bringing our needs to God. We start praying, and our faith starts one time line: -------------------> But the answer is its own separate set of people and circumstances heading toward intersection. _______________> The hard part about waiting is that you can't see the other line heading your way: It looks like nothing's happening. But God is always at work behind the scenes.

I hope this encourages someone else, and, as always, if you can give, pray (especially for prompt rental), or rent my house personally, please do! Thanks very much for your prayers and support.

Love,
Kate

Two new adventures

Hi friends, family, coworkers, and friends I haven't met yet!
Today is the official beginning of two journeys I've never taken before: a short term missions trip to Nepal, and blogging. While both journeys are some months in the making, today's official start date makes me very happy.
This is a transition time for me. After 5 wonderful years living in Virginia Beach, VA, I just graduated from Regent University with a JD (law degree), MBA (business degree), and a checkered work history (literally...I spent several happy years selling cars for Checkered Flag Motor Car Company, a great local employer, and doing all sorts of stopgap jobs to pay my mortgage). I'm back at my parents' house, studying for the NY-MA bar exams this July, working at a friendly local Starbucks, and visiting my home church!
I really wanted to be home this summer because all my grandparents are still alive, and I wanted to spend some quantity and quality time with my family. By the end of the year, I hope to have a "grown up" job in NY, but I'm enjoying this transition time.

Prayer Requests:
*Please pray that my house in VB rents immediately. It's been a challenge focusing on bar study and not finances without it rented yet, but I know God is faithful. Phil. 4:19
*Please pray for full financing for my friends' international travel.
*Please pray for wisdom raising financial and prayer support, and in my daily studies.