Sometimes You Just Have to Accept the Unexpected Stowaways in Life

I have just finished packing a little before midnight on my eve of departure for Chicago, which is not really unusual in my family before a long trip, and everything seems to have been accounted for.  Tomorrow I unbelievably start this amazing year of Mission work by flying to Chicago to join with all the other YAGMs at Orientation, and then in another week straight to Manchester!!  The pouring in of so many words of encouragement, prayers, and loving support has been utterly humbling; allow me to publicly thank everyone who has made this first big step outside of the academic world possible.

As I have been preparing for my upcoming Mission Trip in the UK, my family has been with me every step of the way up until now (well, tomorrow morning).  Of course, they will still be with me in spirit and through handy technology like skype, but in the morning I am giving my last goodbye hugs to my stepdad, my mom, and most importantly my little brother and sister.  These two squirts are so important in my life, I have no idea what I am going to do without a snuggle from my Miah or a funny face contest with my Noah.



Tonight as I was putting the two of them to bed, Noah informed me that he was going to get up early enough to sneak into my luggage and come with me for the next year!  He also had the foresight to remember to bring some clothes so he "Wouldn't have to spend the entire time in the shower while I did laundry so he wouldn't smell."  What a goober!!  Later as I was reorganizing my bags a bit, my mom and I heard rustling in his room.  She went to check and when she came back informed me that he was picking out the clothes he was going to be bringing with him next year and he would be fine just calling his mommy a few times a week instead of living with her.  If I'm not careful, there might be an unexpected stowaway in my luggage come the morning.

But man, if that did not pull at Mom's and my own hearts this evening on top of all the emotions of saying goodbye to each other, I don't know what will.  It got me thinking about all the different kinds of unexpected stowaways we have in our lives.  I am knowingly bringing several people with me in my heart other than my family already.  Several of my good friends who have been nothing but supportive since I mentioned I was applying to YAGM way back in January are pretty prominently tangled in my heartstrings, and I am sure that as I begin this journey more stowaways will show up in my heart that I will miss as this year goes by.

The powerful thing, though, is that I know already that I will miss these people and that is okay.  I have had some pretty big moves throughout my 22 years of life already that put me in places where I had to build up new support systems.  I only had my mom and stepdad when we first moved to Fairfax, Virginia from Marysville, Washington (A hard move at the tender age of 13), and then only some halfway acquaintances when going off to James Madison University straight out of high school.

My mom gave me a card earlier with this story in it, "The weary wind gave up and spoke 'How can you still be standing, Oak?' The oak tree said, 'I know that you can break each branch of mine in two, carry every leaf away, shake my limbs, and make me sway.  But I have roots stretched in the earth, growing stronger since my birth.  You'll never touch them, for you see, they are the deepest part of me.  Until today, I wasn't sure of just how much I could endure.  But now I've found, with thanks to you, I'm stronger than I ever knew."  All of those big moves for me in the past have been their own individual wind, helping me to test the limits of the roots I've already put down, and to sometimes grow anew in amazing ways.

So here I am, on the eve of the next big wind, and I am completely ready deal with the unexpected growth that will come of it.

In Peace and With Love,
Mycah

Where One Chapter Ends, Another Begins

Dear friends and family,

            After four long and fun years at James Madison University, I have finished my degree with a Bachelors of Science in Biology!  I also received a minor in Anthropology and a concentration in Ecology and Environmental Biology.   My four years saw an ongoing research project with Dr. Bruce Wiggins (he and I are pictured right) in monitoring stream health quality through invertebrates (lots of little tiny bug larvae) after cattle have been fenced out and vegetation replanted around the water.  The summer before my senior year at JMU was spent at the same stream catching damselflies to look at their mating patterns.  Many of you know that throughout high school I was heavily involved in our theatre program, and during my time at JMU I stayed just as involved by working for our Preforming Arts Program backstage as a member of the Production Crew and a Stage Manager for Student Recitals.

School and life at JMU has kept me very busy these last four years, and now that I have graduated I plan on staying busy.  This past winter I applied to the Young Adults in Global Missions (YAGM) program through the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) and have been asked to go serve in the United Kingdom as a missionary through the Time for God (TfG) volunteer organization.  I accepted the offer and a placement site in Manchester, England; I am ecstatic to go live a year among a new people who will soon become friends!  My time spent there will be filled with assisting with the current church congregation and helping to grow the larger parish where I will be living.

The model for Global Missions in the ELCA is one of accompaniment, or walking together in a solidarity that practices interdependence and mutuality.  While the UK might not seem like an obvious location for a missions program, with the frame of mind of accompaniment we can realize that you can accompany people anywhere and everywhere.  Jesus says in Matthew 25:40 “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” and this has always stuck with me to be supportive of everyone, especially those who seem as though they need or deserve it least.

This sort of journey cannot be undertaken alone.  I will continue to need the loving support and guidance that everyone has given me for the last four years at JMU.  YAGM supports their missionaries by backing us financially with $7,000 of the $11,000 needed to cover the cost of one volunteer for our year of service, and in return asks us to fundraise the remaining $4,000 on our own.  If you you would like to support me financially, send me an email at mycahlynne@msn.com for more information; if you have any questions or words of encouragement, I would love to hear them!

In God’s Peace,

Mycah