Went in early to the office to prepare for this morning's IT training tip. It was about 7:00 when I was standing in the second floor "rotunda" and watching the beautiful sunrise. Sun rises make me wax poetic. I began to imagine writing all these touching narratives and poems. In each imagined narrative, there was a valiant computer person who labored long and hard to help people. She answered questions and fixed computers and crawled under desks to tie up the many cords. But each of the narratives persisted in ending as our hero banged her head painfully on the desk when backing out. The dream shatters into a dozen dancing stars and the blinding light of the newly-risen sun.

Worked on Nehemiah again...slowly learning. Answered a few more Palm questions, researched an Outlook question, researched reverse proxy server... And was grateful to each of you.

Prayers for: unity and real relationships between those of us living in the house, guidance for trips to KS (Oct 22-25) and AR and KY, sleep and time to do things I need to do.

Today's projects: More Palm questions. Fixed one problem. Created another. Started to learn more about Nehemiah--our Linux Red Hat 7.3 server. Promised a guy named Alan cookies for fixing Nehemiah. Watched Pat work on Auntie G's laptop. SMTP problems.

Spent this evening with Rob and Ali. We have an admirable trade. They feed me supper and I work on their home computer. Rob works in the Missions department at GFA--he works with the office in Asia to get all the missionary profiles and pictures and information and updates to be sent out the supporters. Ali has fybromyalgia, so has a hard time coming into the office. She works at home, editing and proofing the hundreds of missionary testimonies that come in to the office.

Valuable people...doing valuable work. And you're a part of it.

What did I work on today? Palms. The electronic kind, not the fleshly kind. SF travels to churches all around the US to share the ministry of Gospel for Asia and challenge people to sponsor native missionaries. He carries his travel iternary, his maps, the American Airlines flight schedule, his speaking outlines, Pastor names and contact information, conference notes and much more on his Palm. T works with Bro. KP Yohannan and manages both her Palm and his Palm. Contacts, calendars, tasks, notes, phone numbers, speaking outlines, traveling information, the Bible, books... it all goes along. KD is a busy mom, daily dividing her time between the office and home. She uses her Palm to work on office documents and catch up on office email when she can't be at the office.

And your support allows me to be here to answer their questions. Or try to, anyway. I've installed new software on my Palm in the last two weeks to try to simulate their working environment. And I've purposely messed my Palm up to try to fix it like theirs get fixed.

But I really don't know that much. Maybe that why my Palm has errors.

I seem to be on an emotional roller coaster these days. I hang on, scream occasionally, and pray passionately for God to balance me out. It's getting better. Thanks for your prayers!

But before we dare think our troubles are big, check out the story of this Dalit (low caste) Hindu girl.

There is hope, though. God is enabling GFA to reach out to this people group like never before in the history of the world and thousands are choosing to follow Christ. And you are a part of it. You keep me here at GFA--We link the Church in the West with the missionaries in Asia--The missionaries in Asia are planting more than 10 new churches a day!

I praise God for you!

I was reading today about encouragement when I came across the following excerpt: "...it is not the absence of difficulties or the absence of problems that makes the difference. It is the presence of the Lord."

The writer referenced II Corinthians where Paul talks throughout the book about his many challenges, but underlying all of his struggles is II Corinthians 4:1. "...as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart."

I had supper this evening with T&L and their young son. It wasn't planned, but it was a good evening of fellowship. Eli, their two year old son, was learning to speak Spanish. "Hola, Auntie Dorinda!"

Today was a little crazy. PE had a headache, SS had a headache, I was a... never mind. It started out when Dhaka (one of our loaner laptops) decided to stop recoginizing the PCMCIA network card. Or if it did, the computer would freeze three minutes later. The day just got crazier from there as we got new drivers for the full page document scanner for Gift Entry. SS installed the new drivers and then the scanner wouldn't work at all. Oh, and while he was off doing that, I found out the Call Center color printer was on the fritz. SS stayed for an extra hour+ after work--on the phone with HP technicians trying to get it working. SS is an amazing blessing. He does so much that I flat out never learned to do on computer. Drivers and printers are not my strong suites. But just like the Body of Christ, each of us has a separate part.

I did go running this evening with Lei. We finished up our walk by moonlight at the nature preserve. Almost at the end of the path, we heard a rustling in the bushes/reeds. "That's probably a snake," I suggested. Fascinated, Lei and I paused and peered through the dark to see if he would come out. The rustling got louder and closer and I was beginning to get worried. The rustling was sounding like one VERY HUGE snake. Closer and closer the sound came until it stopped just before the bushes met the sidewalk. Then the head appeared--almost 5" across! I panicked, wondering if the snake had a head that big around, how big was the rest of it? I had literally turned to run down the path when I heard Lei say:

"Oh, it's an armadillo!"

(No, the head wasn't 5" across, but the body of the armadillo was. Remember, it was dark.)

One of the many things I did this morning was help set up a laptop and projector for the Inductive Bible Study classes. 25 pastors from all over the US have gathered to learn to how to teach inductive Bible study. Later... no, I'm not sure I can write that. You see, anything I post here can not only be read by you, but can also be read by the anti-Christian elements in SE Asia. So that's one reason you don't get more breaking news from the field than you do. But nonetheless, there is a connection. You help me, I help the leaders here at the office, the leaders help the pastors and the pastors help the Bible Schools. We're all a part of the body of Christ.

Speaking of the body, mine is going to be sore tomorrow. I played Ultimate Frisbee for the first time since May. Too many players, so we had to trade in and out all the time. That was good since I am REALLY out of shape. Enjoyed it--Monday nights are targeted for beginners, so it was perhaps less intense than their regular games. That was fine with me. Compared to Sterling, there was a lot more short passing and fewer long passes. Also, less "leading" people with the frisbee. Mainly just straight tosses. Perhaps that had to do with the teams never being the same two points in a row.

Speaking of body, we discovered whodunit tonight at S's birthday party. Six of us gathered at Krispy Kreme to puzzle through the clues. After one incorrect accusation, S successfully accused Col. Mustard, the wrench, and the ballroom.

This body is tired.

Topic at Sunday Evening Fellowship tonight: II Kings 5. See how God directed the life of the great commander Naaman? His servants. First a servant girl telling him about the prophet. Naaman goes to Elisha and receives a message from Elisha's servant. As he scorns the instructions of Elisha's servants and leaves, it is his own servants who encouraged him to follow Elisha's simple instructions.

As God calls each of us to be servant-minded, are we allowing Him to speak through us?

I was going to blog, but as I paused to check my email, I noticed that the GFA email server isn't up. I wonder what's taking so long? Maybe I'll go take them some brownies.

My sister and I had supper tonight with the missions paster of my church and his family. We had a wonderful night. I got to know them a little bit more, but still forgot to ask them about their adoption plans. I need to work on asking more questions and telling fewer stories. They have a seven year old little girl and a four year old boy who are both very ticklish. I was thinking...my little sister was seven when I graduated from college, so I still think of her as that age. I enjoy being part of a family.

Spoke to the pastor of the Sterling Reformed Presbyterian Church today and it looks like I'll be sharing there for 15 minutes on Sunday evening, October 24th. Also spoke to the computer professor at the college and I may be sharing with the foundations of computer science class.

Thanks for your prayers. I praise God for you!

My sin--O the bless of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part, but the whole
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more;
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend.
"Even so"--it is well with my soul.

We sang the old hyms tonight at ladies' meeting. And oh, the joy that floods my soul. Something happened and now I know-- He touched me and made me whole.

It was a wonderful time of simply being refreshed and letting the words of the hyms soak into my heart. It seemed a gift from God to refill my spirit. Auntie Gisela followed the hymns with teaching on grace. When we mess up Plan A, God, in his grace, offers Plan B. And C. And D. And E. And F. And G. And...

We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling,
And needing more each day Thy grace to know.
Yet from our hearts, a song of triumph pealing:
"We rest on Thee and in Thy Name we go."

Stop by www.gfa.org/news to read the interview with the missionary who was miraculously released over the weekend. Please forgive me for not letting you know this sooner, but I guess this was a lesson for you to sign up for your own gfa.org email updates. They come out once a week or when urgent news happens.

Okay, so my parents were concerned about me after reading my melancholy blogs for too many days. And if they're concerned, then they're not the only ones. So I should let you know. I'm okay! Really! I'm no longer threatening tears all the time like I was Fri-Mon. I've got a song in my heart and a smile (usually) on my face. I am making more of an effort to spend time with God and ask for his wisdom (James 1:5) and direction (Isaiah 30:21) in several things. I am a little more quiet, but if you know me, that's probably not a bad thing.

It's good to hear my mommy say she loves me.

Funny story from Sunday. My sister S and I were helping tear down and pack up the church's stage into the trailers like we do every Sunday. This particular day, I called S over to pack up a couple of the wooden stair sets that lead up to the platforms. The steps aren't ridiculously heavy, but they are bulky and off balance. At 4' x 2' x 2' and with un-sanded wood and rough metal joints, they are notorious for bruising and cutting me when I try to move them by myself. So we each took an end.

Keith, a big guy that also helps pack up, picked up one of the stair sets and passed us commenting, "It takes two of you, huh?"

I replied that that was how we did things on the farm. If one of us couldn't do it, we called a second. And if that didn't work, we called a third.

"Well," Keith answered, passing us again with a speaker under each arm. "You know there was a reason that Jesus sent out the disciples two by two."

"Yeah," S wisecracked back. "It took two of them to handle all the sound equipment."

I promised Kathy Glynn that I would be in bed by 10:00 tonight, so no long blog. Must go to bed. I'm planning to get up tomorrow morning early (somewhat) and talk to God and scrub the kitchen floor.

Thanks for all your prayers! They are helping!

I held a very cute baby at church this evening. Lauren Tyler Nicole Crowder. I didn't know her name until service was over, but holding a baby helps me put life back in perspective. There's something peaceful about it... as long as the baby isn't crying and as long as the baby isn't your own.

I'm still moody and fighting in my spiritual walk, but hopefully a good kitchen cleaning and a good night's sleep will help with that. Thanks for your prayers. They make the most difference.

Sometimes I think I will never learn. I despair of ever being sure of my relationship with God and being sure of who I am or who God wants me to be. Just Wednesday, a getting-acquainted friend asked me if I was a people-pleaser. Yes, I confessed, which of the symptoms did you see? They replied, You ask people over and over if something is okay with them. Not everyone is going to be happy with every decision all the time, they admonished.

This evening, another friend was hurt because they felt I was being bossy. You just seemed to make all the decisions, they said, and didn't seem to care anything about what others wanted.

I've been told repeatedly in the past several weeks: "Just be yourself. We like Dorinda for who she is." But still the question remains... who am I? or which one of me?

You can ignore me. I'm just being moody.

We're still waiting on official word from the mission field on the missionaries that were held hostage. I'll let you know as soon as I can.

Prayer request for the home office: Pray for JK. He and his wife are in their late 20's and joined staff here at the Dallas office just over a year ago. Six or so weeks ago, he found himself weak and dizzy and unable to stand for very long. The doctor told him that it was a virus wreaking havoc in his inner ear. Now, they are considering the possibility that he might have multiple sclerosis. JK and his wife have two boys under the age of 3 and he is determined to keep serving God here at the ministry. Please Pray!!!

There were about 12 of us young ladies that had pizza supper with Auntie Gisela at her house this evening. (Auntie Gisela is Bro. KP's wife.) Then we watch Lilies of the Field with Sidney Poirtier. The film as lit class at SC would have had a field day with it. It was good. I had a favorite quote, but I can't find it online, so I'll have to rewatch the movie and right it down.

Sho'nuff.

AHH! My comments have disappeared! I'll work on it later.

Sisters watching the sunset. 

Hotdog anyone? 

A week. Okay. So I was lazy. Tired. Busy. No excuse!

Let me address my comments. What caused the cracked window in missions? Check out AJ's blog entry for that day! An entire week without blogging? Yeah, I've probably lost my audience.

16 young ladies went camping over Labor Day weekend--I was the second oldest. The youngest was 13. We hiked and swam in Lake Texoma and cooked hotdogs and marshmallows. It was a really good time of relationship building.

Bro. KP called us all together this afternoon just after he got off the phone with leaders in India. An anti-Christian mob from six villages holds the Gospel workers tied to a sacred tree, demanding 25,000 rupees as a ransom for desecrating their village with the Gospel. If the exorbitant amount is not received within 48 hours, they plan to kill the missionaries as a sacrifice to their deities. Keep updated at the website.

I'm busy researching symlinks for a project at work--working to securely connect our US and Canadian offices. At home, I'm trying to get my room clean and reading the book What's so Amazing about Grace by Phillip Yancey.

Tonight, we kidnapped a fellow staff member and stole her away for supper for her birthday. It was quite a suprise and quite fun!

A frequent bumper sticker quote thrown around recently: "Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans." Well, my plans for this evening were along the lines of do laundry, go grocery shopping, wash the mixer bowl that I mixed cake in last Thursday, scrape off the cookie sheets...

Instead I poisoned more fire ants (who had migrated and built their home around the bag of fire ant poison), turned a six foot bookshelf into a three foot bookshelf, and spent time with a friend.

Today at work was hectic with lots of database problems and smaller operator problems and being a little short staffed and getting to the end of the week.

God provides friends for "such a time as this."

The "bang" of the day when a rock hit the window in the Missions Dept. 

Our donor database, hosted in Denver, has been having a lot of problems over the past few weeks. The server has been struggling and our connection has been "connectedly challenged." Today the server had a particularly hard time--prompting the rapid construction of a new server at the Denver site. Since the staff couldn't access the donor database (with all the names and addresses and donor info), there was a lot of other work that couldn't be done as well. So they weren't calling Helpdesk and it was REALLY quite in my area today.

I used the quiet time to work on my next newsletter.