Dear Gideon, I hope everything is going alright with you. It always worries me a little bit when I don't hear from you simply becuase I really have no other way of getting a hold of you. Well, having said that, I want you to know that you are in my prayers.
I hope you had a nice holiday break. I did. I spend part of it in the lower half of the country doing volunteer work for where Hurrican Katrina hit and destroyed most of the buildings down there. It was really a difficult trip to see so much devastion and so much pain. But God is always good and above all the rubble, there was a definite spirit of hope that the people down there carried with them. I was home just in time for Christmas and it was a really good low-key time with my family.
I have been learning a lot this semester. A lot about nursing and how to take care of people better, but also alot about myself. God has blessed me so much, Gideon- so much. I'm not sure that I've ever looked at things with such gratitude as what I have this semester. My family is so awesome and I love them so much. My parents this semester have just been rocks for me. God has also been showing me a lot about the topic of womanhood and feminity. I'm reading a book called "Captivating" which talks alot about how the church here really cripples women by not giving them titles that don't fullfill the potential God gave women. It talks about what a truly beautiful woman looks like and how she can show her heart to a cruel and harsh world. It's been really good for me to study and look at and finally come to the realization that I am valuable as a woman. I think that for my whole life society had just ingrained in me that I wasn't as valuable as a man- which isn't true at all.
I've also been learning about what it means to need people. Gideon, I am so fiercely independent sometimes- I dont' really need anyone but God. And now I know how much that kind of an attitude hurt the community in the body of Christ. And oh, I could go on for a long long time, but I really want to know what's going on in your life and what you are learning and how you're doing.
Oh! I'm sorry about not being able to send you any more money, Gideon; I will just have to wait for your CD for a while. The bank won't let me send you any less than 100usd and I just don't have that right now. So I'm really sorry, but I will be looking forward to hearing one day in the furture.
Let me know what you've been up to lately.
Bethany