Today Ithaca, Tomorrow... The World

I could blame the book I've been reading (Radical) but let's just face it, I've always wanted to travel.  And bringing glory to God, well of course that's top of my list.  Today though I am extremely fired up thinking about the fact that I have my whole life ahead and God can do whatever He wants with it if I just step aside.  Tomorrow is my orientation, I am about to jump head on into an intense two-year program.  What happens after that?  I have a friend in Ecuador who needs a speech-therapist in the orphanage where she works.  I have an aunt and uncle in China who work in a private Christian school... they also have speech therapy needs in their school.  I am so excited to have this skill and career, but even more excited to discover that as long as there are people in the world, my profession is necessary.  I definitely want to raise a family and America is a great place to live in terms of freedom, but I seriously hope that I can take my profession and impact the world for God's glory.  So as I enjoy my last day of doing nothing before school begins, I am reading Radical, writing letters to the people I love, and researching medical missions opportunities for the future.  Selfishly I want an excuse to travel and see the world, but God has so impacted my heart with compassion for people with special needs, why confine myself to the United States.  There are people all over the world with cleft palates, strokes, autism, intelligence deficits, swallowing disorders etc. and I am going to be licensed and equipped to help them.  Lord today I ask that you help me! And inspire others around me to find ways to use their lives to do the same.

For anyone who may be interested there is a website:  www.medicalmissions.org
I don't know if they are faith-based but they are certainly useful for people who have medical skills and are looking for already organized missions trips to join.

Ithaca is a very international place.  Many different cultures and languages have surrounded me since I've gotten here.  I discovered a Buddhist Monastery just down the road from my college and a Jehovah's Witness temple down the road from the church I am attending.  Families live in communal homes and borrow from different religions to assemble their own beliefs.  I pray that I can glorify God's  Holy and Perfect Name while I am here, and when I am done I pray to do the same in the U.S. and all over the world.  Watch out world... today is Ithaca but tomorrow who knows?!

(found this picture on Google, I claim no rights to it).