my dear 1/2 meg tagged me...

so i think it's about time that i respond to her tagging!

anyway...

4 jobs i've had:
sales associate at fashion bug; a women's clothing store
cleaning the house of the dean of students at roberts
childcare
a farmer's market

4 movies i've been addicted to:
singing in the rain
the notebook
lord of the rings trilogy
the sound of music

4 places i've lived:
bradford, pa, usa
rochester, ny, usa
bath, ny, usa
amsterdam, netherlands

4 countries i would like to visit:
greece
italy
turkey
sweden

4 popular false assumptions about me:
i'm quiet
i'm extremely shy
i don't climb trees
i don't mind getting really dirty (like with bicycle grease, etc)

4 people i look like(according to certain people):
my dad
my aunt barb
ryan urquhart (a previous staff member of the jordan...we really could be twins!)
some actress from the show 'party of five'... ?

4 things to do before i die:
visit all of my international friends in their countries
to speak fluently in dutch, french, italian, greek...i could go on... !
publish some of my own children's stories
live every day to the fullest (that's my challenge right now)

and i have no idea who to tag...so i'll tag my dutch brother ben, susana, leticia, and zac (since zac hasn't updated in a while...heehee).

ciao allemaal!

i'm not going to calgary. it would have been fun. oh well.









now i just need to figure out why God wants me in Bradford, Pennsylvania.

encouragement

my grandma (mom's mother) has always been such a great influence in my life and has never ceased to bring overflowing encouragement.

today was no different.

i drove to cuba, ny to spend time with her. we talked some small talk at first, but before long we were going deep and then we were praying. it was wonderful.

tears escaped. tears escaping in grandma's presence has always been a safe place for me. there are still more tears to come... tears concerning several aspects of my life... it takes time.

i loved every minute of our time together.

grandma told me at one point, "i see your sorrow...now i can't begin to understand it, but i see it."

that comforted me.

as i was tying my shoelaces, getting ready to leave she spoke: "Rissa, don't let satan take your joy."

she's right. i can't let him do that. i don't want him to take my joy... though sometimes the sadness is just over-powering.

but you know what? my name is LAURISSA; not just because my parents liked the name and thought it would suit their second born child. no, i'm certain God was involved in the choosing of my name. LAURISSA means 'full of laughter' or 'cheerful one'.

and little by little, God is reminding me of that very fact.

an opportunity

for me to work in calgary, alberta CANADA as a nanny...

strangely this is connected to the shelter! you shelter city folk that were around in the summer might remember a 5 yr old named Lexi and her mother Jackie from Canada. (Lexi and Jackie went on a world travel for around a year, i think...one of their stops was Amsterdam and they stayed at shelter city) well, the mother expressed an interest for someone to watch her daughter from feb 27 until the end of the summer.... i responded to her e-mail.

now this coming weekend i will know whether she wants me to come or not.

i'd appreciate your prayers in this! i'd really like for this opportunity to become a reality!

i would have my own bedroom and bathroom (living with Lexi and her mother); Jackie speaks dutch fluently (so i could continue to work on my dutch!!!) and would like her daughter to learn as well (i could teach what i know and learn!).... this would be a ministry opportunity as well, since the mother is not a Christian. one of my dreams while working in the shelter jordan was to someday live with a family, taking care of the children, and having the opportunity to share Jesus just through my lifestyle and character. families are so unique...and i really like them. i'd love for this realized dream to become a reality so soon...!

so...help me out and join me in prayer :) matthew 18:20

thanks heaps!