Veselé Vánoce!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I hope that you all had a wonderful day celebrating the most wonderful birthday of all time!

Here is what I’ve been up to…
My best friends bridal shower was on Saturday.

Last night I went to Christmas Eve service & did the advent candle with my parents. And today, of course, was Christmas.

This time next week I will be in Atlanta at Passion.
 26 days until my best friend walks down the aisle.

And last, but certainly not least…

Exactly 5 weeks until I leave for the Czech Republic! 

Me busy? Nahh!

God is so amazing in the ways that He provides for me. Friday I received a letter and a check that made me cry. A woman that I grew up knowing as an “Aunt” passed away several years ago. When she did, people gave money in her memory, and it was put into a special fund for mission trips. This woman was such a blessing when I was a child (used to take my brother and I out to museums and lunch), and still is to this day even though she is no longer here on earth. Thank you Aunt Ruth for your wonderful example in my life as a child and for being apart of this huge step in my life. I miss you and can’t wait to see you again some day! 

As for how I am doing on raising the funds I need to go on my trip, I am sooo close! The fundraiser was such a success! I am just a few hundred dollars away from my goal. YAY! Thank you Jesus for all of the wonderful, supportive people you have put in my life!

I feel as though if I were any happier that I might explode! With only 5 weeks left until I leave, I am continually in shock over how fast the time has flown by! But I am so excited to see what God has planned for my life in the new year!

Anyways, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!


:)

The Wonderful Whirlwind

With only about 60 days left until I leave I must say that the past month has been a total whirlwind, and I am sure December and January will be the same! I am overwhelmed with the amount of love and support I have received from everyone. Slowly but surely I am raising the funds I need to make this happen. I still have a ways to go, but I am trusting that God will provide everything that I need. Yes, I have my control freak moments, but I have amazing people around me that are always there to remind me that I am not in control.. God is. Another fun little bit of news... I've connected with a facebook group for the trip and have gotten to chat with a girl just a few years older than me that lives in Australia! I am super excited about all the new people I am going to get to meet!

I spent last week surrounded by my amazing family up in NJ (and PA), and spent a couple of wonderful days in my favorite place... New York City! I was also able to visit Hillsong Church, which was incredible! Coming home from being gone for a week was a bit insane, but I am back on my feet and in full swing of working on emails, letters, flyers, tickets and many other things to make this fundraiser a success. This week and next are also my finals weeks, so please be praying for me! My fundraiser falls smack in the middle of all of my final exams and papers. I think God has given me some extra brain space the past few weeks, because I don't know how else I could be remembering all that I am! Haha and thank goodness for calendars and phone reminders! :)
Speaking of school, I must say that it is an incredibly weird feeling to not be signing up for Spring semester with all of my friends... But I am sooo excited for where I will be!

That being said, there is not much to update besides the constant busyness and "go! go! go!" chant in my head! I am a human pinball at the moment, but that is okay because in the end it will be worth every chaotic moment and overwhelming day spent preparing for this trip! I must say an huge thank you to Iley because without him the "concert" portion of my fundraiser would probably have fallen apart! So thank you for jumping in and saving it!

And to close... a verse I read today.
"Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." Psalm 25:4-5
This is my prayer for everything that lies before me.

:)

88 days and counting..

Yet another quick post of updates coming your way!

I have had a multiple people in the past week ask me about the name of my blog, so I will explain that. "A prayer for the wild at heart kept in cages" is a quote from T Williams, the original quote is a little longer, but I like this shortened version. It means that societal expectations and the things that make us comfortable in this world often become cages, and if we never step out of our comfort zones we will never be able to fully chase our dreams. I related to this because this program is a big step out of my comfort zone to chase a dream I have had for 3 years. I also felt it was appropriate seeing that I am going into a human trafficking program, these women have hopes and dreams but are literally trapped.

On to updates! I got a chance to Skype with one of the team leaders over in the Czech Republic this past week which was very cool! It was neat to hear her accent and just get to chat for a little bit. I am sooo incredibly excited!!! I can hardly believe that I leave in less than 3 months. Time is flying by so quickly! Even though it has been an overwhelming process, I am loving every moment.

I also got to meet with the mission and ministry team at my church this past week. I must say that I am so thankful that I have been raised in such a wonderful church. Everyone has been so supportive and excitedly encouraging me! I love my church family so much and truly could not do this without their love and support. I have had so many people come up to ask me questions or just give me a hug and a "Congrats! We are so excited for you!!!" It's an amazing feeling to have so much supportive feedback.

Moving forward, I have sent out over 70 letters and am continuing to do that. Next fundraising idea is a Christmas concert and silent auction. I have been praying about when to do this because the one weekend that makes the most sense and fits most schedules is the one weekend that falls in the middle of my finals. So that makes me a little nervous, but I am learning to be patient and let people help me. God is obviously trying to work on my control freak tendencies. Haha :) I am also working on a fundraising site to open up donating to an even more broad group. Hopefully I will be able to connect that to my blog as well.

Thank you, and as always feel free to ask questions!

:)

Ahoj!

Even though I've job hopped today for a grand total of 12 hours of work, I still want to post a quick update about some things going on before I fall asleep!

First, I have FINALLY mailed out my first chunk of letters! It's all getting real very quickly, especially thinking about the fact that within the next few weeks I will be purchasing my plane tickets! It sounds simple, but it has been hectic writing multiple different letters and trying to sort lists of names into categories depending on what letter I am sending to them (close friends/family, close church friends/family, etc.). So I was thrilled that I got out my first stack! Yay! :)

On to the second bit of exciting news! I got an email from my school today letting me know that 6 more students have been accepted to the program! Two of them are girls my age, one from Ohio and the other from Germany. So I was super excited to hear that! I will be getting to talk to them sometime soon when the school sends out contact information for us to do so.

Lastly, but definitely not least.. thank you so much for all of the sweet words of encouragement and for sharing in my excitement about this journey! It gets overwhelming at times, but I have the most amazing support system of family and friends. I love you all!

P.S. Between all of the insanity of the past week, I have been trying to start learning some Czech! My favorite word so far is simply "hi" which is ahoj, pronounced ahoy! Hahaha love that!


:)

What's the dealio?

Many of you know the basics of what I am doing and where I am going, but I should probably share some more details! So I figured I would give further information about what is about to be coming up. Before I get to that, I will tell you all the craziness that is happening right up until I leave..

*For extra fun, add the usual work schedule and full time school into the equation for each month...*
October- all focus is on starting fundraising for my trip. Mailing letters, making phone calls, meeting with people.
November- (still fundraising), the 20th-26th I will be in New Jersey for my first Thanksgiving away from home. I am so excited to be visiting my cousins that I haven't seen in a few years!
December- (still fundraising), final exams, final papers/projects, and of course... CHRISTMAS! Plus making lists upon lists of what I need to purchase and pack so I am prepared for the insanity January will bring.
January- this is where it gets crazy... final month to fundraise anything I still need, Jan 1st-4th in Atlanta for Passion conference, January 20th one of my best friends is getting married plus I am the maid of honor so there will be lots of wedding stuff going on the entire month, then finally I depart for the Czech Republic on the 31st!
WHEW! My plate = Full!

So now for the details of what will happen in those 6 months!
As many know, this program is called the Heart of Europe - Discipleship Training School through YWAM, and it is the very first DTS for this new base! The program focuses on human trafficking, which was the type of program I really wanted to be involved in. The school will actually be held in an old brothel that the school and group there had been praying for to be closed for years. It was shut down and has been empty for a while, and it was offered to the YWAM team to rent after some needed renovations are done.
The first 3 months in Cheb, CZ will be lectures and just time for learning, growth, and bonding as a group. We will be spending at least 2 weeks at the school in Herrnhut, Germany as well during those first few months.
The two months following the "lecture phase" is our outreach/field experience! So far we have been told that we will most likely be going somewhere either in Central Europe or Vietnam. I am excited for anywhere we go! I have had a lot of people ask me if I'm scared of where we might go. Honestly, I'm not. I'm really excited about wherever we may be lead to go, and for what God has planned for us to do there. The final month will be a continuation of outreach back in Cheb applying what we have learned!
Then the school will end on July 25th.

If you have any questions, just comment or message me!

:)

The Verdict...

I WAS ACCEPTED TO THE PROGRAM!!!!!
I'M SO HAPPY AND EXCITED AND OVERWHELMED AND AHHH!!!

God is amazing. Just last night I was starting to worry and let my fears control me... maybe I didn't write enough, maybe I didn't clearly communicate, maybe I should've reread my application ten more times before submitting it. I came home from class after taking an exam, and I was worked up over the fact that my car was blowing hot air all day on top of me being stressed out with school and other silly little things. Luckily Lena was there to greet me and help me calm down. What was really special about that night though was Steve walking downstairs with one of his devotional books. He said he just felt like he was supposed to read out of this one particular book tonight and that he wanted to read it with us. So we all sat on the couch together and he opened it up to October 8th. What was that devotion about? Casting all of your cares and worries on God, because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 Hello!! Talk about a message from God. I immediately realized that I needed to hand it over. None of this was in my control. I had been praying all week that if I wasn't supposed to go, that God would shut the door and my application would not be accepted, and I prayed that same thing again that night.

I woke up this morning ready to go take my mid-term exam and feeling much better about whatever was to come. I pulled my laptop into bed and signed into my account for the program. There at the top of the page was what I had been waiting for the past week, "Hello Carley, You have been accepted!" I laughed a little, cried a little, and freaked out a little. Needless to say, I was a little distracted in school this morning, but hey. Today has been a whirlwind of figuring out what the next steps will be and making lots of excited phone calls.

Oh and another little answer to prayer... my car a/c suddenly started working again today. Thank you Lord!!

Thank you so much to everyone who has been so supportive and encouraging throughout this process. It means the world to me that you have stood by me and believed in me. And thank you Mom & Dad for being supportive even when you are scared. I love you all!

:)

The Beginning..

Hello! Welcome! It's currently 10pm, and I am sitting at the table trying to figure out how to work my new blog. My mind is racing a million miles a minute, or at least that's what it feels like. Most of you that will be following me will be to keep track of what is going on in my life! As of right now, my application for the 6 month YWAM Heart Of Europe Program is in, and I am SOOOO EXCITED!!! It's been three days, and yes I check my email probably way too many times waiting to hear if I got in or not.

That being said, my next post will probably be the verdict. YAY!!!... well, hopefully yay! We shall see!

P.S. I'm laughing at myself a little bit right now because I realize that by the time most people read this I will probably be on my way to the other side of the world, if not already there. BUT I'm okay with that, because at least you have something to read.  

:)