Insomniac

That's the official diagnosis. Excitement-induced insomnia. :)

I have to be at the airport in 5 hours, but I haven't slept yet. "Flying into" time will also be tricky.

This week promises to tucker this girl out, but I couldn't be more excited. If only I didn't have to leave people behind...

A favor?

OK last post seriously before I crash for the night. This was the second letter I sent to that same group of family and friends. Figured I'd share in case you're inclined to pray this week. :)

Dear Friends,

My flight from Richmond to Phoenix leaves in T minus 16 days. As I sit to write to you, I couldn’t possibly be any more excited. To further support your suspicions of my nerdy nature, I find myself playing with font styles, video transitions, and theme music for the slideshow of our trip I plan to create after-the-fact. Whoa, Laura, first things first. ☺

I must begin by thanking you for your incredible support over the past few months – in the form of financial gifts, prayer, and words of encouragement – as this trip has transformed from a concept to an itinerary, as we changed from a group of acquaintances and friends to a team united in purpose. And this team covets your prayers. Please remember us and pray for the following during the week of JULY 8th - 15th:

• My team– Heather Oberle, Carter Higgins, Robin Pritchard, Allison Price, Charlotte Shirey, Kathy Parks, Blair Collins, Leslie & Elizabeth Kuhfuss, Michelle Konson, & me.
• Our family and friends in our absence – particularly for the moms in the group.
• Expenses for our trip – the remaining 15%.
• The teen moms from Alaska, New York, Texas, Colorado, North Carolina, and Phoenix – that all obstacles to their attendance would disappear.
• Patience, wisdom, and boldness for the mentors who will be accompanying the teens on their journey.
• The children we’ll be caring for, that God would touch their lives with His hope and love.
• Safe travel and timely arrival for all the volunteers and campers.
• Energy and focus for the trip leaders, leadership teams, and staff of Lost Canyon.

We were “Comissioned,” or formally sent, by West End Presbyterian Church this past Sunday, and are inviting our family and friends to attend church with us on July 3rd during the Sunday School hour (9:15am – 10:15am) for a time of prayer for the church’s missions to Arizona, Istanbul, Spain, and Dublin. I also wanted to pass along that family and friends can contact us (in case of emergency) or to send a note of encouragement or baby wipes if we run out (kidding, guys, kidding) to Lost Canyon at the following address:

[Laura Sussman]— Lost Canyon Childcare Team
1450 Perkinsville Road
Williams, AZ 86046
Phone: (928) 635-2900

Thank you for being a part of this adventure with me. It’s gonna be a rockin’ slideshow. ☺

All my love,
Laura

Project Arizona

This trip has been months in the making, and now I am less than 36 hours from departure. My heart is full, I am wiped, and I have to be in Goochland to work at 8am, so given that, I am going to copy and paste from an initial letter I sent out to a few family and friends. Disregard the info about funding - all taken care of - just wanted to share in case you're curious where I am for the next week.

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Dear Friends,

As I approach the two-year anniversary of my graduation from Mary Washington College, I am amazed at how much my life has changed in a mere 24 months. Gone are the days of 10am classes, road trips for concerts, and apartment life with friends. In their place, a full-time job, a 40-mile per day commute, and a mortgage. God has richly blessed me and provided for all of my needs throughout this transition period to life-as-an-adult in Richmond, yet all the great things He’s provided were never meant to fulfill me, and to idolize them only means accepting a shallow substitute for the full life Jesus intended for me to live. I do not want only the shadow of things, but rather That of Eternal Substance that calls to each of our hearts.

So speaking of what calls to our hearts, there is something I greatly miss from college days, and that is the freedom to be a full-time Young Life leader. Most of you will recall that I invested my four years of college at Spotsylvania High School going to sporting events, tutoring, and substitute teaching for the purpose of meeting high school kids, loving them, and building a relationship with them for the sake of sharing the Gospel. I will always treasure that time in my life, the lessons learned, the fruit that resulted, and the relationships I hold dear, even now as life looks different. I can see how he’s been at work in my life, in my family, in my workplace, in my church, in my friends, but oh how I miss the almost-tangible sense of purpose when working with an organized ministry.

I came home from work a few months ago, checked my mailbox, sat down with the quarterly publication from Young Life, and planned to sulk about days gone by. I stumbled upon an article about “Young Lives” – a new ministry of Young Life designed to reach a largely untouched population of people in America – teenage mothers! I was absolutely taken by the concept – as someone who loves high school folks, teaches younger children, and has always loved babies. The magazine mentioned an opportunity to serve:
“YoungLives, Young Life’s ministry to teen moms, is hosting camp this summer!
One hundred volunteers are needed to serve mothers and their babies as the “special forces” work crew. The crew will give young mothers a model of Jesus’ love by caring for their children so that they may enjoy the best week of their lives, [be kids again] and hear about the hope found in Christ.”

I shared this idea with a few close friends and my pastors, and within weeks, we organized a team of 13 women from our church who wanted to go also! The women who have responded have unique ties to this trip – some are former Young Life leaders like me, others are moms, some teenage girls, even a woman who adopted a child from a teenage mother. Our team will be loving both babies and teenage moms simply because we believe Jesus loves them and wants to give them hope
and a future – even in the midst of a culture that says all hope is lost. The other purpose of this trip is quite exciting –
to see how a ministry like this looks – and how we might be able to implement this in Richmond, Virginia!



If this speaks to your heart and excites you at all, I ask you to consider becoming involved in one or two ways. First, we all covet your prayers as we travel and take part in what we believe God has for us this summer. We depart from Richmond on July 8th and return July 15th. Second, we are raising funds as a team to cover airfare, food, and lodging. Any money that we raise above and beyond our costs will be donated to the mission of YoungLives nationally. Please prayerfully consider contributing toward this mission – in belief that these young women will be affected, and many more, even in Richmond, Virginia as a result of our time there, but more so, God’s desire to call them to Himself.

I also write to encourage you to look for opportunities to serve and be used in your spheres of influence, in your areas of passion, in the places God has gifted you. If you have questions or want to talk more about either the trip or what the Lord is doing in your life, please contact me.

“God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone! We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered Himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people He can be proud of, energetic in goodness.” – Titus 2:11-14

Snapshots of Summer - Phase I

It is horribly "glass-half-empty" of me, but I tend to think of the 4th of July weekend as the pivotal point of the summer. (Sigh). Maybe it's because I'm still working, albeit at central office with adults instead of at my school with kiddies, but I think I'm all-to-aware that the second half of the summer (post-July 4) absolutely flies.

So in an effort to keep me from being sad about what remains, I'm going to dwell on the great things I've already been able to enjoy with the 20 days off (that's very "glass-half-full" of me, isn't it?)

-I got to take a 4 day trip to Blacksburg to visit with my former Young Life kids, who are now lovely young ladies. On the return trip, I visited Rockbridge (the camp where I used to work), and had a great dinner with great company in Charlottesville.



-I explored Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, located less than 2 miles from my house, simply because I had the time and inclination. My new digital camera came in quite handy. Here are a few favorites.





- We celebrated summer solstice (theoretical longest day of the year) with the longest sub Subway will construct (those cool sandwich artists) - and watched "Hitch" on the side of a downtown apartment building once then sun finally went down.

- Father's Day. Nuff said. Love that guy.




- Boating on the James River with the Pritchard family (too scared to bring my camera. Have you seen the way Mr. Pritchard drives that thing?)

- Bridal shower for a high school friend of mine. I'll be reading Scripture in her August wedding.

- My best friend forever (BFF as the yearbooks would say) is Melanie (sigh - can't help but do that cause I just love the girl so much). Wish she lived here, but she's very good about visiting despite her crazy busy life. She works for the American Red Cross saving the world, AND she's planning a wedding for March, but again she found a time slot to come to my place. We drove to Franconia, took the Metro in to DC and met up with our college buddy Patty and her mom who drove down from Jersey. We spent the day in DC and took cover in Union Station when it started to pour seeing as how our cars were both 50 miles away. Despite being the only girl in the group to not be engaged (yeah Patty's getting hitched in October), I had an absolute blast. We pick up as if no time has passed, which is such a breath of fresh air.





- And Mom's 55th birthday yesterday.

See? I've got nothing to complain about! I just need to savor each day instead of looking at that dang emptying glass of summertime. :)