Last day :(

We are at the end of our final day here in the Dominican Republic. Tomorrow morning I begin the journey back to San Diego, CA. This week has meant so much to me. I have learned about the DR, the Lord's plan for COTN and myself. 


We started this day with a four hour bus ride back to Santo Domingo to the Quality Inn Hotel. I spent those four hours with a dead ipod, which I believe was divine. So instead of rockin out to some awesome music I used the time to reflect on this past week. God is good. I have learned that I have been hand picked by God to be here and be used to pour his love out. 


He has stirred up in my heart some big dreams that I have shared a little bit with you. One being the I Love Baseball program. I want to help get 55-60 sponsorships for these kids, a steady 500 baseballs coming in each year, and roughly $75,000 to build a couple baseball fields. The other is a program for young girls who get pregnant to finish their education. A first step to this hopefully leading a team this summer, probably August, to lead a 3 day camp for about 90 kids. This will be an awesome opportunity for me to lead and to make great connections and relationships with young girls. The last dream is a personal one. God literally revealed to me today on the bus ride that I was going back to school. I'm going to go to a community college and finish my sophomore year and walk away with an Associates Degree at which point I'm going to go on to get my Bachelors in International Studies with a focus in Sociology and Anthropology with a minor in Spanish. 


I know! Shocking right?!? For those of you that don't me, let me lay some foundation for you. There are some things that I've always known. These are: The thing I want most is to get married and have a family; I want 8-12 kids (i am not exaggerating); I am not going to go back to school because I don't need a degree to be a mom. In the past 4 months these things that I've "known" have changed drastically. Now I can certainly wait a while before I get married and start a family; I will only have 2-3 kids and no more; and now I wanna go to school. It is unreal to think about how different our lives would be if we took the reigns away from our amazing Father who knows best and whose ways our not our ways.


There is a bittersweetness with the end of today. I will certainly miss this place. I will miss the concept of "Dominican Time" which is so laid back and flexible. If you need to leave at 8:30 don't expect to be out the door until after 9:00. I will miss seeing such beautiful faces with permanent smiles. I will miss the universal language that is love. However, I am looking forward to going home. I need to go and sit before God and process things fully. I need to spend sometime being alone and relaxing. I need to share with people these dreams and missions laid out before me and get to work. And I am SO EXCITED!!!


I have decided that I will continue to blog through out the craziness that is my life. I will update this once a week and would love for you to keep meeting me here. So here's how it will work. My e-mail address is vickyward@cotni.org. Send me an e-mail and let me know if you want to stay with me. I'll send out an e-mail once a week notifying you of an update. I think this will be a great system because it will keep me accountable and it will be a reminder for you so you don't need to add this to your list. 


How can you pray? Just continue with me. Continue praying that the Lord opens doors and provides the finances to make things happen.


Once again I want to sincerely thank you for your presence here this week and for all your prayers. It means sooooo much to me. I appreciate it more than you know. May God bless you and bless you. I will be back on Vicky's Venture in a week! :)


"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6