so urbana was amazing...i sent out that e-mail asking for prayer, and God truly answered those requests in an awesome way. here's an excerpt from my e-mail:

"as i've shared with some of you, the past few years have been full of sometimes painful lessons in trust and faith - trying to understand and discern God's will for my life, what direction i need to be heading towards for the future, what next steps i need to be taking. i've also been feeling a lack of focus on my part…that i've been distracted by worldly goals and ambitions when i need to be seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness. He's answered many of my prayers, yet there are still many areas of weakness, uncertainty and distraction. i don’t think that urbana will be the end-all to all of these issues, but i do hope that it would serve as an impetus to refocus and be more sensitive and obedient to His will and His calling.
if you guys are able, i'd really appreciate your prayers during this time. more than anything, for myself, please pray for an open and obedient heart, an increased burden for the lost, and a vision for how to serve God with my life. pray for the conference as a whole to raise up and encourage His servants. finally, please pray for yourselves and each other - that we, His body, would live lives of purpose in service to our God..."

so God really refreshed, encouraged, and challenged me during urbana. to give you even more background and make this blog longer, i have to explain that though God worked miracles to get me into school, this whole time, i never had a strong conviction that this was THE way for me to go. when i applied, i told myself that if the door opens, then i'm going to take it, but it wasn't something that i totally felt convicted of...but at urbana, He not only gave me peace and conviction about getting this degree in public health, He gave me opportunities to speak to representatives of missions organizations and see that there really are ways i can use my degree to get out there...though i don't think i've been given any more details about the future, He reassured me that this path is practically feasible...
each general session included praise, a skit or two, video clips, a message, a testimony, and a time of prayer. and it all centered on missions...the challenge to live with a missions mindset, to go out and serve people of other cultures, to forsake all else for the kingdom. each session reminded me to the life that we are called to live, and there were many stories of inspiration and motivation. they also caused me to examine myself, and i had to address issues that i usually ignored and pushed aside in the busyness of everyday life. i think God allowed me to see certain things about myself and my life with more clarity. that, added with the inspirational testimonies and the confirmation of my being in the right place right now, has caused me to regain some focus and drive...something that i feel has been lacking for a long time.
it's weird 'cuz coming back from urbana and facing the reality of the day-to-day again...it's been a bit hard, but there's this underlying sense of purpose that wasn't there before. not that i'm so much more purposeful and focused now...it's a process...but through God's grace, i hope that i will live each day with a greater vision for His kingdom.
i wish i could go through each day and tell you what i learned, but writing it in my words would be a real snoozer (more so than usual), so i want to encourage you guys to watch some of the sessions on-line. they have webcasts of all the messages and testimonies at www.urbana.org.
a few of my favorites:

- Luke 7-8 with song and poetry (dec. 29 morning)
- called to evangelism by john teter (dec. 29 morning
- bible exposition by david zac niringiye (dec. 30 morning)
- sung scripture (dec. 31 morning)
- doing mission as the family of God by alex gee (dec. 31 evening)

and of course, the highlight of every session was the announcements by our emcee, greg jao. (if you truly have nothing better to do, check 'em out...i won't tell anyone)
i hope that you guys are blessed...may we live each day with a clear and present vision of His kingdom...