#3-oh

First off, I just got back from a two week trip to Montana with my girlfriend and her family. We went and climbed as high up Granite Peak as we could. It was amazing. We spent 7 days in the area going to different waterfalls and such. I would show you pictures, but I do not have acess to the ones we took right now, and we were in such a secluded area, I can't find any pictures of the place online! In the end, we walked about 34 miles. Let me tell you though, after this trip...I am 100% more convinced about what I said about the importance of geography and its influence on culture in my last blog (#2). I have never seen mountains before...and after seeing them, suddenly everything I have ever learned about them and the areas effected by them made so much more sense. After Granite mountain, we went to Yellowstone. After Yellowstone, then to Missoula,MT, to visit our great friend Micah. It was amazing. I had yellow-cake flavored ice cream at an amazing ice cream shop (we spent at least 45 min. in line..) that tasted EXACTLY like yellow cake. My mind was blown.
Then we went to Mt.Rushmore...then to Wall Drug (because it is so amazing there....)
Then I came home.
woop.

But that is not what I want to talk about in this blog...

Today it is July 16th.
So much has happened in the past few days I have been home.
By "so much" I mean issues with my trip to Israel.

I have been a nervous wreck the past few months trying to figure out financial aid between my schools. With all the economic lameness that have arisen to light these past few years, a law was passed between last year and this year that really effected my financial aid. Last year, Northwestern gave me enough financial aid and student loans that I payed for my school by myself. Great.
This year though, a new law required that all of my financial aid loans go through my mom. Which was not good. You see, my mom is in a terrible financial situation that I won't talk about on here. But, there was no way at all my mom could take out the loans for my school. It would have been detrimental. So I am in contact with Northwestern (this has taken all summer to resolve) and I find out that my mom has to apply for my loans and have her credit denied in order for me to get my loans in my name.

What?!
Yeah. Completely lame and makes no sense at all.
So, I find myself in a bind:
1) My mom applies and just happens to have good enough credit where they do not deny her credit, and therefor, she gets stuck with loans that she cannot take out we do not have the money for. The end result of this would have been me trying to get private student loans, which is not an option because I will be in Israel and will not be able to work to pay them off...
or
2) Have my mom apply and have her credit denied, then I would get the loans in my name. Which, makes me feel terrible to think that I have to hope that my mom's financial situation is bad enough where she can't out a loan, in order for me to get my loans. How selfish can I get?...


It was a disgusting situation that I tried to ignore for a few weeks. I was very stressed out.
So, the week before I left for Montana, me and my mom filled out the paper work and I hoped (prayed, wished, cried.) that her credit would get denied.
Then I left for the wilderness for two weeks.
I found out at a hotel that my moms credit had been denied!!! Which stinks for her, but means I can go to school.
So I got my loans! Which means money, which means now I can buy my airline tickets, which means I can get my student visa, which means things will be good.

Not.
Turns out, I barely got enough financial aid to cover my tuition. I was expecting to get a couple thousand more in refunds so I could my $3,000 airline tickets.
So now I find myself in another predicament:

I need to buy my airline tickets and I have no money. My financial aid refund won't come through until I am already in school...and either way, it's only a 1/6th of what I need.

I am supposed to leave for Jerusalem in 42(?) days. I still do not have tickets and I can't get my visa until I have them.
So I am in a predicament and now am going to have to do something I did not want to do: fund raise.

Nothing feels worse then asking others for money. I could take a private student loans for tickets, but I am only going to do that as a worse case scenario...

That being said...
I am in need of two things:
1) Pray. Please pray for my attitude and my over-all life. I am in a vulnerable state to not follow God's will right now. Also pray that all this financial stuff works out the way God wants it to.
2)If you are willing at all to donate some money to help with airline tickets, that would be great.
Either join the Facebook group "James Goes To Israel" (Search it on Facebook)...
or
Email me at Jimothy2391@hotmail.com.
Let me know if you are interested in helping. I will be asking for addresses and am hoping to get some letters typed up explaining my trip and financial needs that I will mail out to within the week or so.

Also (man...doesn't end...), I am trying to decide if I am going to fly home from Dec.12th-Jan.28th (between semesters) or stay on a kibbutz.

I am leaning towards the kibbutz....but not surre yet. Staying in one would save me about $1500.

Prays are appreciated. Let me know your thoughts too...if you could live in Israel for a year, would you come home between semesters? I can't decide right now.


Loves.
-James

Post Script- For whatever reason, this verse has been standing out to me like crazy this week:

"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.
(Isaiah 51:1)

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