It's Now Time for the Good-byes.

Tyler has 2-3 years worth of records.... supporters, contact information, actions for raising support, etc. I have my own files. I am pleased to announce that all records have been combined and formatted! Phew! That was quite the job within itself!

Now it's on to the harder parts of leaving for Germany - saying good-byes. Our Christmas cards have arrived. Here's a preview:

Merry Christmas!

So we're sending out cards thanking everyone for their love and support and to let them know we're leaving. I have a dinner tonight at Fellini's, one last chance to hangout with all my freshmen from CCF. Tuesday night Tyler and I have a dinner/hangout at Manuel's with anyone and everyone who wants to swing in and say goodbye. (Do come! It's from 8-10:30pm)

Leaving for Germany is bittersweet. I went to CCF Wednesday night for Cafe, a chill version of Bible Study. I sat in that room and I realized how much has happened in there, how many friendships have been made, how many people have poured into me. That room is full of love, God's love. It's a thing of beauty. It's hard to leave that. A lot of work has gone into building relationships, learning a lot about God and teaching what little I know about God.

I saw a freshmen there Wednesday night that I hung out with a bit during my intern year, but he rarely came around CCF. I saw him after Cafe and he said in a joking manner, "Yeah, now that you're gone, I come around all the time." He then told me it was because of me that he comes around now. It's incredible and awesome, but I have this desire deep inside me to still want to be there...

I know God is beautiful and wonderful and works in crazy ways. I'm glad this particular "freshman" (now sophomore) comes to CCF and has found an awesome community there. I'm sad that I'm not a part of the current story. But it's a part of saying good-bye. My only hope is that I'll find this in Germany. The work will be much harder and more strenuous as I will be in a new culture and learning a new language, but I know students there need to desperately know God's love. I have faith and hope that God will use me there, too. In the meantime, I'm soaking up and enjoying my last three weeks in the good 'ole south.

My freshmen celebrating my wedding with me!

Courtesy of Tom Smarch

Support Raising - Here I come! Well, almost.

Dang. It's been more than a month since I've written anything. So sorry. That last month before the wedding really took up all my time. But it was worth it. I am now married to an incredible man, and well, we had a pretty amazing wedding. Here's one of the many great pictures:

Now that the wedding is done and over, all my attention can now be focused on support raising and getting to Germany. Almost. This week Tyler and I are in Boston visiting the campus ministry at MIT and surrounding schools. We're stoked to be here. More on this later when things actually happen - we just landed today.

We fly back to Atlanta on Friday only to turn around and fly back out on Saturday for Mexico for our honeymoon! Woo-Hoo! Then there's Thanksgiving. So life is taking off fast as newlyweds, but we embrace it with open arms. We're excited for the adventures ahead.

A Week of Mourning

This week has been a week of loss. A week of mourning. A week of a broken heart.

As I write, this could come across as light-hearted and maybe a little sarcastic - but know my heart is truly sad.

Monday, Shady the Tree fell. The beloved, HUMONGOUS oak tree that stood tall and proud outside CCF came to her death. There are many many memories of sitting in her shade while holding small groups, having amazing conversations, laughing, and just enjoying life as Christ's love was shared. There are those bitter memories too - those beautiful fall days while holding a small group, Shady would pelt acorns at those under her branches. It was all you could do not to get stung by those massive, fast as lightening acorns. She was beautiful. She gave CCF character.

Shady was strong though. And she fell when she wanted. She wouldn't have this "being put down" business. See, Tuesday she was scheduled to be brought down by skilled tree men, a giant crane, and $7,000+. No way would she have it. So she fell Monday. Granted, a bit of golf-sized hail, high winds and a hard rain helped Shady out a bit - but still - she would not have "being put down."

You can see Shady here. But beware. The images you are about to view are graphic and may not be suitable for children or people with weak stomaches.

As if losing Shady wasn't hard enough, not more than 30 minutes ago, I received even more bad news. Mighty Joe Espresso, the best coffee shop in the world, will see his last day this Sunday. Mighty Joe Espresso is closing. MJE is not just a coffee shop. It is the modern day Cheers.

"Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.

Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.

Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name,

and they're always glad you came.

You wanna be where you can see,

our troubles are all the same.

You wanna be where everybody knows your name.

You wanna go where people know,

people are all the same,

You wanna go where everybody knows your name."

It's true. If MJE had a theme song, it would be Cheers' theme song.

David, Ella, Eva, Tyler and Me the day Tyler left for Germany is May 2009.

MJE was given a verbal commitment that the next 6 months of rent would be X dollars. So Richard, the owner, sent to corporate a check for X dollars. Corporate came back and said, "We are not cashing your check. You owe us X dollars + $500 more." This came very unexpectedly. Tyler and I walked into MJE today, our second home and our Support Raising Office, to do some work when we received the news.

This week I have lost a truly magnificent tree, yummy coffee, an office, a hangout place and true friends. Sad day.

Marriage and Firearms

So - This might not have a thing to do with Support Raising or Germany, but it's too good not to share with you all. With only five weeks until the big W day, I thought I should do my research for acquiring a marriage license. Upon googling 'Marriage License Georgia' and trying to find an actual, official Georgia website (and not a wedding website such as TheKnot), I come across www.gaprobate.org. Wonderful. Seems legit, right? Legit, yes. Wonderful, not so much. I think I'm having second thoughts about getting hitched.

Here's what I found:

Marriage and Firearm Licenses are on the exact same page! If you scroll down that website, as soon as you finish reading the requirements to attain a marriage license, you start reading about how to attain a firearm license! Is there something wrong with this picture? Do the two go hand in hand? Gosh, I sure hope not. After I finished laughing for a good 2 minutes, I decided I should share this little gem with you.

Monthly Newsletter Sign-Up

This past Thursday evening, I got back home from a long week in Indianapolis, IN - Headquarters for CMF International. It was a great week. The team that lead the training were well equipped, gave excellent advice and were highly encouraging. I left ready to grab the support-raising-bull by the horns and take off. Too bad there's a wedding in the way that demands so much of my attention!

Since then, Tyler has been playing around with a new e-mailable newsletter. Thanks to MailChimp we have a great newsletter template to email you monthly updates of our progress in support raising and then all the wonderful stories we'll have when we finally get on the field! But first, SIGN UP for our newsletter! Don't be out of the loop!

We look forward to updating you :)

Getting to Know the Team - Or at Least Me

In an effort to introduce the entire Germany team to everyone's supporters, a 'team newsletter' is being sent out. I received an email from our wonderful team leader asking us a series of questions. Mind you, Beth's and Chris's and Stef's and Pam's and Nathan's supporters - more or less - have absolutely no idea who I am (or so I imagine). I like to think Tyler's supporters have some idea of who I am....

I thought I'd share with you my answers. This certainly defines who I am and you should feel like you've known me for years. Welcome, best friend. Enjoy.

Full Name: Shalynn Stacey Smith

Hometown: Moore, SC

Favorite German Word: das Murmeltier... which means groundhog. It's actually just a really fun word to say

das Murmeltier

Mac or PC: Mac going on 4 years now... 3rd best decision I ever made in life

Why campus ministry? Well, it's not rocket science - and I should know. I studied Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech and hated it. I'm a Jesus lover and a people person. I've come to realize all I know how to do in life is love people - but so many people desperately need it. College is such an impressionable time in one's life; I don't know where I'd be today if I didn't have someone push me, challenge me and make Jesus real to me when I was in college. In short, I know a love so great and beautiful that it must be shared.

Experimental Support Raising

SRT, Support Raising Training, begins in 5 days. I must read People Raising for homework. (Don't read it unless you have to!) They give examples of several 'philosophies' in ways to raise support...

• Pray alone. Only God should know your needs.
• Pray and give information about your work, but don't solicit.
• Pray, give full information, and solicit.

Then they go on to talk about extremes. Pope Clement VI threatened to excommunicate anyone who failed to give. Oral Roberts claimed that God would take his life if a specific amount of money wasn't raised by a certain date. So since I don't have the power to excommunicate anyone, I think I might try for option zwei (that's 'two' in German).

I will die by January 31, 2011 if enough money has not be raised for me and Tyler to be cleared to move to Germany.

You can give here. Thanks.

Falcons Training + Support Raising Advice

Kami and I watching the Falcons train for this upcoming season.

Kami Burns, one of my bridesmaids and campus minister to Mexico, was in the states two weeks ago. The Falcons were training up in Flowery Branch, so we thought we'd make the drive to sit in the blazing sun and watch them get ready for the season. Not only was our time spent together loads of fun and encouraging, but I got some great advice from a fellow Globalscoper.

I picked her brain about how she approaches friends, families and churches in her quest to stay in Mexico. She raised support in a down economy quite quickly and was a great person to seek advice from. Who says you can't have fun while working? This was our office that day:

Our office for the day.

In other news, I'm attending Support Raising Training in September with CMF. They'll teach me how to professionally ask, "Can I have your money to go to Germany? Please." One assignment is that I must read People Raising. Here is a little blurb from the preface:

"My goal in writing is to help the prospective or veteran missionary

and mission organization to raise the prayer and financial support

necessary for survival . . . in as short a time as possible."

Did you catch that last part? In as short a time as possible. Hopefully this holds true. People, the numbers are in. In addition to the support Tyler and I have already raised, we must raise $5,000/month by January in order to move to Germany by then. Unterwegs needs the hands and we want to be those hands!

The Journey Has Begun

Life as an intern at Christian Campus Fellowship has ended. Tyler is now state side. Tuesdays - Thursdays I'm working as a market manager for Atlanta Energy Concepts until I start taking salary with Christian Missionary Fellowship. Fridays - Mondays are for support raising and wedding planning. Life is rather unstructured compared to interning.

Today was productive. I wrote thank you letters, followed up with a few verbal commitments and have set up this blog. My purpose of this blog is to keep you, my supporter, updated and use this as an Accountabilibuddy. I want you to know my progress! It's also easy to be distracted with summer at it's high, fun hangouts with friends and working where you live.... so this is just one action to make sure I stay on track.

If you ever have questions about Germany, never hesitate to contact me! And I'm sure I'll be in contact with you soon.... so keep an eye out on the horizon, or at least to your snail-mailbox.

Working hard at Mighty Joe Espresso writing letters,

thank you cards AND putting my wonderful Mac to use.