AHH!!!!!!!!! :)

IT'S FOR REAL!!!!
I'M GOING TO EGYPT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

if you didn't get this email and want to get it please post your email address at the comment part below or shoot me an email with it in it!! (kburkey@olivet.edu)

Dearest family and friends!
I hope that this little email finds you well! I am writing you because I just found out the most amazing news ever!!! I have been accepted to study abroad next semester in the Middle East!! :) WHOO WHOO!!!
So... while my response currently is to jump up and down, yours may not be quite the same. I realize that the Middle East is a center of political, religious and economic unrest and instability, and so to put your mind a little at ease and to get you excited with me I want to tell you a little bit about the program I will be studying through. I will be studying through MESP, Middle East Studies Progam. The following is some of the information that they have provided for me thus far. I will be living in a "furnished apartment with other students in Cairo, Egypt: a crowded, user-friendly city with good, safe transportation and little violent crime. Depending on regional conditions, (and all travel plans are subject for change if deemed necessary due to safety reasons.) countries like Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, and Jordan may be visited throughout the course of the semester. MESP usually focuses on three countries including two weeks in Israel toward the end of the semester. This provides a “holy land tour” of countries with rich histories of all three Abrahamic faiths—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—as well as the various streams of faith and culture within each tradition." I will be studying Christianity, Islam and Judaism and also taking a course in Arabic (which I have already begun to try and learn). I will also be doing some Social Work directed study courses to further my major and learn more about people and social groups overseas.
As a social work student, I am very excited about the possiblity to learn about another culture and three different religions and be able to interact with Egyptians on a daily basis. There will be weekly opportunity to do missional outreach in the city, and opportunity to stay in Egyptian's homes and to travel around the area and city learning about the people of the Middle East. And as Kara Joy Burkey, I am very excited to be near pyramids and be able to ride a camel and walk the streets that Jesus walked and talk with Jews and sample Middle Eastern food and try and speak Arabic and just be in a foreign country (or two or three) meeting people and learning about my faith and the faith that others profess and believe.
So, if you haven't noticed... I am SO EXCITED!!! :-) At the same time, I am nervous and scared. I will leave the first week of January and come home the last week of April. That's a loong time... and I will miss all of you so very much!! I would love it if you would surround me with your prayers during this time of preparation to study abroad, and especially in the months of January, February, March and April. And... I just wanted to tell you so that you would know that I will be gone and let you know so that you can be excited with me as I journey across the ocean to an amazing land full of wonder, desert, camels, Middle Easterners, and Jesus.
I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
I love you all so much!! Thanks for getting excited with me and for already starting to pray with me and for me over this whole MESP!!
Have an amazing week!!
In His Mighty Firm Grip,
Your Kara Joy

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you WHEREVER you go!" -Joshua 1:8

waiting

I need words as wide as the sky
I need a language larger than this longing inside
And I need a voice bigger than mine
And I need a song to sing you that I've yet to find

I need You
I need You
To be here now
To be here now
To hear me now
To hear me now...

So I wait for You
So I wait for You

And I'm falling on my knees
Offering all of me
Jesus You're all this heart is living for

Hungry I run to you for I know You satisfy
I am empty but I know Your love does not run dry
So I wait for You
So I wait for You

And I'm falling on my knees
Offering all of me
Jesus You're all this heart is living for

Broken I run to You for Your arms are open wide
I am weary but I know Your touch restores my life
So I wait for You
So I wait for You

And I'm falling on my knees
Offering all of me
Jesus You're all this heart is living for

I need You
To be here now
To hear me now
To hear me now...
I need You


So I am just nervous. Shaky. Anxious. Excited. Scared. Impatient. FREAKING OUT!!!!
Waiting, waiting, waiting... for a word. Egypt? Or not?

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your case like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.
-Psalm 37:5-7

manville fall retreat baby! :)

so no word on egypt yet, but here's some hot pictures from the weekend at fall retreat... our first weekend traveling together!! :)
we took tim with us... it was a lot of fun.

matt and nicole and suzie... oh how i love suzie sanchez!! :)

ok this was a gross experience, thanks tyler very much you punk!! this girl brianna blew in my nose and it was just odd. and i fell off my chair and my tooth fell out... and i'm covered with germies!!! blek!! :)

the girlies!!! me, nicole and suzie :)

look i found a candy corn!!! :)


it's a singing candy corn and a pretzel! :)
we had some good times making smores...

yum... smores!! ha ha... check out my tooth. funny stuff. i was missing my glue at the moment, but no worries i found it!!

yes!!

feelin a little norah jones tingle in my toes

ever find yourself trying to think of something profound to say? i'm in a place like that right now, today. :) it's been a good day... week. i feel like there's so much that i need to do, though, that i am not doing... like clean out my inbox and reply to each and every sister and go through attendance sheets and just get organized. ...like washing my blue jeans and sheets and folding my socks. ...like writing my wonderful lima friends letters because i miss them soo much. ...like studying ahead and making notecards for statistics and hermeneutics tests coming up. ...like starting my exegesis. ...like putting more hours in at work. ...like running because i miss that. ...like the freakin' list could go on and on until my fingers are blue from writing it. ya know, i'm at this place where i've decided that life's just hard and i just can't do it all. so i'm gonna try and pick out what matters most... like those notecards and emails and laundry... and do that and then do the other things as i have time and energy. it's just hard to feel pulled in so many different directions and not know which way to go first.
on a lighter note... i've been studying moses this week... ya know, he was egyptian slash hebrew, born and grew up in egypt... which is where i find out about in less than four days!!!! i keep watching the prince of egypt. oh to see a pyramid... to be in the places that are spoken of throughout the bible. to get a taste of the ancient world intermingled with this world i know of today. i'm sooo excited to find out. how amazing it would be to GO!! :) but it's in His hands... and i'll leave it there. He knows best!!
welpers, it's off to beddybie i go... traveling with before tomorrow tomorrow! ;) ha ha. can't wait though. it's been TOOO long!
love y'all. have a happy sleep and a wonderous weekend!!!

apple pie!

dude dude dude!! so check it out... the first apple pie i've ever made in my life... and it was AMAZING!!! :) yes!! i rock. :) tonight matt, josh, amy and tyler and jonathan came over for dinner. it was phenomenal... bbq chicken, potatoes, broccoli, gramma corn, salad, oh yes and don't forget josh's favorite: cornbread!! oh, and i made sweet tea. i LOVE cooking!!! like sooo much, it's insane!! thursday i'm making holly batton's baked spaghetti pizza pie!!! i'll have to call her and tell her... oh how i miss her. almost as much as i love cooking!! :)
guess what!?! guess what!?! momma's coming to visit!!! i can't WAIT!!! it's gonna be amazing! she'll be here for homecoming!! oh i miss her and home and family. it'll be a great day! :)
this week is the week... i find out about egypt this week. pray for me if you would. i'm praying and wondering and thinking about it a LOT this week. i'm working on surrender. it's hard, ya know? we sang this song at church this weekend... it's my favorite... so i'll share it with you. it's been my aim, my goal, my prayer this week. Lord Jesus, i surrender egypt and next semester and all that goes along with that... to you. :)

i'm giving you my heart
and all that is within
i lay it all down
for the sake of you my King
i'm giving you my dreams
i'm laying down my rights
i'm giving up my pride
for the promise of new life

and i, i surrender
all to you, all to you
and i, i surrender
all to you, all to you

i'm singin' you this song
i'm waiting at the cross
and all the world holds dear
i count it all as loss
for the sake of knowing you
for the glory of your name
to know the lasting joy
even sharing in your pain

and i, i surrender
all to you, all to you
and i, i surrender
all to you, all to you

Mallory's Bridal Shower

Mallory's Getting Married!!!
this weekend was quiz fest, so Mal and Missy were here and Allison and I threw Mallory a bridal shower. it was SOOO much fun!! i made road kill and Rach made apple crisp, and Missy and Alli made a SPECTACULAR punch!! and we played some most amazing games... here's the partay with pictures laid out for you... :)

me*mallory*allison*missy

for this game... "Name that Substance" we each had a list of 15 blanks and passed around these bags i filled with substances to guess what was inside. mallory and rach tied for first... they both got 14 right!! can YOU guess what's inside? here's a better look... :)


he he he!! i rock!! :)
then we played an amazing game... there were cotton balls all over the floor, and you had to use the wooden spoon to scoop the cotton balls into the bowl... blindfolded!! :) it was sooo much fun and a lot funnier than i thought it would be!! :) here's mal...


above is amanda mavichien :)
(and missy cheering her on)

yay, scoop it alesha!! :)

ha ha... reagan killed me!! :) i was laughing SOOO hard!!

ha they caught me doing it too! :)

danielle, genesis and katie chillin on the footon! :)

ha ha... mallory opening presents. it was such a good time!! :)

mal with all the cotton balls. :) she was really funny at this game. :)
me "can you see?"
mal "are you kidding? there's a scarf on my head!"

best friends!!

me and rach!!! :)

all four of us. saying goodbyes... sad day. :(


I LOVE YOU MAL!!!!!!! AND YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED DECEMBER 15!!!!!
oh i super hope i can go!!! :) congrats girlie!! and thanks SOO much for coming and staying with us this weekend. it was an amazing time!! :) missing you already...
-kara joy

more from nashville!

so here's the pics from nashville i promised....
like i said, i got to hang out with tommy and emily one night and we went to this AMAZING little italian restaurant in nashville. then later on that night we went and met up with thad at o'charley's, his most favorite restaurant in the world. :) here's the pics tommy sent me from the night!!

here's emily, tommy, thad and me... i made some crazy faces in all these pictures!! not sure why. :)

mmm... this is the pie that emily and i shared. it was really good... really rich, but oh so excellent! :)
ha ha... here's some goofy ones!! :)



and this is emily with her bling bling... 3 dollar ring that the waitor congratulated her on, and the funny part was that tommy and emily just sat there and let him talk it up... never denied it wasn't an engagement ring!! :) ha ha... i laughed super hard.
it was soooo much fun!! can't wait to see them and hang out again... and i just LOVE emily borah. she is awesome.
welpers... gonna go study it up. have a blessed beautiful day!!
:) kara joy

BORSCH!!

so today i went to visit gramma burkey... and this is how one makes borsch!! it's really yummy. i'm going to buy a beet and a cabbage sometime soon and make myself some. :) you should try it too.

from the kitchen of gramma burkey
BORSCH!!!
shred carrots and beets together and saute with a little butter
while these are cooking, boil chicken and an onion in a pot until the chicken is nice and tender. remove chicken and onion.
chop up potatoes and put them into the chicken onion broth and bring to a boil.
during this chop up your cabbage... oh and check those beets and carrots that they don't burn... and just set them aside (press pause!)
when the potatoes are boiling add in the cabbage and bring to a boil... the soup is almost done!!
you don't want to overcook the cabbage, so turn it off when you've brought it to a boil and add the meat and other vegetables.
sprinkle fresh dill and parsley over the top, stir and enjoy!
it's really good with a spoonful of sourcream stirred down into the soup. it will warm you down to your toes... the russian way!!

:) and that, my dear friends, is how my gramma taught me to make borsch today! hope your saturday was well!!

(keep praying for gramma and the cancer as the chemo treatments begin to get more difficult.)

nashville!!! fall break!!

so last weekend we roadtriped it to nashville for fall break... it was sooo much fun!! rachel and karin's brother and sister just got married (rach's bro david and karin's sis heather) and had a baby and moved to nashville... so we went and stayed with them... it was the first time the girls had seen the baby. and amy's boyfriend chris just transferred to belmont so she stayed with him and friends all weekend and i stayed with them on friday night. it was an amazing time. i'll comment-tate as you go through the pictures... oh, and hopefully i'll get some more soon from tommy bailey... cuz, yeah... i totally got to hang out with him and his girlfriend emily this weekend and thad hawk... totally random but oh so much fun!!! i miss them and love them!!! so here we go... away with jane and joe! ;) he he.

sunglasses!!! left to right... amy, karin, rachel me!

hooray for starbucks and roadtrips!

ha ha!! friday night i went out on the town with chris and jimmy davis and amy... and this is chris and amy talking... i thought it was hillarious! still do, just so you know. :)

awe, i love my amester!

this is us at sams. it was fun!

this is rachel's brother david and baby savannah sleeping!

here's mommy heather and rach brushing savannah's hair getting her all ready for church sunday... which... by the way... AAHH!!!
so we went to peoples church, apparently it's rebecca st. james' home church and i was all disappointed cuz she had led worship last weekend... but!!! i saw her!!! she walked past us like 4 times and then sat right behind her so the whole service i could see her out of the corner of my eye and hear her laughing and whatnot. i about wet my pants. :) no, i didn't say hi... rach wanted to ask her to lunch, but i was afraid to be giddy like a crazy fan. someday though, i shall meet her and we shall have a real conversation and it shall be hot! :)
i spent a lot of time by myself, just being still and quiet, exploring nashville, driving around, going to libraries and just being. it was so amazing. i hung out with the olson's and grilled out with their neighbors and played with the cute neighbor kids, cody, kirsten and riley. they were sooo much fun!! wish i could babysit them!! :) we went shopping with heather's friend at opryland mall, and then i hung out with tommy and emily and thad and thad's friend from work saturday night. it was an amazing weekend!!

on the way home we stopped at trevecca. i wanted rach to see the waterfall/lake/fountain i'd discovered and i purchased a trevecca nazarene university hoody... i have this goal in life to get a hooded sweatshirt from all the nazarene schools (maybe even brazil or korea!!) so far i have olivet, southern and trevecca. weird, huh? i don't have a mt. vernon one!! but i will soon, i have no doubt. :)

and this is a picture of the porch swing that i am oh so jealous of that is on trevecca's campus... they have several of them, just around. and i am going to email this photo to building and grounds... wouldn't that be totally hot if olivet got some porch swings?? oh to just swing!! :)


ah yes... the way home... ame took tons of pictures of us dancing tand doing motions to my little kiddy music. enjoy... and check out my hot sweatshirt!! :)