It's Almost Time

T-minus two days to lift-off.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. So many thoughts have gone through my head and I didn't take the time to write them out. But, ya know what? I think that's probably for the better. What I mean by that is that a lot of it had to do with worry. Worrying about safety, about how I'll handle being away from my family for the longest I've ever been away from them, about getting everything in order before I go, about having misguided expectations, etc.

Today, though, I'm getting stinkin' excited. I've started to get all my clothes together. I got all my snacks tonight and some new underwear. The essentials.

Not to get all deep or anything, but...a couple weeks ago Julie and I had a great conversation that has shaped my thoughts about this trip. Before our talk, I had been reading a missions field guide and it said, “You will be the answer to someone's prayer.” I was really down on myself at the time and just felt like, “Yeah, right. Not me. There's no reason God should let that happen.” The truth is, I'm a selfish person. I hate that, but it's true. I don't want to be. Even when I'm down on myself I'm being selfish! It's all about me. Gosh...I'm a little wary of sharing this, but I think it's important. Julie pointed out that I was living in my own little bubble. Everything, bad or good, revolved around me. I needed to break out of that. See the amazing people around me and appreciate them. And believe me, I did even before we had that conversation, but I wasn't intentional about telling them so.

With that in mind, I'm still expecting this trip to be life-changing, but not just so I can blog about it. I'm going to serve. I'm going to be the answer to somebody's prayer. Not because I'm awesome or worth it, but because God has placed me where I am for a reason. I'm humbled by that. And honored.

And I'm honored that you're interested in my life. Thank you for being an answer to my prayers.