I'm out.

Well tomorrow is the big day...actually it's after midnight, so TODAY is the big day! I will say goodbye to the USA for 2 years and take this adventure overseas...finally! While part of me feels like this all happened so fast, most of me feels like I've been waiting for this my whole life. I am definitely feeling the weight of this responsibility and privilege, but I know that my absolute, very first, number one, top priority every single day is to simply cling to the One who called me to do this. A good friend of mine...we'll call her Emsy-Pants...shared a good word with me the other day in a card and I've been kind of latched on to it ever since:

I Thessalonians 5:24

"The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."

So. As I'm finishing up my packing, weighing bags, double-checking documents, and wondering what in the world my new home will be like, I am comforted immensely by that simple sentence found in Paul's letter to the Thessalonian church. And last week, another good friend...we'll call her Kristin...also reminded me that He's got it under control with this verse:

Ephesians 2:10

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

which God prepared in advance for us to do."

It blows my mind a little bit to think about how He's already been at work...in me and in the people He's sending me to. He knows what's going to happen. He knows the best strategy. Again, all I've got to do is cling to Him and obey.

It has been a HUGE encouragement to know that many of you are praying for me...please continue to do so! Pray that I make it to Africa (via Atlanta & Paris) without any major snags. And pray that my first few days (and the rest of my days) are not so crazy that I neglect my first priority. The next time I write will be from the desert!!!!