T-Minus 7 days!!

One week, seven days, 168 hours, 10,080 minutes or 604,800 seconds. . . . anyway you look at it, I don't have long before I board a plane and head south for six months! It's funny how over the past week or so, I've had this feeling of,
"Oh my gosh, this is happening SO fast!". . .then I think about it and remember that I've been pursuing this for almost 2 straight years now! I guess it's not quite as fast as it feels! ;-)
What I have been blown away by these last few weeks is just how faithful and amazing God has been to me. That sounds funny, I know. He always shows Himself faithful and amazing so why would that blow me away? The only answer I can come up with is. . . . I'm sinful and human and I forget really easily. God has provided time and time again in these last few weeks, through friends, through supporters, through new and renewed bonds and relationships. He's even showed off a little by supplying some very unexpected but much appreciated "extras" (thanks JL and AL!).
It's been a great reminder that all of this has very little to do with me and EVERYTHING to do with Him, so thank you to everyone who has supported, encouraged, loved and prayed for me these last few weeks! You all mean more to me than I could ever express or show and I look forward to continuing on this journey with you and keeping you updated on all the amazing things that I am confident He will continue to do in Bolivia! My prayer as I leave is an echo of the words in James 2:18 "But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds.' Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds." Praying that my deeds will always be a reflection of my faith, and that my faith will always bring glory to the one and only God.
See ya on the other side!!

Going without Knowing!

Today in my devotion time I read something that brought such comfort and peace, I knew I had to share! As I get closer and closer to my departure date (February 7th as of today!!! Watch out Bolivia I'm on my way!!) I keep hearing the same questions from people around me. . . don't get me wrong, they are good questions, accounatable questions but questions that send me into a mini panick as I start thinking about what the "right" answer should be. The one that for whatever reason I have struggled with the most is "What do you expect to do?". . . . I just never thought "I have no idea" was a very good response. . . until today! This was what I read today, "You do not know what you are going to do; the only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing. Continually revise your attitude towards God and see if it is going out of everything, trusting in God entirely. It's this attitude that keeps you in perpertual wonder - you do not know what God is going to do next." WOW! This put a peace in my spirit that calmed all those panicks. As I began to meditate on that and look at the 31 years that lead to today, and more recently the 2 very focused years that lead to this journey, I began to see just how intentional He has been in trying to show me time and time again, that He knows what He is doing and that just because I don't always see the whole picture, my obedience to His voice accomplishes His will. It's overwhelming and humbling to be where I am, to be loved by the Creator of all I see and to be called out for His purpose. My prayer is that I never lose sight of the reality that He knows His plan and that I don't need to. Excited to see what plans He has waiting for me on the ground in Bolivia, excited to be going without knowing!!!