Well, I just got my support-raising officially full-out "rolling". 
It took me a while to write the letter, make copies, make a booklet, get addresses, send some, etc. But now I'm calling and meeting with peeps! I had been anticipating the January 2014 World Race routes to come out because I was considering leaving in January instead of July, and actually they have a route with 11 Spanish-speaking countries which was really intriguing to me, but in the end, I decided to stay with my July route.
Last night, I was feeling really humbled by God and how He's blessed me. As I was praying, I started thinking about seriously how blessed I am- just with my amazing family and amazing friends, and I started crying a bit! It was a nice experience. And I was crying a bit a couple of weeks ago just thinking about how much I'm going to miss everyone. Even though it's just 11 months, it IS 11 months if that makes sense. I usually don't cry like that, but I think this is just a foreshadow of how this trip will be for me emotionally. I've already had people be so supportive and gracious to me. So it's nice. I like writing letters, talking on phone in general, and meeting with peeps too, so that's good.
It is a big task to raise all this support. It's kinda a lot more work than you'd think. I really have a lot of confidence that God can provide though. I'm trusting God in this experience. I'm trying to pray a lot during this time about the support, preparation, and for the people that I will meet. I ask that Christ be glorified and that His name be HIGH and LIFTED UP thoughout everything. I actually found out that I need all the money raised a lot sooner than I thought I did, which is a little concerning, but I think it'll still be just fine. I'm gonna be really busy I think for the next couple of months I think. But maybe God can help the support come in soon, so I don't have to support-raise that long! ha. But I know that I grow a lot during the trials, so either way. I have a lot more empathy for guys who have to call up girls for dates because I feel like that's what I'm doing when I call up people for support. HA! Also, I've already been realizing how hard it is to fit schedules together and just trying to find times/places to meet. I'm just at the beginning of support raising, but I'm interested to see what happens and how it all goes. Buuut yeah that's about it for now. Fellow reader 
, I pray that you are filled with His Holy Spirit and know and feel His love, truth, freedom, and grace. Here is a cool verse about giving: "Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done." -Proverbs 19:17. Here is another verse that kinda applies to support-raising for me: "And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." -Jesus
