The anticipation, anxiousness and wait is over! Tomorrow I’m leaving for the World Race! Well kinda…I’ll first be in Atlanta, Georgia for what’s known as “Launch” which is a few extra days of training and saying goodbye to parents. So I’ll officially be in Guatemala on October 10th!
While I am more than ready to go, this last week home was more difficult than I thought it would be. It started off with the awful tragedy of the Las Vegas shooting. I spent most of my Monday glued to the TV finding it hard to do anything else that day. Despite feelings of sadness, shock, anger, and confusion, I find peace in knowing God is still sovereign and in Him there is no fear for He has overcome the grave.
Then came all of the goodbyes.
As a strong, independent and fairly unemotional person, I’m actually nonchalant when it comes to saying goodbyes. Besides, I’m only gone for 11 months and thanks to technology I can communicate and stay in touch with home just about anywhere in the world.
I felt so loved and supported by my family and friends. They all made special efforts to send me off!
On Monday night, my family set up a surprise send-off party with some of my relatives. It was a wonderful, memorable night as they laid hands on me and prayed over me and my mission trip. They even wrote handwritten letters that I saved so I can read them on the WR whenever I need a pick-me-up!
I had a few lunch dates with friends and family and FaceTime/prayer dates with my sisters, nephews and nieces (if you count Baby Cuevas!)
But I also had to say what’s probably my last goodbye to my Grandpa Miller. He has been declining rapidly both physically and mentally (he has Alzheimer’s) ever since my grandma passed away in April, so it actually was a sad, hard and tearful goodbye for me.
I’m ready for the goodbyes to be over and to start saying HELLO (or rather Hola, Helo, Hai, Selamat petang, Sàwàtdee kráp etc)to new places, new cultures, and new people!
Let the Race begin!
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” – Hebrews 12:1
