Hello lovely people!
I can’t say how coherent or organized this blog post will be because trying to make my whole life fit into 65 liters and weigh less than 40 pounds, and writing 20+ cards today fried my brain.
Launch is tomorrow. Tomorrow I leave California for a year. Tomorrow I’m reunited with my squad and my team. Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow!
I’ve said goodbye to everyone except for my parents. That will be done tomorrow morning at the airport. Saying goodbye is never fun, but I’ve realized that when I’m saying goodbye, I’m not choking back tears because I’ll miss him or her, I’m completely overwhelmed by their love for me and my love for them. I’m overwhelmed by the fact that I have such wonderful and supportive people in my life.
The biggest thing that’s happened since I’ve last blogged is….I AM NOW FULLY FUNDED!!! I started out the week $92 shy of reaching my last goal and two days ago I received a $100 check from one of my mother’s prayer group friends – a woman I’ve never even met! The craziest thing about making my deadline four months early is that raising support was the thing that terrified me the most about The World Race. Sleeping on the floor and using less than ideal to no bathrooms seemed like a piece of cake in comparison to raising $17,000. I’ll probably blog more on this later. God is so good.
How you can be praying for me
Health – I’ve been sick on and off since training camp since it’s cold season and I have a not-so-strong immune system. I’m currently recovering from a cough. Pray that my squad and I would be physically well so we can actively serve. I know getting sick is inevitable on the race so pray that when we do get sick that we would remain positive and not bring others down with damp spirits.
Anxiety – This is such a complex topic, and anxiety manifests itself in many ways but for now I’ll just say this. Lately I’ve been stressing out about small decisions because I think that somehow one little decision is what’s going to keep something bad from happing. For example, yesterday I was stressing about what bug spray to get, like only picking the “right” bug spray would save me from getting a deadly virus. Pray I would remember that my life is in the hands of the Lord and I need to surrender control to him.
Another anxiety related thing I’ve struggled with for most of my life is the fear that something will go wrong. Like when things are going really well, I’m afraid that something bad will happen. “The Lord taketh away.” Even though launch is tomorrow I’m still scared that something is going to happen to keep me from going on the race. In theory, I know this is silly because God has given me so many yes’s that this is what I’m supposed to be doing. Please pray that the enemy would not steal my joy and that I would continue to trust the Lord’s plan (to prosper and not to harm me).
India – I am going to be in India by the end of the week and I’m so so so so so excited. There’s this really cool resource that our squad mentor showed us called Prayercast and it tells you how you can be praying for every country in the world. Here is the link: http://prayercast.com/india.html. It also has the time, current news and quick facts. The part that got me was the religion statistic. Christians in India make up less than 2% of the population. India is where my squad is supposed to be.
All right. I have to check my packing list and then try to get some sleep.
Tomorrow.
