I’m sitting here in Istanbul, Turkey frantically trying to write a blog. You see, for 2 weeks starting in the morning we will be without any sort of technology. We will be diving head first into what God has in store for us here in Turkey without the distractions that iPods, computers and movies bring.
I have started and deleted so many blog posts…posts about growth, posts about wanting to be an encourager, posts about how dear my Grandma Lynn is to me, posts about how thankful I am to have such a supportive family…but none of these posts seem to really say what I need to say in this moment, not like I really know what that is.
On Thanksgiving Day our female squad leader and one of my closest friends on the race, Caroline, left to head home. Her 4 months of leading us from the field were up and it was time for her to go back to the States. I didn’t realize how much this was going to affect me. 4 months with this girl has turned her into my sister…someone who will be in my life forever…and now she is leaving me to go back to “normal life”. In that moment it finally hit me that this whole thing is going to end. In 7 months we will be the ones going home. In 7 months this adventure with Jesus will come to a close. In 7 months the chapters of this part of my life will be written. And those 7 months are going to fly by quicker than any of us can imagine. As sad as it was to see Caroline leave it made me realize how much I need to take advantage of where I am. Every day God is giving me this opportunity to learn more about him, to show his love to his children and to become the woman of God that he wants me to be. Am I going to take advantage of that? Am I going to press in even on those days that I “just don’t really feel like it”? I hope and pray that these answers are yes. I hope and pray that when it is MY turn to go home that people tell me that just by looking at me they see Jesus. That by being around me they can feel God’s love. That by being around me encourages them.
And so, this is my heart…
I hope everyone is getting into the Christmas season…after all, it’s my favorite! Love you all so much.
