A couple of weeks ago, I said goodbye to my brother and his family. Last week, I said goodbye to my brother and his wife. Two days ago, I said goodbye to my parents.
Goodbyes are really hard. Truthfully though, these goodbye haven’t hit me yet. It hasn’t hit me that I won’t see these people for an entire year.
But this goodbye comes with the sweetest hello.
My parents came to Atlanta with me for a few days of their own training. While I don’t know fully what they discussed, they both kept telling me how remarkable they think this journey is going to be. So for all you parents out there deciding whether or not to go to parent launch, go!
I arrived at training camp with my pack weighing 51 lbs, just barely over that 50 lb airline limit. So you can imagine the stress of deciding what to cut in the hotel room just days before I leave. Today I got to the airport and I had already dropped 4 lbs in my pack! More to be dropped later.
I’m ready. I’m ready to go, to be uncomfortable, and to grow. I’m ready to be called into greatness by my community. To discover the things I need to change in myself to become the best me I can be. I’m ready to become more and more like Jesus.
My entire squad is on fire for what is to come. We are so ready to hop on this airplane and get to Eastern Europe. There is so much we are going to experience this year – more than we can even begin to imagine. God has given us an opportunity and we are embracing it with everything we have.
The hearts of this squad are remarkable. They don’t crave their earthly possessions. They crave the opportunity to reach the men and women all over the world, to give up their comforts and serve others. They inspire me.
We fly out today, September 9th. From Atlanta to Chicago, from Chicago to Istanbul, and finally arriving in Serbia the evening of September 10th.
What a beautiful birthday gift. This year, on my 24th birthday, Y squad lands in Serbia. This year, on my 24th birthday, begins the most anticipated journey. This year, my birthday represents so much more than just turning another year older. It represents the beginning, the unknown, and complete trust and dependence.
Here we are, sitting at the airport in Atlanta. These are the people I get to do life with this year.
This will be my last post stateside, my final farewell. So before I head out, I would like to thank everyone who has supported me, prayed for me, and encouraged me. I wouldn’t be here without you and I am so incredibly blessed to have you in my life.
I have raised 79% of my goal and I am just a few thousand dollars away from being fully funded! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Our squad has decided that we will only be spending an hour a week using wifi so communication will be sparse, but don’t worry – I will respond! And I will blog, as often as possible.
This week, we found out that we have another route change. Instead of going to Japan in February, we will be staying in Africa, going to Lesotho instead. This means we will spend three months in Europe, three months in Africa, and five months in Southeast Asia.
The current updated route is the following:
Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Lesotho, The Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
What a dream. Thank you so much for reading along with me!
*If anyone else would like to order a shirt that didn’t get to before (you can see them in my old blog post here), email my mom at [email protected] and she will take care of it for you.
