halfway there....

Well I am really suprised that the hotel im in right now has wifi. We are staying the night in Addis Ababa courtesy of the airlines. Its 12:30 am here at the moment and 5:30 pm on the right coast. That was really long and cramped(space and people) flight. I brought things to work on and read during it but spent most of the time trying to sleep just to pass the time. Tomorrow we are flying to Kigali and taking a 6 hour van ride to the border where we will be staying in another hotel until the next morning when the border opens up. Clay's bag is missing and hoping to get it in the morning. We are hoping things get smoother once we finally get there. We are already trying to make adjustments to what we are going to be teaching. Need to go to bed though cause we are leaving here at 6:30.

the night before we leave.....

In a couple of hours I will begin the traveling part of the mission. Including layovers, we will be traveling for about two days to get there. I am looking forwards to this. Everything is starting to settle in: Traveling across the atlantic, whole new country and way of life. Its excitement and worry all at the same time. God will take care of us. I am ready, just a lot of wow factor with it. God has been ready! This past week has been great just receiving a lot of encouragements from my friends and family. God worked out this flight cancellation a long time ago and now I am beginning to see why He is doing these things. I had someone give me $20 saying "lunch in DC is on me" when at the time, we weren't suppose to be having lunch there because the flight hadnt been canceled yet. God is good! Erin is sick, but she saw the doctor and is still going. Please pray for her. Just gotta finish my in flight entertainment preparations now.

God says "wait"

Well the past 24 hours has been interesting. I was praying last night and told God that I was ready for this mission. It came out with confidence that wasn't from me. I find out today as I am getting ready for work that our flight from Ethopia to Kigali was canceled and now we will not be flying out until wednesday and are losing about 2 days from the mission. Although this helps me take care of somethings here, I am still upset about losing time on the mission. This is why we have to be flexible with our schedule, I just didn't realize our flight would get canceled. God is telling me that even though I think I am ready He has other plans. I pray that I can continue to let go of my frustration as God continues to prepare our hearts and the hearts of those who will be recieving us.

getting closer...

Well it turns out its just an ulcer on my tonsil. They are running tests on it to make sure it isn't anything but they went ahead and put me on antibiotics just to be safe. Either way I'm covered. Surrender is still my aim for preparation. The unknown keeps causing me to build expectations that I need to continue to drop as soon as they begin. I do not want to set myself up for disaster. Each day is a new level of readiness for me to achieve. Its funny I keep asking my other team members if they are ready when I am still getting ready myself. I believe we will all be ready on monday. I ask that you pray for us in our preparations. the spiritual attacks are coming daily and in order to overcome them we must submit ourselves before God to a whole new degree. I pray that our pride does not become our fall.

one week before we say bye

Its been interesting the past few days. Everyone keeps asking me about if I have a lot on my mind about the mission. Well I do but its not consuming my thoughts, I just want to do everything that I can to be ready for it. Also there are a lot of spiritual attacks that keep hitting me so that can take my mind off of preparation from time to time. Either way God still has a plan for me here while before I leave. Its nice getting to hang out with some of the guys from small group when I can. Also doing a lot of reading to help keep my mind at bay. Its also helping me get ready for the topic im teaching on the mission. It keeps my mind fresh. Im enjoying seeing the final pieces fall into place just before we leave. My only concern is that I have had a sore throat for about 5 days now only on one side. Its not too bad just concerns me. I am going to the doctor tomorrow. I have been drinking a lot of fluids and taking medicine but no real changes in my condition, although its the only symptom I have. I will keep you updated as the week progresses. I hope it goes by quickly.

Less than two weeks!

This semester is finally over. I have so much free time right now its a bit overwhelming to think about. I am doing my best to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and the direction He is taking me in my final preparations for the mission. I am definitely excited to go, just need to be patient because as much as I am ready to be there, I am still here. This time now is God's time. May I learn from Him and for Him!

16 DAYS!

Well as crazy as it sound in 16 days I will be flying over the Atlantic Pond! Today was the last meeting before the mission and it was good to get an idea of where we will be going will ALL of the material we will be teaching. Since I am taking my moms netbook with me, I may make a couple of video blogs but I am not counting on internet access at all so if they don't get posted over there I will post them when we get back. As we are getting closer to leaving I have noticed that there has been a lot of spiritual attacks on each of the team members including myself trying to keep us from pursuing the mission. Whether its something with our families or health issues or both, the adversary is trying to use whatever he can to keep us from going and being effective tools of God. I pray and ask that you pray that we all stay focused on what God has in store for us as well as the people of Congo. Including the part of my life in my testimony has significantly changed the weight of that event in my life. I see how it has affected my decisions up until recent years and I am glad that I listened to God and included it. I cannot wait to go!