Here I Go!!!!

AHH!  This is it!!!  Today is the day!!!
I'm leaving the country and heading to Slovakia to spend my summer as an intern with Josiah Venture.  Am I packed?  Nope.  Am I ready?  Not really.  Am I excited?  OH YES!!!
Usually days that I leave the country are filled with this strange emotion, part excitement, part dread, part anxiety, part euphoria.  It's strange to have so many different feelings all in one body - especially since they are all so extremely different.  Today is really no different.  I cannot wait to set foot in Europe and feel like I'm "home" again.  But, as always, I'm sad to leave my parents and friends - albeit only for three months this time... not ten.
This has been making me think a lot about missionaries.  They pack up and leave for extended periods of time - usually with little to no direction and just faith in Him to guide them.  They leave familiarity and comfort for a life of ambiguity and obstacles.  So, why do it?  I think my friend said it best when we were talking about this upcoming trip.  We definitely could have NOT been interns - saved quite a bit of time and money (your money too!), didn't have to go through training, didn't need to leave our family and friends for a summer ... life would have seemed so easy!!!  Then she said, "Has God called me to have an easy life? Did disciples have easy lives? Heck NO! I need to step forward in faith!"  BOOM.  If that wasn't exactly what I needed to hear, then I don't know what was.  So, there you have it.  These next three months will be just a taste of what missionaries do with their lives.  Their sacrifices.  If you would, please take a minute now to pray for the missionaries on the field - their lives, the lives they are touching, their families and friends.  Pray for peace and comfort and their safety.  Now, please pray for each and every person they are witnessing to - that their hearts will be softened and their lives will be transformed through the awesome power of our Father.

Okay - so I know I promised more about JV - but I guess I didn't get to that.  I will... soon.

Until then,
xx