Packing

My first discovery for this trip is that it is very hard to pack light when you realize you are going to be gone for a month and a half. Africa and Europe call for very different clothing. But by the grace of god, I am packed in ONE suitcase and my donations fit perfectly into my europe backpack. I am ready to go.

Leaving for this long is starting to scare me. Leaving my family, my friends, and my bed is clearing out a lot of room for God to stretch me this summer. I never realized how attached I have become to the possessions around me. Trying to fit everything I may possibly need on this trip in one suitcase has made me stop and think. I am complaining about not having enough, when I am leaving behind an entire room full of more clothes and books and movies. None of it really important. But the influence it has in my life scares me a little bit. I have become too comfortable with having everything I need right in front of me whenever I need it. I am traveling to a country where fashion does not exist and homes are three times smaller than mine with a family twice as big. I am going to work with kids that have seen more devastation in one lifetime than I ever will. Lord, as I clear out my suitcase for the third time and attempt to repack it will you call out those areas of my heart that are not lining up with you? Because I am ready for a change in perspective, to be taken out of an environment I am comfortable in, and to follow you across the world.

If your presence does not go with me Lord, than I do not want to go at all ~~ Exodus 33:15

Prayer Requests: I leave in 7 days. I need prayer for strength and safe travels for my team. Prayers that I will surrender everything to the feet of Jesus and let him lead this summer. And that I will give myself fully to the work of the Lord within me and through me this summer.

God Bless You, wherever you may be!