New Beginnings

The past few days have been filled with excitement and, if I’m honest, a little fear. As I sat through two long flights, next to people I have never met, I felt very alone. At first I was so excited! I get to leave the house for a whole year and be the boss of myself! Who doesn’t want that right?

As I looked out at the clouds and dreamed of the people I was going to meet and influence, I thought of the people I love and will miss deeply back home. In that moment I just wanted to turn around and say “God, this is so not for me, I’ll go a different time.” But I know that is not what he wants from me. He has plans so big and purposeful that I can’t even imagine. Maybe it was that guy that I couldn’t really understand sitting next to me, who kept asking what on earth I was doing going to Africa for a year. Maybe He simply just wanted to give the mom with her baby a good laugh when I tried to open a door on the plane that I THOUGHT was the bathroom, only to find that it was full of flight attendant uniforms. Maybe I just needed to hear the stories Hannah has shared with me. Or maybe it’s something completely different, and I’ll never quite catch it. But I’m not going to let Satan win. I’m not going to believe the lies he tells. I know where my help comes from. I know who breathes life into me. And I know who’s going to bring me through every moment of my time in Swazi. I KNOW Him. So here’s to the beginning of something new, fun, a little scary, and oh so real and challenging. I’m ready Jesus. Use me. Push me. And most of all, be with me.