The Count Down Begins

It is now July 5th, 2005, 38 days left until I make the big voyage overseas. I now have a departure date which has created an interesting twist in the conversations that I have about the mission trip. This is generally how they go:
Person: "Oh, your going on a mission trip!?"
Me: "Yep."
Person: "Where to?"
Me: "Macau, China."
Person: "When do you leave?"
Me: "Sometime in August...I think."

Now, I find myself with a very firm date, August 12th. And so each time I tell someone the exact date I will be leaving, I am struck with the reality that the day is closing in. With each day that passes I realize that I have one less day to laze around MY house, to sit and talk with my mother and father, and to dance and sing with my best friend. One less day to say good-bye to everyone. I know that I may be seem a bit melodramatic, I mean I am only going to be gone for a year, right? And, while on one end of the spectrum a year is such a small span of time, on the other end comes the understanding that in one second lives can be changed irrevocably.

I don't really understand why the Lord has chosen me to travel to Southeast Asia (that is about as far from Arkansas as a gal can get) in order to share the news of Christ with the people there, but I do know the Lord has a plan that is far beyond the scope of my understanding. "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!!" (Romans 11:33). This mission trip has definitely been a path the Lord has led me down, a path that I in no way could foresee. As I realize the enormity of the task the Lord has placed before each of us, to be the love of Christ to the world, I gain a greater clarity of how unworthy I am of such a task. Once again, I am humbled to be given the blessing of sharing Christ's love and mercy with others. Praise the Lord!!

As you may be able to discern from the above ramblings, I have very mixed emotions regarding the mission trip. I am awed and excited that the Lord would allow me to be his messenger in a foreign country. Contradictory to those emotions, I am sad that I will have to leave behind many people that I love and scared that maybe I won't be able to do this. And so as it draws closer to the time to say good-bye to everyone, I am at a loss for words. What do I say other than good-bye and I love you!?

Lord, thank you for the grace and mercy you give to each of us everyday! Please be our strength where we are weak, our courage when we are scared, the words we need to share your Gospel, and the love we need to show a dark world. Please be our life always, for we can do nothing apart from you. Amen.