Getting Ready

I am getting closer and closer to the monthly donations I need to raise in order to purchase my ticket for overseas (I am $70/month away)! I am so excited, but it hasn't really hit me just yet! I know I am going to be leaving in the next couple of weeks but since the date isn't set I am just enjoying as much time with people who want to hang out as I can! 

I am going to Chicago next week for the TeachBeyond orientation. I should probably start packing for that, but I haven't. LOL. I feel like I am just keeping busy and I am going to be packing for Chicago and overseas last minute. I know I shouldn't but what can I say I like to procrastinate.  I did buy new suitcases for my travels. All of our luggage was ruined in the basement flood of 2015. (BTW luggage is expensive!! Who pays $200 for a suitcase?)

I am also having to pack extra boxes to take to the school. We are trying to create an English Library. Our prayer is that every student will be able to take home a book (and bring it back of course, it is a library). I also learned that I will be the teacher in the library! I don't really know what that entails but I am so excited! I am a little bummed that I won't be teaching math but my roommate is, maybe I will get to help out :).  God is doing some amazing things and I can't wait to see what he has in store for me and our team. 

I have been in constant communication with the other teachers and principal at the school. I am really excited about this opportunity. It is so much better than China just based on the communication and the organization I am working with. I definitely miss the people in China! But I plan to visit. I mean I am going back to Asia :).

One Week Left

So today marks the official one week til I leave for China countdown! It is so hard to imagine that in technically less than a week I will be heading to the airport to leave the USA behind and start my year in China. Yep that still hasn't sunk in yet. My mind has a thousand plus things racing across it, things I need to get, things I need to pack, bank accounts, etc. I don't really feel ready to up an move to another country. But then there is my heart. My heart is as calm as can be because I know that this is God's plan for my life. He has so much stuff planned for me I can't wait to see! My mind can't even comprehend what He has in store for me! How exciting is that?! I know that come next Thursday, God is going to surprise me in ways I am not even imagining. God has been with me through this entire process, orchestrating this whole thing. And someone recently said that I have barely scratched the surface of what God has planned. Isn't that super exciting!!!!!

So last weekend my aca-awesome friends threw me a going away party! It was so much fun to see my friends and family together and just hanging out. We ate some amazingly delicious food and played some funny games! We also went shooting! I shot 3 2-liter bottles with a 9mm (or was it a 22mm, hmmmm) and I shot an AR15. How cool is that? Oh my goodness it was so much fun! At the end of the night I was so happy to spend time with friends and that I didn't think about it possibly being the last time I would see some of them before I left for China. :( I'm glad I didn't fixate on that during the party, but let it hit me afterwards.

So this past week I have been spending time with friends. I am pretty sure I have had a busy day everyday this week. I haven't really stopped moving. I am so glad I have so many friends to spend time with, but I am sad because I am going to miss them so much!

The common thing everyone has said to me is...... Have you packed yet? And my answer every time is NO. How can I pack my clothes and toiletries when those are the items I use daily. So it looks like I am going to be packing last minute (as per usual). The other thing people like to remind me of is that I am leaving next week. Ummmm hello, I know this! I am trying not to think to much about it because then I start to get overwhelmed and freak out!

Last night some of my friends got together to pray over me and my trip to China. It was awesome! Being surrounded by so many people who love and care for me makes me cry and then on top of it they are praying over me, I should have been bawling. I have no idea how I kept it together. Just knowing that I have this amazing support group back home that is cheering me on and praying for me makes my heart smile. I don't think I could ever express how much I love all of them and how much I am going to miss them!

Then there is today! I am pretty sure I entered panic mode at 10:53am because I realized that in exactly one week I will be leaving on my flight from Louisville headed to Chicago then headed to China. In one week my entire world will change. Everything that I am familiar with will stay here in Kentucky and I am entering new (adventurous) territory. I am excited but I am also nervous. I am slowing comprehending that I am leaving everyone behind and going to China by myself. I feel so unprepared, I'm only 23. Although age has nothing to do with it. I think I am prepared for this amazing adventure ahead of me, but I still feel unprepared because there are so many things I need to get done. But I know they will get done because God is in control. He is amazing and is leading me on this journey. I can't wait!!!