Change of Plans

I feel as though I am horribly behind. In just a few hours I will be leaving for the Baltimore airport and officially beginning my summer mission trip. I can hardly believe the time has already come! And I have updated rarely or not at all and I feel bad.

Saturday night, May 31,  I got back from an extremely intense personal development/BOB/ canoe trip in the Adirondacks in New York. I was beyond stretched physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I learned so many things about what it means to pursue God and to put others first. We were also committed to finding out what it truly means to be a woman when all the outward appearances of femininity are stripped away. It was an amazing trip and I learned so much about myself and had so many God moments and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Then on Sunday I had my commissioning service. It was fabulous and I love my church even more now. *big grins* The rest of the week was spent with my dear friends and family and getting ready for my trip to Iceland.

Then on Wednesday afternoon as I was helping my friend pack the last of her belongings in boxes before her wedding this weekend, I got a phone call from CEF informing me that the girl with whom I was going to Iceland had backed out of the trip because of a sudden death in the family. Because they do not like to send summer missionaries alone, Iceland has been cancelled. But since I am open to going to another country with another team, I have the option of going to either Italy or Uganda.

At first I was completely in shock. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that I wouldn’t be going to Iceland. I was mentally prepared for Iceland, I was completely thrilled to be going there, I had my shopping done and now I wasn’t going. And I know that Italy and Uganda are fabulous choices but you have to understand that I had my heart set on Iceland so there were quite a few moments that I could have cried on Wednesday night.

But when I woke up on Thursday morning, I felt much better about the change of plans. I went shopping again and spent the day packing my bags and spending time with my friends. It’s unofficial, I haven’t yet heard from CEF, but if given a choice, I will probably choose Italy. If I go there this summer, I will be living at a US military base, working with the kids of the soldiers. The more time I have to think about it, the more excited I get.

I would, however, appreciate much prayer on my behalf. One of the things we learned about being a woman on the canoe trip is that beautiful women are adaptable. I feel like I’m really going to have to learn that in the next couple of weeks as all my plans are blown out of the water and I have to rework everything. And to be completely honest, I do not do well with change. So yes, please pray.