Hi Friends!
I leave in 13 hours to meet up with my team in Phoenix and we all fly out on May 29th!! I can hardly believe that I'm going back to Russia. After getting back from my trip last summer I wasn't sure that I wanted to go back to Russia at all and certainly not for a few years. Well here I am, going back. I think the most incredible part about this is that I can't explain why I'm so excited! It's supernatural this love I have, this desire to go back. During the whole process of preparing for this trip, God has been showing me time and again how the things that happened last year were a foundation for this year. That I really did learn things and that it wasn't a waste of time; all things that I knew to be true and yet my trip last summer still seamed so pointless. It's funny to me that the things that others would be nervous about aren't bothering me at all. I'm not afraid of going to Russia. I've done that, flown all the way to Siberia and back by myself. What I haven't done is be with a team the entire time. I see how God orchestrated that I go on this trip second even though it's everything I had wanted for my first. This time I can focus more on connecting with my team than on everything about the country being so new. I know there will be vast differences between the culture in Southern Siberia and in St. Petersburg. I know that this trip will be a growing experience in being with people. I forget sometimes what a lone ranger I can be. Even just today as I was running errands around town, I didn't really think to ask anyone for a ride, I just got on the bus and went. I guess I hadn't realized how much I really do enjoy the power I feel when I can get to the places I want to go without any help. I feel so much more like an adult when I'm not trapped at home because it's dark and no one can give me a ride somewhere. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever feel like an adult.....ahh but I digress. The point is, I know I need to learn more about being dependent on others and having others be dependent on me. I'm sorry if this post seems to lack enthusiasm, but I'm very tired and not done packing yet; therefore I shall sign off to get sleep and then leave for my trip!!!!!!
Please pray for unity in my team with so many of us, I feel like we are going to need extra grace to be unified. Also please pray that I won't let any feelings of "otherness" keep me from making the effort to get to know my teammates!
I leave in 13 hours to meet up with my team in Phoenix and we all fly out on May 29th!! I can hardly believe that I'm going back to Russia. After getting back from my trip last summer I wasn't sure that I wanted to go back to Russia at all and certainly not for a few years. Well here I am, going back. I think the most incredible part about this is that I can't explain why I'm so excited! It's supernatural this love I have, this desire to go back. During the whole process of preparing for this trip, God has been showing me time and again how the things that happened last year were a foundation for this year. That I really did learn things and that it wasn't a waste of time; all things that I knew to be true and yet my trip last summer still seamed so pointless. It's funny to me that the things that others would be nervous about aren't bothering me at all. I'm not afraid of going to Russia. I've done that, flown all the way to Siberia and back by myself. What I haven't done is be with a team the entire time. I see how God orchestrated that I go on this trip second even though it's everything I had wanted for my first. This time I can focus more on connecting with my team than on everything about the country being so new. I know there will be vast differences between the culture in Southern Siberia and in St. Petersburg. I know that this trip will be a growing experience in being with people. I forget sometimes what a lone ranger I can be. Even just today as I was running errands around town, I didn't really think to ask anyone for a ride, I just got on the bus and went. I guess I hadn't realized how much I really do enjoy the power I feel when I can get to the places I want to go without any help. I feel so much more like an adult when I'm not trapped at home because it's dark and no one can give me a ride somewhere. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever feel like an adult.....ahh but I digress. The point is, I know I need to learn more about being dependent on others and having others be dependent on me. I'm sorry if this post seems to lack enthusiasm, but I'm very tired and not done packing yet; therefore I shall sign off to get sleep and then leave for my trip!!!!!!
Please pray for unity in my team with so many of us, I feel like we are going to need extra grace to be unified. Also please pray that I won't let any feelings of "otherness" keep me from making the effort to get to know my teammates!
Great! It's so good to hear that all your small steps of faith in the Lord are leading to things you never thought possible. Wonderful!!!
ReplyDelete