30 days and counting . . .

Hello again! It has been quite a while since my last post, and quite a bit has been going on. I am now within a month of my official departure date of Jan. 3rd, 2009, and I am starting to tie together all of the many details of leaving home. Thank you all so much for supporting me through these past six months of fund-raising, preparing, and decision making. I am thankful to be on this side of the process, and as my departure date draws nearer, I find my excitement and anticipation growing. I have been blown away by how vividly I have seen God at work here, and I have been encouraged by His grand provision. I have learned a lot about trusting my Father with each day, with getting on my knees and bring my needs before Him, and practicing patience (and unfortunately I still need more practice). I'm realizing that this last month at home will pass more quickly than the rest have, and I anticipate a lot of "people time" and goodbyes. I am ready to get started, but I am not someone who loves a lot of change all at once, so I expect that God will continue to teach me through each phase of these next two years.

I do have some prayer requests for the month of December:

- Pray that all of the many details of departure will fall into place
-Pray for strength through the many goodbyes over the coming weeks, and a positive perspective on these many life changes
-Pray for quality and encouraging time with my family
-Pray John 15:5 for me as I continue to learn ministry

Some important dates:

- Dec. 28th: Goodbye Open House 2:30-4:30
(First Evangelical Free Church Solid Grounds)
- Jan. 1st: Leaving Lincoln for Dallas
- Jan. 3rd: Plane departs for Costa Rica
- Jan. 6th: First day of Language School
- Jan. 14-22: Latin American Area Conference

I am really looking forward to staying connected with you all while I am gone, and sharing the details of life and ministry in Latin America. Be looking for new posts, pictures and video on this blog, and please feel free to respond at anytime. It would be great to hear from you all. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, and a fantastic New Year! God Bless.