and so it begins

I am currently sitting in the guest house at Africa Inland Mission (AIM) headquarters in Pearl River, NY.I have two days of orientation and then I leave on Wednesday evening for Kampala, Uganda for a four month mission trip. I am so excited to be able to have to opportunity to blog about my time in Kampala, and I hope you enjoy reading about it.

I was trying to think of how I got to where I am exactly.....and it seems as though this has all happened so quickly. But to be honest, God has been reaching out to my heart specifically about a mission trip for over four years now. I would get so inspired hearing stories of missionaries and the places they served and the people they met. And everytime I could hear a whisper on my heart, telling me to put myself in their shoes, to consider going myself. I pushed those whispers and thoughts so far out of my head for two reasons. First, I was scared. I was scared of leaving my family, and being alone in an unknown place, and most of all I think I was scared of all the change God would do in my life. Second, I knew that I had a choice. I could choose to obey God, put myself out there, or I could choose to disobey and continue living the life I always had.

After four years of back and forth I finally said yes. This summer I began the application process with AIM, and in under 6 months I am now 2 days away from this trip. I could no longer choose to disobey, and with that God showed me how His plans are always the best for me. He has showed me that He will always provide. Most importantly He has showed me that He has specific plans for my life. He knows exactly who He wants ME to be, and what He wants ME to do. I thank God that now, at this point in my life, I know what that is.

I have no idea what my life will hold after this trip. I literally left my job and apartment. It's all wide open spaces for me. But my God has a plan, and a purpose for my life. People have been asking me how I feel about the upcoming trip. Nervous? Sad? Excited? Happy? Yes, to all of those.

But most of all, I feel hopefull.


Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and to not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.