less than a week?!

So I was starting to get nervous with 41 days until the trip... well, now I'm REALLY starting to get nervous because it's less than a week away! I don't know if I've ever felt such a mixture of nervousness and excitement before in my life.

With this week, I'm feeling nostalgic about everything... the lakes of Minnesota, going biking/rollerblading, having bonfires, etc., etc. Two verses have come to mind as I prepare to leave:

"Another said, 'I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.' Jesus said to him, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'" -Luke 9:61-62

and

"In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." -Romans 8:37

The Lord has been assuring me that I have nothing to fear because He goes before me and He is with me. And in Him, I am more than a conqueror. I want to cherish my last few days in Minnesota with my family and my friends, but when I am in Africa, I want to be fully there. Of course this doesn't mean that I'm not going to think about all the people I love back home, but it does mean that I will be fully present and working on building relationships while I'm in Africa.

Here are some prayer requests for this upcoming summer:

• We will know the voice of our faithful Shepherd and be willing to follow wherever He leads us.
• Our team will be one just as the Father and Son are one.
• We will be filled with boldness and love
• We will become less and He will become greater- that in everything that happens this summer, we will be able to say, "only God could've done this!"
• There will be a few specific people at the orphanage/in the community that I will be able to pour into as well as learn from.

Thanks so much for praying! I am so blessed by you all!