The time has come...

Well we leave for Russia in about 6 hours. Hopefully posting and gathering my thoughts will help relax me so that I can get some sleep tonight.

The fact that we are actually going to leave almost doesn't seem real. I don't really feel excited or anxious in the way you do the night before Christmas. Maybe it will all set in tomorrow when we are actually flying to Moscow. Maybe not though. I don't know if it ever sunk in that I was in Paris and London just about 4 months ago.

Maybe I've just gotten used to the life that I lead. I've gotten used to thinking that this trip was a long ways away. I tried to focus on the day I was living in instead of the day that we would leave. Well that day has now arrived but it seems like it should still be a few weeks away.

Am I ready for this trip? Spiritually? Emotionally? Yes and no. I mean I feel like I'm ready, like my focus is in the right spot yet I feel like I haven't learned all that much being apart from Tad and now I get to see him again. I'm sure that I have learned plenty including patience and I guess that learning doesn't have to end when I get to see him. Now we get the chance to learn together.

I suppose on the upshot (as Hei-Chi would say) this trip is not about me or how I feel about it. It's about God and letting him work in us and through us. I am excited to get the opportunity to encourage those that are in Russia both long term and short term. I'm also excited about getting to meet and work with all the youth in Shar'ya.

It's gonna be and amazing trip because it's not about me but about serving God with all my heart!