Processing...

Wow! Only four and a half weeks left until the big move... I cannot believe it. I was talking to my dad today and he said, "It feels like just yesterday you were calling me telling me that you wanted to move..." Oh, how time flies...

Everyday it gets more and more real... Today was one of the hardest days yet. I am feeling so many different emotions right now... joy, peace, sadness, longing, fear. I am feeling these things because today I moved out of the house that I have been living in for the last year. For the next month I will be living with some very dear friends from church. Actually, they are more like family. I made the decision to only take to their house what I will be taking with me to Mexico. This avoids me having to pack everything twice. So, with the help of a friend, I fit everything into two suitcases and a duffle bag.

It was really weird packing my bedroom knowing that I wouldn't be unpacking those boxes for at least seven months. I kept constantly asking myself questions like,  "Will I need this in Mexico? How many pairs of pants do I take? Do I take my pillow? What about when it gets cold? How many pairs of shoes?" Hahaha, as you can imagine, it took me a while.

Moving out of this house also brings so many different emotions because I am not only leaving my things (which are just things) but I am leaving behind three of the greatest roommates and friends I have ever had. We lived in a ministry through our church called "College Housing". There are houses all over Spokane filled with college-age people who live and do ministry together. College Housing is designed for friendship and spiritual growth. That is exactly what this house was for us... A place where our friendships grew deeper and stronger than we ever imagined, and a place where we were able to grow our faith in community with other Christians. We shared countless memories, late nights filled with laughs, tears, deep conversations, complete randomness. We shared a unique bond while living together.  I guess I can't say shared because I believe that the bond we created will last our whole lives. We were able to create this bond because we are unified in Jesus Christ. We experienced many different situations over the last year and in every single one we were always brought back to this bond... we were always brought back to Jesus. When we were upset with each other, hurt by each other, laughing with each other, celebrating each other... This bond was always there. And I am confident that it always will be. I am a better person because of them and I will never forget everything that I learned while being their roommate. I am so incredibly excited for the new chapter in my life, but these three girls are one of the hardest things to leave behind.

God is so good at bringing us peace in times like these. He is so loving... so compassionate... so gracious. I find the Lord always brings me back to this song... I posted some lyrics from it in my first blog...

"You call me out upon the water, the great unknown, where feet may fail. And there I find you in the mystery, in oceans deep, my faith will stand."

thankyouthankyouthankyou

Hello friends! I want to take a second to say thank you.

I have been SOOOO overwhelmed with the the amount of support I have received in more ways than I thought possible. I have been encouraged daily by so many people. God is so good at confirming things in our lives through other people, and he has done that for me through each of you. Since I have decided to go to Mexico not a day has gone by that I haven't had something happen that reveals to me more and more that I am in His will. 

I also want to take a second to share a few stories with you...

First, let me tell you about Lauren. We met probably about a year ago, but she hasn't lived in Spokane consistently so we have never really built a relationship. When she has been in Spokane she has attended our college group, bible studies, Sunday services, and each time we would chat and say a friendly "how are you?". Last Sunday at church Lauren came up to me and said that she needed to talk to me. I asked her what was up and she said that she wanted to support me financially. I was thrilled! I emailed her my support letter and went about the rest of my day. I never expected what was going to happen next...

Later that day Lauren texted me asking how much support I had left to raise. When I told her, her response was ,"Cool. I'm going to give you $600." So nonchalantly like that wasn't a big deal, haha! I was shocked. My jaw dropped and I couldn't even speak. I knew she was leaving town the following week, so I asked her if we could go to coffee. During our time together Lauren told me how God revealed to her that the money was for me. You see, Lauren wanted to go into international missions. She was planning on moving to Poland to be a missionary. Her missionary training was supposed to take place in Colorado, and she had $600 saved up to go to the training. God totally closed the door on that path in her life and she knew in her heart that the money was still supposed to be used for missionary work, so she gave it to me. The obedience of this 23 year old girl puts me in awe.

Next, I want to tell you about Chris. We have been interns together at Life Center for the last two years and I would call Chris my brother. Before I could even mention the fact that I would be writing support letters, he assured me that he would be financially supporting me. A few days after my letters went out we were headed into a meeting when Chris stopped me and handed me an envelope. The envelope had $100 in it. Now, what some of you don't know is that Chris has been battling an auto-immune disease for the past few years. Along with the sickness comes mounting medical bills, and on top of that Chris supports himself as he lives with 7 other guys from the church. Just in general, $100 is a lot of money, but when you throw all of that on top of it... Wow. Again, the obedience of a 19 year old... It made me examine my own heart. 

And let me tell you, Chris isn't the only person with a sickness that has donated a large sum of money to me. It brings me to tears when I think about the people in my life who are battling illnesses that bring financial burden, yet they are still obedient in giving. 

Another shorter story, a random guy at my church approached me and said, "Hey, I think what you are going to do in Mexico is so amazing and I want to support you, but this is all I have in my pocket." He reached into his pocket and pulled out $5. My heart was so full in that moment. Someone emptying their pockets because they believe in God's calling on my life in this next season.

My sister and her husband generously sold me their iPad for nearly half of what it is worth, and since I won't have a phone down there it will be my only means of communication! What a blessing! 

I receive facebook messages almost daily of people sending me their addresses and asking for my support letter. Even my co-workers have just been coming up to me and handing me a piece of paper with their address on it. I can't help but smile. It is so encouraging.

These are just a few of many AMAZING stories that I could tell you about what God is doing, but I'll spare you the time. Again, THANK YOU so much to every single person reading this. I can feel the comfort from your prayers every single day and it brings so much joy to my heart. I could never do this alone, and I am so thankful that I don't have to.