As the last few days are finally here before I head for training camp a few things have popped in my head...

1. The first thing is that of prayer, and the amount of people that have either prayed for me in person, or on their own. I know from personal experience that it can feel like prayers are never answered, or they go unheard, or are pointless. But, I just wanted to let all of you know that I have been able to feel the peace, confidence, and presence of God through all of the prayers over the last few months. It becomes more evident when someone stops me and says they want to pray for me right there. It is something special, and I am so grateful for the community of people who have helped me along in this process, and have been there from the start. As I start training, and then go into the field I ask that you would pray for my boldness to serve and share the love of Jesus in each situation I am put in. I will be doing a lot of things I have never done before and so having that boldness will be imperative. Another prayer I would ask would be that of trust the Lord and learning to rely on Him in every area.

2. The financial support I have been given during the 8 months leading up to the trip has been nothing short of amazing. The willingness to give, and give so generously is something I have not seen on a scale like this until right now. I think the Lord has made it very clear that He wants me to go and that can be seen clearly in how everyone around me has given so generously. Each person I talk to wants to be kept in the loop, know how things are going, and want updates. I am so grateful that people want to go along this journey with me. I hope to be able to give you guys great stories, and updates along the way. Sometimes I just sit down and think about how lucky I am, and how good God has been to me. In many ways God has used all of you to show me His goodness, glory, and faithfulness. Even though I don't deserve it, and have made many mistakes in my life over and over again He keeps pursuing me, and showing me who He is.

   If you do want to give, and my financial giving site says it is full, you can give directly to me as I will use the money for normal living things, and expenses I have back at home. I know that some of you are still giving monthly, and when I reach 100% of my goal then the money will go into a big pool and dispersed to others in the organization.

3. I am really excited to start this trip and will do my best to document all the incredible things that happen. I hope to post on here every couple of weeks.