Well .. this is it. Today is the day I begin my adventure to Ljubljana, Slovenia. There are so many emotions going through my mind right now. I'm not exactly sure how to feel. I'm anxious, scared, and excited all at the same time. Not to mention God has been faithful and provided my support to even be able to go on this trip, along with all of the support for my teammates. Yesterday my team and I met at a hotel east of the airport to begin our briefing. It was great to be able to have time before our day of travel to get to know most of my team. Our team consists of students from Ohio State and Ohio University along with one student from Marietta College, including staff members we have a total of 35 people on our team. We spent most of our day in meetings talking about what to expect while in Slovenia and a lot of other useful information. After dinner we were able to have time playing games that allowed us to get to know more about each other. The past 24 hours has definitely been a roller coaster of emotions, but most consistently I find myself being more and more excited for this journey the Lord has me on for the next six weeks. In the past couple of weeks I have recognized how hard it can be for me to trust God with the unknown. I have heard stories on stories of what Slovenia is like and even what the ministry there is like (which have been great!), but at the same time I still stand in a state of not knowing exactly what to expect. That's where faith comes into play, being sure of what I hope for and certain of what I do not see. My hope is in Christ and in His eternal glory. I pray that I choose to trust God. I'm recognizing that I like to be in control which can even lead to self dependence at time, so of course I like knowing what is next or what to expect in a certain situation. I literally have no idea what to expect in Slovenia .. maybe a little idea from the stories I have heard, but for the most part there is a lot of unknown. I pray that my heart desires to trust God and that I am ridden of selfishness and self dependency. I am absolutely not capable of this on my own, but praise the Lord that He empowers me with strength and the truth of the Gospel to share with others.
I can not wait to see how God works in Slovenia while I am there. The great part about this trip is that God has already been at work in the cit of Ljubljana and we are going over to join a team of college graduates who have been there for the past year. As I sit here and think about the fact that I am even going to be a part of God's mission in Slovenia I am completely humbled. In my brokenness and the messiness of my life God chooses to use me to further His kingdom in another country. Say whaaat?! I can't even begin to fathom what is going to happen while I am in Slovenia. I have been reminding myself that even when ministry is hard and people I talk to do not grasp the reality of our state of sin and God's love and grace that redeem us from that state of sin, God is still good and He is in control. God never changes. His love never fails and He never forsakes us. Even as I write this I feel like my mind is in a million different places. I'm excited when I think of taking the Gospel to the nations, I'm distracted by little kids running around the air port, and I'm anxious when I think about flying on a plane for nine hours. I pray that my soul finds rest in God alone.
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