For the Blog: The "Moses Disclaimer" -- I'm not a great writer.. my punctuation is iffy.. at best.  I spel pourly when I'm tired.  Sometimes I struggle to concentr--SQUIRREL!-- and I jump around with the subject matter.  I tend to write run on sentences and not use enough punctuation so it can be a bit difficult to figure out what the heck I just wrote and what I meant by it.  Yet, here I am.  Halfway packed and about to do it anyway!  Okay, God..  Let Your will be done.  (In the words of Michelle Tanner..) "You got it, Dude."

Personal

An Explanation

Part of the reason I wanted to go on a mission trip like this is so I could bring some of the experience back to the people at home.  Expressing what happens on these things seems to be difficult for most missionaries.  Even the most well-spoken person can't really convey the matter.  He's overwhelmed with emotion.. but when I'm sitting in as part of the congregation listening to the mission presentation I don't get why.  So, I've been thinking and praying.. "God.. how is this going to work?  How do I bring the why back to them?"  I don't have the complete answer yet.  But I did glean one part of the answer from my prayers these past few months... Be Transparent.  We will see what God does in the end... but I'm hoping that my transparency will help with the why.  

All that was to explain that I think I'll have a personal section in this blog every now and then.  We've been told by other missionaries to journal everything.  I guess I can do that here.  But the point of it all for you back home is to hopefully see with.. like... x-ray vision... the growth that can occur in people while they're overseas with the explicit intent to serve God.  I certainly do not want the personal section to be the main section.  Not all of you know me.. you're reading because you know someone on the trip and want an update on what they're doing and how God is working through them!  Maybe some of my fellow travelers will be willing to be transparent too.. and I can tell their stories as well.  I would love that.

The Actual Personal Part

I woke up this morning, and the first thought that went through my head was that I only had "two more sleeps" (mother of 4 young children.. I know toddler-eze better than I know English) in my own bed before we left for Uganda.  I have been experiencing some awesome anxiety about this trip!!  Some of it is excitement anxiety and some of it is fearful anxiety.  I don't know what God is going to do to me over there!!!  I just know that I'm leaving my very comfortable, overindulgent, entitled life behind me.  God is going to wreck my world and it's going to be a beautiful thing.

Here we go folks.  Two days and counting.

Last little booster shot for one of the Hepatitis-es. Check.  
Rental gear is in (thank you BL.com!) Check.  
All packed. Uhh.. half-Check.  
- (But I'm not the only one still packing - I know this because I've seen pictures of other members of the team packing. - Thank you, Facebook, for the blackmail.)  
Obligatory "something in the house broke" event.  Check.  
- (Happened two days ago.. and it still needs tweaking to be fully fixed. This would be a spring for the garage door.  Did you know you can't even manually open the garage door to get the car out when a spring breaks?  Well, now you do.  Thankfully this didn't happen on Saturday!)  

Yes.  I think I'm officially ready.  Once I finish that packing.

Prayer Requests

Please do continue praying for the team as we make our final preparations.  Pray for smooth traveling, transitions, and transactions.  Pray for the safety of our families and homes as we are away.  Pray that God will open the hearts of everyone we come into contact with, from here to Uganda and back again.  Pray for each other.. I'm certain our prayer warriors would benefit from being covered in prayer as well!