Final Prep Day

8.  I am so thankful for friends who know me so well that when I text, "Please pray," they know just what to pray.
7.  I am thankful this week is over.  I'm not one to wish away my life, but it was a pretty stressful week.  Our Teacher Leader meeting went well and several of the teachers had an opportunity to shine. 
6.  I started the process of being trained in Cognitive Coaching and discovered a couple of important things about myself.  I am not a good or patient listener.  I'm an "autobiographical listener."  I listen for opportunities to tell you about MY experience with YOUR problem.  I like to think my motive is pure--I want to give you a solution so WE can solve your problem and move on quickly.  I'm pondering that my motive might not be quite so pure.  Might I be trying to make YOUR problem and YOUR solution about ME?  That will take some more thinking and some more practice in listening.
5.  I love ATM machines.  I forgot to visit the bank yesterday.  We will be taking cash.  Surprise, surprise....craftsmen in the villages, in Niger, don't take Debit/Credit cards.  So, there will be a visit to the ATM today.
4.  Re-Pack.  Yes, that's what happens when you pack early.  I've changed my mind about which duffle bag to take, and a few clothing changes. 
3.  Today I'll pack make-up.  I'm only taking lipgloss and an eye-liner pencil.  Eye-liner is my "thing."  Some people won't leave the house without lipstick; I won't leave without eye-liner.  I will attempt to fit my toiletries in a quart sized zip-top bag.  Yesterday I realized I hadn't purchased a travel sized bottle of shower gel.  Apparently, AXE is the only company that makes travel shower gel.  I'm afraid I'm going to smell like a middle-school boy.
2.  I started taking my anti-malarial meds last night.  I probably should not have GOOGLED "How do anti-malarial drugs work?"  They do not work like a vaccine that prevents you from getting the disease.  If you're bitten by a "malaria mosquito," you're going to get it.  The meds keep the disease contained in your liver.  YES, I am taking super-duper DEET insect repellant wipes with me.  I believe I will bathe in them.

DRUMROLL PLEASE.....
1. Can I ask you to pray for:  Travis, Trevor, Josh, Amanda, Brandi, Britney, Leann, Morgan, and me?  Please pray for traveling mercies, for our health, for our words to be inspired, for the ears who hear our words to be opened and hearts softened, for peace of mind for our families while we are gone, and for the Love, Mercy, and Saving Grace of our Lord to be shared.



This has been a 5 year journey to and of Obedience.  The decision to pursue Obedience has taught me several things.
1.  In the words of Pastor Jason, "You cannot know the WAY of God or the WILL of God unless you know the WORD of God."  My relationship with God changed when I began reading the Bible--the whole book.  Every other year I read through the entire Bible.  The alternate years, I read just the New Testament.  I have found life application in every single book.  I now see how the whole story fits together and can see Jesus in every book-- from Creation to Crucifixion to the Final Triumph.
2.  I know that God's promises are true.  I know that when I pray HIS promises back to him, it does not change God, but it reminds me that HIS promises were meant for me and HE keeps HIS promises.
3.  I have learned how to recognize God's messages to me.  Sometimes it is words in the Bible that I have never noticed before, sometimes it's the protective rise in anxiety that indicates I should proceed with caution, sometimes it is the outright conviction that causes me to think, "Yes, Lord, we've talked about this and Thank You for reminding me these words I'm tempted to say ARE NOT going to bring anyone closer to you."  Sometimes it is just a message that is imprinted on my heart.  That's so hard to describe, but the "sureness" and "rightness" I feel at those moments leave no room to doubt that the message is from God to me.
4.  Obedience brings blessings.  As I have focused on discerning HIS will for me, my family has been blessed and has blessed me, I have been blessed with good and Godly friends, my career has been blessed beyond measure.  And one of the greatest blessings has been the blessing of hindsight.  HE has allowed me to look back and actually trace the path from a simple decision to seek HIS will and be obedient in a relatively small situation, and watch it unfold to the large blessings I am now experiencing.
5.  Obedience can be relatively easy and the path recognizeable in some areas of our lives, but oh so hard and unclear in others.  I struggle mightily in those areas.  I am trying to apply my "lessons learned" to those areas of my life....keep reading HIS word, remind myself of HIS promises, listen for and thank HIM for convicting messages.