its almost weird.

its kind of surreal.

in 10 days and some odd hours and minutes and seconds...i will be on my way to denver for our briefing and then off to Abidjan we go.

mom and i went shopping today for all the detail stuff like sunscreen, medicines, shampoo, deodorant, ect... but i can now say except for one more thing i am ready to go. i've got my bags...including a new vera bradely bag!! ;) and i've got all the materialistic items i need so i guess whats left, is to go.

i was talking to a very good friend from indiana tonight and was kind of saying the same thing to him... we were talking about the rest is yet to come...for when i get there. i just have to have patience, peace, faith, and trust...that the Lord will take care of me and provide all I need while I'm there.

its really weird how much peace i have about going. i know im nervous, but im not that nervous. im more nervous for the unknown but its not a bad nervous...more of a excited nervous. I am very grateful for the peace I have, and i know it is all from the Lord! he is such an awesome God, and i am so blessed to be able to go and do his work!

i will leave you with this...

"Faith that you will have fun,

Wisdom says that you should be safe,

and

Trust in the people taking you there."

- Tanner Brooks.

15 days and counting

well just a few more days and the day will be here. the day i leave for Africa. i can't believe it. thats crazy to even think about...i am going to Africa...i am going to Africa. i am going to Africa. thats so unreal to me, even still this close to leaving.

as i said my goodbyes to my friends at school it didnt really feel like i was leaving for summer which meant leaving for Africa. it just felt as if we were saying bye for like a week...it didn't feel the same as it normally did. someone said bye and gave me a hug...and said have an amazing trip..and i was like..what? ...it took me a minute...but i got it...that was the last time i would see them before i left and i was really leaving. i kind of feel jipped almost in my goodbyes from school...i dont know how to explain it but i just want another chance almost. I didn't really get to say what i wanted and to do what i wanted...i miss them all already. i didn't get to tell them all i love them, but i hope they already know that. As my mom is preparing for me to leave it makes me wonder what her life will be like when im not here, i wonder what Meagan's will be like...but i think it will be normal. i think it will all be normal. life will go on. we might sell the house, and we might move. but for me. my life will not be normal. for the first time i will be going so far out of my comfort zone and doing things i've never done before. and each day i feel the Lord preparing my heart more and more for this amazing journey. but i dont think anything will ever fully prepare me for this. its going to be one crazy ride.

my mom is throwing me a going away party...that just blows my mind. a party just for me. and its not my birthday. i have the greatest friends and family ever. they are such a huge part of my life, i wouldn't be where i am with out them. i am so blessed to have them in my life.

please continue praying for me but more importantly our team as we prepare as a team to go and do the Lords work. and even more for the people and their hearts. that they would be open to us and to the God's word!

i really do love you, all.

a waterfall to say the least...

today, one of my best friends left.

that in its self is hard to say. Tanner Brooks is an amazing guy, and awesome friend. I have known him for only 258 days. In those days he has managed to wiggle his way into my heart; and not only become a friend, but a brother. He has inspired, calmed, laugh, sang, danced, cheered up, saved the nights with qt, and tons more - with many of us. needless to say, he is always been so much fun to hang around. be jealous if you didn't get the chance to hang out with him.

i know we will talk about the visits to Indiana and when he comes here. but i have to think realistically. it just wont be the same. i can't text or call him to say, "QT?" because that would be a long drive to get qt. worth it? yes. possible multiple times a week, no. it will be great when he comes here or we go there. i know. and those moments together will be amazing. but i have to think that my life will be different with out him.

he was such a big help to Jessi this year and i just think about... what will i do when i need him? its hard to think that tomorrow he wont be at lunch. but i think the weirdest part will be when we come back in the fall, and he's not here.

please understand tanner didn't die. he just moved back home and is transferring to a different school. his reasoning for transferring, is very logical. i just don't like it. he will be an amazing Olympic shooter, and lawyer. i know the lord has awesome plans for his life! and i truly believe he was put into my life for some reason, i have yet to figure out.

one of the most vivid memories i have while he was here - is from the night we were up for hours talking politics. the boy is not afraid to stand up for what he believes in. that's very admirable. he believes what he believes, and has back up for it all. I can honestly say, that if i end up marrying a man half the man of what tanner is, i will be blessed. tanner has been such a great example of such a Godly, a fun spirited, intelligent man.

Tanner Lee Brooks came into our lives 258 days ago and turned our world up side down. my life will never be the same, and for that, i am thankful.

...i hate change.

its about time, i know

you may have been wondering why i haven't blogged in a while? did i fall off the face of the earth? no silly, I've just been super busy. and when blogging came to my mind i wondered what to write about, and so much stuff was happening i just couldn't narrow it down to one specific thing to write about so i just wouldn't do it.

so i guess its this time in the the blog where i start my topic...and today's topic is ...drum roll please...

LOVE!

lately i have been learning a lot about love. and just all the different aspects of it all, and how important it is to a person.

there are tons of different verses in the bible that reference love and how to love one another...examples? yes!

lets just start with one of the more well known verses on LOVE...

John 3:16 - "For God so LOVED the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

or how about...

Proverbs 17:21 - "A friends LOVES at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."

anddd....

John 15:12-13 - "My command is this, LOVE each other as I have LOVED you. Greater LOVE has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

butttt my favorite one is...

1 Corinthians 13:4-13 - "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

God shows the ultimate love when he sent his son to die on the cross for us, what an amazing LOVE that is. he gives us all of these to show how he commands us to LOVE! Someone said tonight in bible study, "when you die, how do you want people to remember you?" and i had to honestly think about that because you know first answer out of my mouth would have been for amazing shoes, or hair, or something ridiculous like that. So i thought, and i said, LOVE. I want to be known for love. I pray that when people think of me, they see the LOVE i have for Jesus, and for them, and all I did in life. I want them to see where I learned to LOVE, and how deeply i LOVE.

Today, wherever you are, stop and think...what will people remember about me?

Really think about it, don't just blow it off. It may just change the way you live.

I'll leave you with this thought...

a friend of mine was telling me that someone told her she used the word LOVE to much...and my thought to you is, do you use it enough? Do you LOVE loudly?...think about it!

With all my LOVE,

Em