Leaving Tomorrow

It's been an interesting couple of weeks. I finished up school in the first week of May and had a great time celebrating with some close friends who graduated this year. I enjoyed a few last days in Chattanooga and was getting ready to leave for Costa Rica as soon as my passport came the next week. I decided to come home to PA to visit with my family a bit and save money on food.

I wasn't home long before I began to worry about my Passport. It wasn't showing up in the mail and I tried to track it down. I spent a great deal of time on the phone with the Post Office (both in Quarryville and in Chattanooga), the government travel agency, and the Covenant mail room. I continued to wait, hoping each day that it would turn up.

I was finally able to go to Philadelphia and apply for a reissue, stating that my passport had been issued but had never arrived at my house. The agent was incredibly accommodating and was able to print me a new passport.

With my passport in hand I was able to book a flight and let my host organization that I was finally on my way! I am writing this blog post on my picnic table in my backyard at 11:30pm. My flight leaves tomorrow at 6:15am from Philadelphia. My bags are packed and I am ready to go. 

These past weeks have been a mixture of joy and frustration. It has certainly been fun to visit with friends and spend a few days with Stephen (this summer will be our longest separation in the 10 years that we have been friends). But it has also been frustrating as my plans fell through again and again. I need to be reminded fairly often that God is in control. I find myself depending on my ability to go with the flow and take what is thrown at me rather than depending on God to take care of me. This week has helped to remind me that the name of the game this summer is reliance on God. There will be times when I have no idea what I'm doing or how to love those who I'll be interacting with, and I will need to fall on God not my own abilities. 

One blessing that came from not being able to leave was the opportunity to see one of my close high school friends get married.  Ever since I was a groomsmen in my sister's wedding a couple years ago, weddings have been vivid reminders of God's faithfulness in my life and in the lives of his children. Seeing Adalie and AJ celebrate their relationship with Christ and promising to live out that relationship through their love for each other was an incredibly encouraging way to start the summer. God is faithful. He has been faithful to his Children for ages and ages and that wont change this summer just because I don't know what I'm doing or I fail to love others like he loves me. 

Congratulations Adalie and AJ, and thank you for the reminder of God's faithfulness.