First Entry in Africa

I have been living in Africa just under two weeks. It has been such a busy time but it has been wonderful. We are working hard to get the orphanage building ready to receive the children in late September. There is so much to do.
As of the time I am writing this the container we shipped two months ago with all of our supplies has not been released from the Tanzanian port. We have two missions teams ready to work but no container...The container has all of the tools and supplies they need. The missions teams have kept busy cleaning and doing some small painting jobs. They have been a blessing.

We have not moved into the orphanage building yet because our beds are on the container. I am living out of my suitcases right now.
But there is no complaining on my part. I am blessed to be working on the orphanage and I have seen many African friends that remember me. I went to church last Sunday and shared God's vision in my heart for the orphanage. There are many obstacles that have been placed in our path but we are praying for God to remove them and for His wisdom and guidance...The Lord is faithful. We trust Him fully and are excited to see what is next in this process of trusting Him no matter what.

I thank the Lord for everyone that is praying. I can feel the strength of the Lord and it encourages my heart every morning. I love it that God is so loving and good.
I am blessed in Africa.

Leaving In Less Than 24 Hours

I am leaving in less than 24 hours and somehow I have managed to sit down and write an entry in my blog...I amaze myself. :)
I think I just need to sit down and do something to take my mind away from all the thoughts racing around my head right now.
I have just finished weighing my bags and if I put three more pounds of anything in either one of them I will be over my limit. I did it. I managed to pack and stay under 70 pounds. I did have to exchange a medium sized suitcase for a larger one in order to fit all my belongings, but that doesn't matter because I was able to stay under the 70 pound limit...although the 70 pound limit does mean I still have to pay 25 dollars for each bag because I've gone over the 50 pound limit...but that doesn't matter since I was shooting for staying under 70 pounds. :)

It finally hit me yesterday...the emotional response to moving to Africa. I didn't expect it to hit me the way it did. I didn't know how it would feel but it has been very intense. I called my mom and talked to her on the phone in tears...I don't even know if she understood what I was saying, but she was good about my emotional melt down. :)

I'm moving to Africa...it has finally really hit me and I am leaving tomorrow...timing is everything. :)
I'm having dinner with some cousins tonight...I hope I can keep it together until after dessert. :)

Getting So Much Done

The last few weeks have gone by so fast. I haven't been at a location with internet access so I haven't been able to keep up with my journaling.
It took me about a week to get my classroom cleared out and cleaned up. After I finished up at school I started helping out at the Hidden With Christ office. Since everyone was leaving for Africa on July 4th, there was a lot to do without a lot of time...I was not able to leave on the 4th...My flight is scheduled for July 16th. When I wasn't working at the HWC office I was spending time with friends and saying good-bye.

After the girls left on July 4th I went to my mom's house to visit. I was able to stay five days. It was nice to spend time with my family. I relaxed and enjoyed the 105 degree heat...ahh, just like home in Africa. :)

I officially have one more week left before departure. I have a lot of lunches and dinners planned with friends. I have some last minute details to finish up. This week is it. Since I've already sent the majority of my belongings to Africa in the container, there isn't a big task left to complete...No huge item I need to purchase and figure out how to get it in a suitcase. I've already done so much of the work in the past four months. I wish I could say that I don't have anything left to do, but that is not so. But I am so thankful that so much is done and this last week is going to be a blessing...God is good that way!