Final Countdown

Today is the start of the time to get serious pack-up.  For the past several weeks I've kept a bin in the bedroom with randomly collected items that are on the 'to-pack' list.  Since my return from Jamaica, really.  The things I know have to go...the FDI manual, mosquito repellent, solid bar shampoo, Sink Suds (laundry soap in small, pre-proportioned packages), sunscreen, anti-malaria tablets, etc.  I will be fitting these items, along with 14 day's worth of clothing, into a carry-on size bag.  I will take a backpack as well, as I intend to check my carry-on bag.  The backpack will allow a couple of days of living without the checked bag, in the event it is delayed, and also provide a foot rest to prop my feet/legs up during the long flight.  Missoula-Minneapolis-Seoul-Cambodia.  My longest flight to date.  This will make every other flight to come in the future seem so easy peasy!  

There is always the ambivalence in the days before departure.  I am so excited to meet my new team members, our sisters and brothers who serve as missionaries in Cambodia, and the Cambodian folks themselves.  Yet the good-byes at home can be difficult.  Primarily with my dog, Jax, who is as close to me as my shadow.  From the day I brought him home at 11 weeks of age, I have been his human.  His charge.  He is rarely not in the same room with me when I am at home.  If only I could tell him where I will go, how long I will be away, and when I will return, it would alleviate the guilt somehow.  I don't know if dogs have any sense of time, but I'd like to think the days pass as quickly for him when I am away as they do for me.  I also struggle with being away from my church family for so long.  My absences this summer have been many, but I don't think this is my new normal.  Just a new season that I packed a lot into! 😊  My dear husband has grown adept at managing the household in my absence, and I am grateful beyond measure for that as well.  So for now, I will tweak my Instagram account for ease of posting pictures, videos, and general fun stuff, and purchase the premium Blog plan so I can post much of the same (photos, videos) from my phone.  I expect to see a lot of beautiful that I will want to share from Cambodia.  My dear friend, JoAn, who has graciously spent the past two days with me while I worked in BeeHive Home #5, identified a scripture that is so applicable to what I am looking very much forward to in the weeks ahead...

Ephesians 5:1-2    Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.