So in less than a month I will be beginning my year in Colombia. Wow! It still feels unreal that I am actually doing this. I'm so ready but not at the same time. I am trying to hold on to each and every second of every day and at the same time am anxious to start the next part of the journey. This blog will definitely not do justice in expressing all of the feelings and emotions that I am experiencing. My heart is wide open to everything God is teaching me and I can't get enough of Him and it feels awesome! God is using everything that I am reading, hearing, and seeing to challenge me and mold me into something that he can use to bring Him glory.
He brings me to my knees daily and I am, more than ever, ready to devote my life to following Him wherever, whenever, to do whatever no matter the sacrifice. I feel burdened with the pain that people throughout the world are constantly dealing with and want to bring some joy to their lives in whatever way he can use me to do so.
I can't wait to begin building relationships with the Colombian people and missionary families. I am ready to invest in their lives and show them the love that has been shown to me in so many ways througout my life. The people who will soon be my neighbors in my apartment building, the people in the shops in my neighborhood that I will pass by daily as I walk to the bus stop, and the people who will be passengers on the bus that I will ride everyday to the school; these are the people that I will have the opportunity to form relationships with. A recently met this guy from Colombia, who is a friend of a friend, and I was telling him about my trip to his country. He told me that the Colombian people will love me and be amazed that I am in their country as a volunteer, asking nothing from them, and that it will be eye opening and make a huge impact on them. He finished by saying a simple "thank you so much". That meant so much to me. Many people in other countries do not expect this out of americans and it is a huge shock when they meet someone who is willing to come help their country without some other motive. I am going to this country to serve those people and put my whole heart and energy into it. I was listening to a sermon by Rob Bell this week and he said as God is putting you back together, you should turn and put the world back together. As God molds me into something more like what he created me to be, I should be working to make the world what he intended it to be.
So, as I countdown the days, I hope that I will already be showing others a bit of God's love for this world and his people by telling others about the vision and passion he's given me for this country and it's people.
