Not convenient.

This would be the perfect scene for a movie.

A twenty-something female sitting alone next to Baggage Claim A, surrounded by luggage with 9 hours looming in front of her. All because of a last minute flight cancellation due to mechanical malfunctions which led to standing in line, making many disconnected phone calls to agents saying they can't reschedule your flight until tomorrow only for a real agent (thankfully) getting you a rescheduled red-eye flight 10 hours later with a different airline to a new destination. Only to be told, once you arrive at the correct terminal in the correct gating area, by the same security guard checking you through 2 hours prior that now, you can't enter as your flight isn't until tomorrow (12:40am). . . .oh yes, don't forget the splotchy skin, red rimmed eyes, and hundreds of staring strangers. All combined with the building emotions of saying goodbye after goodbye over the past weeks. This is a movie moment. The thing is, if this was my movie, I'd have been rescued (or at least stumbled into) my Prince Charming by now . . . and been (surprise!) bumped to1st class. :)  Welcome to the real world. Ah, yes, and what's traveling without a little adventure?! Nothing about this is convenient.

And with that thought I'm reminded of what someone said at church a few weeks ago. . . something along the lines of 'a life of faith is not convenient at all'.

YOU, my many friends, family, and supporters, are the first of many blessings to come to mind. I can't THANK YOU enough (especially those of you I reached in my minutes of panic just now) for the amount of support and encouragement I continue to receive. What's not convenient about you, however, is having to leave you behind! It's been an emotional couple of weeks on both coasts. At the same time this is truly more of a blessing than an inconvenience as I'm so blessed to have so many people close to my heart! In all of this Jamaica prep, I've also met so many wonderful people who would have otherwise been strangers.

Jamaica. It looms in the horizon--- less than 4 days to go! Once there, there will be many everyday conveniences that I won't have, many of which I'm sure I haven't begun to realize. Yet I know every cold shower, hand washed shirt, mosquito bite, cockroach, lizard-awakening night and fish-eating day, every second will be worth it. I'm leaping into something I was called, love, designed, and meant to do. In so many ways I'm still amazed at how things have come together over the last year. And no, it hasn't all been convenient, but things continue to work out, more often than not, better than I've ever imagined.

I've been challenged in new ways these last months and have grown and changed so much not only in my outlook of my life but more importantly in my faith and trusting in the unknown.

Today would be a perfect example of one of the toughest lessons I'm continuing to learn: Letting Go. Letting go of control over schedules and plans. Letting go of my stuff--my car, my furniture, my clothes, my electronics, etc. Letting go of my future--plans for my career, plans for my family, security in a job, financial dilemmas. Letting go of my friends and family on both sides of the coast. Letting go of my fears, my worries, my doubts. Letting go of things and events that I have absolutely no control over. In so many ways it's a daily battle not to hold tight, even just by a finger tip or two, to one thing or another.

Funny enough, the Embassy of Jamaica currently has my passport. The very thing that lets me out of (and back into) the U.S.  I discovered last Saturday that, eek!, I need a visa before I arrive on the island. That and that God must have a sense of humor when He's trying to get our attention. Let go. I have no idea if they'll get it back to me in Phila by Tuesday morning at 7am. Or what will happen if they don't. Deep down I know that God didn't bring me this far to slam the Jamaica door in my face. With that in mind, I continue to turn my worries and fears and "what ifs" over to Him . . . again and again and again. :) A extra prayer or two never hurts either!

Kudos to you if you've hung in there this long. . . .this may be the marathon blog! In less than a week I'll have much more exciting news to share, including new ways to contact me and keep in touch. THANK YOU again for being a part of my army of support.

Oh, praise de Lord.  I just discovered there's a Starbucks around the corner. . . . Until next time!