Day 1 (Part two)

On the plane from Charleston to D.C.....

The woman I was sitting next to was an instant answer to prayer. I was still nervous and just in that place of not knowing what this adventure will hold. Boy has the adventure already begun. She was a beautiful young woman sitting in the window seat, I in the Isle seat. I was already seated and she comes up, I help her with one of her bags after she sat down. It just didn't make sense for her to get up again and do it since I was already right at the overhead bins. (I have to apologize if I write too much detail, I'm just trying to write everything that I pictured and remembered so I will remember looking back at these notes.) I asked her if her destination was for D.C. (it wasn't) she had a connecting flight for R.I. she asked me where I was going... I said "Ethiopia" with a big nervous smile. She asked why I was going there and I told her it was mission work and that I would be over there for a month. She gave me a big sweet smile and said "I knew it! I knew it! I knew you were doing mission work! God told me, I knew it!" She laughed and continued saying "He does this! He does it on purpose. He puts people in my path for a reason! you know?" We both just laughed in agreement. We both had senses about each other. She was able to discern it better than I could though. I think too many times I just dismiss senses I have and don't recognize God is telling me something. He used her to yell it to me. That He is with me. That I AM following Him where He wants me to go. He is trying to communicate with me. Marissa was her name. She was on her way back home for the same reason... not really sure why but knew He was telling her to go home because she needed to be in a place of rest so that she could recieve the miracle God had waiting for her in the next couple of weeks. She has no clue why, but she is expecting big things from God. I think we were already blessed by each other on the plane talking about how big our God is and different spiritual gifts, as we both take a journey in seeking our Holy Father to where He has us go. The coolest part of our interaction I think were the moments she had words from God for me.

She had the prophetic gift! SO COOL! She told me she sensed the Lord was telling her that I was going to be a world traveler and that there wasn't some specific occupation, that it was just to love people. That I would be traveling just to love on others! Not just one specific place but all around.... why, I know she was genuine with her words and her listening to the Lord was because she told me not to just take it and believe it but that I should pray about it and see what the Lord tells me as I pray about it and seewhat the Lord tells me, and that also that prophetic words can be heard wrong sometimes and that's why they need to be prayed over. Not only just that, but that has been a desire of my heart for years now. Just to love people, all different kinds of people from different walks of life. People that need to be loved and shown love.

We talked the entire flight and was SUCH a blessing. No doubt, God has already shown Himself to me on this journey. There was just so much said in that one hour that gave me enough to sit on and process this whole month.... and I think that was just the door looking into what more he has to reveal about Himself on this trip. WOW!

When I arrived to D.C. I had no idea where to go and eventually found an information station. The lady helped me find where I needed to go. Literally all I had to go by were my recipts to my checked baggage which had no information on it besides the fact it was going to Ethiopia. HA!

I finally get a bagel to eat for breakfast and also just to waste some waiting time and arrive at the gate. The waiting area was pretty empty and I didn't recognize any to be one of my team members. I thought maybe stalking some pictures of some of the people I was meeting up with on facebook would have helped me out, but it didn't. At least none were there yet that I had befriended. I just waited until I finally saw a face I recognized. In the midst of waiting though, I met and talked to a man heading home to Sudan. He needed to borrow my phone to call family members in Seattle. I began just talking to him and found out he came to America to study Bible. He is a farmer that grows many different crops on his land back home to help feed the people who don't have food. Apparently, a church from TN had started a ministry in his home land that had built a school, church, and agricultural farm lands. He said that when war broke out everything fell apart and the people had to flee since there was no food available after awhile. He came here to study the bible and now he is going back to replenish what was lost. His farm is growing in hopes to bring the people back. His farm feeds the ones who go to school during the day. The school has no food so he feeds them. What an example of what a community is! A community that works hard for each other to be together to work together, to learn together and eat together. It was a real blessing to run into him and talk with him. His name was Kauhlkaum Keir? or something like that.... he showed me his passport to show me how to pronounce his name haha...

After checking in to get my ticket at the gate for my flight to Ethiopia I saw some of my group assemble and sat down with them. Chatted up some and joked around. It's fun to see the different personalities face to face instead of over the phone.

After a few minutes an ethiopian man sat down next to me and saw I was looking over and trying to learn the Amerhic Language (the Ethiopian official language) in this book I got from Barnes and Noble. He got all excited and helped me learn a bit of it and how to pronounce them. So fun! He didn't speak english too well to when I finally understood something he was teaching me I got all excited! :) Haha...

Other than all that I've just been boarding a plane and now I am just a few hours away from reaching our destination. It's probably already the next day so I shall save the rest for Day 2. By the way the Ethiopian people are absolutely beautiful!

....I was going to try to type up day two but I just got the "only a few more minutes" signal.

Day 1

It has been a long several hours already. I didn't get much sleep because my procrastinator self decided to wait until 10 o'clock pm to pack for a month long trip. I always seem to forget to add in the time that I dilly dally. Yeah.... I didn't get to sleep but 20 minutes before my sister took me to the airport... which we had to leave by 4:45. Went to the ATM to get some cash before hand and then straight on to the Charleston Airport. So, to be honest... I felt sick to my stomach and wanted to ball my eyes out. Weird. Don't ask me to explain completely why it was like that but it just was... I don't know? funny.... hmm. It was the same feeling I get when life changes take place. (not that this is a huge life change or anything...I mean it's just a month trip.) The only way I can compare that same feeling is... to when I knew I was getting older and knew things were going to be different... Like when I started my period for the first time... or when I found out I was growing boobs HAHA! There is a funny story behind that one and all I'll say about that is... the doctor assured me I didn't have cancer but instead was just in puberty. HA! With all that said, those feelings of "sick to my stomach, and I wanna cry" there always follows a big change in my life and I think God uses that as a sort of warning sign or waving of flag. Maybe not... It's funny though, do yall ever get a funny feeling when big changes take place in your life? I think it's a sign of stepping up into maturity and getting older.

Ok, so, enough about my feelings while making my way to the airport.

A big prayer for my trip has been just to know God on a more personal deeper level and to experience Him in a way I never have before. To grow spiritual in him. To witness miracles and see his hand at work in a hands on way. Too many of us have blinded ourselves in recognizing that He is still the same God in the Bible working miracles on an everyday basis. In America we have been blinded by just things and wants for ourselves, "getting ahead", making money, getting a house, the newest car out on the market, getting married and having children, the next goal we have on our agenda... We are so busy with our own plans for our life that we don't allow room for God to be Jehovah Jirah... He will provide. It's even manifested in my own life and I think that is why he is calling me out to Ethiopia for the month. He knows I am craving to see Him in a way I can't in Charleston/or America ...or whatever. He is calling me to reach higher for Him! It's so hard to do but soooo sweet in my heart knowing that hie is leading me through this journey and called me. ME! It's taken me almost 25 years to get to this point in my relationship with Him. But in the end He is in control of all timing.

Already in my trip I have experienced the awesomeness of God and how gentile He is.

Travis, I think today I realized for the first time what the gentleness of our father feels like. I would always hear you talk about how gentile he has been with you lately and now I completely understand what that means and feels like. First encounter on this trip with God about to leave the Charleston airport to head to D.C.....

and that is all the time I have right now and I will have to tell you that story next post....

Exciting stuff peoples!