In 10 days I am headed to Georgia for training camp! It’s starting to feel real and honestly the more real it gets, the harder it gets. I think I’ve kind of been trying to not let it hit me so that I don’t have to come to the reality that in less than 2 weeks I have to say bye to home until May. I’m going to miss my parents, Ava, Lyla, Finnegan, Dan, all my friends, cousins, and grandparents so much and that’s hard to get used to. But this morning I was thinking into the future a little about how in a couple of months once I am past the goodbyes and the homesickness, I’m going to be across the world with people who will become family. It reminds me of the verse Romans 8:18, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Right now it is hard, but that sadness doesn’t compare to the joy that is going to come out of this. I get to spend the next 9 months building so many new relationships, while also growing my relationship with the Lord even more. I get to spend holidays in different cultures with the new family God’s giving me, I get to worship with them, and I get to serve in some of the most broken places in the world with them. I’m not in this alone and I have full confidence that God will use this challenge to produce growth and joy. 

Also!! I am 90% fundraised! This is crazy to me because when I started fundraising in June, I thought it would be almost impossible to even hit the 50% I needed before August 28. Now looking back, I never should have doubted that because God was not going to call me into something and then not make a way for it to happen. He called me to do this trip and no matter how impossible it seemed, it was made possible because of Him. And a big thing this process has taught me is that I need to be more generous. It’s simple, but there have been people whose names I don’t even know who have donated to me. And whether it was $15 or $100 or $1,000, every time a donation came in my day was made and I felt an overwhelming amount of gratitude. One person’s act of kindness made a world of a difference to me. It has made me want to sacrifice myself more because I know the impact it can have. There was one day where I had a deadline to hit in order for them to be able to purchase my plane tickets. I originally thought I would be able to reach it in time but then that plan fell through. I was stressed because there was no way I could get over $1,000 in one day. I woke up the day of the deadline to a donation from someone who I didn’t really even know. And that morning donation after donation came in, until I was above and beyond the deadline. Again God reminded me that I never should have doubted Him because he makes the impossible possible. Now here I am 10 days out with only 10% left to raise. 

I would really appreciate prayer through all of the goodbyes, all the final preparation, and the remainder of fundraising. That God would prepare my heart for all that is coming. 

He is so faithful, so kind, and so good. 10 days until launch!!

Love,
Ella