Gate D-34...Wait D-15

Well we are in Miami!  After a very early morning, coffee and hot chocolate were a necessity as soon as we passed through security.  Our first flight passed smoothly with only a few incidents including a few awkward conversations with strangers and obnoxious people. You know, the usual airport stuff.  Our flight attendant informed us of our next gate (D-34) so after a quick bathroom break (this will be a frequent occurrence) we made our way to our "gate" only to find out that our gate was really D-15 (on the other side of the airport).  Now we are waiting at our real gate and anticipating the next stage of our trip (the flight to Tegucigalpa).  After months of preparation we are sad to leave our friends, family and country behind but we have constantly been reminded by these people that God will be with us all summer.  This is an exciting part of our life that we may never get to experience again.  Instead of being sad we will try to make the most of the time we will spend in Honduras.  So in less than 3 hours, with God's help, we will safely be in Honduras and beginning our new adventure.

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." - Theodore Roosevelt

"So let us seize and hold fast to the hope we cherish"

Well here we are less than 7 hours away from walking into the airport.  It is unbelievable how good God has been to us.  We have both just about conquered what we think we will be the most challenging part of the whole summer (packing).  I mean really...how do you pack for two months in another country?  To say the least, it has been a struggle and something that I have been putting off till the last possible minute.  Packing up was like the final weight that fell into my lap to set my nerves racing.  It really is true that Satan will continue to attack until the last possible second.  Tonight, mine and Laura's family had dinner together as an almost final goodbye (they will be taking us to the airport in the morning where we will have our official "sob fest").  I cannot believe the time is really here.  We have been so encouraged the whole way leading up to this, and I think I can speak for Laura as well, but these next few weeks will be when we need encouragement the most.  As soon as we can we will try to post an address to Jovenes so that we will be able to receive cards and letters.  There is just something about getting a hand written card from loved ones that can turn a bad day around.  We also ask that if you don't want to mess with sending a letter that you leave us your encouraging thoughts here on our blog.  There will be times when we will have down days but encouragement from loved ones back home would mean the world to us.

I really am excited.  It is with scattered emotions that I try to stay positive.  I think it is normal at this point to be nervous and scared.  But I also know that God is with us and if our goal is to do His work (not our own) then nothing Satan can do will stop us from achieving that goal.  I have a strong faith that God's will will be done this summer.  He has gotten us this far and I am very excited to see what He does.

So after 11 months of planning, stressing, scheduling, fundraising, packing, and saying goodbye, we are finally ready to leave our comfort zone behind to a place where we will be out of our bubble and looking forward to God's plan for the next two months of our life.  Thank you to EVERYONE who has said a prayer for us, helped us out financially, and encouraged us through smiles and hugs.  We literally (for lack of a better word) could not have gotten this far without you.  Each and every one of you will be a huge part of God's mission to the boys and Jovenes and we cannot wait to share with you all of the exciting stories and pictures.

It is with our love that we part this country.  Please stay in touch by reading and commenting on our blog!

"Guide me in your truth and teach me..."

6 DAYS!!!  Hannah and I cannot believe that we are almost there.  Our flight leaves out next Wednesday somewhere around 6:00 am.  We have just started one of the hardest things we have done so far... packing.  The question to ask, "What do you pack to go live in another country for 2 months?"  Thankfully Goodwill came through again and provided both of us with some great capris and shirts. Thanks to Lydia for providing a great packing list, we are off to the store to make our last minute purchases to check things off.

Please continue to pray for both of us as reality is finally setting in.  We are going to be gone for 2 months.  2 months from family and friends.  2 months from things that are familiar.  2 months from our own beds.  But the truth is this is going to be 2 months of growth with God, leaning on him and each other, and loving on some pretty amazing boys.  God has hand his hand in this whole process, and we are SO EXCITED to see what he has in store for this trip!

"God is good all the time, all the time God is good"

Well, I can hardly believe we are leaving in 20 days!  Things are starting to come together very nicely.  Last night we had nearly 200 people at peak of the week for our fundraising dinner. After a bit of frustration getting the meal together we had a very delicious dinner of taco salad.  I think is was a great hit and we had just enough for everyone to get some food! God was definitely good to us last night. With his help and the amazing support of all of our friends and family, we raised $1,400 dollars for our trip.  This was way more than Laura and I every imagined we would get from this fundraiser. We are so grateful and humbled by the kindness of our Christian family.  At this point, we are over half way done with the money we need to raise.  Of course we will continue to pray and depend on God and his wonderful blessings.

The preparation for this trip has been humbling.  We have learned so much about ourselves already and we have not even gotten on the plane yet!  I am so excited but on the other side of things I am extremely nervous about the unknown.  But I believe this is one of the things God is trying to teach Laura and I. I think He is teaching us to rely completely on Him.  He will be our focus this summer and when things get tough we will turn to Him.

Continue to pray for us and for peace of mind.  We know this mission belongs to God, but it is hard to not worry when it seems that so many things could go wrong. We are very excited and cannot wait to see what God continues to teach us through this experience!

God Bless!

Taco Salad?...Yes Please!

Next big piece of information is (drum roll please!)...LauraBeth and I will be cooking a meal of taco salad on Wednesday night, May 9th at 6:00 pm in the Smyrna Church of Christ fellowship hall to raise money for our trip! We have had many lovely ladies volunteer to cook some fabulous desserts for us so you will not want to miss this! 100% of the proceeds will go into our mission fund and hopefully bring us one step closer to our exciting summer in Honduras. If you cannot come and would like to make a donation that would be more than welcome, just let us know. Thank you all for your prayer support. Every day that goes by, Laura and I have seen more and more signs and feel that this is what we were called to do. Everyday is a reminder that God is Good! Countdown...27 days!!!