Actually AUGUST 4th. "Flying out."

CRAZY. I know I use that word a lot, but it’s pretty much all that comes to mind right now. I’m sitting at the gate waiting to board my flight. It just doesn’t seem possible that today is already here. I’ve been watching it approach for about five months now so you would think it would be a little more believable. But it’s not. It still feels like it should be “that day that’s coming”, not “that day that’s here.” It’s here, though. I just said goodbye to my parents. The airport is the worst place to say goodbye. You can’t cry. You can’t even let yourself feel the goodbye or you will cry and crying is not very convenient in public. I felt like I said goodbye, though, at the cabin.

This weekend was so pleasant and rich. It was a very sweet “see you later” to be with my parents for all that time. It was so beautiful and relaxing. We went to investigate Bust Your Tale Rock (a huge sliding rock in NC), and it was in fact closed. Too many deaths and they decided to build a state park near it. We also went to Telulah Gorge and hiked and saw the beautiful falls. Yesterday morning as we left the cabin my parents prayed for us, (Logan and I), and that was when I felt like we said bye. I cried a little then, but not too much. I really feel good about all this. I feel great actually. I’m excited, at ease, and I know I will see them soon. It is hard to say bye but it’s OK. The Lord has been speaking Psalm 23 over me. I really have such an assurance and peace in trusting Him that he is my shepherd. I feel that this time is going to be very reaffirming how much HE is my father. And there is so much peace in knowing that he goes with me everywhere. He never leaves me. There is no greater peace in knowing God and knowing that he is good and that he will never abandon you. His love is strong as death. Many waters cannot quench His love. Not even the entire span of the Atlantic ocean ☺. It is sweet knowing that he has you and you are in His will. You can go anywhere when you know that.

I also want to just share a little testimony about this trip. I am an International Affairs major at FSU and it is highly recommended (basically mandatory without being officially mandatory) to study abroad. I’ve been wanting to do this, however, the cost of the international programs at FSU are extremely expensive. The only program I thought I MIGHT have been able to afford was a six week summer semester in Istanbul, Turkey. I was interested but it would have cost about $8,000 for just 6 weeks. For an entire semester in Europe, it would have cost me about $16, 000. I started seriously praying about the semester in Turkey but I kept feeling that the answer was “no”. I couldn’t ignore it and so I gave up on that. Then, I stumbled across some “exchange programs” that I found on a website for FSU students. They offered an exchange for people with my major in Holland. I did a rough estimate of the cost and it came out to about $7, 000 for the entire Fall semester. I started to get really excited and so I looked into it some more and the things I thought might keep me from being eligible for the program were one by one eliminated. The door looked very open so I started praying about it. I prayed for a couple of weeks, sought council from my parents and Mrs. Lee and after all…it was a “yes” in my spirit.

This program is not advertised or talked about much because it doesn’t bring in revenue for my school. I just happened to come across it and all of the road blocks were cleared. It would be too long and boring to explain each of them so just believe me when I say it is a miracle that this program became available and came to my attention. It also happened in the perfect timing. God is such a good father and giver of good gifts. Western Europe was my preference but it was too expensive so Turkey was going to be the next route, but he said “no” not to keep me from doing that but to let me do something better. Something he knew was in my heart. Now it works out that my brother is moving to Germany and I will only be 3.5 hours from him and our sister church in Germany. It’s amazing how obvious God is sometimes. You just have to have eyes to see.

So here I am. And here I go. Crazy is a good word for all of this, but I’m sure it’s not the last time you’ll see me say it.

Until the next reportable adventure.