The day before

You'd think I'd have myself together by now.... I mean, I do have about 12 hours to go until I leave my parents' house and start the journey back home to Guinea Bissau.

And what started out as a good effort with good intentions and a good attitude has now turned south (Lancaster County phrase meaning things are now quite the opposite).

This is the pile of STUFF.... to the right are things I have to (re) pack...

and I'm sure my mother would appreciate if I put the boxes and clothes (at left) in storage.

I can hear you asking, "And...why are you stopping to write this blog post?"  My answer is pretty simple.  I feel like a lot of people have unrealistic ideas of what it's like to be a "missionary".. As if somehow that title means that you have your life together or something.  As if somehow, by being a missionary, you have achieved some level of spiritual maturity, submissiveness to God's plan or just plain down guts.  And I just wanted to tell you that that is not me.  The person sitting on the other side of the computer screen is far from that.

Let me give you a picture of what the real me looks like.  In the last week I have:

- had some pretty major arguments with my family
- averted minor disaster that resulted from me accidentally downloading a computer virus
- came home to my brother in pain and with a messed up knee
- forgot about renewing my visa
- packed
- unpacked
- repacked
- unpacked again because I realized my one bag was overweight
- have had excited conversations with teammates and friends in GB
- have had really sad goodbyes with friends in the states
- said goodbye to my sisters when they were in for the weekend
- froze in PA (and then saw that it's 97 degrees in GB)
- had the very odd experience of getting my first pedicure... by myself
- taught/spoke at 5 different schools (from elementary to university)
- gone for about 5 "last minute" trips to Wal-Mart
- read 3 novels on my Kindle
- drank about 1 pot of coffee (per day)
- pigged out on things simply because I knew I would likely not eat them within the next two years
- tagged along for supper with my parents at Weaverland's "Guess Who's Coming for Dinner"
- walked into a bank 15 minutes before it closed to take care of some "last minute things" (and didn't walk out until almost 45 minutes after closing hours
- and have not made time for daily devotions.

...among many other things, of course.

And that's what my life looks like right now.

Yup.  It's kind of messy.

Here's to an evening of (re) packing while listening to Rend Collective and having a better attitude!  "See" you on the other side of of the ocean!