Three Weeks Away!

In three weeks I'll be leaving home for a week to work as a volunteer (a "Short Term Missionary" - STM) at the Joni and Friends New England Family Retreat in Greenfield, NH. Yesterday, on our weekly Sunday drive, my family drove to Greenfield to get a look at the conference center and to get me a little more familiar with the drive. I'm very much a "let's take the highway all the way" kind of girl, so I wasn't thrilled about the middle-of-nowhere back roads over New Hampshire mountains. But it was a beautiful drive, and the facilities look really beautiful - right on a lake! When we drove in there was a camp going on, so we awkwardly had to find our way back out amid a group of over-friendly teens waving hello and directing us to parking. But in only three weeks I'll be going for real, and actually parking and getting out of the car. I was hoping to snap some pictures, but I didn't want to make our adventure any more awkward (did I mention there was someone in a moose costume to greet us?).

As I continue to prepare for my week at the camp, I'm filled with a lot of excitement about all the unknowns that the week holds for me. I really have no idea what to expect, so I'm praying for a teachable heart and the ability to focus on serving rather than worrying about how much I don't know. (Some non-humid weather and clouds would be nice, too, to keep my hair from exploding and my skin from frying...haha.) But seriously, I am so grateful that I was able to snatch up this opportunity that just kind of fell in my lap. And I'm so appreciative of all the friends and family who have donated to make this possible and are holding me and the whole retreat up in prayer. I know God will use this event to change not just me, but every person there - in ways I can't even imagine yet!