See You Laters and Blessed

Today has been a rollercoaster. I worked on getting alot of small, administrative-ish things done today. Today was also a day of "see you laters." I don't like good-byes, so I opt for see-you-laters.

I had to say see-you-later to my best friend, Leslie, and her two kids, John Ryan and Sarah. It was hard. Les and I have been best friends since I was in the 8th grade. We've been through alot together, and no matter what, we've always stuck by each other. John Ryan and Sarah are two people in this world that no matter how annoying or mischievous they get, I still love them to pieces (well, the same holds true for their mama!). John Ryan has seen pictures from Liberia; he likes to come to my room and look at the pictures and 'make parades' with all of my woodcarved animals. He knows I go to Africa to play and help kids. Tonight I throughly enjoyed laying in bed with him and reading him 3 bedtime stories....even though mom said I could only read him one! After the I love you's and see you laters, I was driving home thinking about how much God has blessed me with such a wonderful best friend. And, how much God has blessed me through the children God has given her! I admit, I spoil them like crazy.....um, non-stop cupcakes, candy, play-doh, 3 bedtime stories vs. 1, etc. I realized they're my training ground and my practice runs for loving on kids in Liberia! When I can't be in Liberia, I've got kids here to love on like crazy! And, they constantly crack me up!

[Sarah & John Ryan's Easter pics I took last week. Can we say supermodel children?]

Tonight was also my last night with my HeartCry family. They prayed blessings over me tonight, and it really meant alot. Then we had cookie-cake and celebrated. They gave me a little treasure box filled with notes and letters, and after I got home, I sat down to read through them. Such kind and encouraging words! Also, appearently someone decided to be sneaky, and people enclosed checks...lots of checks. I will be honest when I say, I've raised enough support through ORR, but my support at ORR can only cover my plane ticket and room & board. So, money for my visa, malaria pills, insurance, and spending money were going to all be out of pocket. Until tonight! Everyone knew to make their checks to ORR, but everyone made their checks out to me personally. Such a HUGE blessing, because I now have $1150 to use towards all of those expenses that would have otherwise been out of pocket (which I didn't have the money for to begin with)! It's amazing how God works! It was another gentle reminder that God's taking care of everything....down to the details....and that I don't need to worry. His hand is all over this trip (just like last time), and when I start to doubt, He always reminds me that He's here, taking care of me, and that He knows exactly what I need. My words are not adequate to describe God's goodness and faithfulness; but for some reason I continue to doubt, and God has to keep reminding me! I guess that's part of being human?

Tonight has been a night of tears...both good and bad. A year ago today, I was getting on a plane to come home from Liberia. That day too, there were lots of tears...both good and bad...but above all, I knew in my heart that because of God's goodness and faithfulness, and because of the passion He's put in my heart to reach the children of Liberia, I would be able to return to Liberia. I'm leaving on Sunday to go and reach the children of Liberia!

What a mighty God we serve!