22 Days: Quick update

Twenty two days. That's how many days left I have before I leave to Louisiana for training! The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. I had my last day as parish secretary at St. Joseph Catholic Church on August 15th, I've been busy meeting up with various people who have joined my mission team to support me while I'm on mission and help me to be able to serve Christ wherever He sends me (if you'd like to find out how you can support me financially while I'm on mission feel free to reach out to me about that!), and I've just overall been preparing to leave on September 14th and striving to get all I need to get done before I go.

I've been in contact with the other missionaries joining Family Missions Company this Fall and a few of them have said that they're excited for when we will all be together for training in September. I've been reflecting on that the past few days and I've come to the conclusion that at the moment I'm not excited. Now, don't get me wrong, I know without a doubt that being with Family Missions Company is exactly where the Lord wants me to be and that it will be an amazing and challenging journey the next two years. But I just can't at this moment say I'm excited and that's fine. I can't bring myself to focus on training already, on being on mission...etc because I'm not there yet. I can pray for those coming to training, and pray for those who I will serve while on mission and all the other FMC missionaries. But I'm currently still in Michigan and that's where I want my focus to be right now. Sure, I can plan, pray, prepare and I can make sure that I'm all set when the day comes to leave. But I want to take this journey one day at a time, to truly be present where the Lord has me right now and not keep my focus on something in the future that I haven't gotten to yet.

I have had some moments where it's been a struggle to be present where the Lord has me. This new journey there will be so many new transitions and it's a lot to take in and there have been some worries that have come up. A few weeks ago I brought up all the things weighing on me to the Lord in prayer and He gave me the image of me dancing with Him, and He was leading the dance. He told me to keep my eyes fixed on Him on this journey and to simply rest in His arms and allow Him to lead me wherever I need to go. And that has been beautiful to reflect on as I've gone forward and rest in His peace. Whenever I have a worry come up I pause and just remember that. To remember that all of this is in His plan and that I simply have to say yes and allow Him to do the work, to trust that He will provide, that He will be with me through it all.

It's truly amazing the ways God provides for us and is always there for us. I've truly been blessed in abundance and know that whatever comes my way I don't have to fear. Christ is before me and with me always and I simply have to keep my focus on Him. I have twenty two days left before I leave, and I might not be excited for training quite yet-- but I'm extremely excited to simply dwell in each day and see what adventures He has for me simply day by day.