less than two weeks...

Can you believe we will be leaving in less than two weeks!  

I cannot even tell you how excited I am to travel to Ethiopia and visit friends - old and new! What a privilege it will be to represent all of you who have put together care packages for us to hand deliver!  I am so excited to see the children's faces when they see your pictures and hear the encouraging letters which were written just for them!  I can hardly wait to watch many of them taste marshmallows for the first time as we share the parable of the lost sheep or as they string and eat fruity cheerios necklaces!  Holding and hugging and loving the children, reading books, trying to communicate at times without a translator, sharing the love Jesus shares with me, coloring, jumping rope, singing songs (theirs and ours), visiting CarePoint families and learning their stories, taking cold showers, being without internet, not being able to flush ANY toilet paper down the toilet, experiencing new food, crazy driving, seeing the beautiful countryside - I am looking forward to every last bit of it!  And I cannot wait to share it all with you!

As I write this and get excited to head back to Ethiopia and everything that goes with it, God is gently nudging me to keep this perspective here at home too. 

Lord, help me have this perspective here.  Change my heart to love and listen more, speak less, and see the good in people and circumstances.  Help me think more about the things that are important to you and less about the things that don't matter.