Packing it in

I’ve been “packing” both literally and metaphorically these past couple of weeks. I will say, literally packing has been somewhat of a chaotic mess.

4 pairs of jeans, 6 t-shirts, 11 blouses, 2 pairs of athletic shorts, 7 pairs of shoes (too much?), a toothbrush, several sets of socks and undies, a german-english dictionary, and several other items later and:

There you have it. Metaphorically packing things in has been tons more fun. I love my life here in College Station, and I will miss it as I travel this summer. So I have wanted to try and make the most of the three weeks which stood between finals and this trip. During which I have said “see you later” to dear friends:

Had a couple of coffee or fro-yo dates with other friends, attended a little league game, went on a date on my roof: with this guy:

(steeper than I thought)

Watched several episodes of Gilmore Girls and relaxed by the pool with my sweet roomie, Devin:

Gone to the beach, got sunburned, dodged seaweed, fought Houston traffic one too many times, spent the night at a grooms house the night before his wedding, and the next day watched him promise the love of his life that he would stick by her forever:

I would say it has been a successful few weeks of “packing.”

All the packing, planning, and anticipating all comes down to this. The day is pretty much upon us. I fly out of the country tomorrow and will not be returning for 10 weeks. Considering I have been planning this trip pretty much since I declared my major back in April of 2011, this whole summer seems pretty surreal. I’m thinking…”wait a second, all this planning and now I am actually leaving?” It almost feels like I did not see it coming. Which is funny because in reality I have seen it coming for over two years.

I was telling a friend last week about how much of a dreamer and a planner I can be, especially when I was in high school. I remember in my sophomore or junior year of high school I would visit the College Board website and look at pictures of universities, read about all the clubs they had to offer, and weigh costs and benefits of leaving the state vs. staying closer to home. What I remember most is researching photos of dorm rooms, imagining where I would live and what it would look like. On one of these searches, I happened across a blog of this young woman who was studying abroad in Australia. It was only a distant dream of mine to study abroad at that time. It was safe to think and dream because at the time, my chance of leaving the country was not close enough to be reality. But now it is here. All the dreams that were birthed 4 or 5 years ago are only now beginning to come alive. And the thing is, I am terrified.

Don’t get me wrong, I am also anxious and thrilled. However, I like to be in control and I feel like I usually have a pretty good hold on things. I am scared of the unknown and being isolated. Which I feel like are the two neon-blinking headlines over this summer. I know it will be humbling to not be in control myself, but to be under the good and perfect control and protection of the Father. My main prayer for this summer is to grasp a better understanding of the omnipresence of Jesus. I want to have firsthand experience of the power of Jesus globally. I have grown so accustomed to College Station, Fellowship Church, and the little community that I have had the privilege of being a part of for the past two and a half years. But my little community here in B/CS is safe. We are not called to live safe lives, but to live lives that are radically devoted to growing in intimacy with Jesus and spreading His name to all people. So here is my chance.

I was skyping with a sweet friend from last summer (shout out, Margaret)…:

And she suggested that I post prayer requests on my blog posts, so here it goes. Please join with me in praying for my own life to be transformed this summer, along with any lives that I can impact for His glory and His name. Pray against homesickness, regular sickness, and feelings of isolation and culture shock. And ultimately, please pray that I grow in intimacy with Jesus and deeper revelations of His love for me and for others.

I love you guys, see you in August!