one week from today

- posted by mika

at this time, one week from today, we will be in a plane en route to Brussels (then on to Entebbe)! WOW! i am so excited about touchdown in Uganda, but pretty nervous about everything that has to happen in the next 7 days. my heart is ready, but my house and suitcases are SO NOT!
i have written numerous blog post in my head over the last few weeks. my thoughts seem so jumbled, i just don't know where to start sorting them so other people can make any sense of what i want to say. but sorting and organizing seem to the order of things from here on out, so here goes... a brief synopsis of what i would write if i had more clarity and time.
i would title one post : Because HE is just that good!!!
this is the theme of my grateful heart this Christmas. i am overwhelmed at God's goodness that we so obviously don't deserve. i keep asking myself WHY??? why is He giving us this incredible opportunity to go serve in a way that i thought i would only get to dream about? why is He being so faithful to us when i haven't been very faithful to him? why has He prompted so many people to be generous to us when i myself struggle with being generous to others? why should i expect Him to open doors and give us favor when i don't take advantage of the opportunities that are right here right now? WHY when i don't deserve? the only conclusion i can come to is that HE is just that good! he is my Daddy who loves to delight me, surprise me, overwhelm me - all the while reminding me that it's not about me. i will never deserve Him.


and my other post would be titled : the Sweetest Years
i remember being a new bride many years ago, trying to understand my role as a 21 yr.old youth pastor's wife. i remember sitting around a table with a few other YP wives listening to "Momma Sam" Allen, our DYD's wife, as she gave us "nuggets of wisdom" from her years of experience. she said, "the pressures of ministry and the craziness of working with teenagers may seem more than you can handle sometimes... but enjoy it! because someday it will be over, and you will look back and say, 'those truly were the sweetest years of ministry!'."
so, now it is over - it went by so very fast. i spent a couple of hours last week sorting through pictures and allowing myself to be sentimental. pictures from the dome, the modular, Kid's Carnivals, Beach Camp, countless graduations, campouts, Princess Banquets. i looked at the faces of some kids who were part of our lives for a season and other kids who we've watched grow up and i know will be friends with for life. this new season before us promises adventure and new friendships and no less significance. but i think she was right. the sweetest years will belong to Jackson, TN. we gave our eager, inexperienced hearts and have been given so much more in return! this is our home, and we leave it without an ounce of bitterness. -only much much gratitude.