7 days

Seven days would be my countdown until I depart for Jamaica. It has been 5 years since I have left the US borders and 15 years since I've served on an overseas mission team or even a stateside one for that matter. I am in the midst of organizing three days of VBS activities for the children we will meet in Mitchell town, Jamaica. For three days, we will have the chance to learn together, sing together, play together and grow together. I have been on enough mission trips and my brain has developed enough in my 35 years to know that these trips have less to do with those that we think we are going to serve and more to do with ourselves. I read with my Sunday school class yesterday from the book of 1 John 2: 15-16 - Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world - the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches - comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever. This is what this trip is for me.

I know that it's times like this when we leave our normal that God confronts us with the things in our life that are not of Him. He confronts us with the reminder that His world and His plans are much much bigger than we can even comprehend. I'm so thankful that He has blessed me with the opportunity to travel and see His creation outside of my normal.