New Beginnings

For the past 3 weeks starting this blog has been on my "to do list" (longer then that if you count my mental "to do list") Does anyone else ever get caught up and stuck on the beginnings of something? Beginning of a school paper, beginning of a life change, beginning of a business proposal, beginning of the new year?etc. There's just so many questions that goes into starting something.... what should I say? What if it doesn't make sense? What are people going to think? What if it completely flops and I become one of those "Fail Memes" that people so love to post? There's so much that can ride on a beginning.

That leaves me here, just a little over a week before leaving on a yearlong ministry trip to Eastern Europe, "beginning" a simple blog, to hopefully keep you updated on what God is doing in my new ministry with Kontaktmission. This trip will be taking me to 5 different countries working with different missionaries and church plants, I will be experiencing different aspects of ministry throughout my travels and I am so excited to see what God has in store for me in each place he has called me.  The longer I think about this upcoming journey, I realize that although it is the start of a new chapter in my life, it is not the beginning. This Journey has been in the making for over 2,000 years when Jesus spoke in Matthew 28 saying "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.". Our job isn't to worry about beginning something or getting the approval of those around us. Jesus put the wheels in motion for this trip and every other spiritual journey to reach the lost, love the hurting and encourage those who went before us. 

This next chapter of my life is going to have many ups and downs. This is the longest I have been separated from friends, family, and any support system. But I am so excited for the new friends and family and support system God will put in my life. At the start of each year I like to choose a one word 'theme' that I want my year to be about, this year I chose the word "Intentional". I want my time in each of these new places and with these new friends to be intentional- to make the most of the time God has allowed me in each place and in each relationship. I want this blog to also be very intentional. I want to be transparent to all of you back home and from the places I will be visiting in, my updates and prayer needs for the places I am in and for myself. This journey I am about to embark on is not just me going out to serve the people of Eastern Europe, but us all coming together for the global cause of making disciples of all Nations! Thank you for being a part of this ministry!

Please Pray for 

• Safe Travels for me and for the team member that will meet me at the airport
• The people I will be working with in Korce Albania 
• For me to take stay focused on God and his plans