Ready or not, it is training time.

It has been quite a while since I have been on here.  I just haven't felt like I had much to say that was very interesting...although some people have suggested I blog about the crazy things I see at work as an ER nurse.  Haha!  Some days that would make for interesting reading!

I have been an ER nurse now for a year and 8 months.  Wow.  I remember when I was graduating nursing school.  And many of you remember when I was in college.  Some people I have run into at church back home think I'm STILL in college.

I have caught up with some people recently who have wondered what I have been up to and whether I "still want to do the missions thing".  I haven't been very good about sending updates, but until recently there hasn't really been any interesting or note worthy updates.  I was accepted by a sending organization last summer.  For those of you who haven't walked through the process or known anyone who has, preparing to go overseas as a long-term missionary is a looong process.  And not always an exciting one.  Some weeks it feels like I am doing all this work and getting nowhere in the process.  But the past several months there have been some exciting things going on.

I have been in contact with several teams overseas about the possibility of joining them on the field, but at this point I am unsure of exactly when my anticipated launch date will be.  There are multiple factors that contribute to that, some expected and others surprising and unexpected.  I have learned time and time again that when I get too attached to my own timeline, God decides it is time to shake things up and change my plans!  Keepin' me humble and dependent.

Thankfully for the sake of my planning impulses, there are a few things set in stone.  One of those things is my training school.  I fly out of Texas on Sunday morning to spend 2 weeks doing intensive training classes and preparation with my sending organization.  I am excited for the next 2 weeks as I have been preparing for it for a while now.  Lets just say being out of school made it difficult to get back in the swing of doing homework and required reading.  But the Lord has given me joy and blessings even through my homework.

While I am looking forward to what God has in store for me in the next 2 weeks, I am also terrified.  To be completely honest, I have been having doubts and feelings of inadequacy that get stronger each day.  It seems silly to admit because I know the truths of scripture that speak against those lies and fears.  Yet the feelings are still there and very real.  So all that I know to do is pray and cling to Jesus to be my strength.

I would be so thankful for your prayers in this.  For peace and rest in the Father.  For a spirit of enthusiasm and humility as I seek to learn and grow.  For wisdom and discernment as I listen to the Holy Spirit.  For discipline and a heart of obedience as I put into action the things I soak up.  For a growing, deepening passion to see God glorified in all the earth.  And most of all, for a heart that yearns for more of Jesus, a passionate longing for Him in the rawest sense, to the point of pleading on my knees in tears to know Him intimately.