Reassured and Headed Out!

Ok, packing my final bags, cooked and froze dinners for my family here, finished making the kids' costumes for Halloween so they are ready when I get back, baked and froze Thing 3's birthday cake to be served immediately upon return home (she will be 4 on the 28th-eek!! where did 4 years go???), laundry mostly caught up (is it ever REALLY??), jewelry orders caught up....hmm, I guess I better really go on this trip. I have to be honest, I was at the "freaking out, what was I thinking" point yesterday-really in a panic. I was just overwhelmed with the gravity of leaving the people I love most in the world, being very far away, missing all the daily bits of life that make up time. Not to mention I was having yet ANOTHER allergy spasm so I was sneezing uncontrollably and barely able to breathe in between sneezes. It was not my finest hour, at all. I fell into bed completely exhausted and miserably and if I am being truthful, afraid of what I had gotten myself into. I woke up very groggy from my allergy fog and sent Things 1 and 2 off to school with hugs and kisses, then curled up on the couch under a blanket with Things 3 and 4 and dozed some more while they watched tv, something I never ever do. I still felt sort of worried about things and wanted to avoid the real world. Well, God knows His children and I am blessed to be one. He knows that, just like my Things, some need a little more reassurance in certain situations than others, and some need a LOT more reassurance in certain situations. I am one of those. So, a friend called to ask me something about an email so I finally dragged myself to my computer and checked my inbox. In it I had an email from Cherrie who I am working with in Ethiopia-she said that next week they would be training Korah folks to make clay beads and I was going to be on the team doing that! Oh my word, what she did NOT know, is that I have been praying for about 2 months about teaching some of my jewelry making stuff to the people living there so that they could use it to generate income to make a living. I had not done anything about it b/c I wasn't really sure how to do it, but then go figure, God just up and took care of that for me!! How else could my playing with clay in my Etsy shop be missionary training??! Ha ha! (btw, my Etsy shop is set to "vacation mode" while I am in ET, it will be back up Nov 1st!) As a friend commented on my facebook post, I get to be doing what I love with a people that I love in Ethiopia! I got so excited again seeing that yes, God has indeed directed our steps to this trip and He knows my heart and has a purpose for me being there, even though it is hard to leave my family here. Also, that friend I mentioned who called about an email shared some of the most encouraging words to me about my trip, just really spoke to my heart. God is so good to reassure me over and over...and over!! Here are His words to me as He reassured me:

"The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." Isaiah 58:11

If you would, could you please keep me and the folks I am working with in your prayers as we minister in Korah and Addis Ababa? And also, for my sweet family here? They are a blessing beyond measure and this next 10 days will be hard for all of us to be apart from each other, and my husband will be on mom AND dad duty while I am gone so, you know what to do....pray for him!! Ok,then with that I say ciao(how they say goodbye in Ethiopia-yes, really) and the next post will be from my travels!