2 weeks and counting...

Plans are progressing nicely, and this trip is becoming very real very quickly!  Brent leaves for India two weeks from tomorrow.  Yikes!  The past few weeks have been spent purchasing plane tickets, getting vaccinations, obtaining our visas (I still have to apply for mine), and still trying to find someone to watch our house while we're gone.  Brent's parents have graciously offered to take our cat, Ella, into their home if needed.  But we'd prefer to have someone actually at the house if possible – both to watch the house and to keep some level of normalcy for kitty.  We have one lead that we're working on now, so please pray that God would provide discernment on whether to pursue this opportunity.  It's a little scary to think of leaving our house in the hands of someone we don't know.  But this lady came as a recommendation from a close friend, and it looks like it could actually meet a need that she has as well.  It’s definitely teaching me to let go of things that I hold dear and remember that they aren’t really mine to begin with.  My home (along with the rest of my “things”) is to be used for God’s glory.  This may include offering it to someone who may or may not do things exactly as I would.  Deuteronomy 8:6-20 is such a humbling reminder that everything we have it a gift from God, not of our own doing, and that He can take it away.

A few weeks back, we had the chance to meet with a couple from the International Mission Board who got us connected with some local folks in Bangalore.  God has been so faithful to lead us to people who can help us plug into the local church body and ministry opportunities once we arrive so that we can hit the ground running.  We already know about 25 people in the city, which is amazing and will make the transition much easier.  One thing that Brent and I are particularly passionate about is the tent maker model, where folks maintain a “day job” but use it as a platform for ministry.  While in India, we’re very much there for business.  It’s the reason for the trip and where we’ll spend a good majority of our time.  But it also enables some great opportunities to serve others and build the body of Christ in a different environment.  Last week we were excited and blessed to be able to share about our trip with our church family during Wednesday night Bible study.  Our Associate Pastor shared a wonderful message on the tent maker model from Acts 18 and then spent time praying for us.  Brent and I love our church and are so thankful for their support and love.

In the past week we also found out where we’d be living in India.  The Inn Bangalore will be home while we’re abroad, and it actually looks pretty nice.  If nothing else, there’s A/C and a toilet.  I can’t ask for much more (not all places in India have these two items)!  We’ll have a 2 bedroom apartment, and we’re already planning a visit (assuming everything works out) from Brent’s parents while we’re there.  If anyone else has a yearning to come to Bangalore, you have a place to stay!

Last, but definitely not least, I want to share some exciting news about a vacation Brent and I will get to take in September.  Knowing that we’d be a lot closer to some really cool countries, we planned to do a trip while we were in India but were having a really hard time narrowing down what we wanted to do.  China is on my bucket list, and New Zealand is on Brent’s.  We looked at both of those options, but Brent has already been to China, and New Zealand is a REALLY long (and expensive) trip.  We briefly explored Thailand, which was really cheap, but it wasn’t really on either of our top 10 lists.  We finally landed on, what I believe, will be my dream trip of a lifetime.  We’re going to get to spend a week on safari in Kenya!  For anyone who has known me for more than a minute, you know how much I love animals.  Last year for Christmas, my parents got me the full DVD series of Disney’s Planet Earth videos.  I am in love with them, and we’ll actually be going to the area where those are filmed.  The trip we’re taking was recommended to me by a co-worker (he went earlier this year), and we’ll be there right in the middle of the wildebeest migration.  And the coolest part is that we’ll be on the trip during both of our birthdays.  Pictures will certainly follow!

I’ll post again once Brent arrives safely in Bangalore.  Over the next two weeks, please be praying specifically for us as we get ready to be apart for the month of August, for his safety as he travels (the airline he's on was not my first choice in terms of safety, but it's too late to change it), and that we'd be able to get everything done that must be done before he leaves.