When I booked my travel I only looked at the December calendar. I had no idea that Thanksgiving day would be one week before departure for the Philippines. It is fitting to have such a wonderful holiday to start the final week of being in the United States. It is a time to see the family one more time. 

Over the next week, things will come to a close. I have a youth party the night before I leave. The last bits of packing will be completed and the room I have been in will be placed into eight storage containers. My luggage is ready to go and the final bits of travel details are falling into place.

It is by God’s blessings that everything has happened the way it has. Many of the details of me staying in the Philippines where worked out in hours. Once I was invited to go out there it all fell into place. Many things I had worried about for a couple of years now where taken care of. The big one, where I will be staying. It is a blessing to know that when I land in the Philippines next week I already have a bed and pillow ready for me. That is such a relief knowing that I will be staying with an amazing people and within walking distance of the ministry site. 

I have much to be thankful for today. I am thankful for all my supporters. Your faithfulness has been such an encouragement to me in this entire process. I know each and everyone of you will be blessed more than you can handle. I am thankful for God’s plan. He knows what is best for me and knows the right time for me to do things. He had an amazing plan for me this entire time and even when I ddi not understand what was going on God have everything in control.

I do hope and pray that you and your family have an amazing Thanksgiving holiday. Let us remember that we should not only be thankful during this one day a year but let us be thankful in everything 365 days a year. 

When I bought my tickets to the Philippines in early September there was about 3 months left before I left. It looked like a long road that was going to take forever to travel, thankfully it has not been the case. 

When you look at three months that is an entire season on the calendar. Seasons last forever it seems, especially summer and winter. Back in September I was in shocked that I actually secured a plane ticket, that I was actually going to be going back to the Philippines. It seemed to true to be real. It was like a dream.

With two weeks left before my departure it has gotten more real. Slowly my room has been packed up. I have already started the wave of saying goodbye to family and friends. I have visited a doctor to make sure all my vaccines are up to date and finished taking the pill for the typhoid fever vaccine. 

These next couple of weeks are going to fly by. There are more goodbyes coming this weekend and next week we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. I am looking forward to this holiday and the turkey I get to eat with it. The youth I work with have talked the leaders into throwing a party for me the night before I leave, yum pizza or subs or nachos. Do not know yet, they left that choice to me and I have not decided yet. 

All in all I look at the calendar with anticipation. I know the last pages of this chapter of life will be filled out soon and the new chapter will begin. I am looking forward to every moment that occurs between now and my flight along with finally being able to step into the Philippine sun and smell the wonderful air. 

I wake up this morning and look at the calendar in my room. There are only 3 weeks left until my big move to the Philippines. A dream that I have had for years is coming true, to be able to serve God and help others in the Philippines. 

I am very excited about this new season in my life and I can not wait to see what is about to happen next. It is like I have front row tickets to the amazing things God is going to be doing in the Philippines. I know as I enter this season I am entering a new level with God and getting into a deeper relationship with the one that created me for such time as this. 

There is this feeling inside that something is about to burst forth. It is like a Holy anticipation of something that is coming. The edge of your seat knowing something good is about to happen. Like at a sports game when your favorite team is about to pull of an amazing play and go for the win. 

The excitement is building and I can not hold it back. I am having fun and enjoying walking in the presence of my God and Savior. I am looking forward to all that God is going to do in these next few weeks and beyond. I am going to enjoy these moments and embrace the change that is about to come. 

Ever have a bad dream about someone else and you really did not want to tell them? Yeah it can be scary. One of the youth that I work with had a nightmare about me and decided to tell me about it. I do not know why they would have nightmare about me but, it was the dream itself that just frightened me. They saw me the other day at the church and the first thing they tell me is that they had a nightmare about me and that I died on my way to live my happily ever after in the Philippines. Yeah, I was shocked. I had to pray about that quickly.

The more I prayed about it the more at peace I was. First, they said I am going to live my happily ever after in the Philippines. Amen, I will take that. Most important is what I see from the dream. I am not going to die but, a part of who I am, a part of my past will die during my travel to the Philippines. This is something that God wants so that I can continue to become a new creation and so that God can add things into my life. I am drawn to 2 Corinthians 5:17 at this time. It reads, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 

God is preparing me for the life that I will be living in the Philippines, He is always teaching me new things and asking me to give Him parts of who I am in order to make me a better child of God. I am excited about this new season of life of living in the Philippines and doing God’s will. My prayer is God, take all of who I am and use it for your Kingdom.