ALMOST THERE!

So I left Athens today for the final time before I go to Mexico.  Me and some of my friends celebrated my birthday a day early so I could be home for New Years Eve to celebrate with my family, and also so I can get up early to go to a pre-departure orientation for the trip.  It was a blast hanging out with my friends, and it was a great way to celebrate my last night in Athens for a while.

My feelings right now are VERY mixed.  I am anxious, nervous, excited, happy, thrilled, stoked, and scared all at once.  

I am very nervous about finally going because of how new of an experience this will be.  Different culture, different people, different life.  Everything is going to be new and different, and that actually makes me very nervous.  However, that also makes me VERY excited.  It is like I am going to a whole new world to have wonderful experiences.  I have been praying constantly, and I know that God will work everything out and that through Him, incredible things are going to happen.

I had an absolutely incredible Christmas break, and I am very sad to see it end.  However, I know that I am going onto major things, and I am ready.  

My flight leaves on Friday morning at 7am, and I will arrive in Charlotte, North Carolina first, and then I will board a plane at about 9:35 that will land in Mexico City at around 12:41pm.  Lord willing, I will get on my scheduled flights, as I am on standby.  I am ready for whatever happens.  I think that when I actually get in Mexico, I will finally be able to breath a sweet sigh of relief and relax.  

I truly believe that God is going to do incredible things in Mexico.  I know that He will be present, and I cannot wait to see these things happen.  I will continue to pray...always...and let God do His thing.

Merry Late Christmas

So I hope that everyone had a fantastic Christmas, and everyone was able to get what they wanted.  I know I did!  However, I also hope that everyone kept in mind the true meaning of the holiday season.  It is very easy to get wrapped up (like a present hahahahaha) in the commercialism of the season, and I would be lying if I said that it never happened to me.  However, the ultimate gift was given long ago.  The gift of a child, led to the gift of Grace...and that is the greatest gift anyone could every conceive.  

I have not began to pack for Puebla yet.  I know that I really need to start, but for some reason I just cannot bring myself to do it.  Packing is so annoying and frustrating!  My dad gave me a HUGE suitcase to take to Mexico.  It is so big I could probably take a friend with me...anyone wanna go???????

Unfortunately, we have a mandatory pre-departure orientation on Jan. 1st somewhere in Atlanta at 9am.  As my birthday falls the day before on Dec. 31st, naturally I was planning on celebrating with some friends.  However, now that I know I have to wake up at the butt crack of dawn on New Years Day, my fun plans have basically been foiled.  HOWEVER, my friends and I did decide to celebrate my birthday the day before on the 30th hahaha.  That way we can do whatever we want, and not have to worry about having to wake up extremely early the next day!  Looks like everything works out for the best sometimes!

In less than a week, I will be in Puebla with my teammates!  Words cannot begin to describe how excited I am about being there, and hanging out with everyone and just having an incredible time!  5 months of prepping for this trip have finally come down to this!  GET EXCITED!!!!!!!

To Beth: Where It All Began

So I have a friend named Beth.  She wanted to make sure that I made an entire post dedicated to her as she claims to be where my inspiration to go to Mexico all began.  You see, Beth went to Mexico with this same program a few years ago.  She spent a semester working at El Pozo, and from what I know, she had a great time doing so.

Beth has told me a lot about her time in Mexico, and has since inspired me to go on this trip myself.  She has been a great inspiration for me, and it is exciting to follow in her footsteps and work at the same place where she worked for a semester.  

She as even been very helpful for this experience for me, and even contributed to my fund for the trip with a very generous donation.  For that, I am unbelievably thankful!  

Long story short, if Beth had never inspired me to go on this trip in the first place, then I may have never taken this step to go out of my comfort zone and do something like this.   Thank you Beth, and I hope this post was sufficient for you.

Surprise Going Away Party

So two of my best friends combined forces yesterday and threw me a surprise going away party for me for my trip to Mexico.  There were secret Facebook groups, as well as mysterious phone calls.  Overall, they did a great job at keeping it a secret, though I did start to get suspicious with some sketchy under-the-breath talking.  The party was AWESOME!  There were about 30 people there, and it was so awesome to get to hang out with everyone who means so much to me one last time before I leave them for 4 months.

While the party was absolutely wonderful, it was also a very large reality check for me, and the realization finally set in that I am about to leave.  I read what everyone wrote in the card that was made for me, and it made me sad :-( .  I am so excited about going to Mexico and doing God's work, and I have been praying for big things to happen while I am there, but I realized who I am leaving.  

My biggest prayer at this point in time is that I will not let the sadness and fear of leaving all of my friends get the best of me.  Every day, I have been praying to not focus on that, but to focus on the reason why I am going.  The party helped me to realize how many people are supportive of me, and how many people are excited about the trip.  So what do I have to be sad about? 

On a more positive side...sorry to be such a drag, I was just feeling very nostalgic for a moment.  I am leaving in about 14 days!!!!  I only have one shot to get, and I am beyond finished with my fundraising!  Hebron Christian Church gave me $1000 to help me with the trip!  I am so excited that I am almost there!  I just have to go get a shot, which I hate, and then get all of my money deposited into my bank account, and then depart!!!!  

I am going to be home for the Christmas season, and it is going to be awesome to spend some good quality time with my family.  I am excited to celebrate Christmas with my family, and eat some good food!  I also have a birthday to celebrate before I leave!  I turn 23 on Dec. 31!

Anyways...its almost that time!  I will continue to update!  

Meeting The Team

So this evening, I finally got to meet the team that I am going to Mexico with.  Georgia Tech CCF hosted a banquet for people who will be going on a Globalscope program, as well as for people who are interested in the program.  All of my teammates were there, and finally, after 5 months of knowing who these people were through Facebook alone, I finally got to meet them face-to-face.

I walked into the room late, (thanks to a good friend of mine), which actually saved me from having to introduce myself to my teammates as I was the last one there, and it was obvious as to who I was.  We chatted with one of the leaders for El Pozo in Mexico, and got some last minute questions answered.  It was fantastic.  

Through the dinner, we sat at the table and got to know each other fairly well.  I can definitely tell that we gelled really well from the very beginning, and it gives me complete optimism that we will learn even more about each other in the 4 months we will be spending together.  

Needless to say, I am extremely excited about forming relationships with these folks, and in the process helping each other grow.  I pray for friendships to be formed, and the instant connection I felt tonight to sustain so we can successfully minister to the students of UDLA.  I absolutely cannot wait to see how our different ideas can come together to form something wonderful.  

Less Than One Month!

Hey everyone!  Welcome to my brand new blog!  I decided to create this blog to let people keep up with me as I go to Mexico.  This will be a great way for me to keep everyone informed of things that are happening in Mexico, as well as in my life while I am gone.  I have never done the whole blog thing before, so hopefully this will be something that I am able to keep up with once in a while haha.

Since June, I have been in the preparation process of going with an organization called Globalscope to Puebla, Mexico for a semester abroad, as well as experience working full time as an intern at a campus ministry.  El Pozo is the ministry, and upon arriving in Mexico on Jan. 2, I will basically be a minister there, reaching out to students and helping to lead students into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.  Not only this, I too will be growing through this experience as a person, and a child of God.  Words cannot even begin to express how excited I am about this experience.

Crunch time has arrived as the realization sets in that I have less than a month before I step onto the plane, and fly to Mexico for 4 months.  I have spent countless hours stressing about fundraising, and can fortunately say that everything has gone wonderfully.  I am finished with raising my $8,000 for the most part, and am confident that I will be able to financially support myself for the duration of the 4 months.  Now, I still need to get my shots, and pack.  All of which will be accomplished during this final month.

My main fear about this adventure is knowing that in one month, I will be leaving everyone I know and love the most.  I will not see any of them for 4 months, and knowing this kind of gives me a sick feeling in my stomach.  Now, don't get me wrong, I am indescribably stoked about meeting and getting to know my other teammates i will be working with.  I think that we will grow really close through this experience and it will change us all for the better.  Having said that, it is going to take a lot of faith in God for me to be able to not dwell on what's back home, but press on and make the most of every single opportunity I am given in Mexico.

Right now, my biggest prayer requests are: 

1) For me to finish the last few things of preparation I still need to finish before I leave.

2) For strength to be able to comfortably leave the people who mean most to me.

3) For an open mind and genuine love as I reach out to the students in Mexico.

I will update this blog as much as I can, and I hope that everyone is able to check up on me through this.  I look forward to sharing this journey with everyone!  Thanks and God Bless.