24 hours before leaving

I'm sitting at my desk at work eating lunch and thinking about tomorrow.  About 24 hours from now, I will rendezvous with my team, and we'll travel together to the airport for the first leg of our journey to Bulgaria the Romania.  This trip has been on the horizon since early spring, but it has only come together in the last few weeks.  Emails have been flying back and forth between our team and Europe, especially the last few days.  God has been faithful, as He always is, and we have a full agenda ahead of us.

 

At this point, I'm most excited about visiting Bulgaria.  It's a new country for our team, and our primary contact there is really first rate.  Marina has really worked hard to line up our itinerary and connect us with influential people.  What's more, she offered us her own newly renovated apartment as a place to stay while in her city!  Most importantly, though, she has demonstrated some very good spiritual discernment and steered us well with regard to the spiritual climate of Bulgaria and the dynamics of the Church there.

 

Bulgaria will be fascinating--a true mix of cultures from the Roman to the Ottoman Empire and Turks to the Soviets.  I can't wait!

 

As always, however, my excitement is tempered by the thought that I'm leaving behind my precious family.  Karen is in denial mode, denying that I'm leaving tomorrow while trying to put on a brave face as reality slowly seeps its way into her psyche.  I know that Jonathan has only a limited grasp on the fact that I'm leaving him for ten days.  He knows that my trip is coming up in "one more wakeup," but he doesn't really understand that I won't be there at bedtime or in the mornings for the rest of the month.  And poor Andrew is going to be so confused!  He won't have any idea what happened to Daddy.  I know without a doubt that I am called to this ministry and that I will be traveling again in the future, but I must admit that it is very hard to leave my family behind for such a long stretch.  Please pray for us.  We could use it.

 

it's time to get back to work if I can actually focus on work instead of tomorrow.  The next time I check in may very well be from the window seat of Lufthansa flight 427 or maybe even from Bulgaria itself!  More to come...