All My Bags are Packed…

I’m ready to go.  I’m not really ready to go, but as I have been working on packing John Denver’s song has played through my head each time I look at my suitcases.  We do have some of our bags packed.  We met up with our team twice this week to fill our checked bags with supplies to take with us.  Currently in my living room I have four huge suitcases filled with hygiene packs, diapers, toilet paper, gifts for the children, books and other miscellaneous items.  We have nearly two hundred pounds of luggage and that is not even counting what we still need to gather and pack for ourselves!  Total, our team will be bringing 26 suitcases filled with supplies, with each suitcase weighing about 50 pounds.

The countdown is getting to the point where it might be more appropriate to use hours rather than days.  In less than 48 hours we will be arriving at the airport ready to officially begin this journey. That means I have less than 48 hours to pack for myself, do laundry, update my i-pod and finish up preparing to be out of town for awhile.

The past few days have brought a range of emotions from happy, to nervous, to excited, scared and everything in between.  I keep asking myself questions like will I be able to sleep on the airplane?  What will the food be like?  What if I get sick?  Lots of questions that really don’t matter in the grand scheme of things.  I really just need to continue to trust.  This is going to be good.

We got our itinerary for when we are in country which brought me to a whole new level of excitement.  I was looking through what we will be doing when we are there and I got to the end of the list and it read: Farewell Ceremony, hugging and goodbyes.  I haven’t even made it to Sierra Leone yet, but my heart already aches at the idea of telling the children and people goodbye that I will meet.

The encouragement from others in the last week has also been amazing.  Lots of prayers, support and questions from everyone around us.  I am so thankful to know that while we are halfway across the world people back home will be praying and thinking of us.  The number one piece of advice from people has been to take lots of pictures.  Because of this advice I have had a reoccurring dream lately about how it is time to head to the airport to go home at which point I realize that I forgot to take any pictures while we were in Africa.  In my dreams I have failed the people who told me to take lots of pictures.  I really don’t think that taking pictures will be a problem for me.  I was even able to convince Trent that it was necessary to purchase a new memory card for my camera.  I am 99.9% sure that I will have lots of pictures to share upon return!    

With all that said…I need to get busy!  The mix of the next 48 hours also includes Trent being out of town to help at a football camp in Missouri, a sister date and a birthday party.  And more packing.  Stay tuned…

{The Launes}