Two days and counting

I'm actually going to the Middle East!! Ahh!!
The more time I spend in orientation the more I realize just how unprepared I am. And that excites me. I realize that I won't be prepared; I can't be prepared. Even when I'm there walking the streets of Cairo I won't be ready for my adventure to begin. It's not something that I can be ready for before it happens. Orientation is amazing and immensely helpful, but no matter how much I'm told about what I'll face or how to respond or what to pack it won't scratch the surface of adequate preparation. This trip is too far beyond anything that I've ever done for lectures and sessions and books to prepare me. So I wait. So I trust my leaders. And I trust God. We serve an amazing God and he travels with us! I'm so far from being ready, but I don't have to be--I have faith.
WAAG simply stands for What An Awesome God! Sometimes it's "amazing" instead of awesome, but the idea is the same. For those who knew me 4 years ago, WAAG was something I used back in my first journal sitting outside Hickory as a CIT at Penn-York. It has popped up sporadically through my journals and I bet it'll be a rallying cry for this semester as I explore the Middle East and all of it's beauty. The more I live the more I realize how incredible God is and over these next 14+ weeks I'll live a few years. The prospect of travel and seeing God everywhere is why I'm so excited. I know this semester be difficult, way more difficult than I can imagine, but in the end I'll survive and I'll have grown.
The 30 students in our group and our 2 fearless leaders are all fantastic! One thing I look forward too is the family bond that will form rather quickly. I learned today that I'll be on the student leadership team in charge of leading songs whenever our group has a devotional time. I like to sing, but I've never really led a group in song like this at least not without extensive help. I have a good team though, so this too will work out. The good news is that I get a legitimate excuse to take my hymnals along with me! I was finding it a bit difficult to justify lugging 3 song books around for a semester, but now I most definitely will!
Is it Friday yet?