And so it begins...

So I am currently in the car on the way from Lubbock to Dallas with my awesome aunt and uncle (Brent and Melody) who were so great to bring me back with them! Quick recap of the past week...

Had a great time at briefing with our team and other teams from the Red River region of Campus Crusade (Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas). It was really cool to see 100ish? people in one place answering the call to take the Gospel to the nations, including Italy, Greece, Russia, East Asia, and Ethiopia. We did a lot of team building, last minute preparation, learned about conflict resolution and how to love our team. All of my team except 3 of us left Tuesday evening, and I flew back to Midland. Because of the fires, I wasn't able to drive back to Lubbock until Wednesday morning. At first I was kind of bummed/stressed about that, but then I ended up getting to meet this precious guy.....


This is Connor. His parents are in my aunt and uncle's (Shane and Kim) Sunday school class. Connor was just adopted from Moscow and got to come home last week!! I have prayed for him and his new family since September, so to finally see him and see how well he is doing was incredible. I have joked about bringing about 5 kids like Connor back with me when I finish in Moscow...I completely believe that I will someday, but for now my Dad doesn't find it too exciting. :)

I got back to Lubbock on Wednesday and began packing (which was more challenging than I anticipated...) Thursday family started getting there. We had a big party to celebrate Marlee's life and graduation on Friday night with family and friends. It was great and she definitely raked in some good stuff. Graduation was yesterday. Shout out to Marlee for being a baller at life and graduating with honors and getting to sit on the front row. :) I'm so proud of her and can't wait to see what the next chapter of her life holds!
I finally finished packing last night and got up at the crack of dawn to say bye to Marlee and send her off to the state choir competition.

Our flight leaves at 5:50 this evening from Dallas. We will fly to London and have a layover there, and then London to Moscow!! I am not sure what time (Texas or Moscow) that we will be getting there, but I know it's a long time from 5:50. Haha. I'll update and let you know when I arrive! You can be praying for safety and smooth travel logistics.

Thank you for partnering with me as we make Jesus' name known in Russia. I'm grateful for you and your support!!

-m.

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So. Excited.

I don't know what to say, other than now that school is out and I don't have any of the stress from homework/lesson plans/small children everywhere/projects/etc..., I can't quit thinking about Moscow. I'm seriously so pumped. There is a lot to be done before then, and I am almoooosssttttt to my support goal. I find myself praying for the same five things over and over.

-for the little bit of my financial support that I still need to come in
-for my team's financial support.
-for the students we will meet.
-for our team to bond quickly.
-for our team to have a peace knowing the Lord has prepared the way and gone before us.

I would love for you to join me in praying for those same things in the next several days! I will leave to go to briefing the 22nd-24th (that's less than two weeks :o!), then when my team leaves for Russia, I will come home to be a part of Marlee's graduation and all the festivities that go with that. Then, I will leave to meet my team on the 29th. We are so close and I am SO EXCITED.

-m.