Aquí estoy. ¡Envíame a mí!

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'" - Isaiah 6:8
A few weeks ago Cait called & said that she was the only girl going on the Mexico mission trip with her church & had been asked to recruit some more. Anytime this happens, I immediately want to go & have to reign in my emotions & my heart & decide if it's what God wants or what I want.
Now let me just set the stage for you: Sara had gotten home from Swaziland 5 days before. I'd just been at my aunt's going through all of her pictures from the Dominican. Sweet Emily Cates had just gotten home from a summer in India. John-Michael was en route from Malawi. And my heart was anywhere but Madison, Georgia. I'd just been telling someone a few days before about how I knew I did the right thing this summer, going to school & working...but I just really needed to go somewhere. I'm not at all saying that you have to go somewhere to do missions, because that's just not true. But, I felt that tug at my heart to go, to serve, to love, to push everything else aside & just be with people.
You can imagine how easy it was to think "oh, I'd just been having this conversation...this obviously means God's telling me to go." But I wanted to have total permission from God before I made that decision. I started praying about it, a little worried because I knew I needed to know in about a week. For the first few days I didn't really feel like God was giving me a clear answer. Then I began to see doors opening. When I first talked about it with my parents, they were all for it. That's never happened. My parents are both very sensible &, not that they don't want me going on mission trips, but they're going to first ask all of the detailed questions...what about missing school? How much is it? How are you going to pay for it? Do you have that much money? This is pretty soon...are you sure? You know...typical parent stuff. Nothing. Immediately agreed.
The next few days I spent praying about it some more & God pointed me to this verse: "For the Lord gives wisdom & from his mouth come knowledge & understanding." -Colossians 1:9-14
That was the assurance that I needed to know that an answer was coming. And it did, & that's a yes!
Now, two weeks into the semester, I've talked to most of my professors about it & have poured over syllabi making sure I have things all figured out. No professor has questioned my decision to go so early into the semester. No one has been critical in the slightest way. Several of my classes aren't meeting that week. One professor suddenly decided to meet online one day a week. It's all falling into place.
All of that being said...I ask you to rejoice with us as we prepare to go (17 days!) & pray for the hearts of those we will meet. We'll be starting a church outside of Cancun, working with Mayan people. And...that's about all I know at this point. But pray for those people we'll meet there & for God's work in their lives. Also pray for the team of about five or six that is going & that we will prepare our hearts & truly seek God on this trip.