A Beginning

This is really happening. I am leaving the country for England in a week and a day. I'm in Chicago for a week of orientation/training, so there's no going back on this now. I've had such a range of emotions about this experience in the past month. Probably somewhere about Friday, it became exceptionally real that I'm leaving, not only for an amazing life-changing, faith-changing experience, but also leaving behind my friends and family for almost an entire year. I began searching through my iPod for a song to help me cope with the emotions I was struggling with, when I came upon This Road by Jars of Clay, which has become somewhat of my anthem for how I'm feeling, and the title of this blog.

I still feel like I'll be in a perpetual state of panic until I get myself settled in England, but knowing that I'm here, surrounded by other people who are likely feeling much the same as I am, and people who have been through what I'm experiencing is a comfort. And I'm trying to remember that no matter how scared I may feel, I have an amazing group of people who are praying and care for me. And no matter how far away I go from home, I'm never really alone. Before I went to bed last night and attempted to get at least a few hours of sleep, I pulled out a Bible to give myself this reminder: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD. Plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)