The Woman From Thornbury, She Says Yes!

Haven't put fingers to keyboard for a while, I know everyone is in this boat but when did life get so busy? Or is it not really busy at all and we're dwindling away our days with mundane tasks - ahem, Candy Crush? Level 197 is beating me at the moment!

My mind is taken up a lot of the time at the moment thinking about my first mission trip coming up in about 4 weeks time to Romania. I am amazed that this is something I said yes to, but I know God is behind it, I was restrained for so long and far too insecure to have done anything like this, but once God had set me free I decided I was going to say 'yes' to whatever he asked me to do!

I feel a bit like the man from Del Monte, except obviously I'm not a man and I don't even know where Del Monte is!

This has resulted in me becoming a youth leader for our teenage group, being part of an Open The Book team, volunteering in various roles at church and now heading off on my first mission trip - all things 3 or 4 years ago I would have laughed in the face of anyone suggesting I could do, I mean, I was someone for whom going shopping or to the cinema would bring on a panic attack!

I haven't left the UK for 20 years, when my husband and I had our last pre-kids holiday, so there are many new experiences ahead for me - vaccinations, a 3 am start to catch the flight, a six hour mini-bus ride the other side to get to our accommodation - not to mention the fact that our team leader is very keen for us to learn Hungarian before we get there - I've mastered 'hello' & 'ok' mainly because they are pronounced 'hello' & 'ok'.

I am trusting fully that God will give me strength and energy to get through the immensely busy schedule, in my real life I wipe out around 4pm and have to have a nap, something that I struggle with accepting very much, it makes me feel lazy and like I'm letting my family down and not being a good mum.  I know God is already in control in this area for when I go away, because although I am wondering about how I will cope each day, I am not worrying. I have found before that when I am in a different surrounding and doing different things I can cope without the nap, maybe it's adrenaline that keeps me going or the change of scenery or company......

So, I'm counting down the weeks to the end of August, looking forward to experiencing the way God works on the other side of his world and meeting lots of new brothers and sisters who love the same God as me, and praying that we can introduce lots of children to the God who loves them more than they can imagine or we can tell them!

Are you stepping out into new territory for God? How have you found it? I'd love to know!