jksaj klfdjsaklj dmngre wiojksa!

  You may be wondering why the title is so.  I can assure you it was not to get your attention, even though it completed that task.
  Just yesterday, I was walking in the school hallway and stopped at the water fountain to fill up my water bottle.  As I looked to my left, one of my friends was walking towards me down the hallway.  I heard him say something not of English- or any language of that matter.  I asked him, "Did you just say, 'Four days until Romania,'?"  And then he replied, "How did you know!?"
  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is not officially three days until we leave for Romania, maybe even a little less.  Today, the students participating in the trip received their Romania sweatshirts, which combined with the Romania jackets, are sure to keep everyone nice and cozy!  We are all ready and excited to head out of the country and into a changed life.  The next two days will be the last of our 'old lives' as we enter into something more than ourselves.
  Today, I found that coffee will be my new best friend over the next couple of weeks!  Good thing they do not come in Starbucks prices over there!

  Continue to Pray!

Commissioned.

  I have never been "commissioned" over; I may have been prayed over before, but this time it will stick in my memory forever.

  At the very end of the service, Dr. Martin, the preacher of VBC, called the mission team up to the alter.  He said a little something as I watched the camera drift over our faces; I tried not to look at myself on the screen.  He ended the service as he always does and then asked every member of the mission team standing to kneel before the alter.  This is when my emotions started rolling; I am too much like my mother.
  Hannah, my best friend, was right beside me, as always.  He sister-in-law put her hand upon her as I felt a hand come upon me; but I couldn't see the owner of this hand.  I felt like a angel was touching me and giving me some kind of courage, some kind of boldness.  I remembered my grandpa and how if he was still alive, that would be his hand upon me.  That morning, I purposefully put on the bracelet him and my grandma had picked out for Christmas; I feel closer to him when I wear his memory.  Every time I think about my grandfather, I have to shake it off; he is gone, I think, you can do nothing to save his physical body, you must now save others' spiritual bodies.  Just thinking about my grandfather helps me put my mind back on track.  Although I wish he was still here, there is nothing I can do about it; but, with God's help, I can help change the future of those still living, physically living; I can help change their spiritual future, so one day, like me, they will be able to see their grandfather again.

Finalizing.

  Today, for many North Carolinians, consisted of staying inside away from the cold snow with some hot chocolate.  But, the senior students, who in a week will have departed from the state, had a different agenda.  
  Today was a day which included weighing suitcases and getting all the final specifics in order.  It was a day that started off with donuts and ended with taco bell tacos.  Dramas were performed, stick dances were danced, and smiles were brought to almost every ones face when one student would yell out, "In a week we will be on our way to Romania!"  Many things were finished and started today.  Many things were brought up; and through this meeting many reminders were felt.
  I was reminded of how I need to start getting to bed earlier!  Now, I must go take a nap in order to store up some "sleep" for this trip.

"It Depends."

  If I was face to face with God and he told me to do something, there is no way I could defy Him.  
I am the type to obey every authority, so why wouldn't I obey God?  There are many who defy the wishes of human authority figures, so it should not amaze me that they would ignore the wishes of God.
  "OH! If we were going to Africa, I would totally be going on this mission trip!"  That statement may not seem harmful, but it is disrespecting not just those in Romania by saying 'they are not good enough for me to come to them' but also disrespecting those students and adults who are going on the Romania trip and God. 
  God knows much better than us humans, so if God leads us somewhere, we must follow; even if it is through a high school mission trip, where it may not seem of value.  But, in partaking in this mission trip, each of the forty individuals, student and adults, are carrying out God's mission; through this mission trip we are stepping out in the front lines, even as teenagers, something many adults have never done.

"Wherever you are -- be all there." 

It should not matter where a mission trip takes place, a true Christian should WANT to go wherever the opportunity is; God has given the opportunity for a reason, and if one uses the opportunity, God will allow great things to happen.  Sadly, many United States Christians are not truly Christians; the type who say one thing and do another, the ones who give us a bad name; the type who do not care about saving the lost from a life without God, a life of eternal dying, an eternal destiny cannot be changed, ever.

Pack Up and Get Out.

  The countdown is approaching single digits, and the excitement levels of the Village senior students are continuing to increase.  With every passing day, Romania only is coming closer, and the days we have been waiting for, for so long, are soon going to be reached.

   Since we leave next Saturday, this Saturday we are having a team meeting, and included in this meeting, each student must have all his/her luggage for the trip in order to get it weighed and such. Because of this 'having to be packed one week early' mess, my room and bathroom currently look like a bomb has been dropped, a tornado has arrived, and a '34' has been let loose.  Even though I am normally a very organized person, when it comes to packing, I have A.D.D. and O.C.D.; I cannot focus on one item while packing, which turns it into 'packing week'.  I do enjoy to wake up to a messy room because it, indeed, reminds me of what fun I will be having in *insert number of days left until Romania here* days.

I rather be blogging than journaling.

Time is Ticking.

  Today my devotion was taken from Luke 2:25,28-36,38.  

"Ask God to give you a steadfast spirit in times of conflict, meager resources, loneliness, and suffering." 

  This is NOT always easy to do. 
   For me, college is coming up, and yes, it is a BIG decision.  I mean, who wants to pay for something when they will eventually change their minds, who wants to waste their time; money and time are important, and once given away, you can never get it back (spending money on college).  Of course, the college I want to go to, the one that is number one on my list, Campbell, is also the most expensive on my list.  Knowing this, I have been applying for scholarships ever since Senior Year began, but the only money I have to go towards college in the money that is currently in Mr. Piggy; Oh! and the money that we have growing on the money tree out back. Although the government and others would probably think opposite, I do have meager resources, and that fact makes me worried and scared about my future; it makes me want to roll up in a ball and permanently live with my parents.
  But who can do anything productive living a scared lifestyle!? Who can witness and love others when they are scared of being mocked, scared of having conflict, and scared of not having enough money.  Although going to college is not exactly "witnessing" and "loving others," it is a decision that I have to make, and it does include money, time and God.  God should be in every decision, and he is definitely in this one.  I really want to go to Campbell, but I feel like God is trying to close this door that I have my foot halfway in, because of the money issue I am currently having.  I truly feel like I belong in that school, and I am going to have to trust that God will make a way.  
  But I wish it would be sooner than later, because my dad has his "deadlines."

"Every day it keeps on getting closer!"

   In one day, the VCA Senior Class will be leaving in two weeks to join up with their brothers and sisters in Christ in Romania.  The Sunday before (February 17, 2013) will be "commission Sunday."  Village Baptist Church will pray over the students and adults during one of the church services.
 Many of the students are excited; for some, this will be their first time out of the country, for others, this will be their first time on a plane.  
 Some students have a countdown in their planner, others have a countdown on their phones; some can tell you how many day, hours, minutes, and seconds are left in our waiting period.

When I look to my fellow classmates, I see them as seniors, twelfth graders; in AP classes, meant for only seniors to take; parking in senior parking spots, where only seniors are allowed to park; leaving early for lunch, early release a privilege for seniors to get their lunch early.  It is 2013, and we have 'Class of 2013' written on our shirts.  I realize that yes, we are all seniors, but it does not feel like it; it feels like it was just yesterday, we were taking naps in our kindergarten classrooms; it feels like just yesterday, we were throwing toddler tantrums over having to "move our stick";  it feels like just yesterday, we would get excited over book fairs and chorus recitals; it feels like just yesterday, I was that kid, freshman kid, who thought high school would last forever and graduation was still far away.  I am that same kid, now, just older, more mature, more wise; I am now a kid trying to find my purpose in this world; a kid getting ready to make huge decisions in my life that only I can make; an adult. I look again at my fellow classmates; they look like seniors, but it does not feel like we are seniors. This mission trip has always been a senior thing; it was equated with the seniors, hence "Senior Mission Trip."  This countdown, this two weeks left until my senior mission trip makes me feel like I am losing a part of someone I have always been.  For years, I have listened to and watched each senior mission trip chapel and heard about what they went through; and now, it is finally my turn to take this opportunity, and then later, share with those how our trip went.  After these two weeks are over, I will feel different, in a sense, I have lost a part of me: that part of me that has been waiting, and now the time has come.