Minus one week!

I am so psyched! This Sunday July 4th, I'm outta here!

I am pretty packed with a lot of final preparations to take care of, and I am having a little bit of a hard time focusing on the future, especially since I have this final week of clinical practicum and classes to get through.

Here are a few prayer requests:

- I need to get Malaria pills by Friday, so please pray that I can find some and that they're not too expensive.

- I have a lot of schoolwork, client's paperwork and exams to get through this week- please pray for focus and excellence in these, with regard to my level of dedication... i.e., no more senioritis!

- I have been in touch with Tim and Meredith (my hosts) and they announced that they're kicking off a rebirth of a Rehabilitation Ministry in Libreville- and they want me to be a part of that... but I need MUCH vision for this as to what I can offer with my skills in speech-language pathology.

FULLY FUNDED! Praise God! :)

At the end of a week where I have spent on average, no less than 12 hrs a day at school-- and have been maximally challenged by a five year old, who I (lovingly!) put in a weighted vest ever so often, in an educated attempt to calm him down-- AND I am literally questioning how I can possibly keep this up for another month, God pulls this one out of His bag of perfect timing.

I have to ask myself this question, however: If His plan had not met my (hopeful) expectations in receiving financial support for this trip, what would my reaction be?

My response: I am a lump of clay in the eyes of He who Created me- dirty, sometimes dried up and resistant to being formed, unfinished and, at times, smashed flat. I fight to keep my own shape, and to succeed on my own terms. I tend to think that I know what is best for me. It just so happened that God graciously allowed for this particular situation to turn out as I have been praying.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

The good news: This lump of clay will one day become a finished work- complete and final- and at that point, all the ways in which my personal resolve has strayed from God's will, shall no longer exist or matter; there will finally be pure, unchanging and everlasting congruence between longings of the Creator and His creation. The question is, how can I NOW be intentional to keep my life, no matter the circumstances, heading straight towards this end goal?

I could definitely chew on this for a while...