My band teacher used to say "blessed are the flexible, for they will not be bent out of shape." That is a theme that we will constantly be challenged with overseas. Life happens, expectations go unfulfilled, and we have to adjust. With that thought in mind our leaders here at training camp decided to challenge us the first night, because we might as well learn now. Training camp is a four day camp in Georgia for all of the AIM teams before they are sent out. My Thailand team consists of 22 college women and two leaders. The first night we were insructed to grab 3 items...

We made it to Thailand!!! I haven't even been gone a week, yet I have learned so much. My team is amazing and I know God has a special plan for us. There are 22 of us all together, and then we have 2 leaders. We all get along so well and each one was put on this team for a reason. God is going to do amazing things in Thailand and will use us as His tools to further His Kingdom. These past few days have been hard on me. I've been missing everyone at home and I had started to question if this was really God's plan for me. I was having doubts about myself and whether I could offer...

By the time I laid down on my tarp to sleep Friday night, I was defeated.                   Yes, you heard me right. I just said I was sleeping on a tarp under the stars. While that may sound romantic to some, first you need to realize that the mountains of Tennessee get quite chilly when the only possessions you have are a jacket, a Bible, and a headlamp. Add in 21 other girls, lots of spiders, and some unreleased expectations and you have the perfect recipe for a very difficult first night at training...

This is it people…..my journey ends tomorrow when I board the jet plane that is headed home. I’ve been thinking about how to bring this to an end…..and honestly I don’t really know what to say. I mean how do I summarize into one blog what these past four months have done for me. How do I begin to conclude something like this? And that’s just it…..I don’t have to conclude it or put a period at the end, because this isn’t the end. The God I saw and experienced in Asia is still very much the same God of America. So it doesn’t end...

     Well, the time has come to say goodbye to this dear place that I call Asia. I can't believe that it's been four months already. My teammates and I have been through so much in these past four months emotionally, spiritually, and physically. We've survived a natural disaster, obnoxious tuk tuk drivers, and countless travel hours. We are all coming back to the States different women than when we left.      I have seriously enjoyed being here, and I am so thankful for this opportunity that God has blessed me with. I can't believe...

It’s really hard to believe I am writing this blog, as it will be the last one that I post from Asia. This entire week has been filled with team meetings about the “re-entry” process and the potential feelings that we may encounter upon the arrival in America and in the weeks to follow. It is so hard for me to even put myself in that position to think of life in America because sometimes I am convinced that I will blink, wake up, and this will have all been a dream. But I think the reality is that in four short months, God gave me a little breath of insight into what life...