The Countdown is on!

Well, the clock is ticking down to departure date now! We scramble to nail down last minute details while rejoicing that this long-ago dream is becoming a reality.  For those who don't know, and wonder "why Africa?", let me explain. I have wanted to go to Africa since I was a little kid. What began as a normal kid's facination with serengeti National Geographic specials turned into a strong desire to see it for myself and to do something for the people that lived there. However, I wanted a skill to bring with me, to not just show up and wonder what to do next.

Almost as more of a joke, I attended a nursing information night at U of C with a friend. As we were watching their very engaging presentation, a photo came up of a nurse immunizing a small child in some African country. I am not usually giving to making bold pronouncements about the future, but at that moment, something spoke so strongly to me, and I turned to my friend and said "That's going to be me someday". Before starting nursing, I took a year of general studies in a small Christian college in Calgary. During that year, a classmate from South Africa made an incredible presentation in my Sociology class about conditions in Soweto, an extremely poor black township in Johannesburg. When he talked about the long lineups to see a doctor, what I remember most clearly was a story about a 5 year old child carrying his baby brother through this line for hours upon hours to see the doctor. 5 years old, caring for his baby brother. Again I heard the whisper in my ear. I can do something. I can help. I could make a small difference. Off I went to the nursing program at U of C, and hardly looked back since. This is what I've been gearing up for all along, this trip to Africa. I even was very specific to Garn about this early on in our dating relationship, so he had a chance to "get out" if he wanted to. Thankfully, God gave me a wonderful man who walks beside me every step on this road. Before he met me, he spent some time doing disaster relief work in the southern States, and also had developed a heart for helping people.

So, here we are, on the brink of fulfilling a dream started as just a tiny spark in the heart of a young girl. For those close to us, you know this has been a very rocky journey, with some very heavy trials over this past month, especially. However, I've decided to think of this as a clue of what the future holds, that the greatness of this trip can be measured by the amount of interference that goes on before it. While God has not paved the way smooth for us, he has been faithfully near through every challenge, and continues to comfort through the deep hurts.

As always, thank you for reading and being a part of our experience. We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers that go out for us, it makes such a difference. It's so good to know you have people behind you when going out on an exciting and slightly scary adventure! :) Feel free to leave comments or send us email while we're gone, we love hearing from you! 2 1/2 more weeks til flight time! Wishing everyone out there a very Merry Christmas.