-Romania-

Toothbrush: Check. Passport: Check. Laptop: Check.
My mind was running 90 to nothing on Aug. 1st... trying to go over the many, many things I knew I needed for my trip. I've always despised packing... but let me just say, trying to pack for a month is the worst! I finally crammed everything into my suitcase, zipped it up & was proud to say "I'm finished"... then I realized...I had yet to weigh my bag. This is where it got fun.

:Me vs. Suitcase:
Round #1:
The maximum weight for a suitcase, when flying, is 50 lbs.. my bag weighed 53.4 lbs.
So, I unzipped my bag & tried to sort through what I could afford to leave behind.
Round #2 began:
I stepped onto the scale again... & alas, I lost round #2 as well. My bag weighed 51.2 lbs!
I, once again, unzipped my bag & pulled even MORE out.
However, Round #3 was a success & *DING DING* I won by a heaping 1 lb!

I thought packing would be the most difficult part of the traveling process... but it was nothing in comparison to saying "Goodbye" & the drive from my house to the airport.

{ In the car on our way to the airport... }

Recently, I've been overwhelmingly blessed with an incredible young man, so I've thoroughly been enjoying getting to spend time with him. I've been excited about this trip for quite sometime... but the sudden, God given relationship made the mission trip seem bittersweet. While I could hardly contain my anticipation & excitement for the trip, I now found myself wanting so badly to stay so I didn't have to leave him. After much prayer, I realized that sometimes the path God takes us down isn't easy but we must be obedient. It's not about US doing what we want... it's about Him being glorified in ALL things! God's really been speaking to me about that topic
( Hopefully I'll have time to post a blog on that, soon!)
Needless to say, He has blessed me silly & I needed to go & be a blessing!
I know God has me right where He wants me. When you live a life covered with His fingerprints & handiwork... it makes everything work out & feel right, in the end. No amount of trouble, mishaps, failures, malfunctions or delays make it bad... you view things differently. You see the beauty in things the world deems "unbearable" & "ugly". You see the world through different eyes... Through the eyes of the Lord.

As I CHOSE (yes it's a choice... not just something that happens) to look through His eyes & do as He desired... I became alright with leaving. Though the leaving was tough, I'm filled with so much joy at the thought of doing the Lord's work... & getting to step off the plane, run into the arms of the most wonderful guy ever & see my loving family again is a joyous thought as well! :)

Speaking of planes- oy. The story of my multiple flights is a tale to tell all on its own!
When I finally got to my gate, in Dallas, I was supposed to meet up with Ray & Mary MacDonald. I had never met them... but, thankfully, had seen a picture of them on Facebook. Hooray for Facebook!

I had yet to spot them, after looking for a while, when they called to board the plane. My heart began to beat faster... my mind was thrust into overdrive as thoughts such as "Oh no, my mom is NOT going to let me travel all the way to Romania by myself."- "Great, I get all the way here & now I can't go!", popped into my head. I called my dad & he told me I needed to find out if they'd boarded yet. I went to the desk to ask & of course I got "that's personal information, we can't tell you" for an answer. As I was nearly brought to tears because I didn't know what to do, the lady who'd helped me at the very beginning walked up. I was able to ask her & she had, praise God, dealt with Ray & Mary as well & had wondered if we were together! Thankfully, she was able to help me locate them on the plane!
I was, once again, reminded that God is in control & I don't need to worry about such trivial things... He is faithful to the faithful & does not set us up for failure!

{ A photo I snapped while flying into London :)  }

Once we landed in London, we had a two hour layover. Mr.Ray was having problems with his leg & was taken to the gate in a wheelchair while Mrs.Mary & I were told we couldn't go with him but instead had to go through security.
We managed to make it through the craziness & were told what our gate number was.
Gate B36 was in another building... so we loaded the indoor tram & then trekked to the gate. I sat down to take a breather... the airport is no place for out of shape people! haha
However, the moment I sat down I heard Mrs.Mary yelling for me to come! I rushed over to her & found out that they'd given us the wrong gate number & we had to go back through security & into another building... unless we wanted to go through a long hallway to skip the security checkpoint. Of course we wanted to skip it, so we ran... & ran... & ran... down stairs, through deserted hallways, over peoples toes (Don't even get me started on the elevator situation..). It was quite an..adventure. Yes, we'll call it that. Ha! Once we did finally arrive, we made it with a little less than 10 minutes to spare. Mrs.Mary & I were horribly sweaty & smelly... but we were at least there!
I will never forget that... or sitting in the plane trying to freshen up by rubbing hand sanitizer all over us!

The trip had hardly started & I was already beat & filled with stories! Sitting on the plane I couldn't help but think of all the stories that I would acquire in the month ahead. I was hopeful & excited!

We boarded one more plane & then finally, & safely, made it to Mrs.Gail's beautiful home.
After eating a warm bowl of hot potato soup, we went to sleep after over 24 hours of pure travel/layover time. The sleep was sorely needed... & boy, was I sore. ;)

I hope you've enjoyed reading my lengthy, schizophrenic attempt of a blog.
I will be posting, Lord willing, about the multiple camps & other things, soon!
God Bless!

-Taylor-
:)