Leaving tomorrow for D.C.!

Well, the time has just about arrived. Tomorrow morning I'm going to church one last time with my family, then going out to a lovely brunch with everyone to say farewell, then loading my bags into Chris's car to drive up to D.C. It's hard to imagine saying goodbye - it feels like the moment has come quickly and taken forever to arrive at the same time.

My bags are just about at 80 lbs now, plus or minus. One bag is 50 lbs and huge (going over the measurement limit of 62 inches by several inches) and the other bag is 30 lbs, and then I'm taking a pretty large carry-on backpack. I may have to pay a fee for going over the airline luggage limits, but we'll see. My mom is worried that I won't be able to carry it all. I have a few things that I decided to let her send me too.

I really can't believe I'm leaving home tomorrow! I'll stay with Chris tomorrow night and then on Monday afternoon he will drop me off at the hotel in D.C. where staging will be and I'll check into my room and meet everyone at last.

Even though I get scared sometimes, I remember what someone told me once: that courage is not defined as being scared of nothing, but instead, courage is having a fear and facing it anyway. Well, of course I'm scared of saying goodbye and leaving everything I know and living with strangers and being in a strange culture and being alone, but I'm going to look at it as a challenge and try it and see what happens. You can't go about life by always taking the safe route, or else looking back you'll regret not living life to the fullest.

I know I have so many people back home supporting me, and I appreciate everything sooo much! Please continue to pray for me and I know I will be ok :) I will miss all of you so very much and hope you will try to visit!