Nerves, of course!!

My head is about to explode. My heart will burst any second now! My stomach is doing flips and it keeps bumping into my bladder. My hands are shaking. My knees are weak. And I feel like the sky is falling in on me, pushing me down, crushing me into the ground.

What is wrong with me?!?

NERVES! Of course!!

I am about to climb onto a plane of 147,000 pounds of high-strength aluminum. (High strength aluminum???? Now, how is that supposed to float through the air and not be sucked straight down by the super strength of gravity? Flight is such a miraculous thing.)

I am about to soar around the globe to a country not known for its kindness. (No wonder my mom is so emtional about this whole thing.) To a country where not many speak my language, where they don't adopt my customs, where, well, I will just say it...they don't look like me. (I tend to hold the opinion that if you come to America and expect to stay and live here, you should learn to live like Americans. I wonder if the Chinese have the same opinion? Maybe this is God's way of changing my mind on that topic.)

I am about to live for almost three weeks in a land without sweet ice cream, ready made pizza, chocolate cookies. I am about to have to be experimental with toasted octopus legs, fried sea stars, dog brain soups, and crunchy chocolate covered grasshoppers. (Please Pray for my tummy!!! :)

I am about to be awake when you are asleep. Be working while you are snoring. Be teaching while you are dreaming. (Whew! I hope my body can adjust!) So please talk to God about me before you go to bed, for that will be when I am just getting up.

With all that out of the way, I just have one more thing to say:

I am about to take the most important trip of my life. I am about to teach the most important lesson there is to learn. I am about to spread the most important news ever to have been written. I am about to make my Lord known to those who have never even heard His name.
(And as nervous as I am, as much as I fret about all the little things, I know that God is right there with me every step of the way. I am not going through all this stomach flipping, heart bursting, fear alone.)

For the Word says:

"Be strong and courageous, and do not be afraid...The Lord goes with you each and everyday...He will not forsake you." Deut. 31:7

Thank you Lord, for giving me this assurance! Please take away my nerves so that my mind will allow me to enjoy new experiences. Let every move I make, every word from my mouth, every facial expression and body language, every tone of voice be pleasing to You.