Preparation and Protection

The countdown is on... 12 days before I fly out of NY. Fourteen days before I leave the country. I have been practicing my Bahasa Indonesia and at the moment I can count to ten. Lets see if I still remember how tomorrow...

Satu, dua, tiga, empat, lima, enam, tujuh, delapan, sembilan, sepuluh... And nol is zero.

Putih is white. Merah is red. Biru is blue. Can you guess what hitam is?

I am trying my best to avoid stress. You may think I am extraordinarily premature, but I started gathering items for packing tonight. I have realized that I am very prone to stressing out, and I am trying to prevent any last minute anxiety attacks. I put things into Ziploc bags and wrote down what was in each bag. I packed the bag of things I had for Ayu. I am trying to be prepared.

And although I am beginning the packing process, I am still feeling pressure in a different aspect. (Though it has been better today.) I covet your prayers in these upcoming weeks, and would like to you to pray against spiritual attack. I feel like the devil is trying to steal my joy away and make me overly concerned with leaving Joshua. Strep throat has been rampant at daycare this week, and all week long I had/have been paranoid that Josh has it too, but the symptoms are just hiding. I mostly was worried because he broke out with a rash on his face Tuesday (though it went away after his afternoon snooze) and my sister had also had strep, without any of the typical symptoms. So the Mom in me was afraid he had it too, and it would hide in there until he would be so, so sick. Then my other paranoia was that Josh would spend all his days and evenings while I was gone watching cartoons and that he would turn into a cranky monster. Then I would come home to a miserable boy who didn't care what his Mommy said. Isn't that horrible?!? I really know that Adam would not let Josh watch TV ALL the time and that other people are perfectly capable (kinda...) of taking care of my boy while I am away... But it is like I said, someone is trying to steal my joy and make me nervous about leaving. I know God has prepared all the details and He is sending me to Indonesia, I have no doubt about that. And Satan will try to use means to distract me and keep me from spending the time I need to with the Lord. He wants me to be worried. Worried! He likes when Christians are worried! So I covet your much needed prayers. I need a wall of protection around me in these up coming weeks, to guard against attacks. And if you could pray for my family too. That they would be healthy and safe. How much we do need Jesus.

Thank you Lord Jesus, that You are our protector and that You love us! Please guard my heart and mind and keep my family from danger. Keep me close to You and trusting in You. Amen!