See Ya Soon, Singapore!

We're in the single digits, folks. Only NINE more days until take off and I'm on my way back to Singapore again! I've been wanting to go back since I returned last year. I think Singapore will always have a special place in my heart. Partly because it was my first missions trip. Partly because I made amazing friends there. Partly because it was where Casey first held my hand. There are lots of reasons.

This year's plan is the same as last year's--the team of six I'm going with will be the children's ministers at a Vacation Bible School in Singapore and a family camp meeting in Malaysia. We'll spend about a week in Singapore (a few days of VBS, a few days of sightseeing) before loading onto the bus with the rest of the church and heading to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

I'm incredibly excited because Casey is coming again AND my bestie Sarah is coming for the first time! She went to Malaysia earlier this year and is excited to be going to Singapore! (For reference, Sarah is Rachel's sister. Also you should go check out Rachel's blog!)

My first time going to Singapore was a literal dream come true. I've felt called to missions for years but had gotten myself into a position in life where it simply wasn't an option for me. I thought I would never get to go on a missions trip and I begged God daily to take away my desire to go. I mean daily. I mean crying in my car and pouring my heart out to God and begging him to take away my desire for missions. Every. Single. Day. He said no. And then He said, it's time.

Sometimes it's really hard for me to trust God, especially His timing. He often does things quite a bit differently than I would, and it's always better than I would have done. I'm really glad He doesn't let me run the show. I can truly say I'm grateful for the wait. I needed to be in a different place in life before going. I needed to learn to trust Him and rely on Him. I needed to build my relationship with Him. I needed to have more experience. All in all, it was worth it. It was worth all the tears. It was worth a passport that remained unstamped for years and years. He did everything in His timing, and it turned out perfectly.

In nine days I leave for my third missions trip. That's THREE missions trip in the span of a year. THREE missions trips that I thought would never happen. I never thought I'd go to Asia or Hawaii (which I realized I've never shared about here!). But WOW. Here I am! And also along the way I accidentally started a baking business. The last year has been a good one. A crazy one. A busy one. A wonderful one. A year I'll never ever forget.