Beauty of Being Free: Leaving in 10 days...

It's finally here...saying good bye to people. It's not easy. And even though I've never been out of the country before for this long of a time, this is not my first time to say good-bye. But, I will say with certainty, "Good-bye never has been so difficult." Those other times I was leaving behind a hard place in hopes of finding something better. That is most definitely not the case here. I have never been so happy or content!

I found amazing people in Austin and because of that I love the city. I have been blessed to be truly known, accepted, and loved by so many. Leaving my roommates--Mollie, Meg and Alex--is like leaving the set of the Golden Girls--of course a younger sexier version of the show. My house church and ministry that are extremely special. Which makes me think they must truly be works of the Holy Spirit! All those people that make "church" will be missed. And of course I will miss seeing all the amazing work that God has been doing there. And then my time with my family these last couple of weeks adds to difficuly. They are so special to me--mom, dad, siblings, grandparents, aunts, little Hudson! Then last, but the hardest, is saying good-bye to Drake, my boyfriend. Well...you can imagine...haha poor guy.

So, what do you do with that? It's quite a mixture of emotions, but Jesus keeps telling me the Joy is set before me! and if that's true it's hard to imagine what's next. And as I say good-bye and look ahead into the unknown I can't help but let Jesus be my strength. It's because of Him that it's hard to say good-bye in the first place. Let me explain, I'm saying good-bye to my first season of living in answered prayer!--The first because I hadn't really prayed before living in Austin.