Erin's Jamaica Life

Hello again, two weeks down one more to go! This was a big week. This entire training process has been exhausting mentally and spiritually and sometimes even physically. Thanks be to God for Beautiful CO where you can go out and hike and relax (pictures taken at garden of the gods) This week we focused on Stress how to manage it and who we are under it. And with learning how to deal with stress we learned 3 fundamentals we can always fall back on (as listed above) 1. God is God, 2. God is not safe God is faithful, and 3. God is good. Wednesday night the Plattner's and I booked our one way ticket to Jamaica (leaving at 6a.m. out of O'hare Sat. Oct. 20th) that was HUGE fore me. Its nice to finally have a departure date set, but its also now less then two weeks away and reality hit. I sat at my computer probably a good 15 min. before I was actually able to push the purchase ticket button! Even as I was going through the process of buying my ticket my mind was telling me it will be fine this training keeps you so busy you won't even be able to think about it. And then the next day came with the lesson consisting of silence and solitude! and thats what we worked on most of the day giving me AMPLE time to think that in 2 weeks I'm gone. God is God and He is good and He knew that I needed to stop and process this all and not shove it off to the side. So on my God walk during the after noon session We had a nice long chat about Trust and how He knows I'm scared and that thats ok. He has been there and will continue to be with me every step of the way. Praise God for His greatness. By the time Friday comes along we are all just worn out so its more of a fun day and we play games teaching us about transitions and trying to adapt into other cultures. As our homework for the weekend we where encouraged to find a church that would stretch us and get us out of our comfort zones since many of use would be joining other churches in our host cultures. The Plattner's and I attended a deaf church at it was a true blessing. The lesson was on strong faith and was just what I needed to hear and learn about today. Only 4.5 more days and training will be done. Time is flying as our hearts are being prepared. I wish for you all a most Amazing week in the Lord and encourage you all to find Joy in the small things. keep looking up and smiling HUGE because GOD is always in complete control and i love you. be blessed and be a blessing -Erin-