It's not all about Bob

Less than 12 hours from the time I am sitting down to write this blog entry Keli and I will be leaving our house for Eppley airport.  Keli's dad will be driving Keli, myself, and two other guys to the airport, where we will meet up with 6 other friends, to catch a 6:00a.m. flight to Guatemala.  Ben and Brandon will be staying behind with their grandparents, at our house, while Keli and I travel as part of a mission trip with Bethel Ministries International.

It's been an amazing journey over the last few weeks considering, deciding, and planning to go on this trip.  We have been so blessed to be in a position where Keli and I could make this trip together, and to have the time and financial resources (with a lot of help from friends and family) to make it possible. 

Upon learning about the possibility to go to Guatemala, I felt an urge to go.  When I first mentioned the idea to my wife, Keli was less than "optimistic".  At one point we had decided not to attempt this trip, and I was going to inform our pastor the following Sunday that we would not be able to join the team.  However, God had other plans, and event after event kept pointing us back to Guatemala.  After deciding NOT to go, we rearranged our summer plans to be more responsible about how we would use our time and financial resources this year in order to support mission work. Coincidentally, those changes freed up exactly the number of vacation days we would need for a trip to Guatemala and a significant portion of the financial resources.

I remember the moment that Keli looked at me after speaking with a friend on the phone, tears in her eyes, to say "What is God doing to us?"  Her friend was considering the Guatemala mission trip, but didn't want to be the only female on the team.  If Keli wasn't going, she wasn't going to go either.  This was just 2 hours AFTER I had planned to tell my pastor we were NOT going, but didn't get a chance to talk to him because he was in a conversation when I tried to inform him of our decision.  I had opted to talk to him later that week, but that future conversation turned out to have a completely different tone.  That night we spent hours discussing what this trip might mean, and why we should or shouldn't attempt it.  The following morning found us meeting at the post office to send in passport applications "just in case".  By the end of the week, we had decided to join the team going to Guatemala.

The following weeks were filled with a visit to the doctor's office to get the shots we would need prior to the trip, a visit with a lawyer to have our wills prepared, and several meetings with the team that had formed for the trip.  That team is probably all in the process of packing and finalizing details (as is Keli) while I sit here typing this blog entry. 

You might be wondering why I'm sharing all of this.  I guess my hope is that, through this post, and the posts that will follow during or shortly after our trip to Guatemala, I can share a glimpse of how God is working through this team of 10 and how God will be changing us in the process.  Those of you that know me best know that I can be a pretty selfish person.  A friend once told me, half in jest, "It's all about Bob".  He was right...and I've spent a good portion of my life thinking just that.  This trip is most definitely NOT "all about Bob" and it's been a huge blessing to see how God has already been working through the generosity of others, encouraging words, supportive parents, prayer support, and stories about how people have already been touched by this trip.  And all of that has been a amazing picture of how God can do amazing things when we are willing to step aside and let Him do His work in our lives.

...AND WE HAVEN'T EVEN LEFT YET.