Finally Going! by Donna Elyea

I have been an Advance Life Group leader for the last four years and have really enjoyed interacting with some wonderful young ladies. In the last year I watched as many of “my girls” have gone to Haiti and returned with such joy and longing to return. This stirred anew within me the desire to make a first overseas missions trip of my own. I didn’t have such an opportunity as a teen though I grew up in church and a Christian home. In college I was too cautious and practical, involving myself in internships rather than travel. As a young adult I had a demanding career and after the career there have been the demands of four children and family life and other obligations. Finally, though, I am going! A couple of my life group girls are returning and it will be a treat to travel with them. I am fully ready and willing to love on children, paint buildings, share the Gospel, or serve in whatever ways the Lord prepares. I suspect that as I am working to bless others, God will bless me in ways I do not expect or imagine. His word teaches me that I, just as was Abraham, am blessed to be a blessing so I want to be obedient and use my time and talents on this trip. His word also tells me that He will do far more than I can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20) and so I finally go, excited to see what God will do through our team to impact His people in Haiti and expecting that God will grow in me a greater capacity for love, compassion, global awareness, and more that I cannot yet imagine.