heart strings 1.0

I'm not sure what was going on in my heart yesterday, but I was ready to be done with Huntsville, Texas for good. By the time I leave here in August, I will be closing in on a decade in this small country town. Although I have met some of the most amazing people here and my life has been forever changed, I think I'm ready to move on from here and experience something new. Will I miss the people here? For sure. Will I miss the town? Not so much... at least, I don't think. I never do when I'm gone for the summer... people make the place you live in. Not the place itself (although it certainly doesn't hurt).

That's what's been pressing on my heart the most these last few months. Relationships. I've been praying that the Lord put some pretty amazing women in my life to walk alongside as we leave the good ole USA and head to the UAE. I will continue to pray for this future fellowship of women (and men) as well as pray for the women I will meet and learn from over there. I want my heart to be open to their culture and be accepting/respectful of the lifestyle. The closer it gets, the more excited I am to experience a new way of living. I don't think God intended me to live in one place my whole life and never experience people outside of my comfort zone. Jesus certainly didn't do that. He didn't pick a town he was comfortable in and make it home base for all of his healings and teachings. He went from town to town, experiencing and relating to people... teaching them a righteous way of living and then leaving them with the knowledge that would help them seek His Father.

I think it this journey will ultimately help me understand and love people for the wonderful differences that we all have. I pray that it helps me love people more the way God does--not always because I will agree with the way they live or the things they believe. But to be understanding and respectful of the way God designed us to be. To show people Christ's love without being able to shout it from the rooftops. To live the way God intends me to live; by example. So that in turn, they may one day feel free enough to ask me about my Father. Or even if they never ask about it, that it may be a seed placed in their hearts that roots deep down and eventually they may look into it when their heart is accepting and ready.

"Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification." Romans 14:19

Check List

It's almost the end of June now and this summer has been flying by! It's not going to be too much longer before I jet off to the other side of the world for a crazy adventure. I've been super busy this week trying to get my to do list checked off (the teacher in me just LOVES crossing things off of a list!) Here's my list, just so you can get a small look into what goes on in an overseas move: 

• Notarize teaching certificate/college degree 
• Authenticate teaching certificate/college degree in Austin
• Mail documents to ProEx.
• Authenticate documents with Secretary of State (Washington DC)
• Authenticate documents with UAE Embassy 
• Scan documents and submit to Teach Away
• Call HR for service letter (to get correct salary)
• Physical Therapist appt. 
• finish scanning math files to PDF
• upload movies to iTunes
• purchase VPN (astrill)
• purchase Buffalo router 
• unlock iPhone (in July)
• get prepaid cell phone (to keep number and have a way to contact people when in the states)
• Microsoft Office for Mac 
• purchase Magic Jack Plus (to talk to people back home)
• copies of passport photos (8)
• copies of passport (4)
• Allergy Doctor appt. 
• Power of Attorney for legal stuff back home
• purchase luggage (carry on, 26", and 30"... backpack?)
• finish packing and move to storage (early-mid July)
• purchase adapters (so my things don't fry!)
• HDMI cable
• sweaters
• get long skirts/maxi dresses?
• pack up clothing suitcase
• get vacuum bags
• set up dropbox account for files
• find a place to store car
• call insurance company to find out about car insurance while away
• set up USAA savings account (free international wire transfer)
• set up Schwab bank account (free ATMs worldwide)
• get Hulu + for TV/movies
• cancel cable/internet
• go to Apple store (iPhoto working... iTunes music synch correctly)
• get prescriptions (epipen, pataday, inhaler)

So as you can see, there's a lot to do and I haven't done much of it. I can't imagine having to do all of this, ship all my possessions over seas, get work visas, look for a place to live, put deposits down, and whatever else goes on behind the process that Teach Away, Inc. is doing for me behind the scenes. I can truly say thank you to God for setting me up with this amazing opportunity and with a company that is so supportive and helpful. One less thing to stress about!