Goodbyes galore

Today marks 1 week until I move to China!  It's so crazy to realize that I'll be flying to Beijing at this time next week (can't wait for that 29+ hour flight...wooo...). 

On Saturday, my family threw me an amazing "Farewell to China"/birthday party!  It was such an incredible time of fellowship and encouragement!  70-ish close friends, family, and supporters came out to say goodbye and give me a proper send-off.  It's so humbling to know that so many people believe in the work that I'm doing and are lifting me up on a daily basis, some of whom I've never even met!  Thank you so much to all of my friends and supporters; I couldn't have asked for a better send-off and I'm so grateful to have all of you as partners in this work!

I've had to say goodbye a lot this week and will have to say it even more over the next several days.  Even though I'm ridiculously busy now that it's down to crunch time, I'm trying to make time to have proper farewells with everyone.  The party allowed me to say goodbye to a lot of people, but I've also been meeting with friends throughout the week and on Sunday my fellowship will have a time to lift up me and my work.  So far, I've kept it together pretty well, but that will absolutely change when it's time to leave my parents and sister.  This morning, shortly after midnight, I looked over at the clock and realized that I only have 1 week left with my family before I leave for a year, and I almost broke down.  I'm pretty sure we're all going to make a scene at the airport, and I'm completely ok with that! 

Anywho- I doubt I'll have time to post another update from the States and I'm not sure when I'll have time to update this once I'm in Beijing for training, as I've been told we'll be going non-stop all month (and I've been told the same thing about the entire year of teaching).  I'll definitely try to update this asap to let everyone know how the massive culture shock is going; until then, please keep lifting up me, my fellow teammates, our students, and the People's Republic of China!