The Journey Begins!

Bags are packed and it's past midnight which means it is now officially the first day of this new venture. I have to be up in 2 hours... if I sleep at all. My flight leaves Minneapolis for Miami at 6:25 a.m. from Miami I head straight to Guatemala City where I am supposed to get in at 1:10 p.m. At which point if all goes according to plan I will hopefully see someone with a sign from La Union language school or perhaps I'll just spot my two other teammates. We should stick out pretty easily afterall. Then it will be on to meeting our host families and jumping in head first. So hopefully in the next day or so I will be able to update everyone and get some of the first pictures uploaded. Keep us all in your prayers!

One week to go!

It really still doesn't seem like one week from today I'll be landing in Guatemala, meeting most of my teammates and host family for language school.

My bags are packed... although they will probably get unpacked and repacked once I actually look at the packing list. I'm sure there's plenty of items in my suitcase that won't be needed and knowing myself I'll probably forget a few things.

Maybe it is because I still have 2 more days at work but I haven't had much time to dwell on leaving. I'm not really good at goodbyes. Is anyone though? Really, the word goodbye is an oxymoron within itself.

It is neither good or bad that I haven't had time to dwell on leaving. It's just simply the way it is. I haven't given much thought to what I will actually miss or maybe the things I won't miss so much. So here it goes:

The ease of traveling from point A to point B without much thought. It will take (I assume) much more planning for even a short trip into town.

I will miss not worrying about personal security. I have relatively few qualms about ever being out at night despite some of the crazy things I've heard over the police scanner in this town. It's just a guess, but I think the nightly police round up of random farm animals from farms around Austin will not exactly register on the list of security issues in Honduras. On the other hand it will probably be replaced with the daily check of shoes and clothing for random creatures.

I may just miss commiserating with my co-workers. No one quite understands the "joys" of working crazy hours for great pay downwind from Hormel like they do. I will take with me all that they've taught me and all the moments we've shared.

In a strange way I will miss television, but specifically news. I say strange because it has been my bread and butter for 6 years now especially in the last 2 years. It'll be a bit like detox... I can only assume. I am eager to escape from the noise of it all and find out what really matters in this world.

It may go without saying, but I'll say it anyway. I'll miss my family and friends. Perhaps even more than I'll miss peanut butter and ranch ;).

Although I may be many hundreds of miles away from all of you I have every confidence that this journey is exactly what God needs for me to do. It's not a need for myself and not even exactly just for the children I'll be serving, but I feel that my journey is just one piece in a huge salvation story being written for all of us.

Now that I've strayed from my original train of thought... where was I... things I'll miss. Well, it's a bit hard to say because in all honesty even the things I will miss I am in someways eager to see change. I am most eager to meet my fellow missionaries who I have no doubt will be some of my dearest friends to the point of becoming family. Although I don't know what is in store, I can imagine it will be much harder to leave Honduras than it will be to leave here.

So for now keep us all in your prayers as we enter into this exciting journey!

Make today your best one yet!

Katherine

2 weeks until take off!!

I know it's cliche, but time isn't just ticking it's soaring. I've spent the last few weeks saying goodbyes to so many wonderful people. Shedding a few tears in the process, but mainly just living in the moment knowing that I will see you all again before too long. While life can be stressful at times with trying to sort all the details, mainly every day brings with it another blessing. I really love to see how excited people get when they find out about what I'll be doing. I just wish I had more answers.

I have definitely learned or been reminded of a couple things this week. First is that I am not in control of things. It's all in God's hands and I'm just along for the ride. That doesn't mean I'm any good at letting go of the reigns... I am still by nature a planner. Secondly, prayers are not answered on my time and that's okay. Nor are prayers answered in the way we always want. After all, how many of us really know what we want. Actually, I'll take that a step further and say prayers aren't even necessarily answered with what *we think we need*. I'd say God answers our prayers with what what he needs. That may sound selfish, but if we truly understand that Christ knows what's best for us then what he needs is for us to follow his will for us. Afterall he wants us to spend the rest of our lives with him in heaven, but he needs us to want that too. That sounds a bit too philosophical even for me though so I guess I'll leave with that.

Keep us all in your prayers in these final two weeks before departing for language school!

Make today your best day,

Katherine Cross

Freedom to be....

Today is the 4th of July and that of course means we as Americans are all taking time (or should be) to stop and appreciate our freedoms and those who have given their lives to protect those freedoms along with those who continue to serve our nation. That said I don't know that I yet fully appreciate or understand what it means to be free. When you are born into privilege and freedom like we have here I really question whether we can fully grasp what it means to be free unless we experience first hand the oppression of no freedoms.

I know some of you will read this and say we are already losing our freedoms in America. While I wouldn't necessarily disagree I think we can all aggree we are very blessed to live where we do. I think about the fact that this year is an election year and a big one at that. Just the fact that we have the right to vote and make our voices heard is beyond what much of the world can claim. Even though I will be living abroad during the elections our government (at least in Minnesota) makes it pretty easy to still cast my vote.

Beyond freedom though is hope. The handful of people I've already met from Honduras all seem to agree that hope is the one thing that is non-existant in their home country. While we as missionaries may not be able to provide many of the freedoms we enjoy here in America I am confident we can and will provide hope.

All in all I am thankful for all those on all levels working to daily defend our God given freedoms. I am thankful that I have the freedom to leave America for the next 29 months and serve those in need of a little hope.

40 Days

It's been a while since I've taken time to write. Ironically there's now 40 days until I leave. Why is it that 40 days of say lent seems to last forever, but suddenly now 40 days is barely enough time to get my life sorted. As the days tick down so do the number of hours I sleep. I am so grateful that it is Friday and I have the weekend to check more things off my to do list without having to worry about getting sleep for work.

One week from today I'll be even more thrilled because it is the start to a week long vacation. One might (if they were sane) use this time to get loose ends tied up, pack, sort out things like insurance, banking etc. I however, (since sanity seems to have left me) will instead be on my way out to Bismarck to run a 5K obstacle course. I am truly looking forward to this though, not in the least because it is running, but because I get to see some of my best friends who I rarely see since college.

I am also looking forward to the hours on end in my car. It will be a great chance to immerse myself in cd after cd of spanish for dummies. I love road trips and this one will take me on quite the tour of North Dakota. From Park Rapids, to Fargo and on to Bismarck with visits possible in Beulah, Minot, Devil's Lake, Grand Forks, and Whapeton all before returning to the cities and then Austin. I fully expect to return from vacation completely exhausted. An entire week of open road and catching up with some of the best people I could ever know. Doesn't get any better!

For now though it's time to head out and get a few more of the many things checked off my to do list.

Prayer Request

Hey Everyone!
Please pray that another missionary would be led to join our group and serve at The Farm. We are in particular need for another man to serve. I know he is out there so please keep him in your prayers that he'd answer the call.

Prayers Answered

We have a nurse! I've just found out a 5th person has joined our group of missionaries. Laura will be joining us as a nurse which is wonderful since we did not have anyone to fill that role yet. We are still praying that at least one more person will join us. I hope you too will pray that another missionary is called to serve with us at The Farm. Ideally I'm told we are in need of a man who is bi-lingual (spanish/english) with a background or interest in social work.