Interesting twist...

I can't believe it's been ten years since the attacks on our nation. I still clearly remember that day. I was a junior in high school, sitting in my third period Economics class when another student ran into the room and yelled at the teacher to turn on the television. We watched in horror as the second plane hit the second tower and then in devastation and disbelief as both towers collapsed. For the rest of the day, every class had us watching history unfold and I remember going home that night and being glued to the television.

Today, ten years later, I got to be part of an incredible and surreal moment at lunch as all of Bdubs went silent right before the Bengals game as they spread out an American flag over the entire field. When they started singing the national anthem on television, people in Bdubs started singing along, myself included. It gave me goosebumps just to be part of such an incredible experience. We'll never see a moment like that again where an entire restaurant goes silent and begins to sing the national anthem together. Wow.

In an interesting and perhaps God-driven turn of events, my long weekend in Denver in November is not going to happen. For whatever reason, as I was driving to my aunt's today, I remembered why that date was ringing a bell in my head. It's fall retreat weekend, a weekend I committed to months ago with my youth kids. I'm not backing out. It's my favorite weekend of the entire year to be a youth sponsor.

And of course, none of the other dates are panning out either. Coincidence? I don't think so. God-driven? Absolutely. Why do I think so? Because today at church I got presented with an incredible opportunity to go overseas with my youth kids to Haiti next summer on a mission trip. It had been mentioned awhile back, but Seth hadn't narrowed anything down and was unsure of where we were going to go. Now he's decided we're going to Haiti and it's just a matter of pinning down the exact dates in either June or July.

I don't have to make a decision until about March but I'm going to start praying about it now because if I'm going, I need to get a passport, start raising money, figure out what shots are needed, etc. I think it's funny that this came up today because my mom and I were just discussing last night that with all the traveling I do, that I should get a passport. Again...coincidence? I think not!

So right now I'm praying like crazy and I'm asking that you all pray with me. I don't know yet if I'm feeling completely called to go but it would be such an amazing once in a lifetime opportunity. I don't have anything tying me down and since I'll most likely still be at the preschool through at least the end of next summer, I'll be able to get those two weeks off of work with no problems.

Check out the website of Northwest Haiti Christian Mission at: http://www.nwhcm.org/ for more information on what could be an incredible experience for me. I'm so excited to see what doors God is going to open up in the next year!