I can hardly believe it, but tomorrow is the BIG day!!! I’m definitely in the flurry of packing,
making sure I have the right documents, etc. but I wanted to take the time to
write a post before my departure.
Before I write a lot about Colombia stuff, I do want to
share that today my family said goodbye to my dear grandpa, Gerald Potter. He passed away on July 13th, and
his memorial service was today. I have
many great memories of him (my favorites are of him at the cottage on Eight
Point Lake, his favorite place in the world), and if you think of my family,
please pray for us as we continue to acknowledge this loss. I’ve felt selfish at times thinking about my
own departure when this has happened, but I believe God was aware of the timing
of this and so it’s been a mixture of reflecting but also looking ahead to
what’s in store.
A huge THANK YOU is in order for the financial support,
friendship, and prayers that have been offered during these last days, weeks,
and months. This past weekend my parents
and friend Joy threw me a goodbye party and it was lovely to see all the faces
of the family members and friends who could make it. Yesterday morning, I was commissioned by
South Church (my home church) and feel very “sent” and encouraged by the love
and prayers of my spiritual family there.
It’s amazing to see the connections that God has built in my last five
years there, and I pray that I will be faithful in keeping in touch and praying
for the ministry there.
Pastor Doug’s sermon yesterday was from Luke 14, and had to
do with counting the cost of truly following Jesus. As I embark on this endeavor in Colombia and
do give up a lot of what’s known and comfortable to me, I feel convicted to
truly give ALL I have and am to Jesus, not clinging to any of my own interests. I am no “perfect Christian” (there aren’t any,
for the record), but I am amazed at God’s love and grace in my life and truly
do pray that He is glorified through all of this, and that I will grow to know
Him more and be used to help others do the same.
In my first post on this blog, I gave some goals for the
summer…I had about a zillion books to read to prepare for my teaching and also
said I was going to read the whole Old Testament. WELL, I have to be honest that all of that
did not happen. I will plug away at the
O.T. and hopefully read some more of those books as time allows…Perhaps this is
a lesson for me in setting reasonable goals… Although I didn’t read ALL of my
teaching books, I’m praying that staff training at El Camino will help further
prepare me for the task of educating my students and helping them know God and
the Bible more. (One update on Kyle the
ukulele though…I can play a few songs!
Now let’s see if he fits in my suitcase!
:P)
I really have been blessed by so much that has happened this
summer, including quality time with friends and family, my internship with the
children’s ministry at South, and a chance to meet some ECA people at a picnic
in Chicago in early July. I also never
posted about this, but I did successfully get my Colombian work visa! Woohoo!
I’m learning that I’m a person who never really feels
totally ready for anything, and that is how I feel about this departure. I
think in a way, that’s good, because I am reminded to rely on God’s strength
and not my own (2 Corinthians 12:9-11). I do pray that I have said goodbye well
to the people and places I won’t see until Christmas.
I’ll close now and go work on finishing up a few last
things…But please pray for travel and transitions to life in Bogotá, pray for
my fellow staff members, and for my second graders in their last couple of
weeks of break. I’m definitely feeling a
mix of emotions right now…sad about my grandpa and leaving, but also excited
for this next step. May God get glory in
all of this, and I’ll post again from Bogotá (Lord willing). Adios for now, and here we go!
Bendiciones,
Kelli
