I hope I'm ready...

My awesome friend Julie and I leave TOMORROW for El Salvador.  I'm trying so very hard to get everything together and get my bags packed, but I thought I'd take a few minutes to let you know a little about my trip.  

When I left El Salvador last summer, I wasn't sure when I would be returning.  I didn't have any doubt in my mind that I would be returning, I don't think I will ever be able to stay away from my friends there for long.  For a long while, I thought I wouldn't go back until the summer, but then Julie came up with the idea to go during her spring break and she eventually talked me into it- without too much convincing. 

I am so blessed to be friends with Julie for a lot of reasons.  She first brought me to El Salvador and she has nurtured my interest and love of El Salvador.  It is so wonderful to have a friend who thinks about El Salvador all the time life I do.  Whenever we get together, our conversation eventually leads to El Salvador (if it isn't the main topic of conversation).  We both feel a pull that makes us want to go back to El Salvador.  I wrote about this in a previous post (it's one of my favorite posts that you should definitely read if you haven't).  There is "something" that I felt in El Salvador that I don't feel while I'm home.  It is a sense of being fully alive, full of hope, along with a sense of consolation.  When I came home in July this "something" lingered with me, but it has worn off.  Life since I got back from El Salvador last summer has been filled with so many wonderful days and opportunities (yet not without struggles and stress).  Despite life being good, I have gradually felt a greater and greater sense of emptiness, a sense of not being truly and fully alive.  I viscerally felt the need to return to El Salvador, to see the people that I miss so much and to once again be filled with that "something" that makes life seem so real and hopeful.  I long to feel that "something" that reassures me that God is present and to experience life in a clear and raw way that I just do not experience here at home.

So, I guess what I'm saying it that it shouldn't surprise me or you that I'm going back.  

Julie and I have a full week planned.  We get there Saturday evening and we leave the following Saturday morning.  It's going to be a little crazy trying to fit in everything we need/want to do while we are there.  We sketched out an itinerary and managed to fit stuff in.  However, I'm just positive that our itinerary will change once we get there, so I'm just going to tell you what we do after we do it and tell you where we go after we go.  It will be more exciting that way- you'll just have to anticipate my blog posts.  ;-)

What I can tell you for sure is that I am SO excited to see my Salvadoran friends, to spend the week with Julie, and to be in the warm and sunny weather.

Please keep Julie and I in your prayers next week.  Pray that we will be able to do the things we need and want to do and pray for our safety as we travel around.  I'll do my best to post every other day or so while I'm in El Salvador.