I've Arrived

About 1-hour ago we drove into Jinja! We are all safe, healthy and ready to go to the islands. I am quite tired... I do not think i slept more than a total of 1-hour on all the travels. Hoefers... sorry to miss you in London.... This will be my only communication for a little while since the connection is soooooooo slow!! Its like being on your computer mom, but worse :) ok... more to come later. we are leaving for the islands now where I hope to enjoy some sleep. hope to write more soon!

Surreal

I can't believe I am actually leaving. The last few months have gone so fast in preparation for my departure tomorrow. Wow, I am really leaving. Today was rough, it started as I walked past the auditorium at church; I was overwhemed with tears. I sucked the tears back in quickly. Then I went into worship... I couldn't hold the tears back. Worship was sweet, I felt God's presence. My first hard goodbye was to Ms. Chapa. I thought she was joking when she said she was saying goodbye-she wasn't. It sucked. From there it was downhill. I laugh, when I remember walking back up the aisle in front of the 500+people after the send off prayer with this huge snot stream rolling from my nose to my hand, which I was trying to wipe it all away.... ewwww!!! so funny. Then as I was hugging Ben goodbye tonight I made a large farting noise with my mouth and my arm; I don't know how I do these things but it was so funny, we both started laughing. So many goodbyes, a couple more yet to happen. I really don't like goodbyes. I feel as though all of this is not real, it is not happening. At times I try shutting down my emotions trying not to feel... but it is good to feel, and it is good to be going because I know this is right. I can't tell you enough how much I love each of you. My family and friends are truly the best people.

Saying goodbye is not easy

As I sit with my sister, Hope, my heart actually hurts. It is this heavy pressure in my chest, that causes my eyes to well up with tears. I am really going to miss her. I really love her. She is sitting on the sofa chair next to me just relaxing. She has been ignoring me for the past 2 months and I have finally realized why... She is no good at goodbye's. Its only a year I say, she says you just need to hurry up and go! I smile and know how much she really does love me and it makes me laugh and cry all at once. I am so happy to be going, but I am not so happy about the goodbyes. I really really love my family, my friends. My goodbyes over the next few days will not be easy. I will cry... goodbyes are not easy.

Hope, Remember, I love you. Always. And I thank God for you. There is not one day that goes by that I do not think about you. I will be back and I may even see you in Africa! -Pubba Lu.

On the Road to Africa

Ok this picture has nothing to do with this entry but since I am not on my own computer and I found this picture I have to add it because it is so funny! I hope you’re not offended. Ethan your busted!!

So what do I have, 4 days...(we,th,fri,sat,sun,mon)...ok 4-5 days until departure. as i sit here i can take a deep breath because i am almost there. all the finer details are getting taken care of and i can breathe again. its kind of like my marathon training, there was this building up period to reach a peak run of 20 miles and then it was this downward spiral of mileage until race day when it was 26.2 miles....wait a minute i was thinking this metaphor was a good one but maybe not.... no actually it is for me, because my race day I coasted along, it was so enjoyable, I saw great friends and family along the way, I met new friends and my body felt great...and most importantly Jesus was with me for sure. So it wasn't this treacherous experience you think a marathon would be....feehw.... I can use this metaphor because Africa may be very similar. Although I do remember my heart rate being way too high the first 13 miles of the course and if any of you know me it may be like that in Africa... until I start to live Africa style, slow down and just be. Hmmm, treating this blogging thing like a journal (thanks elliott and jerry!) is great, as I write my own process is being revealed... except the world gets to see how my thought process jumps around... hopefully each of you will be able to track with my thoughts.... remember I am not a writer ;) ok back to the marathon metaphor... i was thinking how i felt when I had finished the race...then when i found out I did not receive an official time because they closed the course early due to heat... I felt like I was robbed. It makes me think of the thief in the night, you don't know at what hour or time, he just comes so you better be prepared. I still get this heavy feeling inside of me when I drive in madison and pass part of the course because I know I could have ran harder and I know I didn't give it my all. When I processed this with God it made me sad, because I never want that to happen with my walk with Him. Therefore my marathon will always be a remembrance to do everything to the best of my ability, so I live with no regrets and the enemy has no place to steal anything from me. I would rather learn this lesson on a marathon course than anywhere else.
Yesterday I had a fortune cookie and it said "all the preparation you've done will finally be paying off!" That is good news and I will run the race well and to the best of my ability!