Saying Farewell to the Princess

1st I must say a HUGE thank you to the many people who came to my going away party last night. Wow! I felt loved! Thank you! Thanks to my Mom for the yummy treats and being the work-a-holic of the event. Thanks to the Stephen's for allowing us to take over their home. & thanks to Derek for being the "wine expert" that purchased the wine for the evening.

Then . . . on to the question I've been asked 10,000 time since announcing I'd be moving to Africa. How are you going to cope with saying goodbye to sweet Mary Emily (my niece)? YIKESS!!! My heart hurts just thinking about leaving my favorite princess. But, through a few tears and lots of prayer, God revealed something I totally didn't expect.

As I spend every precious moment I can with the cutest princess in the world...God laid it on my heart that Africa isn't just a selfish dream I've had for so long. Instead, it can be a teachable journey for my sweet niece. Through my journey/adventure she can see that sometimes dreams are hard to follow, but with God all things are possible. Although, the world thinks you're crazy or seems to provide every reason why you shouldn't go follow some crazy dream, my God is far more powerful than any silly distraction of this world. I hope that as Mary Emily grows older she can see, yes, her aunt is insanely crazy (& crazy about her!) but if you have a little faith & a heart for the Lord, you can do absolutely anything.

There's nothing I want more for this sweet princess than for her dreams to come true & for her to love Jesus! & I simply hope, that though I'll miss her more than ever, she can see that her Aunt Shannon, had a dream & a love for the Lord....& she got to live a dream & serve the Lord.

Mary Emily - Aunt Shannon loves you to the moon & back! & here are some of my prayers for you: - that God gives you a heart of adventure & faith on fire, - that you may know God so intimately that upon every heartbreak/tear/frustration/fear you can know that you are NEVER alone & He LOVES you like crazy, - that your every dream comes true, - that you have the faith to seek out what God has in store & the courage to achieve all that He has planned for you.

Africa bound in just 2 short days ....