I hope you all had an amazing Friday!

I'm so grateful for all of you that have been keeping me in your thoughts and prayers as I prepare for this next season of life. It's incredible to be able to see and feel the powerful effects of prayer day by day. One of the things that I have been working on is praying "in every situation" and "with thanksgiving" (Philippians 4:6). I'm definitely guilty of only praying in certain situations. Too often I'm "too busy" to take the time to actually talk to God and spend time with Him unless I need something from Him. I truly have been blessed beyond anything I deserve and have so much to be thankful for, yet I can forget to thank God for all He's given me. 

Here are my prayer, or rather, praise requests for this week:

1. Thanks for this amazing opportunity. I still haven't fully wrapped my mind around the fact that I'm going to get to travel the world and share Jesus' love for 11 months straight. This is such an incredible path that God has picked out for me and I haven't thanked Him enough for it.

2. Thanks for the perfect backpack. I've been looking at backpacks with my mom for the past few weeks and we finally settled on a good one that would fit my needs well. We held off on buying it and a few minutes ago, I stumbled upon the same backpack for almost $100 less than we had seen before. What a blessing! After some quick comparisons and prayers, we bought it right away and I'm so unbelievably grateful.

3. Thanks for the support of my family and friends. All of you have been so amazing, loving, and supportive as I begin this journey. I know that this isn't the case for a lot of people. There are countless believers around the world that are rejected, abused, and hated by their friends and family for their faith. I'm so thankful that I have such a wonderful support system.

Thanks for praying and praising with me tonight!