Prepping to depart for Nairobi!

It's official. I'm leaving the United States (and North America, for that matter) in fourteen hours. I finally finished my packing today (I'm and expert procrastinator) and am getting ready to spend my last night in the US for a couple months. Originally, I was supposed to leave a week ago, but after a few logistical problems and a few million emails, I delayed to leaving the day after my mom's 50th birthday, which turned out to be super cool. We got to use my departure as a cover up for her surprise birthday party and I was able to see my mom's entire family before I left the continent. So tomorrow, I'll be making my 22-hour flight to Nairobi alone, with two plane switches along the way, and will meet up with a driver who I've never met or talked to, but who will be holding a sign with my name on it by my flight's terminal. Kinda weird and movie-esque, but i'll be able to meet the surgeon I'm going to be working with me next day. I'll spend the night in a guest house in the capitol city before meeting my host (Dr. Spears, a general surgeon at Tenwek Hospital) the next day to travel around the city and shop for groceries. Then we'll take the 200 mile trip  (which, because of the roads' conditions, usually takes about four hours) to Tenwek, which is near Bomet, Kenya. Basically, I absolutely cannot wait to be Kenya! After a year and a half of praying about working in a medical missions setting in this country, God has seriously given me the most amazing time to do so. This last week has been full of bittersweet goodbyes and realizations of how much I'll be missing in the US, but I've also been able to pray about my trip and the people I'll be able to serve and learn about, and I've been filled with such a peace and excitement about my trip to Kenya. A few months ago, I received an email from Compassion International about the twelve year old girl in Kenya I've been sponsoring for a couple years, and it contained the following verse: "Look at the nations and watch-and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." (Habakkuk 1:5) That verse has been part of my prayer for this trip ever since; I'm so excited to go witness and be a part of what God is doing on a totally different continent, in a completely separate culture, and get to have some serious hands-on experience with learning about working in a hospital while bringing in the gospel and my commitment to Christ through my Work. I can't wait to finally be living in Kenya!