Godspeed sweet baby girl

 i woke up yesterday and asked the Lord to give me some special verses

not for myself

but ones that would encourage or speak to Emi.

one after another i wrote them down as quickly as i could.

i wanted to tuck them into different places in her luggage

but yesterday morning got crazy all of a sudden

& all i had time to do was wrap them together

and set them aside until later.

i copied verses that i've been praying over my girls for years

praying that these scriptures would just come alive in her spirit while she's gone.

 she's headed to Peru

for three weeks.

she'll be working in an orphanage

helping build

and going into the schools and teaching abstinence based sex education.

my 14 year old.

oh yes she is

& i couldn't be any prouder of her than i am today.

when she turned 13

we gave her a purity ring.

she asked for one actually.

 she would wear this symbol

as a sign that she made a promise to the Lord

to remain pure until marriage.

we gave her more little gifts yesterday morning.

never one to miss an opportunity to over achieve

in the wrist adornment category

we added to ever growing collection.

sissy wrote a sweet note

& a gave her something to take to the beach

which incidentally is the day after she flies back home!

as we drove to the church

i fussed at her for not bringing enough sunscreen.

nice

mom fussing at child before she heads out on a mission trip.

classic

as we drove down the road & got closer to the church

i began to feel that knot in my throat getting bigger.

tears were welling up in my eyes 

as i looked in the rearview mirror & saw her and caroline

laughing and joking around.

i thought to myself, good gracious

i can't do this.

i can't let her fly away

with a relatively small piece of luggage

carrying more cash than she's ever had

one less bottle of sunscreen than she was supposed to take

one pair of shoes

and no way to communicate with me 

for three weeks.

sure enough 

as she kept laughing with sisters

one in a million by brad paisley came on.

i cranked it up.

i told her, this one's for you emi.

dan had to run back home in his truck

to pick up the bakers twine wrapped verses

that in all the excitement, i had forgotten.

we pulled in & saw bailey sitting her car waiting for us.

darn that knot in my throat is getting bigger.

i love that child.

my mind raced over to the "oh yeah, and she's leaving soon too"

quick reminder to my heart....don't go there right now.

more gifts.

sweet notes of encouragement

& the tears began

& thankfully i was not the only crier.

savannah asked bailey...did i cry when you left for Germany for three weeks?

i don't think i did.

so why are we crying now?

classic

her bff isn't going on the trip

but was there to send her off.

it was time to pass off the phone 

as she can't take it with her

& right then she received a sweet text from her best guy friend.

tender moments again.

 

 

 

sweet bestfriend katelyn watching her walk away....so sweet.

as we drove home from the church

sweet em headed to the airport

( oh, the leaders asked that we say our goodbyes there vs the airport)

savannah told me, "mom emi didn't make her bed.

but i didn't want to tell you that until she was gone.

i didn't want you to fuss at her for that too."

mom of the year material right there.

 i walked in to her room
and i saw her mirror with notes of encouragement taped to it.

her desk top with letters stacked from friends and family.

notes from blog readers whom she has never met.

facebook friends of mine who generously gave to her fund raising.

the list goes on & on of ways the Lord met every need of hers before she ever left.

 back in november i was driving home from seaside

with one of my most favorite friends.ever.

dan called & said emi wants to go to peru.

the deposit was due that night.

what should we do?

while she's not the youngest of my girls

she's the baby of the family.

sweet, naive, kinda flighty

sanguine temperament, never meets a stranger

giver of the endless benefit of the doubt.

she forgets to floss for crying out loud.

how is she going to live out of a bag

&

not have a hot shower?

she wrote her support letter

ordered her 30 degree mummy sleeping bag

bought some gosh awful chacos

got a passport

and she's gone.

she's doing exactly what the Lord laid on her heart.

she's the hands and feet of Him.

He's going to rock her little 14 year old world while she's there.

she's going to see another culture

the face of a child who He loves as much as He loves her

in an orphanage

without a mama or daddy

and He's going to love on that baby child through my baby child.

it's going to be awesome.

 

as i write this 

she's in the midst of the most difficult part of the trip.

this is the toughest time physically for them as they should be about 6 hours into the 8 hour drive 

from sea level to 15,000 feet then descend to 10,500 feet.

between the flight ( which she hasn't done since she was a baby)

and then the altitude change

i'm praying my sweet em, with her sensitive tummy, is doing ok.

without sounding hokey

i believe there was some spiritual warfare going on before she left.

some issues that hurt her heart happened the other day.

plus she & i have not communicated well

& i've been flustered with her.

while i wanted to send her off with her feeling all awesome

& loved by me

i fussed and corrected and acted like a bossy mom for a week.

nice. take two.

if you believe in the power of prayer

i'd really covet your prayers for her.

safety wise, they aren't in a place of danger

but spiritually and emotionally i want her focus to be on what she's doing

& the amazingness of this trip.

not on being homesick or any issues from last week.

i want her to be spiritually available

& spiritually full of Him

while she's away.

that she'll really sense His presence 

that she'll feel the prayers of us

that she'll not doubt herself

or be anxious and fearful

that her health will be at it's peak.

i won't lie to you

i wish she was already home.

back here. upstairs in her messy room. asleep.

safe & sound.

but she's not really mine. she's His.

 & she's exactly where she needs to be.

~godspeed sweet em~

1 timothy 4.12

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, 

but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 

ephesians 3.14-19

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.