I leave for Mali....

....in six days.

Six.

Days.

Yeah.  That's about how I feel too.

Since I was able to get a good portion of my trip prep done before I left for Spain - and since I bought most of the things I need when I was packing for the Spain trip - I haven't been rushing around frantically trying to get my things together.  So reality didn't quite set in until last Saturday.  Holy cow!  January 12th is...like...soon!  I'll be home March 1, making the total trip just short of 7 weeks long.

The lack of posts lately has been mostly due to...well, the lack of anything trip-related happening recently.  But all that changed this weekend!

On Friday I had to go back to see my oral surgeon.  After I had my wisdom teeth out (6 days before I left for Spain) the left side of my head healed well.  The holes healed properly and the swelling went down in due time.  The right side was a different story - it made no move whatever to keep me from looking like some kind of half-mutated chipmunk.  So we made an appointment, where we found out I had an infected abscess in my lower jaw.  After surgery, I was taking an antibiotic, a painkiller, and a ton of ibuprofen.  I started getting woozy and nauseous every time I took my meds - I don't normally take any medication and my system was NOT used to all those drugs.  We called the oral surgeon's office and were told to stop everything except the ibuprofen.  Well, as it turns out, I wouldn't have contracted the infection if I had finished the antibiotic.  But since I didn't my doctor had to put a gauze drain in my gum (I'll let your imagination tell you exactly how he performed that little operation), which I'll get removed tomorrow.  This should fix the problem (as long as I finish the second antibiotic he gave me ;) ).  Please pray that this will indeed be the case, as my teeth are about the last things I want to have to worry about while in Africa!

Saturday afternoon I came home to find a going-away party planned for me by my family!  So many friends and family members came over that evening to express their love and support...I truly feel so blessed to experience God's blessings through His people. 

And Sunday morning my church family laid hands on me, as this was the last Sunday I'll spend with them for several weeks.  As so many members prayed for me, my safety, and my future, I couldn't help being so, so humbled by their love.  I can't even begin to deserve their prayers - but how much less do I deserve the dying love of our Savior!  He is so eternally good to me, and I don't have any choice but to obey His simple command to go.

I'm thankful to have another few days at home, tying up loose ends and spending time with my family.  Then it's January 12th, and Columbus, then Atlanta, Paris, Bamako, and the world!

I'm a little excited, to say the least. :)