T-47 and counting

Two days from now at this time we should be airborne out of Detroit on our way to London. The next 47 hours will be even more of a flurry of activity than the past week has been. This part of preparing for a mission trip challenging -- trying to remember to bring everything you know you'll need (passport, immunization record, insect repellant, sunscreen, chargers for cameras, etc.). Then there are the supplies we'll take for the hospital, for surgeries, for the construction projects, for other tasks. Then there are the loose ends to tie up at work and home (who'll watch the cat? remember to stop the mail. remember to get some extra cash and snacks for the trip, charge the batteries in the cameras and laptop). Somewhere in there you try to leave space to listen for God to tell you what to bring that isn't on any of the lists but will turn out to be absolutely crucial. It was like that a year ago July when, at the last moment, I felt compelled to pack my hammer, tape measure and leatherman tool. This was clearly not necessary since we had loaded lots of tools and supplies on a 20' shipping container we'd sent four months earlier. But, when we arrived in Zambia, the shipping container still had not. It turned out the hammer, tape measure, and leatherman were about the only tools we had for the project we ended up working on. Without them we would have been really stuck. It was a really good thing I listened. I hope I've been keeping my ears and heart open this time. We'll see. I have felt a need to bring blackboard chalk. Andy and I are supposed to conduct some computer classes. The chalk might come in handy.