I am going to Jerusalem...

^"22And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, ²³except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. ²⁴But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." Acts 20:22-24
Wow, Paul! My prayer & hope is that I will be able to say this throughout my life.

I truly have been in awe at my experience so far in Chicago. I have spent almost 3 days here and leave for Israel in about 1 1/2 hours. I can't believe those words are even being typed or coming out of my mouth. This feels like a dream for me. Our team is so excited and full of energetic, funloving, God-loving people who desparately seek a deeper walk with our Savior. God has already blessed this trip beyond my wildest dreams. My mom and I have written down a total of 16 people who have helped us out tremendously on this trip or who have just been so incredibly polite and nice. We have seen SO much of Chicago, and I LOVE this city!! But if not for these individuals who took their time to truly help us out, there is no way these two Southern girls would have found their way around so quickly! We're pros at this city life stuff already :) But, no doubt..I miss my backyard and cotton fields and hearing the birds chirping every morning rather than hearing airplanes flying overhead. We have already learned so much more than I have known in the past about our Jewish roots and basically, the overall importance of this trip. I am completely amazed God has been so good to me to give me this chance to be sitting on a floor in Chicago with great people getting ready to travel to the land where Jesus lived his life. I think when I come home I am going to just be speechless. There is no way to write or tell about the things that have already happened..much less when we get to Israel. I have no idea how I'm going to convey the things God reveals to me (and has already revealed) on this trip. For anyone who reads this, I will surely treasure your prayers for us while we're gone. Below I'm posting a pic of our team...They are wonderful and I look forward to being able to call them all additions to my family after this trip! All my love!

Few shots from Chicago!

   Trolley tour

Lake Michigan!