Looking Forward

Well folks, here it is! A blog of sorts. A few of you have requested that I send out email updates about my adventures on the other side of the globe, but I've decided that this might be easier. So here goes...
If you're reading this you probably have a general idea of where I'm going and what I'll be doing, but just in case you don't or have forgotten (I can hardly keep it straight), I will update you.
Next week I fly to Budapest, where I'm planning on staying for a few days prior to catching a train to western Ukraine (provided I can figure out which train this is and how such trains are caught). Once in Ukraine I'll meet up with a doctor from the Luke Society Clinic (see link #1 below), a private Christian clinic in Mukachevo, Ukraine. This doctor has arranged for me to live at a private orphanage outside of Mukachevo (see link #2 below), and work with a nurse who focuses on community health needs within the local gypsy population. That's really the gist of it. I'm not sure how long I will be in Ukraine, but am hoping to stay at least two or three months, possibly longer if I am able to apply for a visa extension. I may also spend some time with a medical outreach in Israel...but that is too much to think about right now. 
Right now, my focus is on preparing for Ukraine (and the even more imminent Hungary). My suitcase is partially packed, travel insurance has been purchased, my bank has been notified that I am leaving the country, and every time I see my granny she kisses the side of my head and says she wishes I weren't leaving. I am never without a few scraps of paper in my pocket with scrawled Russian, Ukrainian, or Hungarian words...as if I can absorb them by carrying them with me long enough. 
Am I nervous? Absolutely. If I allowed myself to obsess over all of the details and potential ways that things could go horribly wrong, I would probably be overwhelmed. But I know that this is where I'm supposed to be. I may not yet be sure of why or for how long, but after years and months of prayer, I know that this is right. And I could not be more excited. Not all those who wander are lost. 

"It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as an inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith- for he was like a foreigner, living in a tent. And so did Isaac and Jacob, to whom God gave the same promise. Abraham did this because he was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God." 
-Hebrews 11:8-10

"These things says He who is holy, He who is true, 'He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.' I know your works. See, I have set before you and open door, and no one can shut it, for you have a little strength, have kept my word, and have not denied my name.'"
-Revelation 3:7-8 

Thanks for bearing with me and hearing my thoughts. I'm not sure about what kind of internet access I will have in Ukraine, but I will try to update this blog regularly...weekly if possible. I imagine things may be difficult and lonely, and I would love to hear your thoughts and comments. Most of all, I would appreciate your prayers...not just for myself, but for the people I will be working with and for. 

Luke Society Clinic: http://www.lukesociety.org/content/transcarpathia-ukraine#
Good Samaritan Children's Home: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Samaritan_Children's_Home

Oksana, a Ukrainian girl I worked with this summer, back in Lviv, Ukraine: "Cara!!! Next time you will be with me on this pict."