Counting the Days...

I have been an unreliable blogger as of late. My deepest apologies to all of my loyal readers who have been sitting by their computers awaiting the newest nugget of brilliance to break forth from my fingers. To all of you haphazard readers who just happen to read about the Owens Five when you are bored and have exhausted your other internet sites, get over it :)

So the burning question is: What could be so important to have kept me away all week? I leave for Nicaragua in three and a half days and am trying REALLY hard to not put off being prepared until Thursday night. My MO is most commonly to pack the night before or even the morning of when I am going off on an adventure. The difference this time is that I am a co-leader for this trip. I have responsibilities. It will reflect poorly on my leadership if I forget a towel or toilet paper...won't it? Well, I also have things like devotions to prepare, so I am trying to get myself ready for this trip little by little each day. This just might revolutionize my entire way of preparing for a trip. Or I will arrive in Nicaragua and realize that I am just as unprepared as I always am. Only time will tell.

Maybe I should quickly recap what I am going on about...

I am co-leading a trip for my church to Jinotepe, Nicaragua. We are leaving Friday morning at 6:45 in the morning and will return the following Friday night. I am excited for many reasons. Selfishly, I am excited for the sun...the heat...the tan...the jungle...the delicious fruit...
I am excited for other reasons as well. Missions is something I am extremely passionate about. Off the top of my head, I can count 19 missions trips that I have been on or lead (the majority of them being to Cabrini Green in downtown Chicago). Will is amazing about letting me fill this need in my heart. I'm sure it is hard for him for many reasons, but mostly because I always come home with a plan to move my family there. (Will doesn't share my passion:)

While we are there, we will stay at an orphanage called Arms of Love (armsoflove.org). We will love on these abandoned children and do whatever we can to make their lives easier. We will also go to some of the poorer neighborhoods, hand out food to families, and pray for them. We will do some manual projects, devotions with the kids, large group skits and messages, and prayer walk in a neighborhood where sex trafficking is prominent. We will also visit the dump where thousands of families live each day and do some prayer ministry.

It is going to be an amazing trip. Your prayers will be appreciated. I will give updates as I can.