A Letter To Myself!

Back in September, right after I got my new computer, I put a countdown that tells me how long until I leave for Senegal. My roommate, who is going to northern Senegal, called it my Fulakunda Countdown! Today I had another mini freak-out when I saw the clock go under 35 days. I’ve been doing that a lot lately. I’ll be just sitting there talking to someone, or even just reading something about Africa and I ask myself, “What in the world am I doing?????” I know that it’s God’s will for me to work with the Fulakunda and I truly want to go but as you can image, there are sometimes when the devil slips his ideas in my mind and I believe them. It was over the Thanksgiving holidays I got a little homesick and really had to be reminded why I’m doing this. I hope that the ten days that I will have with my family before I leave on January 1st, will be both a time of fun and one with lasting memories.
Yesterday the Regional Leader gave me and the other West African missionaries an assignment to write myself a letter that will be mailed to each of us in six months. They asked me to tell myself the reasons why I am where I am. It’s meant to be a reminder to myself that I’m being obedient to God and that I’m doing what I was called to do. I can imagine that after living in Senegal for six months the “What in the world am I doing????” feeling will still be constantly running through my mind. I wonder if my own words will have any impact on me. To write a letter to the Erik six months from now, I had to think of the Erik six months ago. I want to share just some of the things that I have learned in the past six months and some of the things that I want to learn in the next six months.
In the past six months I’ve learned
...that I’m not as much of a morning person as I thought I was.
...it’s really neat to just pull out your Bible and randomly read a Psalm.
...I’m spending more time in prayer (and I want even more).
...that I can cook for myself!
...the book of Acts is awesome!!!!
...I have fallen in love again with the red letters in the Bible.
...that I need to know more about the Old Testament.
...that I can sew a button back on a shirt.
...I can feel my prayer partners’ prayers everyday (especially Saturday night.)
...that I have a lot more work that I need to do to be the person that I want to be.
...that I love the Fulakunda people, even though I have never meet one.

In the next six month, I want Erik to
...be able to speak Pulaar!!!!! (the language of Southern Senegal.)
...feel peaceful when I wonder, “What in the world am I doing here????”
...bring the Fulakunda closer to a relationship with Jesus Christ.
...be happy with the decisions I have made.
...know more about the Bible, especially the Old Testament.
...have a more dynamic prayer life.

I hope this has given you a feeling for how to continue to pray for me. This year has been such a year of God stretching, teaching, and molding me into a new person. I am positive He is not done! Pray that when that letter comes next June, I will be proud of where I am, why I am, and whose I am.