Today,as I watch my baby nephew, Ira, I reflect on the sacrifice of leaving family and friends behind. I am confronted with the reality that I won't be here when Ira takes his first step. I won't be here when Ira says his first word...and I won't be here when Ira is able to say "Auntie Rachael, I love you." And so, tears do seem to well up inside of me as I realize all the things I have given up to move to Guatemala. But, here it is on the eve of my departure, and tomorrow I will be living in Guatemala. My stomach is full of butterflies, my eyes full of tears, and my bags are packed. Yes, there is sacrifice in this. It isn't easy. But, Jesus never said it would be easy. He said pick up your cross, die to yourself, and follow me. So, this is the call, and this is what I do, knowing that though sorrow may last for a night, joy comes in the morning! And knowing the promise that, 5 "Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them." Psalm 124:6 And so, I hold on to the promises of God that He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that I ask or think! (Esphesians 3:20) But, that's not all He calls us to, and that's not all He says...He also said to love. In my head, I keep hearing a message I heard by Misty Edwards that rings over and over, "Did you learn to love? DID YOU LEARN TO LOVE?" It's not about ministry, it's not about me...it's about love. The Bible says I can give all I have to the poor, but, if I do not love it isn't worth a thing. 1 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:1-12 And so, my heart is set on a pilgrimage.