so much to do...

so when you decide to go on a trip like this, you don't just go. there are so many things that you do not think about. things that need to get done in a timely manner... passports, visas, shots, medicines, fund raising, choosing prayer partners. multiply that by 4. i felt very overwhelmed, especially since two of the girls were out of town at school. time was short and we were pressed but i also thought, if we are meant to go, everything will fall into place. with that being said, it is very uncomfortable for me to ask people for help financially. therefore, i was going to have to raise my portion of the trip. after i mentioned this trip to the girls all three were on board. all 5 wanted to go! i felt that julianne and caroline were just too young to go that far right now... and especially because i wasn't completely sure of what we were getting ourselves into, i just felt they could go next time. so with caitlin, emily and abigail committed to go, knowing we couldn't swing the price of the trip for all 4 of us, i told them if they could help raise the money we would go. from that point on they were fired up. we emailed and texted back and forth and after much editing they finally had their letters written. after the letters were typed and sent to my husband's office, he printed them, got labels, envelopes and brought them home. the next day i went to birmingham to meet emily. caitlin drove up from tuscaloosa and we proceeded to categorize to whom they would send their letters...dividing up between friends and family, leaving abigail some prospects. so there we were in the lobby of the mountain brook hampton inn (along with people from a class reunion and a wedding party), taking up three tables, busy, busy. they were signing their letters, i was stamping the envelopes with our return address and caitlin's boyfriend luke, (on his birthday) was putting labels on the return envelopes. he was also giving us "helpful hints" on how to make "famous" people respond to our letter. he's a nut. knowing emily was needing to get ready for a sorority party and caitlin and luke had planned to cook out with friends for his birthday, we were rushing to get finished. after finally completing this huge task, i went to the post office to get stamps, came back to the room and logged in each family to whom each girl was sending letters. i literally was praying out loud as i drove down the hill to the post office and as i put the letters in the mail box. "Lord, please bless this trip and all of our preparations."