HONOLULU LOOKOUT!!!

Tommorrow at this time I will be on a direct flight to Honolulu!!! WOO WOO WOO WOOOO!!!!! It's absolutely NUTS to think about and I am still having a hard time believing that this is acutally happening!! Emotions are running SOOO very high right now!!! We had a beautiful commissioning mass yesterday up here at Scranton said by Father Lally - it was simply amazing!! I was just so overwhelmed by the delivery of his homily & the delicate choice of words. His homily centered around the idea of letting go, that this is not, and never has been in my control. What I am doing is not some mastermind plan to save the world, or to save myself, but simply an answer to a call to let God love me better. I was overcome with this feeling of surrender, that everything - all the anxiety that had built up over the past few weeks and months in preparation needed to be handed over-and I needed to say yes.

The hardest part is the leaving, knowing that life as I know it here at home will change once I leave the continental US tomorrow. I trust that God is already where I am going, and has obviously left a blazing trail where I've been.....We did a walking prayer this morning - where we partnered up and spent an hour or two praying, talking and sharing, and my partner Adam gave me such a beautiful perspective when I was talking about my difficulty with change - while I have such a hard time because of all that I was leaving behind, he said "I absolutely LOVE change because it gives me such a greater appreciation for what I had...." It is not so much about what I am loosing - but what I am gaining that has become a consolation during my last hours here. The glass is always half full.....every drop lemonade.

But us island kids are THRILLED to be spending a day and a half in Hawaii. Both our Chuuk Group and the Marshall Island group are really close (THEY ALREADY CALL ME TRUNCE!!!!)& are plotting to be biking around the beaches of Hawaii and dancing up a storm in just two days from now!!

So now - the real adventure begins....thank you for being with me, for your prayers along this first stretch - i know it is only the tip of the iceburg - but your support throughout is more of a blessing than you know!!

Enjoy the feast day of St. Ignatius....Risk being passionate. Go and set the world on fire.