Russia, Decisions, Star Trek and Altars

Well, A couple things come to mind.

1) Last Night Church was A-mazing! Beyond all reason. Seriously. All during the message I was fighting off the most obsurd desire to close my eyes, I was not really tired and as soon as service was over, this ceased to be a problem. Other than being really irritated, and slightly afraid of falling asleep, I was kind of excited, because usually when you have to fight to pay attention, it means that something amazing is going to happen. Well, I was right... At the end she opened up the altars for prayer, and I didn't even really know why but I knew I was supposed to go up and pray. She hadn't done one of those "If you need prayer for ______________, come up and pray" things. She was like "I think we need to open up the altars for prayer." And then I went up and was like "okay God, I am here but don't really know why." Well, three different people prayed for me and they each prayed over me, things that I needed. Things that I hadn't shared with anyone, and in one case, something I didn't even realize, until it was prayed over me. So...yeah... God is amazing! The Holy Spirit was there is a hardcore way, and I thoroughly recommend altar time...

2) I leave on my trip in a month. It says so on the little countdown thingy I have on my blog. As the trip gets closer and closer, my feeling that this is going to be a life-changing trip grows, as does my apprehension that I may not be comfortable with the changes that this trip brings. I am still really excited. I don't think it is going to be life changing in a bad way at all, I don't fear for my safety, I just "know" that post-Russia Stacey is going to be different from the person who is sitting here and typing this blog. I love how this is my trip to Russia, although I am also going to five other countries. I know that I am most excited about Russia...

3) I have a request... Can you guys remember to lift me up in prayer? I need prayer for direction and guidance, as I am going to be making some MAJOR decisions later this summer, and I could use all the prayers I can get.

4) Star Trek again last night. It was the last of the films featuring the original cast... I was kind of sad while watching it, not because it is the last movie, but because it represented so many "lasts" that make me sad. With life changing so much over the summer, I just know that life will be different come September. Not a bad different but different. I know that God can and will move in these strange circumstances of different-ness, and that in many cases he will move in light of the different circumstances... but as much as I want to see a mighty move of God, I am selfish and would like my basically pretty happy life to stay the same. I am afraid of change and all of its implications. But I don't want to be so afraid of change that I sabotage the whole thing...much like what happened in the Star Trek we watched last night...