Lets Not Be Sleeping

This morning during my quiet time, I read Mark 13. In this chapter, Jesus discusses the signs of the end age with His disciples. Reading this passage as a child would have caused me anxiety and fear. Now, however, I am pushed towards urgency.  Urgency to keep watch! I am encouraged to reach out to those seeking, to find the lost, to help and save them. I am pressed towards action! I want to change eternity for the lost. One thing I learned last night about sharing the gospel was praying for the words and wisdom from the Holy Spirit. Mark 13:11 tells us this exactly: “do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given to you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” An example of this passage in my life is the concept of a prayer walk. Last night a friend explained that often times when it comes to sharing the gospel we do not have the time or the opportunity to create a relationship and then share. Sometimes we have to share on the spot. Unfortunately, sharing my testimony is a foreign concept because my old circle consisted mainly of believers, which was a great encouragement but not an opportunity for sharing with the lost. Now I am being pushed to go to Wal-Mart, walk around praying for the Holy Spirit to show me the lost (a prayer walk), and then give me the words of wisdom. I am terrified that I will not be bold enough. But I also know that I do not want to be caught by the Lord of the universe sleeping. I want to be out there sharing, growing, learning, and helping! My prayer is that we can all pray for those opportunities and then be bold enough to take them when we are given them! Mark 13: 35-36: “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back…If he comes suddenly, do not let Him find you sleeping.”  

The Power of Love!

We have been in class two days now. Yesterday, God spoke to me in two different situations that I would like to share with you. The first was during my quiet time. God impressed upon my heart Mark 11: 24: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  The verse struck my heart because it reminded me of the power in our prayers. All we have to do is ask and believe that God will answer and it will be given. As we prepare to go to the nations, I am reminded of the importance and power of prayer. I think in my day to day life I forget the power and impact prayer has. To respond to this amazing reminder, I am trying to make my prayers detailed, sincere, and focused. Instead of just passing up a general prayer of please be with the nations. I am trying to think of specific people groups, needs, and opportunities I can pray for. I am also creating a prayer warrior system of friends and family to pray for me one day a week.  Then in class a professor reminded me of the power of unity, not just in a family or marriage, but in every relationship that we have. Whether with coworkers, friends, supervisors, roommates, etc. these relationships require unity. Jesus talks about this type of unity in John 17 when He prays for believers. Jesus talks about the importance of unity for spreading the gospel to the lost. However, unity requires hard work. When we have disagreements with friends, spouses, or colleagues, we have to go to that person in love and explain our feelings and hardships, we have to work at preserving and fostering our relationships so that unity in Christ can be reached and so the gospel can be spread. The lost are going to know we are Christians by how we love one another. Today, I was excited about the opportunity and the possibility to save people. As Christians we have the power to save someone. We can change their life forever! That is amazing! What a blessing and powerful task God has appointed all of us with. And I think the first step in saving the lost is demonstrating Christ’s power in our belief and in our love for one another.   

Our Whirlwind Week

Within a week, everything has changed. Since last Monday, the 18^th, Stephen and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary with a pyszne (which means delicious in Polish) dinner at Olive Garden. Then Tuesday, I finished working with the one year old little boy. On Wednesday, I had a fantastically fun day with some friends at the water park in Travelers Rest, which unfortunately caused my friend some discomfort later as she got extremely sunburned! Ouch! But she was such a trooper! She stayed Wednesday night to help me pack until 1:30 in the morning! Such a great friend! Thank you so much! Then on Thursday I had some eye appointment adventures, which caused frustration on my part. I mean which doctor agency does not mention that they have two offices? But later that day I was able to spend the day talking and laughing with a great friend from college. Then that night we were able to eat at Red Lobster, which is one of my favorite places ever! Thank you pal for the girls’ dinner out, it meant the world to me! Then on Friday, my husband and I were up around 4am to finish packing everything up and cleaning everything out, unfortunately that morning our air conditioning decided to break! So we were moving and cleaning in 90 degrees, which really makes you appreciate air conditioning! But at 1pm we turned in our keys and by 2pm the cars were loaded and we were out of there for lunch with Stephen’s sister. Saturday we had back-to-back farewell parties. This was an especially emotional day. By 7pm we were both exhausted! We were blessed by so many that it touched our hearts and brought an avalanche of tears. Thank you so much to all of our friends, family, and support team, the way you believe in us and pray for us means more then you can ever know. While we are terrified that we may not succeed or that we will fail, knowing that you believe in us so much and support us so much gives us the strength to continue to try to succeed. We love you guys and cannot imagine taking this journey without your love, prayers, and support. Thank you to all of our friends and family who helped with the parties and to all of our friends, co-workers, and family who sacrificed their time to come and tell us goodbye. We love you will miss you! On Sunday, Stephen and I went to church with my mom, and then left right after church. I thought we were heading to check-in and start the new chapter, but Stephen had other plans! He had booked us a room at a quaint and charming bed-and-breakfast in colonial Williamsburg! It was amazing! And what was even better is that I had no idea until we were pulling in the driveway! It was a wonderful surprise! And it was extremely nice to close one chapter and start another one in a fresh and exciting way. We were able to explore Williamsburg, eat at a local restaurant where they dressed the part, and then enjoy our wonderful air conditioned room. And to wrap up this extremely long post, today, we left Williamsburg and checked in at the Learning Center that will be home for the next 8 weeks. We have unpacked, met some new friends, and have already been overwhelmed at the assignments we have to complete while we are here. Now that I have easier internet access, I will be able to post more frequently, which will lead to shorter posts. Thank you so much for all the prayers you are sending our way. Satan is definitely already trying to attack and discourage us in this journey and your prayers are keeping us diligent and perseverant. Thank you for your faithfulness and obedience to God’s will. We love you guys and look forward to sharing all the things God is doing!

How Do You Say Goodbye?

This weekend was definitely filled with mixed emotions. Both happy times and sad times, it has been a whirlwind weekend. The weekend started with a great time hanging out with wonderful friends. We had delicious Thia food, board games, and lots of laughter! Saturday morning we continued with the good times celebrating the first birthday of a precious baby. We sadly concluded Saturday with moving, packing, and saying good bye. We really appreciate those who were able to help and the support that they provided. I never realized how exhausting emotions can be until now. I think I have spent the whole weekend going from laughter to tears and at the end of each day feeling completely drained! Sunday was not as emotional as Saturday, and not nearly as stressful. We had a wonderful lunch with some friends from church and were able to get some pointers on tuning up the car. Then I was able to have an amazing girls' night out, laughing, shopping, and picture taking! But it seemed to go by so fast. Now here I am Monday morning, on four hours of sleep, and wondering how I can see and spend time with everyone I know and love before leaving Sunday, while trying to pack and finalize the details of moving. I am so grateful for the opportunity to see my friends and family, but in the back of my mind I realize the days are running out. In six days, we will be driving to Richmond and leaving so much of what I have known behind. I do not know how to grasp that concept. I know there is an exciting adventure ahead and I know this is the direction that God is leading. But the challenge still remains: How do you say goodbye?

I have the BEST husband ever!

Yesterday, I worked from 7:45-5:45 watching an energetic one year old. After leaving work, I rushed to the gym to do what I thought would be a fun, some-what easy workout class. I was wrong. I actually walked in to a weightlifting class! Yikes! Since I did not read the description, I was in for a big surprise when I noticed that almost all of our exercise were with a weight bar. One hour later, me and my friend Bethany shakily walked out of the gym. I headed home to what I thought was going to be a night of fixing dinner, making lunches, breaking down the bed in our guest bedroom, and preparing for Friday. I was exhausted thinking of all that I had to do as well as what I have to accomplish in the next 9 days before moving. My body was exhausted form the workout as well as hungry for dinner. So I get home, make dinner and then Stephen and I go out to McDonald's for a wonderful $1.00 caramel sundae and a short car ride. When we get back home he runs upstairs while I stay in the kitchen to finish cleaning up dinner dishes and start on those lunches. As soon as he gets up there, I hear this banging, and wonder what in the world he is doing up there. It turns out that he had almost the whole bed taken apart before I got home from working out and was just finishing up! Five minutes later he carries all the pieces down, and tries to push them out the way for me. I was so amazed. He has been so thoughtful and kind during this process. He has allowed me to go see friends, spend the night with the girls, plan almost every single second we have left here seeing friends and family, and he has also helped by packing, breaking down, and cleaning what he can. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing husband!

My First Post

My name is Traci Edworthy. I am 23 years old, married to Stephen Edworthy, and preparing for a brand new chapter. My husband and I are moving across the ocean to Poland. We have been selected by the International Mission Board to become missionaries in Krakow Poland. In 10 days, we will make the move to Richmond for training and then eight weeks later depart to Poland. I have lived in the same house until college and have not lived more than 45 minutes from my family since. Moving is a foreign concept to say the least, but nonetheless we are embarking on an exciting adventure. This Monday, July 18 we will have been married two years. This process, this move, this lifestyle change has forced us to rely on God in new ways and to learn how to communicate with each other better. We are going to miss our family and friends so much! We love ya’ll! We really appreciate all you have done to help us. All the prayers, encouragement, and support has made this process a lot easier. Hopefully this blog will allow us to keep in touch with you and let you know the work God is doing in Krakow as well as in our lives. I hope you enjoy the blog!