It's really happening!

Hello all!

And here begins my blogging journey... I will attempt to be interesting and insightful, but most importantly, I will attempt to be myself and give you all a glimpse into my life. Here we go!

As most of you know, I will be spending the next year in Southern Africa with the Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM) program through the ELCA. I am INCREDIBLY excited for this opportunity and can't wait to see what God has in store for my future! I'm hoping that this blog can be a place to keep everyone at home updated on my adventures as well as give me a place to process all of my thoughts and feelings throughout this experience.

Ever since finding out about my placement in Southern Africa (FYI - the program is called YAGM in Southern Africa because the church body that we work with also has some congregations in neighboring countries, but I will almost certainly be placed within the actual country of South Africa), I have been on cloud nine! As the summer gets closer, I am starting to realize that it is really happening and I could not be more excited!! Every time another one of my fellow YAGMs post on Facebook or share one of their blog posts (you should read theirs; seriously, these people are incredible) I am overwhelmed with this feeling of joy and happiness. Geez, I just can't get over how blessed I am for this opportunity. God rocks.

Now that I have talked your ear off about YAGM, I feel like I need to mention my upcoming graduation from Wartburg College. I can't even begin to describe the gratitude and appreciation for Wartburg and all of the wonderful people I have met along the way! Today, I was taking pictures around campus and all I could think about was how much I am going to miss this place! However, I will always identify myself as a Wartburg Knight and I know I will always be able to lean on the huge family that I have become a part of during these last four years. Ok, enough mushy stuff. I'm getting emotional again.

I will leave you with a picture I took on Wartburg's campus earlier today. For any future college students that may be reading this, seriously come and visit. You won't regret it.

-Emily :)