russia: the itinerary.

I leave for Russia the day after tomorrow.

Let me just repeat that, because I'm not sure that its sunk in yet. I leave for Russia the day after tomorrow.

So, here's my basic itinerary:

Wednesday evening - drive to Frederick, stay at my parents' house
Thursday evening - fly from DC to Vienna
Friday morning - arrive in Vienna and head off the explore the city on my own
Friday evening - fly to Ekaterinburg (also spelled Yekaterinburg)
Saturday - arrive in Ekat very, very early and spend the rest of the week there with JB and Iris and their boys
The next Saturday or Sunday - Fly (with JB and Iris and kids) to Moscow and do some sightseeing
Monday - Fly back to DC, and chase the sunset across the Atlantic ocean
Tuesday or Wednesday - drive back home

Those are the details. It feels like the last few weeks have been filled with details - what to buy, what to take, what not to take, what to get done here before I take off for two weeks. The details are a comfortable place for me - I do well here.

But the closer I get to actually leaving, the fewer details there are left to deal with, the more I'm thinking about the big picture. And to be honest, I'm a little nervous.

Because here's the thing. I know I'm supposed to go to Russia. I am absolutely confident in this - I believe with all of my heart that God wants me to go to Russia, and that he wants me to go now.

What I don't know is why I'm supposed to go to Russia. I could come up with a lot of possibilities, a lot of potential reasons, but I'm just not sure of them. This makes me think that God has something very specific and very special in mind for me there, and I'm kinda thinking its going to be big. Like, rock-my-world big.

And that's the part that's making me a bit nervous, even as I want it at the same time. Does that make sense?