Financial Update (Updated): Thanks to a dear friend, I am now fully-funded for my trip to Chile to visit my squad! A million thank yous to everyone who has been a part of this crazy journey with me! I couldn’t do it without all your support!
I’m sitting in an airport once again. It’s strange to me how familiar this place has become. I don’t just mean the physical space: airplanes ascending and descending out the closest window, strangers surrounding me on all sides. I also mean this mental space. Like the people currently around me, I’m in a state of travel. Unlike most of them though, mine is a perpetual state. Even outside of the airports and airplanes, I’m constantly in motion, traveling from one destination to the next. It’s my life. It’s the season I’m currently in. While the people around me find their place and start putting down roots more and more, I find myself still using my wings. Not that they are wrong for planting and I’m wrong for continuing to fly. Truth be told, there are times I am envious of them, the rooted ones, the seemingly stable ones. One day, it will be me too, or so I hope. For now, I continue to fly…
…and fly I must. At least today, I mean that literally. I’m flying off yet again, leaving on a jet plane, across the wide, blue yonder. My destination: Siem Reap, Cambodia. A place that stole my heart back in July 2014 when I visited it for the first time. I’ve since been back one other time in November 2015. Now to add to the list will be March 2016.
I am beyond excited to be going back. More exciting than the destination at this point is the reason for going. I am going to work at a guesthouse, an international hostel/hotel, for 2 months. 2 whole months!! It will officially be the longest I’ve lived in one place in the past 2 years. (My current record is 5 weeks.) This is such a great opportunity.
I have such a heart for travelers. Being one of them full-time myself, not only do I relate to them in so many of the obvious ways, but I also see a pressing need. Stereotypically speaking, travelers are the seekers, the sojourners, the ones out searching. Their life is an expressive allegory for the interworking of their souls. It’s beautiful. It’s poetic.
As humans, ultimately we are all in a place of seeking. At the root of everything we do is a desire to feel loved, accepted, valued, needed, and wanted. Therefore, we are all seeking the *insert noun here* to fulfill those deeply rooted desires. Travelers are no different than the rest of the population in that sense; they are just actively living it out in this particular season of their life. They’ve abandoned or sacrificed many things along the way in search of something bigger, something unexplainable, something desirable and pleasing to the 5 senses.
As a fellow human and seeker, I believe I have found the key, the answer, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. In losing my life, I found it completely when I found God, His Son, and His Spirit. I’m a Believer in every sense of the word. (I also now have “I’m a believer/ I couldn’t leave her if I tried…” stuck in my head. Hopefully, now you do too.) It’s not a religion to be shoved down someone’s throat. It’s not a standard at which to compare people to, only to have them fall short. It’s a message of Love, acceptance, worthiness, Joy and Peace. It fulfills everything that we are seeking. It’s probably why it was called “Good News” by the Believers of old.
And Good it really is. It’s the best thing to ever happen to humanity. As someone who knows the Author, attends the house parties, and rubs shoulders with some of the richest people in this world (the ones living in some of the most desolate places in third world nations), I can testify to Its power and beauty. We shouldn’t forget as Believers, we hold the keys to Life and Death. You know the saying, “Everyone dies but not everyone lives”? Well, I’m on a mission to change that. We all are. It doesn’t matter where in the world we are. When we are rooted in Him, it’s in who we are and what we do. (Hey, I guess I did find my roots after all.)
Now as for me…I going to go pass out some invitations in Cambodia.
Financial Update: I still have $1200 to raise which will go towards visiting/working with the group I led at the end of last year. They will spend their final month (May) in Chile, where I will go to spend their final week on the field with them. If you would like to partner financially, just click the bar at the top of the page that says, “Support Me”. All proceeds are tax-deductible and need to be submitted by March 12th (2 weeks away).
