Before I left for this adventure, many people perceived it to be a one-year vacation with a bunch of crazy hippie kids around my age.
I, on the other hand, had no idea exactly what to expect, I just packed my bags and hoped to find an adventure waiting for me past the comforts of the world I had known.
It’s funny how things never quite seem to turn out the way we plan them.
This of course isn’t bad, as many of the most important lessons we learn in life we come across accidentally or unknowingly.
The things that shape our lives and our relationships with others more than anything are the unplanned; the things that jump in our face unexpected, and say get through this!
A few short months ago, I left the life I have always known, to follow God throughout the world on a great adventure.
I sold my truck, took a leave of absence from my job, got rid of my cell phone, said goodbye to my family and best friend, and packed enough to survive for a year in backpack.
I was tired of hearing stories, I wanted to see for myself what was really out there, and through it all get closer to God, the one who intricately designed every step of the way for me.
I share this adventure with a new family, four girls and one boy, all who are from different places, different denominations, different backgrounds, different temperaments, different personalities, and different lives.
Almost everything about us is different, except for one thing.
We all have a desire to follow God around the world, to grow in our faith, serve people, and through it all, have a crazy adventure.
And an adventure it is, an adventure that isn’t always fun, in fact sometimes its just plain hard.
But, it is through our struggles that we become stronger, through the hard times we learn our most valuable lessons, and through the disagreements we learn to love.
Since leaving we have had to quickly learn to live a life none of us have been accustomed to in one way or another.
Living in community has always been a struggle for me.
I prefer my own space, my own schedule, and the peacefulness of not having to hear the person next to me snoring like a Tyrannosaurus Rex all night long.
This however is not an option on our adventure.
Many times we sleep right next to each other, or at least in very tight proximity, and I have learned that peacefulness is blaring my ipod into my ears to drown out the chatter, music, snoring, bodily functions, and every other noise you can possibly think of hearing in a small cement room with thirty other people.
Of course, there are many other struggles.
Constantly being sick in one way or another, spending the night on the toilet with a throw up bag (trust me, you wouldn’t want to use the trash can,… if there is one).
Having traveler’s diarrhea, while being stuck in a church, the nearest bathroom ten miles down the road, and not being able to do anything about it.
Having fleas in your sleeping bag that eat you alive at night, only to wake up to legs so completely covered with bites that you look like you have just contracted Elephantitus of the legs.
Having to eat the same food, over and over again, until you want to throw up at the sight of it.
Having to eat soup that tastes like the smell of a cow barn, and pretend that you like it as you try to swallow eat bite without gagging, because the family that made it for you are standing in front of you watching your every move.
Craving cheeseburgers, pizza, and chocolate, but when you do find it, it never tastes like the stuff at home.
There are the days we are grumpy, our backs hurt from sleeping on the ground night after night, and we don’t want to see or talk to anyone on our team, or the race, yet we put on a happy face and pretend everything is fine.
Bathrooms are always a difficult thing, as we usually have one small cement room, the size of a closet, and no matter when you choose to go, even at five o’clock in the morning, there is always either someone already in there, or someone next in line listening to every little noise you make.
There are times when you get so annoyed with everyone that all you want to do is be alone, but being alone is not possible when you are surrounded by thirty people.
Then there are the personal struggles we all go through.
Missing family, boyfriends, friends, our dogs, our beds, real food, our jobs, real chocolate, real coffee, fresh air, clean bathrooms, exercise, books in English, new clothes, being able to sleep in, and the freedom to do what you want, and go wherever you want, whenever you want to.
Yet, between all the hard times, the struggles, and misunderstandings, we wake up each day with our team, knowing they are human, and knowing that we are not in this alone.
We learn to love each other for who we really are, and who we want to be.
We make it through the hard times so that we can really enjoy and understand each other in the good times.
We learn that our struggles are so small compared to that of the people around us.
That when things get tough, when were sick and tired, and don’t want to go on another day, that we can make it through.
We learn to give it all over to God, everyday, knowing that we cant do anything on our own strength, but we can do anything through Christ who gives us strength.
We learn that our wants and needs are so small compared to those around us, those who hunger and thirst, those who look into our eyes and say tell me about Jesus.
That there is nothing more rewarding than seeing the face of a child light up with a huge smile.
Although this trip is not what many of us had planned, that is what makes it an adventure.
An adventure I would not change if I were given the opportunity.
Without the struggles we wouldn’t fully be able to understand God, each other, and the ways in which we ourselves are growing and changing.
We would never know what it truly means to miss everything about the person we love.
We would never learn to appreciate the small things we so often take for granted; a conversation with our friends, a good meal, a hot bath, a hug from the person we love, and a cozy bed.
Had I not left, I would have never been able to fully grasp what it is to truly experience poverty, and the joy of hugging a person who has never been touched with loving arms in their life.
I would be safe, safe in my world of comfort, where all these things are seen through a TV, but never fully understood.
I would live each day the same as the one before, comfortable.
I would send money to the poor, food to the hungry, and yet I would never get to see their faces, never get to understand the reality of the world in which they live.
I would walk around saying that I had a relationship with God, yet never being able to fully understand what it meant to have to depend on him, every second of the day, to make it through.
For many of us, this is not the adventure we had planned…. It’s an even greater one, a struggle to not only help those around us, but to let God teach us the lessons we never would have understood, had we not left.
