I feel like such a rookie traveler, which could be entirely intimidating and anxiety-inducing, but then I look around me. It is SO good to be back with all these friends, and it’ll be even better when we’re all together in Manila. To clarify – each team of 6 has a team leader who flew out 2 days early and a person in charge of finances that flew out 1 day early. But soon enough – Team SHABACH and all of R squad will be reunited!
It was certainly still a little surreal saying goodbye to my Dad as he dropped me off at the airport today. He flew out with me on Saturday and we got to spend a couple days bouncing around LA before I had to be back at LAX Monday night, spending some quality time with my aunt/his sister while we were in town. I’m really thankful for that decision, just for the time it meant I got to spend with my dad as well as the helpful transition it provided. It got my bag packed and plane-ready before the first big flight, as well as a couple days to rearrange and think more closely about what I could get rid of from my pack. It’s really helpful packing when I’m not sitting in my room back home surrounded by tons of other stuff vying to shanghai a ride to the Philippines. But alas, I clocked in at 20.8 kg. Which is approximately you-do-the-math-I-don’t-have-the-internet-to-look-up-the-conversion pounds.
1 Corinthians 2:16b
LA and all the surrounding areas certainly provided a diverse glimpse of life and people. I was reading a blog considering the difference between a pilgrimage and a vacation. I don’t know if I would use either of those words as the perfect adjective for this particular adventure I’m about to embark on, but still brought up some good thoughts on the signficance of intentionality. Just walking around LA with a mindset beyond exploring the latest vacation spot, and how that will expand to the nth degree over the next 11 months. I’m praying for a transformed perspective, that it will be impossible for me to look at the world – at people, at situations, at community, at suffering, at everything – the same as I do right now. This Tim Guindon will not be coming back to the United States.Next stop: Hong Kong. T-minus 8 hrs 40 mins…let’s see if I can get any sleep.
Currently Playing:
“Red-Eye” – Album Leaf
“In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” – Neutral Milk Hotel
“The Cave” – Mumford & Sons
“Orange Sky” – Alexi Murdoch
