I’m beginning to feel the growing pains of being stretched towards the total abandonment of my comfort zone. I’ve been blessed tremendously to grow up in such a adventurous, open minded and loving family, that I have a bigger comfort zone than your average bear. Even still, this “bear” in particular has already seen a lot being gone from the den for a month and a half. I’ve been at the heights birds fly, paragliding above the mountains of Colombia. I’ve also been at the mercy of the rapids, rafting in the valley depths of Ecuador. I’ve been stretched with the language barrier, attempting to communicate complex ideas with the simple words I know. I’ve walked through hundreds of homeless openly shooting up heroin and using many other drugs in the streets of Medellín. We ministered to a few of those homeless at night. We gave bread and juice until we were out, and had my heart broken as I watched the drugs rob their life from them. I’ve been on sleepless, overnight bus rides on roads that twist through the contours of the mountains, barely clinging to their steep and unforgiving face. I’ve been in the ocean, staring up at monstrous waves that loomed over me, and waiting as long as I could until I had to dive beneath its destructive power. I did this until the current pulled me out, far beyond comfort of sand beneath my feet, and the safety of a quick responder from shore. I’ve eaten pig intestine and ready to try coy.
But of all of these, I have seen how stopping for that one person (the cashier, the cripple on the corner), and showing them that you care and know they are there and loved, floods a heart with hope and joy, changing the trajectory of their life.
Leaving your comfort zone allows you to reach out, try new things, and see the world in a new way. It allows you to get a firmer grasp of that something that is greater than yourself. These are only some of the things I have experienced. All have metaphors attached to them in different ways with things I have learned. This is only the beginning of this great adventure. I’m wrapped up in mystery, submersed in wonder, and learning what it means to be a son of God and show his love for us all.
Thank you all who have supported this growth in my life, and the chance to touch the lives of many across this world of ours. I wouldn’t be able to do this without you. Any prayer you can offer will be greatly appreciated. If you can also please pray for financial provision, and give if you are able and led to. I have to be fully funded by April 28, 2018, and I still have roughly 5,000 to go. “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ “ Matthew 25: 40
