Hello world of supporters, future fellow squadmates, friends, and family.
i invite you to be a part of my life. I hope you'll share life with me as I share mine with you.
Having a blog is on my bucket list, and as I sit here lost in what I should type I'm asking myself, "why in the world was this on my bucket list in the first place." So bear with me as I do my best to express my experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Writing has never been my thing so all you grammer geeks out there, be ready, you've been forewarned..my writing is all ova the place.
I leave in September. I will be going to Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Tanzania, Mozambique, Swaziland, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Moldova, Romania, and Ireland. That is about all I know. I don't know the order in which I will travel or what I will be doing in each country but I'm okay with that.
For me this trip is about challenging myself. More specifically, challenging my relationship with God. Some of you who have known me for a long time may be thinking "since when did she become worried about having a relationship with God," and that's perfectly fine to think. I'll help you out. It will be two years this August that God became a priority in my life. God is real and living. If you do not know Him I pray you will seek Him eventually. He challenges me to be better every single day. Also, to those of you that have a shallow, maybe nonexistent faith, don't stop reading this. As much as I'd love to see you follow Him I will not force it upon you. I pray that God speaks through me as I begin this blog. That through my journey you find Him.
So why this trip? I struggle with this question. The words, "I feel called," come off very childish to some..but that is my answer. How, you might ask, or, what does that feeling feel like? That's tough. It's a feeling inside. A gut feeling. And my description stops there lol sooo I googled it (because I google everything). A gut feeling has been described as follows:
"Something that you feel in your heart and in your stomach. An idea will cross your mind and you just know it's right," "Intuition," "A basic feeling without a logical rationale"
Those all define me. Its a feeling. A deep, real feeling. And its not super realistic. I'm dropping out of school without a degree, I'm spending all of my money, I'm selling all of my things, I'm leaving everyone I love, and I do not have a plan to fall back on or return home to. I'm choosing this. I 100% do not have any idea what my future holds. That's somewhat exciting..also very very scary. But I have total faith that that gut feeling I was talking about is the Lord. He wants me here. He wants to tear me down and build me back up. He will make me new.
As much as I look forward to traveling the world and experiencing things of different countries please remember, this is no vacation. I do not intend to be a tourist. I intend on living as a part of the community, genuinely pouring my heart into people, getting to know them, see their suffering, feel their suffering. I intend on hurting alongside them. I did not choose this trip because it looks like a glorified way to serve the Lord. I chose it because of that feeling I was telling you about. I chose it because I felt called to do this.
So that's why. I hope this wasn't too much of a doozy to get through. I hope you'll return and go through this journey with me. I would love feedback of any sort. If you have thoughts or opinions or would love to talk with me about anything please do! I have a facebook under Chris Bondurant from Lee's Summit, MO. Feel free to add me and send me a message!! Once again I thank you so much for reading this and supporting me. It means the world to me!
