As I was sitting on the floor of the Los Angeles International Airport writing this blog, I must admit that I felt no excitement for the commencement of this eleven month adventure. What do I feel?
Exhaustion.
You would think that I would be excited, or nervous, or even a little scared. Instead, all I really want to do is get on the next plane to Milwaukee, go home to my amazing roommate, get into my awesome bed and sleep. For a long, long time.
Because getting ready for this trip was nearly as exhausting as having to try to get around on crutches in the middle of Wisconsin winter in 2008. And while it is not quite the same situation, none the less I have had the same question running through my mind that I have posed to God concerning this trip as I did when my car hit a semi-truck, breaking 4 of my toe joints and fracturing my left wrist:
Why did this happen? Except now it is: Why IS this happening?
Because, I was happy with my life before I found out about the Race. I loved my job, I loved my apartment, I was so excited to start nursing school in the Fall….
Now, I don’t want you guys to get the wrong idea about this blog. It is 10:58PM Pacific Time, which means it is 12:58AM my usual time. That is BED TIME for me. I did not sleep last night, and the little sleep I got was short naps on my plane rides today. This blog is not coming from the politically correct ‘make everything seem like it is fun and easy!’ side of my brain. This is me at (maybe not my lowest), but a low.
The funny thing is that the main reason I am not excited to be on this trip is that I don’t really think I am on it yet. I mean, logically I know it has started (my back knows it too from lugging around about 75 pounds of stuff a few hours ago), however my emotions have not caught up yet. And when they do, I know I will be PUMPED!
I suppose the purpose of this blog is to show you readers that this year will not be all rainbows and ponies and ice cream. There will be pain, there will be anger, and there will be regret. However, God is working in all of these things. Even though I am not excited to be physically here, I am still very excited to see all my squadmates!
(All of our bags waiting to be checked)
Ok, now I am rambling.
The point?
Stick with me. This ride is going to be like a wooden roller coaster. You get on knowing you will be jerked around and sore the next day, but the experience is definitely worth it!
Oh, and we arrived in Guatemala around 10:30AM MST after flying all night and morning. We are all doing well, and picking up Spanish again after so many years apart from it is so much fun!
Oh, and I am happy to tell you all that I AM EXCITED to be here! In fact, once I got into the van, I knew that my logical side and my emotional side were finally meshing!
Talk to you guys soon!
