“I am off on an adventure…” yelled Bilbo to his neighbors as he ran down the road, bag half packed and the contract the dwarves had given him gripped tightly in his hand spread like a banner behind him.
I have connected with this scene from the movie a lot the last few days. I am about to embark on a life changing adventure and while I might not be traveling with dwarves, facing huge man eating spiders or challenging a dragon, I will be traveling with 6 other people who I do not know very well to places I have never been and experiencing many new situations.
My bags are packed (I am a little bit more organized than my dear Mr. Bilbo Baggins), I have travelled the distance to the launch point (much easier and faster in a car than by pony these days), and now I am just waiting to leave. When I signed up for this trip back in December I figured September was pretty far away and now that it is here it is hard to believe that I will be leaving for a year in just a few days. It is amazing how fast time seems to move. When I was a child a year seemed to take forever and now that I am an adult a year seems to be gone in a blink of an eye. There have been many ups and downs in the journey to get here. At the beginning of this journey, I didn’t know how I was going to raise all the money or how little I can actually fit in a 75 liter backpack. BUT God has been faithful and has blessed me more times than I can count over the last 8 months. He has provided the funds so I am able to leave with my amazing squad and has even surpassed my expectations by providing so much that right now I only need to raise just over $150 before December.
Through all of this I can say with certainty that God wants me on this trip. He has called, I answered and He has paved the way.
I don’t know what He has in store for me over the next 11 months, but I am sure it will be life changing and nothing will happen that He doesn’t already know about. While I am sad to leave behind my family and friends for the next year, I also am very exited to see what He is going to accomplish in and through me.
Two things before I sign off 🙂
1. Thank you so much to all my supporters, both financially and emotionally. I could not have gotten this far without you! You have made it possible for me to travel, serve others and learn so many new things.
2. Here is a picture of my luggage for the next 11 months. The big bag on my back is around 40 pounds. I never got around to weighing my front pack but it is pretty heavy as well. I learned very quick the difference between wants and needs when packing these two bags!
