Running the Race

I received an email this week from the trip coordinator with Living Water.  She sent me a list of open dates, which is exciting.  As the trip becomes more real, my feelings are different than I expected.  I anticipated anxiety and doubt.  Instead I'm filled with excitement, anticipation, and eagerness.  Even some degree of impatience.

These past few months have been an exercise in continually turning every aspect of my life over to Jesus.  All in all life has been better than I could have ever hoped for.  There have been challenges, and those are getting easier to let go of, to let Christ work.  I have found that this can be harder during the good times than in the bad, although letting go is almost never my first reaction in any situation.  It is only through this continual act of letting go that life seems to make sense.  As much as I want to control my life and as much as I want to take credit for the good things that come my way, I know that without my savior, none of this would come to pass.  Life wouldn't have the meaning it has now and nothing would be as sweet.

As the trip has grown closer and things start falling in to place, others are catching some of the excitement as well.  I have a lot of friends that would love to come with me.  Making a difference in the world in the name of Christ is something many of my friends are drawn to, and I consider myself blessed to be surround by people like this.  One of my brothers in Christ has committed to come with me, he is seeking financial help for the trip right now.  I'm so thrilled that I will have a companion on the trip to share in the experience.  I'm sure in a far away land it will be wonderful to have a familiar face nearby.

It looks like we'll be going sometime in February or March.  We haven't gotten together to finalize a date yet, but I hope to do that this week.  Then the countdown begins.

As always, if you'd like to help out there are two immediate ways:

1. Pray for us.  Pray that all obstacles are removed from our path.  Pray that our hearts stay focused on God and that every aspect of this trip be centered around Christ.  I truly treasure your prayers and I would be honored to be a part of them.
2. Financial support.  This is a mission trip and it isn't free.  Christy and I have made financial commitments that we will not break.  We're on a financial plan that has us paying down debt.  When I started the journey toward this trip, we agreed that all money that we put toward the trip would come from sources outside our budget.  We've had a garage sale, I've asked for cash to put toward the trip for every special occasion (birthday, father's day, even our anniversary).  Between the generosity of my friends and family and through our own diligence, I'm pretty close to my financial goals.  My friend still has a long way to go, and any donations would be appreciated for him.  As our "stretch" goal, if a lot of money suddenly comes in, I'd love to take Christy along as well.

That's the update for now.  School starts soon and I'm starting a new job too, so if my ramblings today are a bit chaotic I apologize.  I'm continuing to run the race, even when it's uphill and hot.  Thanks for coming along!