Travel (and Trust)

Today's writing prompt from: http://ralphwaldoemerson.me/chris-guillebeau

If we live truly, we shall see truly. - Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Not everyone wants to travel the world, but most people can identify at least one place in the world they’d like to visit before they die. Where is that place for you, and what will you do to make sure you get there?

My parents did a pretty good job of showing me the country.  I have fond memories of Washington D.C., St. Louis, Florida (NASA and Disney), Missouri, and all over Colorado.  As much as I love living in the heat and topologically challenged area of middle America that I'm in, I love to see everything else too.  About 7 years ago I made a list of places I wanted to see...it included Antarctica, China, Machu Picchu, Alaska (puddle jumping with a bush pilot), and a number of other adventurous destinations.  The original list is lost to time, but the undying call of "all there is" remains.

The simple fact is that there is a lot of the world left for me to see.  These days it feels like this longing is simply an echo of the deeper spiritual quest that I am on...a quest to learn more about our Creator by experiencing His creation.  I've taken two cruises, one to Alaska and one in the Gulf of Mexico.  These two could not have been more drastically different, but during both I saw the fingerprints of God everywhere.  I saw it again on my trip last summer to Colorado.  God is present everywhere in the mountains.  In fact, all He has created is so incredible it is tempting to fall in love with the creation rather then the creator.  Ah, the thrill and challenge of being human.

I believe that when we stay in the same place all the time, we tend to lose sight of those fingerprints. Humans really aren't that different from sharks, we have to keep moving forward in order to stay alive.  We just don't always realize it.  This reminds me of HDT encouraging us to "live deliberately" or Braveheart saying "Every man dies.  Not every man truly lives."  That's the challenge of life...to cast off the comforts of complacency and choose to live, to act, to move.

I've always been one to stare into the stars longingly.  I love to see things that are majestic...I long for the Grand Tetons, the Black Hills, Cape Cod, the White Cliffs of Dover, waterfalls in South America, Victoria Falls in Africa, the Great Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, the Louvre...the list is endless.

What do I do to get me there?  There are a lot of little things and a few big things.  At this time in my life we're getting out of debt as quickly as we can and working to live a simpler life.  The long term effect of this will be to allow us freedom and flexibility "some day" when it's time for us to do some big traveling.  Until then, we enjoy taking the kiddos on smaller trips...Missouri, Colorado, Texas, and Florida.  While doing all that, I continue to trust God in everything.  I trust that He will lead us where He wants us to be.  And, against all odds (but His), my wife and I are going to Brazil this July. We'll be seeing different stars then we ever have before (the stars are different in the Southern Hemisphere), experiencing new things together, making new friends, impacting the world in His name, and reuniting with a dear friend (pictured).  This trip to Brazil sums up my spiritual walk for the past 4 years...trust Him and He'll blow you away.