Monday, August 29, 2011

"Come walk with us... the journey is long"

So, I have been trying for the past week to sum up my feelings about all of this into a blog and right now words seem to be failing me. Instead of me attempting to convey what exactly is going on in my head, I figured I would share a poem with you that I feel very accurately describes not only how I feel, but the journey I am currently on. This poem was read at the very first day of training for Young Adults in Global Mission

Passover Remembered... by Alla Bozarth-Campbell

Pack nothing.
Bring only your determination to serve
and your willingness to be free.

Don't wait for the bread to rise.
Take nourishment for the journey, but eat standing.
Be ready to move at a moment's notice.

Do not hesitate to leave your old ways behind-
fear, silence, submission.
Only surrender to the need of the time-
love justice and walk humbly with your God.

Do not take time to explain to the neighbours.
Tell only a few trusted friends and family members.
Then begin quickly, before you have time
to sink back into old slavery.

Set out in the dark.
I will send fire to warm and encourage you.
I will be with you, in the fire, and I will be with you in the cloud.

You will learn to eat new food
and find refuge in new places.
I will give you dreams in the desert
to guide you safely to that place you have not yet seen.
The stories you tell one another around the fires in the dark
will make you strong and wise.

Outsiders will attack you, and some follow you
and at times you will get weary and turn on each other
from fear, fatigue and blind forgetfulness.

You have been preparing for this
for hundreds of years.

I am sending you into the wilderness to make a new way
and to learn my ways more deeply.

Some of you will be changed by weathers and wanderings
that even your closest friends will have to learn your features
as though for the first time.

Some of you will not change at all.

Some will be abandoned by your dearest loves
and misunderstood by those who have known you since birth
who feel abandoned by you.

Some will find new friendships in unlikely faces,
and old true friends as faithful and true
as the pillar of God's flame.

Sing songs as you go,
and hold close together.
You may at times grow confused
and lose your way.

Continue to call each other by the names I've given you
to help remember who you are.
Touch each other,
and keep telling the stories.

Make maps as you go,
remembering the way back from before you were born.
So you will be only the first of many waves
of deliverance on the desert seas.
It is the first of many beginnings-
your Paschaltide.

Remain true to the mystery.
Pass on the whole story.
Do not go back.
I am with you now and I am waiting for you.

Sorry the post is so long, but I felt this poem needed to be shared. It sums up all the things I will learn on this journey and also some of my biggest fears about it as well. I know the road God has called me to take will not always be easy, but if I hold strong to my faith in Him then nothing is impossible.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Oh Packing...


The most daunting task any time you travel has to be packing. I don't know about other people, but I used to suffer from chronic over packing. I always would bring way more than I actually needed...especially when it came to shoes! I don't know who really needs a dozen pairs of shoes for a week long trip, but I apparently always thought I did. The great thing about being away at school for four years is that I became a rock star at packing (and also navigating airports subsequently).

<---- Here's my little tower of bags. It seems so weird to me to be taking this many bags. I've gotten so used to taking one big suitcase and then a backpack. For the past four years that's what I've done. When I would come home on break I would have my one big suitcase and my backpack. Granted, sometimes when I was home my suitcase would spontaneously double itself and I would come back to school with two bags. That seemed to always happen around Christmas time!

So, while most people despise packing, I rather enjoy it. I love making a packing list and getting incredibly detailed with it to make sure that I never forget stuff. However, it never works out that well. I make the list and usually it gets thrown by the wayside! One thing I always do when I pack is this: I set out everything I want to pack and then put about 1/3 of the stuff back away. It'a true...you should have seen my bags before this picture. I literally took over my godparents' living room with all my stuff. It was completely insane! Call me weird, but I enjoy organizing my bags and seeing just how much stuff I can put in one suitcase.

As I sit here staring at my bags I can't help but be bothered by how much stuff I seem to be bringing. Everyone keeps telling me that three bags (one being a carry-on) is really not that much. However to me, this is so much MORE than what I'm used to. Every time I glance over at the leaning tower of luggage I have to remind myself that it's a whole year. Everything I am taking is for a year... 12 months. The only things I will have are the things I packed. Since the original packing of my bags (about a week ago) I managed to somehow talk myself into repacking twice. Both times at very odd hours of the night (aka after midnight). It is rather comical that I managed to second guess my packing skills twice! Oh well, I guess I will just have to deal with the idea that I will be that person in the airport struggling to lug three bags around. I am looking forward to this amazing adventure and can't wait to tell you all about it.