One Week and Counting

As our departure date approaches, I find myself tempted to become stressed, to worry, to overthink, and spend all my time checking and rechecking all our preparations and plans.
After all, we've only been planning this trip for months. If something goes wrong now... what will we do? That's hours and hours of my life wasted.

I am tempted to think that if something goes wrong now, everything is ruined. But that's simply not the truth.

We have put a lot of effort into this adventure, and rightly so. It's always a good idea to be prepared. But just as important as preparedness, is flexibility. So what if things don't go exactly as planned? Life - and the trip - will go on.

When I begin to overthink things, or worry, or stress, I have to remember the purpose of this trip, and the purpose of me.

My purpose is to serve God, to glorify God in everything that I do. (Matthew 5:16, Colossians 3:23)

I can't speak for Breanna, but for me personally, the purpose of this trip is to explore. Explore what? Good question. I want to explore not only this country and God's beautiful creation, but also who I am, and who God calls me to be.
This trip is as much about learning for me, as it is for having fun. I hope to be awed by the beautiful things we'll see, and the people we'll meet - and through all that, above all that, to be awed by the Creator of all these things.

So whenever the stress starts to creep in, the doubts, the worry, I have to remind myself that in the end, none of the plans we made matter at all. God is sovereign, and in control of all things, and His will is going to be done on this trip, not ours.

Proverbs 19:21 - "Many are the plans in a person's heart, 

but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails."

He's provided this opportunity for us, and I anticipate many things not going as planned as we embark on this crazy adventure, and that's good. We will be stretched, and tested, and we will grow, and - hopefully - we will learn to better rely on Him.

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Philippians 4:20 - "To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen."

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- C.

Aventuras

15 states, 2 countries, 1 month.

Q: Where are we going?
A: Indiana (duh), Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, Vancouver (CANADA!!!), Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, then back through Illinois to Indiana.  


Q: Why are we going on this trip?
A: BECAUSE ROAD TRIP! Because we don't know what we're doing with our lives, so exploration is as good a place as any to start figuring that out. Because Breanna has  a rad uncle out in WA. Because sometimes you just have to get away from small town livin'. It's summer, and summer was made for vacations and traveling. Because Cassie quit her job, and if she doesn't do something, she's just another unemployed loser living out of her parents' basement. Because everyone says we should "do it while you're young and unattached". Because travel and the opportunity to experience more of God's creation is worth every penny. Lots and lots of pennies. So many tolls.... 


Q: When are we going?
A: June 7th, through July-ish.


Q: What is our main focus?
A: To learn, to serve, to explore, and to grow.


Q: What exactly will we be doing?
A: Everything. All the things. Lots of things..... But mainly driving. Lots and lots of driving. Hiking, exploring, Hermeneuticizing, visiting National parks, and  chilling with Breanna's rad uncle Matt. Also, there might be some driving involved. Maybe... tal vez.