Adventure

Adventure.

What does the word make you think of? Someone in a safari hat headed off to see the lions and tigers and bears-oh my!? Or spending the week in some exotic place like St. Thomas or Rome or California:)? Does it make you excited or stressed?

While I was in the states over Christmas I got together with some friends who used to live in Spain and do Young Life there. They are now living life in the states. We met for breakfast-a fun adventure that I don't often get in Europe. In the midst of our conversation, as we were discussing the craziness of their life when they used to live in Spain(and it was TRULY crazy), they both mentioned the word "adventure." They were reminiscing about how even though living in another country and working with teenagers is often crazy and sometimes you end up in random foreign towns and don't know where you are:) it is all an adventure. You literally never know what is going to happen next.

The next day I was driving to the Young Life all-staff conference in Florida and I called my old friend and boss, Paul. In the midst of this conversation and me asking Paul how things were going he said he missed the "adventure" of living life in Belgium. He has an amazing life now but there is just something about the unknown of living in a place where you don't speak the language and you aren't really a part of the culture.

Adventure. . . So today I am choosing to be blessed by the adventure that is my life. It is often extremely frustrating and I sometimes end up in tears but it is always an adventure. An adventure that God-who created and loves me and is with me every step of the way- has sent me on. An adventure that, through the tears, has often seen so much laughter and friendships and blessings. An adventure that means that just today I got to talk to sweet friends in Australia and read about a best friends life in Luxembourg and email a friend in Spain. An adventure that in the next few months has me taking a group of 35 high schoolers to Greece. An adventure that also includes the mundane and day to day tasks of grocery shopping, car repairs, work and running to the post office. An adventure that has far exceeded any expectations I could have had for my life.

John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy: I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."