"God never promises his people smooth sailing in this life; the only thing He promises is a safe port. Some of us may indeed traverse the bloody seas in order to arrive in that mooring." ~ Dr. John Currid

"The discontented person thinks everything he does for God too much, and everything God does for him too little." ~ Thomas Watson, Contentment

"Indeed, there is no middle ground between these two: either the world must become worthless to us or hold us bound by intemperate love of it. Accordingly, if we have any concern for eternity, we must strive diligently to strike off these evil fetters." ~ John Calvin

"He liked as he liked; he seems to have like everybody, but especially those whom everybody disliked him for liking." ~ G.K. Chesterton on St. Francis of Assisi

"For the Son of God, the incarnation meant a whole new set of relationships: with his father and mother; with his brothers and sisters; with his disciples; with the scribes, the Pharisees and the Sadducees; with Roman soldiers and with lepers and prostitutes. It was within these relationships that he lived his incarnate life, experiencing pain, poverty and temptation; witnessing squalor and brutality; hearing obscenities and profanities and the hopeless cry of the oppressed. He lived not in sublime detachment or in ascetic isolation, but 'with us', as 'the fellowman of all men', crowded, busy, harassed, stressed and molested. No large estate gave him space, no financial capital guaranteed his daily bread, no personal staff protected him from interruptions and no power or influence protected him from injustice. He saved us from alongside us."

It's been about two weeks since I've been back and it's taken me this long to sit down and write about the trip. Probably part of that is because I wrote so many blog posts during our trip (you can read them all here) that I got blog-posted out. Part of it is also that I'm working 25 hours a week and taking three grad classes so that pretty much consumes all my time. But I think part of it is also that I don't really know what to say. I've done these kind of trips so many times that I don't feel like I've returned with anything terribly profound or life-changing. Not to say that it wasn't a great trip, in fact it was, one of the best short-term trips I've helped lead. The team was phenomenal, willing to open themselves up and get to know complete strangers, incredibly flexible to serve in any capacity needed, and awesomely adventurous, willing to try new things and experiences. But in helping lead teams like this I put more and more of my attention on how things go for the team and less and less on my own experience. I've been there before and I'm fairly confident I'll go back again, so I do everything I can to help the team have the best trip possible. I help plan fun and meaningful activities. I engage in conversations asking questions to help them evaluate what they're learning and experiencing. I spend hours updating the blog and posting pictures while they're off doing ministry. I do these things because I'm a team leader and the trip is not about me. So when people back home ask me about my trip I have very different answers then they might expect if I had gone on this trip for me. I talk much less about what we did and what I learned and much more about how the team did and what they learned. My highlights are when I can share things that I've come to enjoy with the rest of the team (like rusks and strawberry heavenly bars!) and they enjoy them too. Those are the kinds of things that have become far more important to me. But I don't think supporters and friends back home always understand that, so for me it's been a process of coming to terms that that's ok. So yeah, it was a great trip. Yeah, I wish I was still there. But for now I'm here and quite content that everyone else on the team had the best trip possible. That makes my trip a great success.

The countdown couldn't have gone any slower but it's finally time! Bright and early tomorrow morning I head out to the airport on my way to NY where I'll converge with the rest of our team heading to Namibia. In total there are 13 of us from 5 different states who make up the Nam2010 team. I won't be able to keep up with this blog while I'm gone but you can follow along with our trip at http://nam2010.blogspot.com. We'll make updates about our latest ministry activities and stories along with pictures and hopefully some videos. Please join us on the blog and leave me some love in the comments section!

On Friday we took the Club kids to the zoo for the afternoon to traipse around through the heat seeing all the different wildlife. We only had a few hours so, being with the boys group, we wanted to see everything that has teeth. We saw bears, cougars, lions, gorillas, gators, anything that could kill something. For the most part they were all pretty lazy just chillin in the shade, hiding from the heat and the endless gawkers. The polar bear was the exception, escaping the heat in his arctic pool, showing off for the crowds with his ball. The difference between the zoo and a place like Etosha Wildlife Park in Namibia is that at the zoo the animals are in the cages and the people wander around. In Etosha, it's the people who are in the cages (cars) while the animals wander around. This is the first time I've been to a zoo since I first went to Etosha. The animals themselves are no less captivating. I'm sure I could sit and watch them for hours. But I found myself feeling kinda sorry for the animals held captive in cramped enclosures for the viewing pleasure of endless tourists, especially for the solo ones like the polar bear who had no one around to play with. It makes me glad to have a purpose in life. It reminds me that I'm here for more than just eating and sleeping and entertaining. It challenges me to make the most of the time that I have. It encourages me to look beyond myself and make a difference in the lives of others. And if I get all that from a trip to the zoo, then maybe these animals have more purpose than it originally seems.