an update, of sorts

T minus 19 hours.

We leave Orlando tomorrow night, headed to India. Wow, I never thought I'd say that. Finally, finally, I'm on my way.

...in the meantime...

I've been in Orlando for the past few days, preparing as a team for our trip. We've also been recruiting and sharing the vision of Bajalia at a young adult conference. The conference speakers have been quite enlightening/thought-provoking/radical. Donald Miller is here, along with Todd Phillips. Phillips is new to me, but he's speaking some hard-to-swallow truth about the sad and heretical divorce of social action and evglsm. Miller's stream-of-consciousness speaking and writing is very powerful. Though, he's not "usual" at all... Sometimes I have to stop and think, re-assess, pull back, because I wonder why and how I'm agreeing so well with what these guys are telling me. Am I easily swayed by smooth talkers? Or, is it that I'm drawn to the Truth of it all. Are they exposing Truth? 'Prove it,' I say to myself. They have been, and I'm encouraged. I'm encouraged because my desire to take care of the widows and children, clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, is validated by my Father's Word. I want to stay challenged by J's words, though. He was constantly saying to the people in his day, "you thought this way, now I'm telling you to think this way." And I want to be listen and obey that radical thinker, above all.

As far as being ready to fly to the other side of the globe...yeah. I'm ready. Totally. Bags are packed, with everything possibly needed for the next 6 or so weeks. I thought I forgot floss, which would have been the only thing I forgot. But, it surfaced from the bottom of my cosmetic bag tonight. I've been on a steady diet of AirBorne/Vit C/malaria pill/typhoid pill/multi-vit coctails for the past several days. I'd like to see a parasite infiltrate this immune system. Just try me, microviral scum. Just try me... I tried on some of the c.asian clothing that I'll be wearing and LOVED it. Seriously. I've always dreamed of having clothing that didn't touch anywhere on my body, and just parachuted around my extrimities, and this is it. I can eat as many carbs as I want, and these pants will never get too tight. That's the glory of the drawstring. As I triple-checked my suitcases, I had to wonder what a person like Hudson Taylor or Amy Carmichael might think of my packing. Or, better yet, Paul. They'd definitely question the necessity of 2/3 of this crud I'm hauling overseas and overmountains. I'm pretty sure they'd throw out, right away, my Mr. Potato Head and at least one of my outlet adapters (I have two, just in case...). Alas, my bags are packed. We're off on a grand adventure....to serve and seek.