What saves a man is to take a step.
Then another step. 
 [C. S. Lewis]                                                                                                                             


Sitting in the dew damped grass, watching the sun rise over Montego Bay, Jamaica for the last time. I can't believe I am leaving today. I have grown more in the past five and a half months than any other time in my life. I'm thankful that it was difficult; thankful it wasn't comfortable. One of the biggest lessons I have learned while being here is if we want to grow and mature, we must be stretched. We must be taken out of the easy, out of the normal, out of the comfortable. We must be put in situations that require more of us than we have to offer. Honestly, we can handle a lot more than we think we can. God will never put us in a situation, put someone in our lives, or push us in a direction that we are not already equipped to handle. Why, then, do we hesitate leaving home? Why do we avoid confrontation - avoid being vulnerable? Why? Because it is hard. So we hide things from those we love, spend hours in isolation, waste hours a day on the internet, depict ourselves as someone we are not. We easily spend $8 on a movie, $5 on a coffee, $20 on alcohol, but walk straight past a starving man on the road and act like we didn't even see him. Is there reward in all of this? Not just instant gratification, but real reward?


I was hesitant to come here. Last year... I was struggling so much with the idea of taking a whole year off and not going straight into college. All I could think about was how much I would be missing out and how I would be getting such a late start to my life. But I took that first step, and then another, and then another. Looking back, I am so glad I did. Just a quick encouragement from my experience... there comes no great reward without first having to sacrifice.


 I have seen a shift in my life from:                                                                                            

            complacency   -->    contentment
        purposelessness  -->    acting, speaking, thinking with true purpose
     being comfortable   -->    ruined for the ordinary
 hesitation and doubt   -->    boldness and belief
   feeling unprepared   -->    eagerly anticipating every new step


 Q&A                                                                                                                                     
Am I a completely different person from when I left? 
Definitely not.

Have I grown in experiences, built a stronger foundation, changed the way I think and process, been stretched, tested, refined, and strengthened? 
Ahhhh yeah.

                                                                                                                                                                                          

So... I didn't really mean for this post to be what it turned out to be... I kinda just wanted to get on and say how I can't wait to have a hot and spicy McChicken and see ma momma... oh well.
On my way home in 3 hours!
LOVE:D