I have an adventurous heart.

Over this Christmas break, I drove to the surrounding areas of Orlando to spend some time with my old roommate from the summer, Alyssa, and I've gotten to hang out with some of my Gainesville friends and it's been a sweet time so far. Right now, she's at work and I'm at Starbucks sipping on my Peppermint Mocha and spending some time with myself, reading and writing and changing around my class schedule "for the last time" I tell myself.

Yesterday, Alyssa, Cory, and I went on an adventure. There's this trail that you can get on behind her house and we walked to the creek and begun to explore. We each had a turn leading the exploration we were embarking on. Alyssa called us "triplets" as we walked and talked with one another. We walked in the water, alongside the water, around the water. We walked through bushes and this area that Cory said looked like fingers coming out of the ground, but really they were tree roots poking way out of the ground. I think I got bit by something while on our adventure and I got some scratches from walking through prickly brush. There was this mud-like terrain that seemed to act like quick sand because once you stepped onto it your feet begin to sink quickly. We ventured out of the woods and came across a road that signaled we were much farther away from where we started than we thought. After finding our way back to the bridge we set up our hammocks underneath it and simply "hung" out. We were dirty and sweaty but that didn't matter one bit because we were with each other and living life alongside one another on this adventure.

More and more, I have been learning how much of an adventurous heart I really do have. I love going on adventures. I love to explore. My heart's desire is to travel to the ends of the earth and then some. I don't know that I can explain why my heart has such a desire, but it's one of my biggest passions. My life has been full of exciting adventures: several camps, work crew at Trail West, Skydiving, college is an adventure in itself, leading Young Life, taking kids to camp, Honduras, Haiti...all full of joy and excitement. I've recently learned that even if something is painful or hard, that doesn't make it any less of an adventure. Venturing through my family, hard friendships, loss of a dearly loved friend, fighting through my personal regrets and heartache. Those are also adventures; however, they are not filled with excitement but rather sadness and often times, tears. And that's okay. (tears being okay is also something else I have learned). Those adventures aren't necessarily fun for me, but they are certainly a learning experience. I read a blog by Donald Miller this morning entitled "The Greatest Impact You Have May Come Out Of Your Pain" and it reminded me of God's promise that He turns our pain into something beautiful. In this post, Donald Miller wrote "When we stay bitter, we don't grow, and we don't help the people around us." Reread that quote. Think about it. Pray on it. Believe it. I believe it. I believe that if I were to have stayed bitter towards my dad I wouldn't have been able to speak truth and wisdom into someone else's life. I could go on and on with examples, but I'll save you from all that. It goes to show that even the hard and painful adventures are worth it more than I could ever imagine.

I pray that I will willingly and excitedly go wherever and whatever Jesus has called me to in this life. I pray that He never ceases to surprise me, one adventure after another, be it exciting or hard. Because I see God as an adventurous God. I have no clue as to what adventures The Lord is going to be taking me on in life or what my next step after college looks like. However, I do know that The Lord is good and loves me and knows the desires of my heart. My heart is to serve and love others and to do that well, no matter what capacity that may be in. My heart loves Haiti, my heart loves YL and my girls, my heart loves my community, my heart loves to travel and be in new places. Like I said, I may not know much, but I do know that God has carved out a beautiful plan for my life and weaved these desires into my soul. My Redeemed Soul.