Wanderlust

My time in Australia, as short as it has been, has been life-altering.

This experience has been a whirlwind of emotions, a completely exciting and overwhelming adventure. It gets lonely. It is exciting. It gets scary. It is enlightening. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years that Dr. Zum Hofe introduced me to during intro to lit freshman year. In the book the author Donald Miller says,

 “The most often repeated commandment in the Bible is 'Do not fear.' It's in there over two hundred times. That means a couple of things, if you think about it. It means we are going to be afraid, and it means we shouldn't let fear boss us around. Before I realized we were supposed to fight fear, I thought of fear as a subtle suggestion in our subconscious designed to keep us safe, or more important, keep us from getting humiliated. And I guess it serves that purpose. But fear isn't only a guide to keep us safe; it's also a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life.”

Since reading A Million Miles I always remember that about fear. I don’t want my fears of not being strong enough, rich enough, or experienced enough to trick me into living a boring life. I want them to motivate me! I applied to study abroad and now I just can’t get enough.

In my adventure tourism class, our professor showed us some statistics about travelling. I learned that 83% of employers would rather hire a young adult who has taken a year or two to travel and gain cultural experience after graduation, than hire someone straight out of university. Traveling is not a bad thing, and it’s definitely not an “easy” thing to do. Planning trips during my time here has been a lot of work actually, because I have to budget, create an itinerary, research the destinations, and then pray that it all comes together in the end. People who travel gain a lot of important life experience, and definitely become more independent. After booking hostels and events, I feel like calling to schedule my own dentists appointments may not be so bad after all! I’m truly considering the opportunity to travel around for a while before settling down after graduation… But I think I’ll have to do a lot more praying about that one. :)

Another thing about A Million Miles that I loved was a quote about how heroes in a story have to “move and breathe and face conflict with courage.” I used to be happy being the girl in the background. I had a “whatever happens, happens” attitude and didn’t really want to strive for anything because that meant I had to go on this journey and face the possibility of failure. Now, though, I want to be someone who moves and breathes and faces conflict with courage—and with Jesus by my side. One day I want to look at God at Heaven’s gates and thank him for this miraculous, marvelous, wondrous world he’s created... And say that I was able to see all of it! I want to meet people from all over and share the love of Jesus with them. I find it harder to see the obstacles in my way, because I’m too focused on the incredible possibilities!

Donald Miller also said, “Life itself may be designed to change us so that we evolve from one kind of person to another.” That’s exactly what I think God has done through this experience. He’s given me this Wanderlust and the ability to love with my whole heart. He wants me to develop from that nervous little girl who hid behind her parents at the grocery store to the woman I’m becoming—this woman who can do anything she sets her mind to. Sure there will always be obstacles in my way, fears, doubts, and worries. But worrying is literally betting against yourself. I don’t want anyone- myself included- to bet against me. God reassures us so many times in the Bible that He never leaves us, never forsakes us, and will never stop loving us. No matter what I do in life or where I go, I will always have Him as the ultimate support system. I don’t have to schedule time for a Skype call, I can talk to Him whenever I want and see Him working in such wondrous ways through nature and the people around me.

It's been a while since I've posted last, so here's a little update on what I've been up to...

-  HOMEWORK. ALL THE HOMEWORK.

-  A group of us from CISabroad got together for a weekend in Brisbane, where we stayed at a cool hostel called Chill Backpackers and went to Oktoberfest. We got to try different German foods, beers, and dances, and everyone was so friendly! It was a fun little excursion. :) 

-  My adventure tourism class went on a field trip last Wednesday back to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary where we ventured our way through a high ropes course. I had to climb ladders, walk across tightropes, crawl through dangling tubes, jump across a trail of tall poles, swing from a rope like Tarzan onto a net hanging in the air, and zip line over a pond of crocodiles. Don't worry, it's a very safe course... but it was the best workout I've ever had. 

Adrenaline + Heights + Physical Exercise + Kenzie = Terrifying

-  My roommate Kiersten & I tried to go to the beach and then a hike to see the sunset at Burleigh Heads. I'm telling you, the 2 of us can never be trusted to to anything together. A 20 minute bus ride turned into an adventure of its own. We ended up not leaving till 2, getting on the wrong bus, finally getting to the beach at 4, and had only a half our in the sun till it started going down. We started out on our supposed short hike wearing bathing suits and sandals, but ended up somehow 3 miles up onto a cliff on the edge of a forest. AND the sun was on the other side of the forest so we couldn't even see it set. (We still saw some GORGEOUS views though!) As we headed back down the trail it started to get dark. We got chased by a wild bush turkey, spooked by an old man we thought was a bear, and trapped in a little cove because we're scared of turkeys and here they can fly and perch up in trees. That was another wild trip!

-  CISabroad took a daytrip to Byron Bay, which was my favorite day in Australia to this point. We took surf lessons (or just wiped-out a ton) from these cool guys at a surf school. I never actually stood up but I still had a blast trying! Then we took a bus up a winding road to the Byron Bay Lighthouse, where we hiked a little trail to a secluded beach. Check out my pics on flickr... This world really is marvelous! I've never seen such a beautiful place. 

-  More & more & more homework. I'm trying to get all of my assignments done before November because we have trips planned every weekend! :)

I’ve been thinking a lot about the people who have helped me get to this point in my life. I want to thank each and every one of you for caring about me, praying for me, and supporting me. I truly think that God puts people in our lives for a reason, and every single person that I know has influenced me in some way. I thank God for you every day.