T-minus 7h 7m

Guizhou, here I come.

To be perfectly honest, I'm totally flummoxed. I'm anxious, apprehensive, and yet elated, and positively excited, all at the same time. With just over 7 hours before leaving the comfort of home for a trip I will likely never forget, this sensory overload is perhaps the last thing I needed. And yet it exists. So bear with me here.

An opportunity like this has actually been presented to me twice already. Once last year, once earlier this year. And yet, both times, out of sheer bloody-mindedness, I refused. I delayed. I fretted about. I flat out avoided the issue. I was, in other words, being an ass. Or a coward. Or both.

And yet, midway through May, once again the issue arose. This time, because my aunt wanted me to come along on the volunteer trip her company was organizing. Well, something clicked. Third time's the charm, they say, and so it was. It was the third time something like this presented itself to me. I got the point. I was Jonah, and this was my Nineveh. I can't just sit there and waste my summer, pouring out the idle vapourings of a mind diseased. God was saying, clear as ever, "Go!"

Sometimes, commands from on high don't come directly. They come through opportunities, and you have to recognize them. Not only that, but then you have to take them. For the perpetually stubborn, such as myself, sometimes once isn't enough. Twice isn't enough. Thankfully, our God is a gracious one.

And so, here I stand, at this moment, on the brink of what promises to be a new chapter. People, pray for me. Pray that I will be a beacon of God's glory to the children and teachers that we meet. Even though we cannot explicitly preach the Gospel, even though this isn't a religious trip, pray that God's love, through me, will bear witness. And on a similar vein, pray for the physical and logistical aspects of this trip, for our entire team. Thank you so very much, people.

And, God, because I realize I haven't earnestly thought of you behind the scenes, I would like to take this time to finally say, after a few months of delay, thanks for this opportunity. Bless it, for your own sake.