Adventure Fuelings: When God Doesn't Live Up to Your Expectations

Will you follow a God you do not understand?
Will you follow a God who does not live up to your expectations?

Recently both of my roommates have talked about these questions. What we should be asking rather than all the "whys." There is something about these two questions that grate against everything in me though. Seriously, how do you follow someone you don't understand or who fails your expectations? My body screams "RUN AWAY!" It isn't safe. Why would you place yourself in such a vulnerable position? Although some of you may disagree with this next statement; I tend to be a very logical thinker. (Yes, I know some of you just laughed out loud...and I don't necessarily think logically in regards to adventure & the such.) These questions totally slap logic in the face, because logic would tell you to follow someone you understand and trust, who won't fail you. (I realize everyone fails everyone at some point, because we are all humans born into sin; still logic tells me not to ever place myself in that position.)

Now that I have stated why I cringe at these questions, I will say this. All of us at some level, at some point in our life are going to have to wrestle with these to questions and come to terms with what they mean. I am not saying that it is easy, nor that I have completely come to terms with them. Yet we wrestle because our view of life and God's view of life are so completely different!! Our expectations are bound to be broken throughout the years, because life is life. Anyway, I don't know how you come to terms with the questions....I am hoping you will figure it out and then come tell me! :)

End of April, I went on a backpacking trip down in southern Indiana on the Adventure Hiking Trail. I went with Sarena, Lindsey, and Amanda. We set out Sunday afternoon and then finished Tuesday morning. We didn't, unfortunately, finish the entire trail due to some details we didn't think through enough/failed to think about. Needless to say, I now have more stories though....!!! :) The best stories often come from things unplanned. This particular trip, we ran out of water by Monday noon and the map wasn't super accurate, so we were struggling to find water. Places that looked like they were right next to the water were not. We finally arrived at one of the overnight shelters and Lindsey set out to look for water. She came back with both good and bad news. The good news was that she had found water and a really beautiful place to camp for the evening, the bad news was that the site was overlooking the river....yep, it was a cliff down to the water. Once we got to the site, we emptied Amanda's backpack and put all the empty water bottles in it (this will come into play later as an poor decision). Then Lindsey and I hiked/climbed down the cliff. There were definitely some scary moments.....;) At one point I slipped on a pretty slanted area and got completely snagged by a broken branch. It went completely through my clothing and I had to try and scoot back up the slope in an awkward position just to unhook myself!!! When we got to the bottom, we filtered water from the Ohio River into all the water bottles and loaded them back up. Here is the poor decision part....we should have brought two backpacks down. One backpack with gallons of water loaded in it, is difficult to carry when climbing back up a very steep hill/cliff! Overall I really loved the trip and would do it again in a heart beat!! My calves pretty much hated me for a few days...but they got over it. :)

I also went to Florida a week ago with Rachelle Grube, Leah Kaeb, and Maria Ramirez. It was a well needed and loved trip! We stayed in St. Augustine at a nice resort type of place. We went zip lining, paddle boarding, rock climbing, took old time pictures, played tennis, went to the beach, volleyball, etc. It was very relaxing!!

In the next week I will be heading up to Minnesota for my brother's wedding!! I am super excited!! Then right after that, I am planning on heading to Ethiopia for 10 days. Where we will be working on a school that Chris & Erica Manz have been working on raising money for Metekle school. I would greatly appreciate your prayers! I am really excited to be able to go back after last year and experience another part of the country! Also, while I am talking about the school, we recently found out that the initial amount they raised ($108,000) isn't enough and they need to get to $120,000. I don't want to make anyone feel obligated to donate or annoyed that I asked. However, if you feel moved to donate, this is an amazing opportunity to help give the kids a better education. The school is packed and the current classrooms are not able to accommodate all the children. The school administration is also hoping to expand the schooling, which is currently 1-4 grade, through 8th grade.

One last thing before pictures.... Gateway Woods is starting up the volunteer program for the summer! If any of you have a week, a few days, or more available; come on out!! It is an amazing opportunity to be a part of the work out here!! If you are interested please get in contact with the Volunteer Coordinator (if you go to Gateway's website, the information will be there) or just let me know and I will get you in contact with the right person!! I also love to see people I know!!! :)

My sister & cousin came out to see me in April!!! I loved it!