Hello and Welcome!

Hello and Welcome to my blog!

As I prepare to embark in less than a week on this venture to Vietnam, I am both excited and apprehensive. If you’d asked me a year ago what I’d be doing right now, teaching English at a university in Vietnam’s capital city Hanoi would certainly NOT have been my answer.  I doubt I could’ve even named the country’s capital. Yet here I am. And what a journey it’s been.

Through this process over the past year I’ve had to be continually reminded that “destination” is not actually the goal of life. Despite my never ending to-do lists, despite significant milestones of accomplishment such as college graduation and first job as a licensed educator, despite my drive for perfection, there comes a tickle in the back of my brain reminding me that effort does not equal success. Even the achievements that result from effort don’t equal success.

Rather, it’s the journey. It’s the process of life. It’s the daily obedience to the Father as he leads us a step at a time. It’s the resting and trusting in that obedience, through the joy, fun, adventures, hardship, and, yes, even pain.

As I sit here with my tea pondering these thoughts in the wee hours of the morning, I know my four-page to-do list awaits. I know the room my family is graciously allowing me to stay in is strewn with clothes, bags, and random items asking to be sorted, cleaned, and packed.

In fact, I awoke late this evening to a camera flash and realized I'd fallen asleep on the floor in the single corner of clear carpet space in the entire room - something my dad apparently found amusing and decided to document. (I don't blame him. ;) I’m tempted to be overwhelmed. But I’m going to try to savor these moments. To cherish the process and journey as a good gift from a perfect gift-giver.

And it is the stories of the journey that I hope to share in this blog, both big and small, pretty and ugly. I invite you to join me as I strive to make the journey the destination.