I'm So Gone (by Jackie Greene)

"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go." Oh how I wish that were true! Packing for a two-and-a-half week long trip to a third-world country on the equator is a very easy thing to do: a couple of pants, a couple shorts, some underwear, a few shirts, sunblock, sunglasses, and some flip-flops; I mean come on, it doesn't get much easier than that?! Things start to get complicated when you're packing a bag full of camera equipment, supplies for the workers on the field, and various other supplies that are necessities for various external purposes. On top of all that, you've gotta love the last-minute tying of up loose ends at work, poorly scheduled pre-trip photography meetings and shoots, and preparing to return to a girlfriend I haven't seen in over two weeks and will be away from for an additional two-and-a-half weeks now. Ah, the stresses of life and travel - I thrive on it (at least the latter of the two)!

I can't speak for the rest of the team, however. One of the problems with traveling often is that it becomes easier and easier to put off the important things until the last minute. When you're going to a new place and you're not used to traveling it's so much easier to dwell on the details and plan and prepare so much further in advance. I like to think that the rest of the team has been packed and ready to go for days, maybe even weeks already! All I know is that I'm getting up at about 5:00am tomorrow (assuming I go to sleep at all) and meeting the crew at the airport at 6:30am and by that time anything we've forgotten or over-packed will be too late.

The flight to Chicago is the one I'm really not looking forward to; it's just too short! It's too long to enjoy and too short to sleep (although God knows I'll try). For the longest time I was under the impression that we were flying non-stop to Singapore from Chicago - that would've been a 22-hour flight! Sadly, I've come to discover we actually stop in Hong Kong on the way. The good news is that I've never been to Hong Kong, so you can bet I'll be heading through customs in the three hour period between flights =) Although our beloved 22-hour flight is being chopped up by a stop in Hong Kong, I still look forward to the potential amount of sleep I'll be getting on the roughly 16-hour long flight. I hope the others can sleep on planes as well as I can =)

Remember, those long stretches of time when there is nothing but silence coming from this blog page it is simply because we are having too good of a time to take a break and write anything. I don't anticipate writing again before we get into Singapore. After that, it'll likely be sometime in the middle of July when we are beginning our trek back from our ethno-tours that I'll be revisiting the information super-highway and making a pit-stop on this blog site. Keep your eyes open and check back soon.

Traveling Light (by Widespread Panic)

What a crazy several weeks. I'm knee-deep in what is likely to be the busiest, craziest, loneliest, funnest three weeks of 2007. I'm back in MN for three days right now between trips. I just got back from a rather a-typical vacation week for me - in Delaware. Granted DE is hardly the adventure capitol of the US, let alone the world, I got to experience first-hand how true it is that our company is what makes the difference. For five full days I got to hang out with my old climbing buddies from out in CO. We hit the climbing gym, did a ton of jet-skiing, a little water-skiing, watched some movies, took it easy, and we definitely ate, drank, and had a marry ol' time as my buddy, Fu, got hitched. Time with these guys is always a good time!

Now I'm back, recovering from being gone a week and preparing to be gone for two and a half more. I think I'm beginning to feel the burden of responsibility. It's about as much fun as I had anticipated. Needless to say, I'm ready to go back home to the far side of the world. Although, I have to admit that traveling is so much easier when I do it alone. I'm not used to explaining to others the details of how to pack, dress, travel, communicate, eat, and generally live in another culture - I typically just kinda do it. But it's good. I have a great team and everyone brings something precious to the table. Tonight (Wednesday) is our prayer send-off and I'm excited to have this time with everyone together with the focus of committing ourselves, our team, and our ministry up to the Lord.

So, there's a lot to do now. I need to pack, finish up several key communication projects here at work, organize photos I took from Fu's wedding, smooth over some photography scheduling upon my return, and make sure everything is in order with my team. I've never been so excited about a 22-hour flight - I'm gonna do some serious sleeping!

Great is Your Faithfulness (by The Newsboys)

For those who don't already know, June 30 I will be leaving the states again; this time for a significantly shorter amount of time (17 days) and with a lot more people - 13 of us, to be exact. This team that I'm taking back home to Indo with me include my co-leader, Julie, and a team of 11 others: Phyliss, Becky, Amanda, Erica, Kristen, Tonya, Emilee, Ed, Al, Adam, and Thad.

Our team has been through extensive training and I feel is very well prepared for this trip. All we have left to do is packing and some final logistical details of getting everyone to the airport and on the plane. We have had our final training meeting and our last official time together before meeting at the airport will be on Wednesday night, June 27 at Wooddale Church from 6:30-7:30pm for a prayer send-off (all are welcome to come).

Please keep posted to this blog for updates on our team as we travel. I have done a lot of traveling in my life and I have always functioned with the philosophy "no news is good news." This is important to keep in mind as most of our time away will be spent with no internet connection. I pretty much expect to update this when we land in Singapore on July 1st and again in Singapore on the 15th or so, the day before we fly back.

Remember us in your prayers. Pray for us individually and pray for us as a team. Here are some specific requests to remember to lift up to the Lord:
- Keep focused on God above all else
- The Holy Spirit is at work and we desire to follow where He is leading
- Travel safety
- Good health
- Team cohesiveness
- Patience with each other and with the new culture
- FUN!

The Christian (by Jimmy Buffett)

I think I've thought for too long that the job of Christians was to correct lost people like Muslims, Hindus, Buddhist, and agnostics. Perhaps my paradigm is shifting or perhaps it just a matter of clarity, but it's no wonder Christians are so looked down upon; with this mentality it seems equivalent to belittling others in telling them where they've failed and how wrong and bad they are. It seems to me that it is rather a matter of showing them something (or someONE, rather) they've never known. I heard an analogy today that seemed apt:

"A child walked up to his dad and told him there are men on Mars. The dad's reaction should be to throw his son down on the couch, whip out an astronomy book, and start shoving his face in the book, telling him how wrong he is, right? Hardly! The dad lovingly shows patience at the fact that his son simply doesn't know the truth yet. Maybe he'll come to understand later that day or maybe he'll come to understand in a few years - what's most important is that the son comes to realize for himself on his own terms what the truth is."

Another story I heard this week was of a woman who bought a new puppy and was told that in order for the puppy to live a long, healthy life she was to feed him a tablespoon of Castor Oil every day. So, every day she would chase the puppy down, hold him around the neck while forcing his mouth open, and would shove the Castor Oil down his throat. Every day the puppy would run and hide, kicking and yelping as the woman would regularly shove the Castor Oil down his throat - until one day when the woman found the puppy had knocked the bottle over, spilling it all over the kitchen floor, standing in the middle of it lapping it all up. The puppy didn't hate the Castor Oil; he hated the methodology of having been force fed it!

"Religion", as it were, is a barricade all-too-often. Nowhere in the New Testament does Jesus teach about a religion. There is no record of Jesus telling people to become a Christian. "Christianity" is of man - Jesus calls us to the Kingdom of God. It's not about doing the right things, it's not about following the rules, it's not about having a certain label or title - it's about knowing Jesus and loving him, plain and simple! Why is that so hard for us to understand and accept?

School's Out For the Summer (by Alice Cooper)

That's right, I'M DONE! And good riddance too! Unfortunately, school has left its residual affect on me - I'm sick. My head is all clogged up, my throat hurts, I'm starting to get sleep deprived and I just want to sleep - sleep and sleep and sleep and sleep and sleep! But, of course, I've booked myself too solid for that to be an option. I have date night tonight, a sunrise photo shoot in the morning, three photography meetings all day tomorrow, and another photo shoot that will either be tomorrow at sunset or Sunday at sunrise. At least my schedule is getting overloaded with something I actually enjoy doing. If I can just get myself healthy and possibly even in shape again, this could actually be a good summer!

Oh, and I'm heading out to Delaware in less than two weeks. It'll be SO great to reconnect with old friends and have some time to let loose and have some fun. I'm ready for it!

I Want to Break Free (by Queen)

I'm only one week away from being done with school, less than three weeks away from flying out east to visit my buddy Mikey to celebrate his wedding along with some other old Colorado friends, and four weeks away from heading back home to Indonesia for a little over two weeks. The week and a half between school and my next trip will be spent doing as many photo shoots as possible to help build and expand my portfolio and increase my networking. It looks like June is going to be a busy month - in a good way! Once school is done, I have about five weeks of bliss ahead of me! Sadly, my girl will be doing her own traveling for several weeks beginning June 13. That means that, as usual, I'll be experiencing my traveling and photography highs on my own. As much as I'd rather share the experiences and excitement, the Lord knows I'm in desperate need of a month of traveling like what's ahead of me. I'm almost there!!!