to the wanderer.

Ernesto asked me why I don't want to live in the United States for the majority of my life (a sentiment that recently seems to come and go). I posed this question to Ginny, who made an interesting point, and I decided to journal about it. Here it is...

A broad assumption is that Americans travel as a means to an end: We look for self-fulfillment, we look to get something out of anything and anyone and we suck the life out of everything.

I would argue that travel is much more. Travel is diving into a culture. Exploring. Finding meaning. Learning. Contributing.

Europeans (and just about the rest of the world) know how to travel. They look at the world differently throughout the journey AND at the end of the journey. They have stories to tell because they not only soak up the experience, but they involve themselves in the experience itself. They soak in and pour out. They bring what they've seen back to their homeland: People's stories, heartache and joy they've shared in, customs, food, dance, life.

I believe liberation is found in this way of travel.

Hear this: I'm liberated in Christ. I don't need any more liberty. What I need is for people to see their need for liberation. If my life as a traveler, a wanderer, a nomad, could show this--if God could use me to point to His Son as the only Liberator--it would be to His glory.

My prayer is that I get to see as much of this world as possible. To enjoy God and His creation while living adventurously, whether that means exploring secret corners of South America, Europe, and Asia, or getting to know my own homeland.

William Faulkner said, "If a story is in you, it has to come out."

Wherever I go, I hope to collect stories, soak up life and give it back. Write down what I see and hear, hug people because they need love (as do I), and speak Truth.