I would go 69,000 miles...

"There is no place I'd rather be, God is alive and works in me
Yesterday is old and gone, and tomorrow we'll have to see,
But for today - oh, today there is no place, no place I'd rather be..."

About three years ago this week, I bought my Chevy Uplander (ok, so it is a van), a frost blue beast that I named Jack. My previous purple monkey of a van was a homebody, so he had to be retired because he didn't jive with my adventurous dreams and wandering tendencies. So when I got Jack, my plan was to spend all my miles travelling around the country. I love roadtrips, and since I’ve had Jack, I have been to and through a lot of states. In fact, this trip to Indiana was just supposed to be a grand roadtrip adventure for a summer, to check off one more state and see if there really was more than corn here. And I found out there is.

Beginning of February 2008 - Winston-Salem, NC

Friday night, Jack travelled his 69,000th mile. And it wasn't past the burning fields of Kansas or over the majestic Colorado Rockies or across the marshy wetlands of Louisiana. I don't think either of us ever imagined we would cross this milestone by dropping off one of our Somoli youth at her apartment on the southside of Fort Wayne after a crazy teenage girls night out. See, God decided that he would extend my little Indiana roadtrip indefinitely... he didn't want Jack and I to just whiz through and see the sights and take some photos; he wanted us to roll around in the slushy snow of this town... he wanted to bring Jack and me here to experience a different life and delve into relationships, to see where these kids live and what reality is like for them. And I'm just starting to "get my wheels dirty." I know at times it won't be easy, but I know I'm where I'm supposed to be right now... here with these kids in this ministry.

End of January 2011 - Fort Wayne, IN

It took a lot of miles and a lot of days to get here… a lot of questions and doubt and uncertainty about where this road was leading me. And yes, my road-tripping days are not done - I hope Jack has another 69,000 miles in him because I still want to see the burning fields in Kansas and the majestic Colorado Rockies - but for today, oh, today there is no place, no place I'd rather be.