Adventure

I talk a lot about adventure. I tell stories, true and fictional, about adventures, past and future. And if I sit still too long I get antsy to throw myself into an adventure. My friends know it is my "buzz word"  and use it to entice me out of my Hobbit Hole when nothing else can, much like Bilbo Baggins: "Hey Connie, come over for an adventure..." And I've been known to text friends: "Can we please go slay a dragon?" And the first one to respond is always in for a treat.

A couple times a week I go for a walk (roll?) by myself and try out new paths - sidewalks and alleys I've never been on before and don't know where they will take me. I know sidewalks are not particularly adventurous, but actually, the adventure isn't in where I am but where I might find myself and what I might discover along the way. It might be a new friend, a secret garden of colorful wildflowers, a rickety bridge, a hole-in-the-wall cafe, or a mansion... you never know.

"The Great Adventure of 2013," I believe, will go down in history as one of the biggest and most exciting adventures I've ever lived through. Two countries, four national parks, twelve states, 6,000 miles; farmland, prairie, desert, plains, mountains, lakes, island, cities, ocean, rivers, canyons, hills, forests, gardens; wild fires, thunderstorms, snow in July, double rainbows, tumbleweed, geysers, waterfalls; buffalo, elk, deer, horses, baby cows, sheep; castles, log cabins, motels, inns, horse ranch, camp.... I feel like I have officially seen it all. So... why do I crave more?

Because what I believe about my walks in downtown Fort Wayne are true: it's not about where I am, but where I will find myself in the end, and what I might discover along the way... and the stories that will be written because of it.

I'm back in Fort Wayne now. I've actually been back for about a week... but I ran into some sharp curves in the road that slowed me down and almost made me turn around, some shadows and darkness that threatened to bring fear and despair, some emotional jet lag that just wouldn't allow me to assimilate easily into "normal life" again. But then, what is normal life, and who wants to settle for that anyway?

I have a pretty adventurous life, I think. I meet interesting people, I try out things I've never done before, I eat weird food, I have complete strangers help me with personal things, I figure out creative ways around what I cannot do, I work with an awesome team of people who get to be a part of God's magic, and... I live with hobbits.

Sure, you've heard my crazy stories - backpacking up a fire tower, tubing, sleeping at a construction site in a national park.... and I guarantee there will be more of those kind of stories. But don't discount the thrill of the adventures that happen on a daily basis. Getting up out of bed and choosing to live another day in a wheelchair with a progressive disability is an adventure; loving deeply and intentionally and with hope is an adventure; daring to trust God with each new step, having no real plan laid out before you is an adventure. And so, let the adventure continue!