aventura = adventure

"Security is mostly superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger in the long run is no safer than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing." -Helen Keller

So you can insert your Helen Keller joke ____here___, but I like what she said. A lot of people are asking about the fears I have going to Costa Rica. No, I don't know anyone going. No, I don't know who I am living with. No, I don't know where exactly in the capital city I will be living and I don't know how long my walk/bus ride to school is. Yes, sometimes I get scared out of my mind-- But all that is part of the adventure. After returning from Kenya (another great adventure in my life), I read one of my favorite books of all time: The Barbarian Way by Erwin Raphael McManus. Here are a few quotes from his book:

“The barbarian way is about love, intimacy, passion, and sacrifice. Barbarians love to live and live to love. For them God is life, and their mission is to connect humanity to Him. Their passion is that each of us might live in intimate communion with Him who died for us. The barbarian way is a path of both spirit and truth.”
"I wonder how many of us have lost our barbarian way and have become embittered with God, confused in our faith because God doesn't come through the way we think He should."
"A world without God cannot wait for us to choose the safe path. If we wait for someone else to take the risk, we risk that no one will ever act and that nothing will ever be accomplished."

A week from Tuesday I leave for Chicago where I will fly to Miami and meet the other 50 students I will be going to school with. We will arrive in San Jose, Costa Rica around 9pm (Central Time) and spend the night. The next morning our families (that we don't know yet) will come pick us up. Some say the adventure begins the moment I step on the plane. For me the adventure began eight months ago when I filled out the application for this thing. At that moment uncomfortable questions began running through my mind "Will I have enough money?" "Will I make friends?" "What if I can't learn the language?" "What if I get kidnapped on my walk to school?" I've learned that most adventure mean trusting God through the unanswered questions.

Do not for a second think you have to go out of the country for an adventure. Your faithfulness to Christ through the uncomfortable questions you have at school, work, church, and home is one of the most fulfilling adventures anyone could take.