We’ve heard it said many times, “it’s less about the destination, as it is about the journey.” I’ve found this to be true in almost every area of life. Keeping this mindset helps me to stay patient on a long journey, though there is much preparation and time before getting there. The path of education, apprenticeship, internships, and preparation to land a first real job are vital. One must exercise, eat healthy and sleep well to reach health and fitness goals.  A new romantic relationship takes time to build. It takes vulnerability, communication, and choosing love to build a healthy foundation; not just for a wedding day, but for a life-long, enriching marriage. The journey is vital, it shapes and forms us if we let it. The journey is a gift.  

As I embark on a new journey, I feel reflective. I am taking time to recall how God used my life experiences to build something stronger. In the Old Testament, God freed the Israelites from slavery. Woo hoo! They celebrated and worshiped Him because of the immediate relief they received. But, when things got hard, when they couldn’t see the whole road ahead, when they weren’t sure where all provisions would come from, they quickly turned their praise to complaining. They questioned God and almost forgot all that He had just done for them. 

When I read this account in the Bible, my immediate feeling is of frustration with the Israelites for so quickly forgetting the HUGE thing He had just done for them! But, God always stops me quickly in my frustration to remind me that I’ve done the same thing over and over. One of the lessons here is to REMEMBER what God has done. I recall how God used my long journey of getting physically healthy and fit, to give me more empathy for those fighting for the same thing. I remember how He put me in challenging leadership situations to stretch me to be a better one myself. I reflect on how God has used, and continues to use, the pain of watching my mom fight cancer and lose her battle with this terrible disease. He has grown my compassion for others’ pain. He has used her Godly legacy to impact thousands in ways I couldn’t have known or imagined. God always uses the journey.  

My journey has started. I am working out every day and adding more strength training, hiking, and starting to gather trekking equipment. I’ll be increasing the distance and weight I carry on my hikes, retrieving more equipment, challenging my endurance, and raising funds to start new churches. In October I will get off a plane, start trekking up to 18,000 feet, over dozens of miles, in 19 days to my destination. And then, I’ll arrive at Everest Base Camp. I may stay a couple of hours and then head back down the mountain. The destination experience will be exhilarating, but short, while the journey is long. It’s more about the journey than the destination.  

But, the irony in this long journey I have chosen is that it will change the final destination of eternity for many without Jesus’ hope. As I train and prep to trek, I’ll be raising $50,000 to start more churches all around the world. For many, their current journey in life is hopeless as they have never experienced the transformational hope of Jesus. Every dollar of the $50,000 I raise will go toward helping start churches that care for the next generation and bring hope to the hopeless. These funds will give children and adults around the world the opportunity to hear, through a church, how they can have a more hope-filled journey on earth and an eternal destination with Jesus one day!

Thank you for following and being a part of this journey with me. I would love for your financial support to help change the final destination for many around the world!