VIDEO THINGS

And also, THIS:

I made it three years ago and have never been able to successfully share it UNTIL THIS VERY MOMENT.

This is the visual evidence that I was, in fact, in Peru. For a while. With other people. These are some of the places we went, things we did, and the laughs we shared immortalized on the YouTubes. Disfrutense, Enjoy :)

By Faith > By Sight

Hi there. Me again. Can you believe it's been almost three years since I took that giant leap of faith and headed south to my beloved Peru? I can't. Time flies.

I was thinking about this the other day, and I realized I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into that summer. I mean, I knew it had something to do with the street boys I love, wearing soccer clothes all day every day, speaking Spanish, traveling around to absurdly beautiful teal lakes whilst getting to know complete strangers, growing in faith, and ... well, that's about it, really. The story of how this all went down is straight ridiculous.

Flashback: I'm a 23-year-old in the middle of a quarter-life crisis who just quit her job working for a kind but emotionally invasive lawyer (used the Socratic method on his employees. not cool, man). I start nannying for my mom's friend, and all I know is that I want to get the heck out of Northern VA and go live abroad. By myself. A-lone.

So, I started applying to overseas job opportunities in Spain, Serbia, and Costa Rica for the summer. Whilst doing all of these applications to random locales (Serbia?), I'm secretly thinking and praying the whole time "Wouldn't it be greatttt if I could just gooo and live in Peruuu and wear soccer shoorrrts and no makeupp and be with people, speaking Spanish, hanging with the boys, being outside all the time?! Mmmmthat'd be pretty great, God."

Sho enough, that door opened. My friend Scott messaged me on Facebook one April day saying, "hey, we're looking for interns to come work for SU for the summer in Peru. If I remember correctly, your Spanish was pretty good. Want to come?"

I thought it was a trick. I looked that message in the face and said, "No, Providential message! You can't fool me! Clearly, you don't want me to do the exact thing I want to do. That's just too easy. It's okay, I've figured out your 'Master Plan.' I'll go to Serbia. I know it's what you want me to do." God was probably laughing and shaking His head a little.

Fair enough - the joke was on me. I didn't want to go to Serbia. At all. Serbia felt about as bland as Wonderbread to me, whereas Peru was like the most glorious piece of Bananas Foster french toast ya ever did see. Disregarding all that, I emailed the Serbian people and said, "Ok, Serbia. Here comes me." Then, to my surprise, they were all like, "Sorry, we've got 11 dudes and no other girls. We're not down with that, so this is gonna be a dudes only trip." And I was like, "Whaaattt?" and they were like, "whaaatttt?! but for real, you can't come."

Closed door. Innnn my face.

"Cool, God. So, uhmmm... Peru?" Yup. Peru. There was a sweet job opportunity on the table, too. I made a "decision plan" and said, "alright, God. If I can do this sweet job opp and go to Costa Rica, then I'll do that. If they don't let me do that, I'M GOING TO PERU. YA CAN'T STOP ME." (God nods along knowingly).

I couldn't do the job and Costa Rica. They told me they needed me statpronto. I said, "I get that a lot, but I gots ta go. So...."

At this point, it's about three weeks from when I'd need to leave for Peru. I messaged Scott back and said, "still need help?"

A couple of days later, my future Peruvian bossman Skyped me while I was on a nannying trip in some faraway land (New Jersey). I was expecting our conversation to be an interview complete with job offer, etc. But he basically told me about the job, then said, "soo, buy a plane ticket to Lima on June 1, bring $750 with you, and we'll pick you up at the airport." It sounded like the sketchiest operation ever. I was like, "I'm IN!"

I had no idea what would happen when I got to the airport. I didn't even know my schedule when I got down there or what resources I'd have to tell my family, "Yes, hello, I'm here, un-kidnapped, and still with pulse! Hooray!" I had little idea of what to pack, and I had three weeks to get my shots, moneys, and tickets. And it all came together. Quite swimmingly, at that.

The Lord is SO GOOD, guys. So. good.

So, it is currently 3 years later, and I'm still in love with a South American country. Normal? Probably not. A sign? Definitely. The older I get, the more I (and those around me) are beginning to realize that this isn't just some summer fling that I needed to get out of my system. It's actually beginning to look like a (wait for ittt, wait for iiitttt) dream. Yeah, guys. A real dream. It gives me the shivahs just thinking about it.

So, how does one pursue a dream? Is it something that you wait around patiently for God to open the doors in His right timing? Or, do you start taking little tiny babysteps towards it - stepping out in faith, if you will? At this point, from where I stand, it's starting to look like a strange combination of both. I start walking and knocking on doors with Jesus, and He'll reveal things as we go. I mean... looking back, that's kind of what happened three years ago. I think I'm ready for that to start happening again.

It's terrifying and beautiful all at the same time. I used to hate it when people asked me what my "life plans" were. I had no idea, and I thought "plans change, so why make them?" Now, I'm beginning to get it.

My sister and I were talking about it yesterday, and she, too, scoffed at the idea of having "life plans" or  "goals."

"What are life goals, anyway? Do you have life goals?!"
"Well, yeah," I said. "I think I'm starting to."
"Really? Like how? What are they?"
"(Shrug) Living in Peru, photography... I dunno. I think it's setting your eyes on something and marching courageously towards it. I feel like the dreams I have are probably smaller than the ones God has for me. Yet, if I start getting at these smaller ones, I think He'll show me what the bigger ones are."

It's like that Caribou Coffee napkin says (yes, I get my inspirational quotes from coffee napkins and eye shadow boxes sometimes): Life is about picking a direction and going with it. That's not necessarily my life philosophy or anything, but I think there's some good truth behind that - i.e. walking in Faith.

"For we live by faith, not by sight." - 2 Corinthians 5:7

The Lord put this verse on my heart last night and this morning, and it's been fun letting it set in. Faith allows us to see waaayy beyond what's just in front of us. Even if we can't see what's ahead at all, we can have Faith that the Lord we're walking with is good. He will lead us in the way we should go. Let the actions begin!