Can I get this to-go box in glass?

At the beginning of each of the last few years I've prayed for the opportunity to travel.....that might sound funny, but it's true. What sounds even more funny is that I've actually been blessed with travel opportunities because of it. Not all have been international, but SOME have.

In thinking about this I yet again find myself eager for an adventure. I'm not simply talking about taking off for one of my random wanderings (although I will be doing that for a week and a half in July) but something a little more purposeful maybe. I really don't know where this part of me comes from (and it definitely is part of me) but I have the desire to travel, experience unique things, and meet the beautiful people of this world. People excite me. People inspire me.

Perhaps it's because this week, last year, I was leaving for my solo trip to Hong Kong. This was one of the seemingly nuttiest things I've done in a long time, but I felt I really needed to do it and a door was opened for it.....and it was incredible. I spent two weeks exploring the city, hiking in the area, taking ferries out to the outlying islands, and meeting up with some HKU Rotary scholars. I also happened to be in China when the huge earthquakes hit. I got to be a part of Chinese history as I was there during the only time in history when the nation stopped dead in it's tracks in a moment of silence for those who were killed. (I happened to be walking through Times Square...yes Hong Kong does have a times square....funny I know) I also met and talked with the most successful architect in Hong Kong on a private floor of the IFC building AND the owner of a Humanitarian relief agency run out of Australia who founded the organization on the amazing testimony of his Grandfather. SO...needless to say, it was one heck of a trip. God had some cool things planned that I would never have even tried to dream up. Why? I'm not sure....I was definitely there for a reason, but I'm not sure if I'll ever quite know what it was (although as I continue to reflect on it even up to a year later....there's lots of perspective things the Lord had brought to my attention)

That brings me to today....ready for another adventure to add to the list. Maybe it's because it's summer time and I work in an office....that sounds like the perfect prescription for adventure seeking to me. But...maybe it's more....maybe that part of me that was designed to live life to the fullest is spurring me on to make the most of God's everyday. To find the excitement placed before me, to seek after Him and take part in the adventure that comes from knowing Him more, to show others who are too bored/stressed out/unhappy/stuck/complacent with life the joy that is available to them.

We've got to recognize it and respond to it...

There's another thing I've noticed though as well, which may be part of some frustration (well...more like learning how to adjust). It's rooted in the fact that adventures are great, but they simply aren't as great when there's no one to share them with. Now, my current frustration (adjustment that needs to be made), is that I have significantly less people around to hang out with....part of the problem of being blessed to live in a place (but an amazing one at that) where all your friends move away. But how much more so when we seek out daily adventure, but leave our Father out of it. God is the alpha....the beginning of all things. Joy comes from Him. Adventure beyond my wildest dreams comes from Him. I have to be careful not to get my fulfillment from others and even unique experiences. Completeness and health in life comes from the maker of all things. I've just got to pray through the times it's frustrating knowing that I'll get used to it. It's also a matter of perspective.

So you want a lesson in perspective? Go to China. Artifacts I saw in the Hong Kong museum of History go back to the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC. These are artifacts that are many, many, many centuries older than our country (and more well preserved too). We are infants in the world scene. Artifacts from before the time of Christ. And LOTS of them. While looking at these priceless artifacts in the glass boxes, I realized that it's quite easy to see just how limited our perspectives are. At times it seems that we think we have an idea of what "eternity" means. I tend to think we don't even have a clue. We get amazed by artifacts in a museum that are 2100 years old. Last time I checked, eternity - 2100 = eternity.