KIA ORA FROM NEW ZEALAND!

Kia Ora everyone! I am definitely in New Zealand now, and it is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful (and cold). My backyard is amazing! (Y'all may never see me again ;) ) Traveling was quite an adventure to say the least. Actually on my flight from Atlanta to LA, I actually had to pull out my nursing abilities with another critical care nurse and acute care nurse since there wasn't a doctor on the plane- the lady was okay though thankfully. The LAX flight to Auckland was really really long, and I was unable to fall asleep, which made it feel longer, though I watched some good movies :)

The bus ride from Auckland to Tauranga was very interesting. It took me forever to find the bus stop at the airport. Then I get off the bus with two Germans around my age at our intermediate stop, and as we get off the bus it suddenly downpours. We and all of our luggage gets soaked, and we ended up at a close by McDonald's for lunch, while we waited for our connecting bus. Getting on the actual bus to Tauranga, I met three other girls headed to the DTS, and that was really cool!

Initially at arrival on the base, as I was going on almost 48 hours of no sleep, I had no desire to meet people or do any of this. God said to take a breath, and that it would be okay. It's been pretty awesome ever since! Me and 5 other girls and a few staff actually live about a quarter of a mile from the main base where everyone else lives, and we live in the "brick house," which actually is a home. All 6 of us are "older" and we're all introverts, and we all love living together and being together. Cason is actually from Rome, Georgia, which is really cool. Usually you'll see us more or less together. Yesterday, the brick house gang hiked to the waterfall, and that was amazing! There is nothing like it. Though to me, to walk anywhere, it feels like I'm hiking- I'm going to have some awesome legs when I get back! ;)

               

             
God is already doing some really awesome work, and He has stepped all over my toes already. I'll share more about all of that later! Thank you everyone for praying and supporting me here! This is so much fun and so awesome! It is such a blessing to have this opportunity!

Arrived!!!!!

Hi Everyone!
Just wanted to let you all know that I have arrived safe and sound in New Zealand after a very long flight! I will update you all soon!

The Final Count Down

Yes, my friends, we are in the final count down. This time next week I will headed out on my adventure, and flying somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. Am I ready? Everyone keeps asking me this question. No, I am not ready. Packing is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, and I keep having to scale my packing back more and more to meet all of the required limits while also having everything that I need. It's not easy to pack everything you need for 5 months into one 50lb suitcase and two carry-on's. Mentally and emotionally, I am getting ready though.

Preparing for this adventure has been an emotional and mental feat to say the least. I spent many weeks not actually excited. I continually got really frustrated with people when they would ask if I was excited and then proclaim that "they were just so excited for me." If you read the story of how I ended up going on this trip, it wasn't of my own idea this time around. This trip wasn't in the plan or the schedule. I wanted to buy a house and put down real roots for myself. So, I struggled for weeks. I was terrified that I was going to get kidnapped and sold into the sex-trade. I was terrified of leaving my familiar environment and the people that I live life with. I wasn't excited about resigning from my job and leaving that behind, as that is part of my familiar environment. I have gone through moments of being terrified that my plane is going to crash spontaneously or be hijacked by terrorists or that the ship will sink into the ocean and I will be eaten by sharks. Yes, I am known to think of worst case scenarios; it is not one of my positive qualities. I wasn't excited about this trip, no matter how many people were excited for me.

Slowly though, as God has prepared me and as God and I have walked through my fears, I am now excited about this adventure and this journey. I am excited to see all that God is going to do, and all the ways that He is going to show up. I am excited to go on a complete adventure and do something crazy. I am excited to completely unplug from the life that I know. 

This blog is titled "Journey to the Center of the Earth." When I decided to go on this trip and be obedient, I began thinking about how I would communicate with everyone, and I remembered that a friend of mine had an ongoing blog while she did her DTS several years ago. When I began thinking of the blog and what to title it, that (Journey to the Center of the Earth) came to mind. For me, this is a journey to the center of my earth- a journey to the center of myself. I am leaving all of my familiar, all of my comforts, essentially, I am leaving everything behind. I am going on an adventure to the center of myself, and my prayer is that as I journey on this adventure, that God will do an incredible work there. That He will begin to rebuild and reshape the broken places within me. That is my prayer for this trip. I pray not only will God show up and do incredibly things in, around, and through me, but that He would also bring great healing to the broken areas of myself and rebuild something even better.