The Journey Suddenly Becomes Tangible!

And the Scottish Chronicles are officially beginning. I am moving from simply thinking about my life in Europe to living it. Oddly enough, I feel somewhat numb. This week has been quite the whirlwind of emotions for me. I have waffled back and forth from brimming with anticipation to a nervous (okay terrified) trepidation. I spent about 2 days crying at almost anything and everything. Embarrassingly enough, this can be verified through almost anyone that came in contact with me during these two days. I think I perhaps freaked out even some of my closest friends. (See Megan Montgomery for details)

Fortunately, my family has seen me in action during these “Freak Out Frank” episodes, as I like to call them (times wherein I get really dramatic over something that isn’t worth losing a wink of sleep over). Thus, they took my Weepy Wanda moments in stride. IE: I came home from a friend’s Tuesday night crying (for no particular reason) and my brother laughed at me and told me to get a grip. Then he proceeded to say, “Well, if you fail out of Edinburgh, you can always transfer to Ethiopia and go run.” Oh good! I could be a professional Ethiopian runner! I’m sure Pfizer and Rotary both would be pleased with that accomplishment. I did laugh though.

Throughout this whole emotional roller coaster this past week, I've really come to ponder the idea of “faith.” What is “faith” anyway?

I would define it as believing that God is true to His Word, even when my feelings are screaming out something completely opposite – a belief in what I KNOW to be true, even if I cannot feel it or touch it at that precise moment – “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). When I consider these definitions, I realize how much of my life I live without faith.

Thankfully, life is not measured by who we are at a precise moment, but rather who we are becoming. I don't think any of us ever really "arrive." Instead, we are on a journey centered around continuous improvement and progress (pending we are malleable and can learn from our mistakes when we make them).