Well, tomorrow morning I depart from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport to embark on a 6 week "adventure". An adventure that will see me spend just under a week in Judson College in the Chicago area for orientation and preparation, 3.5 weeks in the Dominican Republic and end up in Green Lake, Wisconsin for debriefing and participation in the American Baptist World Mission Conference before returning to my life in Phoenix.

I use the term "adventure" on purpose because I believe whenever you embark on anything to which the Lord calls you - whether a specific mission/ministry or just your daily walk with Him, you never know what will happen or what He will ask of you the moment you walk out the door. In short, an adventure...

This is my first of, hopefully, many "blogs" that will help share what the Lord is doing in that part of creation during this six week period. My chief disclaimer, though, is that I am not a "writer" so I hope that anything that I post will make sense (ugh) and hopefully be inspirational.

My biggest request is that you will not stop here only and see this as secondary to the mission to the young adults that make up the core of the trip. I urge you to continue to check out (and even bookmark) the mission's website: http://www.xtremeteamonline.org/ where one of the team members will share photographs, insights, reactions, and so much more on a daily basis. That is where you will be able to share and track, first hand, what the Lord is doing. I guess you can consider it REALITY TV (or Reality Internet) for God!

Am I excited? You betcha! Am I nervous? Absolutely, and without a doubt. For ahead lies grand times mixed with challenges as we learn to deal with the unexpected, the things that seem to go awry and are outside our, shall I say, comfort zone. But in the end, at the close of a day, we will begin to understand that it is not "all about ME" but "all about the Lord."

Talk with you you later!