At 8 AM I should be on the road to Ozark Mountain Encounter.  (A little early because we will, of course, have to take a stop or two on the way — like a whole day in the Oklahoma City area.)  This is the moment when I move from preparing to undertaking.  This is embarkation.

And I do not feel totally prepared.  I spent many hours fundraising; ~100 letters and ~10 conversations later, I’m still well short of my monetary goal.  I spent less hours actually preparing to be a team leader at OME14; I have prayed a few times, but worried more times.  I have scrambled to fit work and preparation in, but with limited success on both fronts.  I have read 1 John again (which we’ll be studying in depth at OME14).  I spent much of the last day packing (well, repacking after returning from Atlanta Saturday evening).  Now there’s just a shower and some coffee and 20 more minutes of packing between me and the road.

But I’m ok with not being totally prepared.  I’m ok with being worried about how to fit my work into the next week.  And I’m ok with the apprehension I just can’t shake that it’s going to be a difficult summer.  In part, I’m resigned to these as necessary parts of the adventure — who was ever totally prepared for an adventure?  But mostly I just can’t ignore the overwhelming evidence of God’s promises and the provision that’s gotten me this far.  There are a lot of things I do not know, but I know one of the great benefits of being an adopted child of the Creator is that I will be ok.

It may not be the “ok” I have in mind, but in Christ I will be ok — and not just ok, but a conqueror of life.  This confidence is what enables risk-taking, risk like working part time when I’m almost at graduation so that I can spend the summer growing closer to Jesus and helping others — many of them strangers — do likewise.  I think the reward will be well worth the risk, no matter how the road looks.

So let’s hit the road.