The Beginning

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too closely to the shore.


Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.


Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.


We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.
--
Sir Francis Drake


In 16 days, I will be leaving California behind and spending a semester abroad in Berlin, Germany. This prayer could not have more perfectly described all my hopes for this adventure abroad and this adventure that is life. I first saw this prayer painted on the walls of one of my classrooms in high school and was immediately drawn to it. Granted, it was the chemistry room. Science is definitely not my forte.


I must admit to being guilty of playing it safe in life, sailing too closely to the shore. Being allowed this amazing opportunity is both ridiculously exciting and somewhat terrifying. This is my chance to venture on wider seas and open my eyes to God's great wonders that He has in store for me. Greater than the fear of being 5,800 miles away from home for 4 months in a foreign country, is my fear of dreaming too little.


With that said, this is my documentation of my life for the next 4 months. Feel free to love it or hate it -- either way, I will still be living my life.