June 4, 2007

Today is the first day of John's leave! We picked up the documents (including tickets) from Holly, our travel agent, and asked still more questions.

Packing Preparation
People have been asking if I am packed. I have a collection of items together, from which I will need to sort what can actually fit into my suitcase.

Medical Preparation
Over a period of months, we have had immunizations for Hepatitis A and B, flu, polio, and typhus. We had our prescriptions filled for malaria preventive pills (take every day for a month) and antibiotic pills (just in case of any traveler's needs).

Communication Preparation
This past semester, I took a Novi Community Education HTML class with the idea of putting a web site together to share something about this journey. I put the site together with Notepad. I am experimenting with Google's free beta program for now (rather than paying for host space and a domain name). (This space is made to be "easy", but it is somewhat restrictive.) Of course, the site is a long way from "finalized", but it is a beginning place and does contain some answers. Much of it is repeated in different forms, whether you prefer a simple running list, a calendar (with click-able details), or an interactive map (you can zoom in and also chose a satellite view). I will probably still tweak those parts some, but the journals (blogs) should have most of the new content. We expect to have internet access most of the trip, but cannot tell for sure. We may not write daily, but do plan to record experiences when we can.


Explanation of title:
Why "Beyond the Wilderness" for my journal title?

I was fascinated by the image several years ago during a Bible study of the third chapter of Exodus. Moses had run into trouble in the land of his birth, so escaped to a new place. He made a new life for himself, finding a wife and a new job. He joined his father-in-law's business and became a shepherd. And one day, while caring for his father-in-law's flock of sheep, he led them "beyond the wilderness".

I thought he was in the wilderness. What is beyond the wilderness?

"Beyond the wilderness" is the "burning bush" story, where God chose to make Himself known to Moses. He had noticed Moses' actions in pursuit of justice: when Moses killed the Egyptian for beating one of his kinsfolk; and later when Moses defended his future-but-as-yet-unknown bride and her sisters against shepherds who tried to prevent them from watering their flock. Apparently God chose to redirect Moses' energies to a larger, impossible-sounding task, leading his people out of slavery.

So I love this whole idea of wilderness and what that means for each person, including new and unexpected experiences, and the possibilities that may be found along the journey.