My Journey Begins/Farewell (For Now)

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Well my friends, the time has finally come.  Tomorrow my sister and I depart for Trails End Ranch at five-o-clock in the morning. For three months, Brethyn and I will work as counselors and as musicians for the worship team.  I am so excited for this!  I've wanted to do this for as long as I can remember, and now it's finally happening.

Every time I take a walk or a bike ride, I always find myself pausing to gaze toward the west.  I live in a valley, where the ground is so that if the shelterbelts didn't block your view, you could see for miles.  But in west you can see the hills begin to rise, and as the sun sets, that mystical sight tugs at my heart every time I see it.  I've always told myself, Someday... someday I will go there.  Tomorrow, that too will come true!  We'll head west across North Dakota and into Montana in what is approximately an eight-hour drive.  We'll stop by Medora, a western-themed town that has all kinds of cool sights to see, and finally end up in the middle of Custer National Forest at our beloved camp.

This will be the longest time I've been away from home, and it will also be the first missions trip I've ever done.  I'll admit that I've shed quite a few tears in my quiet moments at the thought of leaving my family.  They're pretty much my best friends, and even though I'm not a very social person, they are the eight special people I always love to spend time with.  But even though I'll miss them dearly, I look forward to this new adventure with hope and anticipation.  I'm leaving the Shire!  This is my adventure, and I can't wait to see where it will take me.  

Of course, this will be a very busy few months for me.  As a counselor I won't have much time for anything I usually do, like reading, writing, movie watching, etc... all those things will have to take a back seat.  As will blogging, as it so happens.  If I get a chance to blog during the summer, I certainly will- but don't be surprised if I don't post here again until August.  I'll miss all of you!  And I do hope to come on every now and then to catch up if I can.  But until then, I bid you all a very fond farewell- until we meet again!

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-Emmarayn Redding

(Image taken from the public domain.  Music copyright Patrick Doyle)