30 miles...

30 miles from the coast...

our trip is finally coming to a close! i must admit that this last week or so my mind has been focused primarily on finishing the trip. i've thought for hours on what it will be like... sitting on the beach, or running into the ocean, or getting on a plane and saying farewell to my bike for a couple weeks. i can't wait for that moment, when i know that after 12 weeks and almost 4000 miles we have actually accomplished what we set out to do. it all seemed so insurmountable to me as we dragged our bikes up to the road from the coastline of the Pacific. and yet, here we are, only 30 miles away.

unfortunately, my recent fixation on the end of the physical journey has sometimes eclipsed what i consider to be the more important aspects of the trip - the conversations, the stories, and the people that we meet along the way; the striving toward a lifestyle of social justice and a holistic gospel. weeks ago, i spent much of the time on the bike thinking and praying about how my life can and should look different after this trip.

i think of the different lifestyle changes that i need to make; how i desire to live more simply and frugally, how i want to share what i do have with others, how i want to live a lifestyle that has a positive environmental impact, and how i want to bring Christ in an incarnational way to those in need.

but the excuses come quickly. i think that many of us - college students (and others, i suppose) - use excuses to procrastinate just actions. someday, we say, when i have a better paying job and a place of my own, then i can really dig in and make a difference. but if i'm honest with myself, i have so much that i can share and give up. for me personally, the phrase "poor college student" is not used in truth - i only hide behind it. and that's pretty easy to do.

like Marcus said, this trip is going to take a while to process. but i am so thankful for all of the people that have encouraged us along the way, both in our physical journey and our spiritual journey, and i know that i am growing through this and other experiences in my life.