Changing seasons

I've been home in Gjøvik for a few days now to pack and get ready to start the journey. As I arrived home, I was awestruck by the beautiful fall colors, bright and burning, draping the forests. At first, it made me think back to the majestic trees at St. Olaf in the fall and for a second I wanted nothing more than to go back there to the safety and comfort of my home on the hill. But then I was reminded by one of my favorite Donald Miller quotes:

"Everybody, every person has to leave, has to change like seasons, have to or they die. The seasons remind me that I must keep changing, and I want to change because it is God's way. I want to keep my sould fertile for the changes, so things keep getting born in me, so things keep dying when it's time for things to die. I want to keep walking away from the person I was a moment ago, because a mind was made to figure things out, not to read the same pages recurrently."

In a few hours I leave to go to Oslo, and before the sun rises tomorrow, I will be on my way to Peru. I have no idea what to expect -- all I know is that I'm leaving the comfortable and allowing myself to be changed by new surroundings and new challenges. Here we go...