an elephant and a soccer ball.

all my life the incessant desire to travel has nagged at my restless heart, and my jet setting parents did nothing to settle my yearnings. an eight year old, however, has little control over where she lives and less than adequate means to visit the corners of the world. this being my unfortunate case i lived vicariously through Google looking at pictures of ornately painted elephants, grand halls, austere castles nestled in rolling hills, flea markets, and anything else my heart could find. and so it began with a burning curiosity that was only kindled by research, a selfish fire burning in my heart.
my fires of curiosity underwent a serious change of course about the time i turned fifteen. that summer, i did as many LDS youth do; i packed my bags and headed to a college campus where my adolescent insecurities and passions were to be overcome and bridled through the gospel and camaraderie with peers facing similar difficulties. yes, efy. it happened to be the only year i attended, {though not because of a mediocre experience} and it truly did change my heart. my director relayed a life threatening experience he had playing soccer in Haiti, following the earthquake, but that is not what my impressionable heart had taken from it. all i really heard was that he was helping people. and traveling. up to this point in my life all globalization meant to me was experiencing everything that i could, drinking in all that exotic cultures and landscapes had to offer. my director that year showed me the light of service and that it could very easily be integrated with my love of the world.
a conversation that i had with my father also resulted in serious reflection regarding this little world that we live on. he shared that in his youth he had not felt the need to travel, that America was all he needed. under no circumstances do i mean to demean America, because it truly is a land blessed by God, and i suspect i will never truly understand what a blessing my freedom is. however, chained to my heart with that love of freedom is a feeling of responsibility to do all that i can with it. up to this point, that has meant trying to do what little i could in my community {because my destitution as an eight year old has not particularly changed much in the following decade} but i have kept my embers kindled, and in April will be blessed to travel to Amman, Jordan where my service can hopefully reach new heights. and while i know there are many more facets to globalization, world connections, economies, the most moving impact in my life- thus far- is the desire i feel to be a part of it all.