...To Making the Decision to Actually DO This Thing!

This was not a decision come to impulsively or quickly, as anyone who knows me will believe.  I think this trip has been in me since I was a little girl.  (I hesitate to even call it my "trip", as I've really started to think of it as more of an overhaul of my entire lifestyle).  I pursued career counseling as a freshman at JMU, because I didn't know how to quantify this crazy longing into an actual major.  Thankfully, I was directed into the field of Speech Pathology, which has certainly been a tremendous avenue for learning about people, and relationships, and life.

Fast forward to 10+ years into my career, or the end of 2013.  I had just turned 33, and paid my last student loan, hopefully ever.  Phew.  Enter divine intervention, in the form of a few beloved friends who loved me enough to speak truth to me.  Truth that said that I could actually, as a single, white, not-19-anymore woman, make this dream a reality.  Ballsy, audacious courage that they believed enough for me until I started to really believe it myself.

Game on.  I spent the first 6 months of 2014 liquidating everything I owned, Subaru and all.  If I couldn't sell it, I gave it away.  Drove my Lucy Langley home to Pa to take care of my mama (thanks, Mom!).  Asked my sister-friend Cindy to live on her sofa bed, no small sacrifice on her part, and what a ball we've had together.  Left the Laflin gang in June, to begin the process of socking away as much money as possible.

Spent the past year learning tremendously more than I bargained on, including how to live more presently and how to say yes more willingly.  Worked to fight the lie of the culture of scarcity, or never having enough, often with nothing more than my thick Langley legs and a backpack full of books.  Enjoyed the mess out of my dear friends, and coworkers, (holler at ya', NP & co!!), and church.  Made mistakes, took surprising risks, and relearned my natural hair color.

It's hard to believe that I'm now less than 2 weeks from actual departure date of July 20th.  First stop, Ireland.  To meet my distant family, to claim some random gingers as cousins, or even more likely, to enmesh myself even deeper into the Lynch/Walsh clans.  I feel incredibly humbled, and excited, and ready, and WHOA.

I don't presume to know what to expect.  I've counted the cost, though I believe there's a cost to all the decisions we make.  My truth, that I fully own, is that the cost to my soul would be far greater to stay than to go.  It could be a big bust.  I could be back in a few months.  But Lord willing, and if this past 18 months of preparation is any indication, I'm only just getting started.