prepped and ready?

The hospital in Moscow was full of children with birth defects and soldiers missing limbs. As I spent time with person after person, helping medical missionaries, I had another glimpse of why I was on the trip.

The bare feet of the teenager in Ethopia were bleeding. As I took off my New Balance running shoes, handed them to her, and jogged back to the hotel in my socks, I had another glimpse of why I was on the trip.

From helping choir members memorize hymns in Spanish for Mexico trips, to learning triage for the Russian medical mission, my preparation for journeys always has centered on what I would be doing to help someone else. The fact that I would be helped and changed by going was very present, of course. Building a church for poor parishioners certainly helped them, but the impact on me was profound.

This London thing is different.

I'm not going with a specific goal, other than to learn.
My preparation is not a physical skill set, a polished sermon, or a box of Russian biblos.
My preparation is only my own heart.

It was easier to learn how to take someone's blood pressure.