ROAD TRIP!! (Part 2)...Take me to the Moon!

So if you didn’t read Road Trip part one, I wrote about my amazing holiday travels up the East Coast of Australia. SO many new experiences...SO many breath taking sights and deliciously exciting flavours...SO much mystery as we spontaneously explored new places...Adventure! FUN! (I’d recommend you read at least just the first couple of paragraphs of my last blog to get an idea).

The thing I loved the most about my road trip was discovering life through the perspective of ADVENTURE! I guess when we get really busy and stuck in our routines, it’s easy to forget that there is a whole world around us that we have no idea about. We can adopt a safe approach to life that allows us to consistently function from day to day, to maximise efficiency and comfort, and to stay in control. “Comfort zone”?

They say that once a person starts travelling, they can catch a “travel bug” which makes them get itchy feet. They get a taste of adventure and then discover an urgency to do it again...and again. An addiction to new experiences. And it could be true that I’ve been infected by this bug, but I just feel like there is so much to be gained in the exploration...so much to learn...a wealth of knowledge, insights and memories. I LOVE having my mind stretched!

It’s interesting though, because it’s easy to approach life adventurously when you know it’s just a short holiday and you realise you’ll be returning to “normal” life again soon. And sure enough, when I got home, after the initial anti-climax and post-holiday blues, I was motivated to settle in to a structured, predictable and productive life-style. I was pretty much ready to plan out my entire life. But then as soon as I felt quite directionless and confused about the future, I began to stress out. I wanted all the info for where I was going and how I’d get there. I prayed, I fasted, read books and listened to so many podcasts, hoping that I’d figure it all out.

And then God said to me...”Hannah! You’ve just been on the most adventurous holiday during which you thrived on the spontaneity, and then you come home and demand that every detail be planned in advance. How about you trust me and adopt that adventurous spirit in your everyday life.” What God?

There’s such a sense of freedom when you allow yourself to get lost in an adventure. Anxiety is replaced with excitement. Then a lack of planned details is not a loss of control, but rather the flexibility to be spontaneous. Facing the unknown is an opportunity to explore new things. The vulnerability of being in the passenger seat is not scary, it means that the driver does all the tedious planning and organising...and you get to be surprised...and you can just chill out and enjoy the ride. Yes there are feelings of discomfort, but risk makes adventures fun! Comfort is overrated right?

Seriously, God abounds with knowledge, power and resources, and this means that the possibilities are endless. And God loves me, He desires to bless me and wants nothing more than for me to live the most amazing life possible. He says that He is able to do more than I can ever ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20) and He does in fact have plans for my future that involve prosperity (prosper: to be successful or fortunate, to thrive, flourish)(Jer. 29:11). God is smarter than me, He’s trustworthy, and He’s more than capable of taking care of the details of my life. My sense of adventure is stirred by confident hope and anticipation.

This year has been the funnest year of my life! I almost feel guilty for having so much fun. But to be honest, I have to constantly remind myself to stop stressing and chill out. Even yesterday I had such an intense freak-out moment...getting impatient and anxious...I want answers to every question concerning life. And all I could hear in the back of my mind was “be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10)...God’s got BIG surprises for me...it’s on its way. I’m so excited!! Yeeeeah!

ROAD TRIP!! (Part 1)...I’ve got it WAY too good.

So a few months ago I went on the most incredible road trip up the East Coast of Australia...Oh so FUN!...Melbourne to Canberra, then up to Sydney via Bateman's Bay, Jervis Bay, and the coolest little town called Berry...then from Sydney up to QLD via Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay and some other cool places along the way...then to so many amazing places on the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast in QLD.

I was away for four weeks in total and the whole trip just absolutely ignited my sense of adventure. After selecting a few locations we were interested in seeing, me and my equally enthusiastic friend Jess printed out some Google maps to help us visualise our exciting journey. We didn't really plan many of the details so we could just be prepared to make decisions as we went...where we'd stop for coffee and food and ice cream...where we'd stay the night...when we'd move to the next location etc. It worked out that in four weeks, I only had to pay for accommodation for two nights...the rest of the time we stayed with random people (well Grandma in QLD was not so random)...but a last minute phone call to a friend, or a friend of a friend, to inquire about a bed seemed to work for us. Yep ok, I loved the thrill of the risk and spontaneity.

I experienced SO many new things...new sights, new flavours, new people...stunning beach views and mountain views and green grass and trees, sunsets and a billion stars in a country sky...art galleries, museums, buildings, Parliament House...Mexican food, Italian food, cooked breakfasts, bakeries in country towns, Nanna's cooking, coffee, and a million different flavours of ice cream...car sing-alongs, dancing on the beach, getting lost, exploring little towns, shopping, midnight beach swims, trying on crazy outfits in expensive stores...and random people with super unique personalities and day jobs and interesting stories, and characteristics of my travel companions that I never knew existed...

And underlying all of that, I had no doubt that the favour of God was all over my trip. There were just so many incredible opportunities, freebies, and so-called flukes that added cherries to the top of every adventure and experience. We got to stay in some unbelievable places for FREE. And then one day we made friends with a security guard who let us into closed off areas in Parliament House. Ha!

New Perspective #1. I AM BLESSED!... Because being blessed is not about what you receive, but about how you perceive. If we can have a perspective of life that recognises God’s favour and His purpose in every experience, no matter how big or small, we discover that we live a SUPER blessed life! From the car park I got right in front of the entrance, to the amazing sunset I got to watch driving home, from the coffee someone bought for me, to the way I felt while drinking that coffee (always amazing), to the encouraging conversation I had with a friend, to the new insight I gained while experiencing something new. Blessed ALL the time!

While I was on the Sunshine Coast, Jess flew home to go back to college, and I had a week alone with Grandma. As a bit of an introvert, I actually got excited about having my own space, especially considering all the fun and relaxing possibilities I had being right on the beach. But when I found myself stuck inside the house because of ridiculous amounts of rain, boredom threatened to ruin my holiday. Yet I now consider it SUCH a valuable week in my life. Spending 24/7 with Grandma positioned me to discover what an amazing woman she is. Up until now, she was just my quirky Grandma who talked too much. I’d never really noticed it before, but through a new found perspective of her character and personality, I discovered a person who was exceptionally selfless, genuine, sacrificial and so extremely generous with her expressions of love. I was seriously blown away by it and decided I wanted her to rub off on me. Who would have thought bad weather could be such a blessing?

Nothing good happens by chance. Whether you think you deserve it or not, God really likes to bless you, and He throws favour on your life SO much more than you realise.

How do I know this? Because “whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father” (James 1:17). And as I travel the journey God’s mapped out for me, “Goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life” (Psalm 23:6).

I lived a really average life once. Occasionally something exciting happened, but every day was pretty much the same...nothing special. Then recently, my whole life changed...I got all these amazing opportunities, I got to meet incredible people, unexpected things started to happen, and even living with my family became so extremely cool. What happened? Simple...I opened my eyes. Life became so much more fun, and every moment is significant when I can clearly see all the ways God is actively involved in my life, making sure I experience extreme amounts of His goodness every day. Now I wonder how I could have ever missed it. I’m so ridiculously Blessed!