There is a huge longing in me to grab only the essentials, hop on an airplane, and immerse my family in a new culture.  Having spent the first two years of our marriage living in that excitement, not only did I bring a parasite or two back with me but a continual desire to adapt to a new paradigm.

A new people. Rich culture.  Sounds to learn.  New food to try.  Hospitality to understand.

I admit that becoming accustomed to India was no easy task.  And looking back it is MUCH easier to remember the good things and forget those hard moments. 

The homeless children.  The suffocating smells.  The extreme poverty.  Dirt.  The disillusionment and confusion . . . chaos.  Traffic.  Heat.  Monsoons.  Leaches.

But the people – the culture – forever seared itself to my heart.

I wish my children to have a heart for the lost, compassion for the needy, and an awareness that the life we live . . . is not the norm.  It is a privileged life.  A lavishly blessed life.

But I don’t want our life to be so cushy that an awareness of the vast world that God created be false.  At any moment in time, I want our children to know that if we are called to serve . . . . we will go. 

The Engineer and I have been rescued from so much.  The path of destruction that I was hurdling towards during that eventful first year of college for me . . . God in His rich mercy literally grabbed me by the neck and threw me miles and hours away from a most certain miserable path of slow and steady deception . . . that would have left me without hope, salvation, and the Engineer.

So . . . we study geography.

I am admittedly terrible at geography.  The whole idea of reading a map . . . I don’t get it.  When the Engineer or my friend, Sarah, gives me their phone to read the directions to them . . . I still get us lost even though Google shows you exactly what to do. 

My internal compass was simply never developed.

I think that is part of the reason I loved living in Colorado.  For the first time in my life, I knew which way was west.  I knew the direction I was going.  All I had to do was find the foothills. 

So . . . I teach my children geography.  We study the world.  One bite at a time . . . so that I don’t get us lost.

Recently, we found ourselves in Brazil. 

Though a fascinating country . . .

I can’t wait until we travel back again to Asia.  I am drawn to that part of the world. 

Looks like we are headed to Japan next. 

Perfect.

Where would you like to travel to? 

Please join us as we travel the world.  From now until January 31st receive 10% off with the code LPJAN10 over at Little Passports.

If you use Little Passports, please link up a blog post of your travels, making sure to mention Granola Mom 4 God along with this URL:  https://jodimckenna.com/2012/01/destination-brazil.html

See ya next month in Japan!

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