For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to travel throughout the world. It seemed like an impossible dream while growing up on a reservation. The cultural understanding is that Native Americans are stuck there. I’m so thankful that God’s plans for me have included travel.

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” Psalm 32:8

On a train in Germany.

I have many good memories now from journeys in cars, buses, planes, and trains. Going wheels up in Nicaragua with a volcano smoldering on the horizon was amazing. Experiencing stomach-turning maneuvers in a helicopter in Afghanistan is a memory I will not forget. Traveling by train in Germany is a funny memory to look back on. We missed our train and waited an hour at a remote station, in the early morning, because we misread the marquee. Driving on the left side of the winding roads in Cyprus required a bit more of my attention. Touching down on American soil from Afghanistan was momentous. That was the fulfillment of God’s promise to bring me home to the United States of America.

Even in the not-so-fun experiences, I enjoy traveling. The Lord has used some of those situations to answer my prayers. I recently had to run through the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris to get a boarding pass printed. Everyone in my group had all of their boarding passes, and I really did not want to stay a night in Paris alone. The Lord answered my prayer by putting me at the front of the security lines. The flight was running late, and I made it to the gate just in time. He is so good.

Something about traveling simply excites me. I have kept track of all the flights I’ve been on, rotary- and fixed-wing, and the total is 111. Each of them has filled me with excitement for the future.

The start of my graduate studies.

During some seasons, my schedule is so full that I look forward to getting into my seat on an airplane just to sit and breathe. At those times, it is a much-needed break. Last summer was one of those seasons. I couldn’t wait to get on an airplane to rest and begin reading for graduate school. The master’s degree program that the Lord has led me to has travel built in. It seems only fitting that I would begin coursework on an airplane.

I’m so thankful for all the places I’ve been able to see and experience. It encourages me and reminds me that God is able fulfill His God-given desires in each of our hearts.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

In Him,

Julieanne