TRIP REVEAL!

Hello fellow Adventurers!

If you follow my travel Instagram (@the_adventurous_a), you would have noticed a few posts recently that look like this.

*cue IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN*

Today marked the last of said posts. The reason? Welllllll, it is an exact month before my next trip! For the big reveal...

Ribz and I were accepted to be delegates for the Special Convention in Milan!! This is a first for us both and we are excited beyond description. Now that the cat is out of the bag, I can finally tell you all how this good news came to be.

Now, you may recall from the last blog post that I mentioned a potential trip to Nicaragua. Last July 4th weekend,  I took a girls road trip up to Toronto to visit the Canada Bethel Branch. While up there, we befriended a troupe of very friendly Canadian friends and hit it off immediately. Upon our return, we began planning a needgreating trip for the following March, having about 8 people total planning on going to Nicaragua from New York, Canada and Texas.

During the late summer/early autumn harvest at Wallkill in October, the opportunity to apply for this year's Special Conventions came up. I had applied some years ago for the Convention in London, but my friend and I were not among the chosen delegates at that time. 5 of us got together and decided to apply for the 2017 Convention series. Our applications were submitted, and then the waiting began.

Now, I can be patient if need be, but it's definitely a quality that I'm working on personally. When it comes to waiting for news, any kind of news, I have to actively just keep praying to Jehovah to help me stay patient. I had not asked for the time off from work for the Nicaragua trip, and quite a few friends who had applied for other Special Conventions had already gotten confirmation. The cutoff time was fast approaching, but we strove to apply the wise words at Proverbs 3:5 to "trust in Jehovah with all of your heart."  Waiting is TOUGH, I will be the first to admit it. What I do notice, interestingly, is that when it's least expected and you leave things in Jehovah's hands, you will find the BEST surprises.

Skip forward to December 17th (YES I know the exact date). Ribz and I had finished a long day out in service and were finishing up some chores before finally relaxing. I was folding clothing when I heard my email alert go off. Not thinking much about it, I opened my phone to check. LO AND BEHOLD! I could hear Ribz gasping in shock as he received the same message: a confirmation to go to the Special Convention! We ran out of our rooms jumping with delight, unbridled joy and utter shock. It had been two months since we had applied, but that mattered not as we began contacting our other travel mates. After sharing the good news with our nearest and dearest, we had to say goodbye to our Nica plans and set our focus on this trip to Italy.

Here we are, a month away from this trip, and the fact that we are attending is still surreal to me. The inevitable Cloud 9 sensation has trickled in as we organize our packing, spend long hours with our mom in front of the computer doing research and making reservations, and figure out what to give as gifts to the friends over there. I thank Jehovah on a daily basis for this exciting privilege!

We will be gone a total of 3 weeks, starting from North to South. I will not be spoiling our route just yet, since I will be updating the blog as we go along. The poll that is still up (for now) on here is to figure out my posting schedule whilst we are out there, but more than likely I will be posting with more regularity when we return. I cannot wait to tell the incredible experiences that I'm sure will take place!!

Well, that's it for today! I appreciate all the love you readers have given the blog; it really has been fun and a real pleasure being able to write and share these theocratic travels of mine. Have an adventurously adventurous day and stay tuned for the next post! Ciao, famiglia!

Love,

The Adventurous A.