I accidentally went on a mission trip last year when I just wanted to go to Panera Bread.

I'm serious. I had been going to The Church at Brook Hills for a few months after having been out of church for many, many years. I had recently joined a small group and was going to meet them for dinner. However, they were going to eat after attending a mission trip meeting. What time will you be done, I asked. They didn't know. They suggested I just sit in the meeting with them so we could all go together afterwards. Everyone starts asking me about the trip...are you excited? Have you gotten your passport? Oh...oh....no!!! No!!! I'm not going...I'm just here to meet these guys to go get that great Asian Chicken Salad! I just recently found my Bible in the trunk of my car! Up until a few months ago when my niece asked where Lala went to church, my sister had to regretfully answer, "Bedside Baptist."

Well, lo and behold, June 2008 finds me on a mission trip to Los Mochis, Mexico that changed my life. I've always been up for an adventure, and I left feeling like I was just taking another cool trip that would make for great stories later. I came back with a renewed awe of God's presence, a great group of lifelong friends, amazing stories about fish (more on that later), and the conviction that, at this point in my life, I had no excuse for not doing that again.

So. I'm doing that again. This time to South Africa on an AIDS Hospice Mission this July. More details to follow!