Am I prepared?

Today has been for me, as well as most everyone else going on the trip, a day of errands.  As I run through the final check lists and pack my bags, I start to ask myself those last-minute, practical questions: will my wife remember to water the plants while I'm gone?  Is this water bottle clean enough to drink out of?  Do I have enough pairs of khaki pants to bring?  Will I be able to read the entire 007 series during both of our 7-hour layovers in the Atlanta airport?  Will a box of Wheat Thins be totally demolished if I check it in my luggage?

Eventually, though, I start to ask myself deeper questions.  Am I prepared for this trip?  To be sure, we can only be physically prepared up to a point, but what about spiritually and emotionally?

This will be my fourth trip to Central America, and I can honestly say that I'm never really prepared for the things I see.  It seems like every year there is another family, another school, or another child that just breaks my heart.  I'm not sure that I'll ever get used to seeing the extreme poverty of the garbage dump communities, and the more I think about it, I don't think we should try to get used to it.

I suppose the only way to truly prepare is to allow ourselves to be changed by what we see and who we meet, and to try to love the people we meet in any way that we can figure out.

I am looking forward to an amazing week!