And so it begins

Hi! My Name is Johanna and I'm the Program Director at Crooked Creek in Iowa. I only get to say this for 3 more months before I have to find a new way to introduce myself. Starting September 1, I will be living and volunteering in Denver, Colorado with Dwell. (Dwell is a program of DOOR Network. You can read more about it here.)

Many of the details of my life in three months are still very foggy. Where will I be working? Where will I live? What are my housemates like? What will daily life be like? I don't have answers for any of these questions yet, but I'm still excited.

I'm excited to meet the people behind the names and Facebook pages of my housemates.
I'm excited to dive into a new means of service and bring hope to a struggling place.
I'm excited to be in the mountains. MOUNTAINS!!
I'm excited for a new adventure.

I've always wanted to do a year of voluntary service. It's always been something that the people-who-know do. My older cousins, fellow church members, the cool college kids that seem to get it. I always wanted to fit into that category. I've always had plans to do this too. After high school? (missed that one.) Maybe I'll take a year off in college? (whoops! missed that one too.) It's OK, I'll go after college. I'll go to far away Africa and commit to service for 3 years! (Actually, I ended up 45 minutes from home.) So now is the time. I'm tired of saying "someday" and have declared, "TODAY!" Every step in the application process and preparation process has been a bold declaration of "TODAY!" Today is the day that I stop making plans and start doing them. And I'm excited. Very excited. :)