Our planet is about two-thirds water. In fact, water is the first thing –after God – we are introduced to on this planet in Genesis 1.
For many there has been a strong fascination of the water and ever since it was “discovered” that the world was, indeed, round, the lure of traveling around the world by sea has beckoned.
The first to travel all the way around the world by sea was Juan Sebastián Elcano in 1519-1522. Although the expedition was begun and led by Ferdinand Magellan, he was killed half-way through the attempt and Elcano completed the expedition.
Relatively few have actually completed a circumnavigation of the world by sea, as it is a very dangerous and daunting task.
Two young ladies have captured attention as they are attempting to be the youngest to complete this adventure – Jessica Watson of Buderim, Australia and Abby Sunderland of California, USA. They are using the latest technology to record their trip – twitter, facebook, and the web.
Jessica has posted this about her trip: Inspired in her turn by Kay Cottee, the first woman to sail solo non-stop unassisted around the world and by Jesse Martin, the youngest person to do so, Jessica Watson has set her sights on shattering Jesse’s record. In the process, Jessica hopes to inspire young sailors, adventurers and everyone with a dream in their heart.
Abby Sunderland is the younger sister of Zac Sunderland who, for one short month, was the youngest person to complete a circumnavigation. Abby posted this about her own trip: "I had begun to think that dreams are meant to be no more than dreams and that in reality dreams don't come true. Then my brother (Zac) left on his trip. It was amazing to see all the support that he got from around the world and to see how everyone worked together to help make his dream reality. Watching him do this really made me believe that I could too."
Circumnavigation is called “The Everest of Sailing.” It is something that inspires people to grow and truly live. I believe these are qualities that God has created us with. Not everyone will be enticed by the same adventures – I never will want to attempt to sail around the world alone, nor will I want to scale Everest itself. But I do want to live a life of adventure and this is part of my – and all of our – calling by God.
Adventures can be seemingly mundane things but when done in the grace of God and to the glory of God, they take on epic proportions. Being a husband, being a father, working as a plumber, as salesman, volunteering at a senior center, or anything that people do – these are epic adventures in God’s eyes.
And while I doubt that anyone can complete a circumnavigation of the world or reach the summit of Everest without a deep-rooted passion to do so, it is true that we can do the “mundane” things without such passion.
But that isn’t really living. And while people do it all the time, I must ask, “Why?” Why would anyone want to live that way? I bet they would rather be on a sailboat or hiking in the Himalayas or on some kind of “true” adventure. Yet, adventure isn’t so much what you do but how you do it. It is a matter of the heart.
God has given you your heart. He loves you with an unconditional love – evidenced in the sacrifice of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. It is this Son that says to you, “I have come that [you] may have life and have it to the full” (my paraphrase of John 10:10).
Living an adventure is what we were created to do. There is no greater adventure than our relationship with the creator of the universe – a relationship made possible by Jesus Christ. It is a great adventure because it changes how and why we do everything else.
If you want to make your life an adventure, it begins in your heart. God has a lot to say about this in His Word – so get connected to God and His Word in a Bible Study or life group that meets near you.
And if you want to follow the adventures of Zac, Abby and Jessica you can do so by following their blogs:
Zac Sunderland: http://www.zacsunderland.com/blog/index.html
Abby Sunderland: http://soloround.blogspot.com/
Jessica Watson: http://youngestround.blogspot.com/
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