Because it's worth it.

There is little that I have encounter on this trip so far that I previously expected- Volcanoes, hippies, forest fires. Freshman high school volleyball games in Fruitland, Idaho. Driving vans onto a boat and getting out to explain to randoms how we plan to end a war that no one has stopped in 24 years. We meet hundreds of new people every week, make phone calls out the wahzoo and send and more emails per month than the rest of my life combined.

None of this I expected, but this week, I finally got a little taste of what I signed up for. After a full day of high high school and a night of college, we embarked on our journey from Cheney, WA, to Bethel, WA, which is roughly 6 hours away. So we get to Bethel around 3:30am, pull over to a nice spot with a beautiful lakeside view and try to get a solid 2 hours of sleep in order to be at Sehome High School by 6:45. After 6 presentations in a row, leading a meeting during lunch, and selling merch after school, we were met by an amazing woman who led us to a farm area in the mountains. So I'm laying in the grass, looking up at the snow peaks through an assortment of trees species, surrounded by my team as we try to snag some rest in the hour we have until our next screening and I smile myself, thinking "This is exactly what I signed up for". 

Now it's not just the lack of sleep or the memorical resurgence of living out of my truck last year that made this day so special... there's just something about wearing yourself out for things worth being worn out for that makes wearing your self out worth repeating.

I don't want to make our lifestyle sound worse than it is. Really, that night and day combo was a rare gem. Typically, we stay at beautiful homes with people who treat their dogs like kids and grow their own tomatoes. Or apples. They cook organic foods, do things like yoga and give off the vibe that they may or may not have lived in the forest at some point during their lives. 

And oh the people we meet!

They have hearts the size of redwood's, souls as deep as Crater Lake. and one day, I will tell my kids and yours about how they taught me to be. Honestly, these people are are more awe inspiring than the internet. Jealousy is wrong, but envy me, for you may never stumble upon persons so great as I so recently have.

But, you can begin becoming someone like they are by signing the petition to hold Obama accountable to his promises in the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act.

Visit Invisible Children's website to learn more about how you can get involved, and if you have questions, just leave a comment and I'll get back to you. This is urgent. People are dying. Children are still being abducted. And we need you to get involved. The work we're doing in recovering areas is absolutely having an impact and that's exactly what the 22 Ugandans who have come to live in vans with us and advocate for their friends at home are here to testify.

Do it. Please. Now.