Exactly one year ago today I was in almost this very same spot: sitting in an airport, preparing to leave Norway. I was leafing through my passport just now and noticed that the dates were the same. Last year, I had hopes and dreams of coming back on this trip but wasn't sure if it would be possible. I have those same hopes and dreams this year, but there's no longer any room for uncertainty: I already called my shot. I told everyone at Zosna camp that I'd be back next year, so now I have some serious praying and planning to do so I can follow through on that promise. I'd love to be back in Norway next summer as well, but that might be too big of a vision to really plan or count on at this point. We'll see. Zosna camp 2009 is the only "sure" thing a this point, assuming the Lord tarries and sees fit to allow me to follow through on my promise. I'll dive deeper into what led me to make that rash of a statement sometime over the next few days.

Right now I'm fighting off sleep while waiting for the ticket counter to open up so I can check in, and also beg and grovel for a seating upgrade due to my injury status. Please, God, don't make me spend my day in misery in coach! I had a rough start to the bus ride last night - I took some pain meds once I got on, but they took a while to kick in and in the meantime I was in agony. Every bump and curve seemed to be focused directly on my shoulder, and I positively couldn't find any position to get comfortable and make the throbbing dissipate. But, I survived (with the Lord's help), and eventually managed to grab a few minutes of sleep off and on, which is pretty good for me. Hopefully I can get a couple more hours over the course of today so I don't arrive in Oregon completely gassed