it comes so soon ...

hello, my dear friends.

ok so here i am, sitting here on superbowl sunday afternoon, staring at a rainy san diego. and it is hitting me that i am leaving for the road in three days. and i couldn't be more excited.

this past week has been absolutely crazy. we have all been working so hard to get the necessary amount of screenings in order to go on the road. an man, it can be hard to get ahold of people! but we got our 45 screening contracts in, and we are set to hit the road on thursday. this upcoming week, we will be having training almost every waking hour, preparing us for everything that could come our way in the next three months.

our tour is going through five different states: illinois, indiana, michigan, wisconsin, and ohio. we have a range of places booked to not only show invisible children or related media, but to hopefully empower this generation to work toward leaving the comfortable and changing the world. to help them realize that they have a voice and that they can use it to make things better. we will be going to high schools, colleges, churches, juvenile detention halls, breweries, and more. my team has four unique perspectives on this conflict and how things will change, and i am so excited to use our four voices in small but hopefully powerful ways.

speaking of powerful, i wrote you last week to ask you to consider supporting my friends that are going to north korea. i can't remember how much i wrote in that email, but we were guessing that we had to raise about $9000, well not had to, but our friends needed right about that amount. so we took it upon ourselves to raise that money. the roadies and staff all pledged to raise that money, telling our family and friends about the situation and what this couple is doing. and i thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart that contributed. but we also worked hard to raise that money ourselves. we went out and did carwashes, people panhandled on the streets of downtown san diego, we asked for money outside of grocery stores, and more.

this honestly has been one of the most powerful, if not the absolute most powerful, witnesses of the beauty and unity of a community i have ever seen. i have never seen so many people rally together like this. in eleven days, we all raised $9100 to give to our friends. i do not say this to glorify us or this group of people, but simply because i believe that this is one of the times that a community has worked together like a community should. honestly, like a community of Christ should. to love and support one another, and to do so with such selfless acts. we presented them with the money last night, and all we could do was cry. it was a challenge that was brought to us, and hopefully we all learned something much more powerful than how to fundraise for something important.

but please, if you remember, please pray for this couple. i am so loving what they are about to embark on, even though it has no plan or no guarenteed results. but they are following what they believe the Lord is calling them to do. and they are following their hearts. and they are following their belief that they stated on the night they got home from their honeymoon, that

"life is too short to be this comfortable."

so in light of that, here i go, hopefully into the uncomfortable. these next three months are going to be difficult, but i am so excited for my team and how we will grow together. and grow individually. i wish i could talk to all of you about how i am anticipating this, and i wish all of you could meet my team and see how the dynamics of these next three months are going to play out. and i wish that you all get a chance to be this challenged, to be this vulnerable, to be ... this alive. so, be challenged, be uncomfortable. that is my prayer for you, for this generation, for this world.

i love you all. i miss you. don't hesitate to write me back.
kristin.