Since our daughter, Summer, started talking about going to Semester at Sea, people have asked, "Aren’t you scared to let her go? It is such a crazy world out there!!"
It is certainly a crazy world, but when the craziness and the terrorists start making us stay at home… they have won… Haven’t they??
My husband, Tim, flew from California to North Carolina, two days after 911. Both Tim and Summer were overseas when we went to war in Iraq … Tim in South Korea and Summer in France with her H.S. Senior French Class. Somehow, I , the one who wanted to see the entire world before she dies, always seem to be the one left at home to worry, pray, rebook and re-arrange plans for them and keep the home fires burning… Now how does that work?
I feel that God gave us this beautiful world to experience it and his people. And Summer’s Guardian Angel seems to work overtime to keep her safe… but this week did make me think twice…
–Up-risings in Venezuela after the recent coup: Semester at Sea’s first stop just two months ago.
–Pirates attacking off the coast of Kenya and Samalia again: The reason Semester at Sea replaced Kenya with an extension in South Africa and a stop in Mauritius, only one month ago.
–Continued rioting in the streets and surrounding areas of Paris: The city Summer visited twice in High School on student tours.
Part of me worries, of course, and part of me says thank you God for letting Summer see and experience those places before maybe someday it does become entirely unsafe and just a memory of places where Americans used to travel. Lets hope not!
