A ship is safe in harbor...

There's a quote I heard a long time ago.
"A ship is safe in a harbor, but that's not what ships are made for."
It's been running through my head lately. It reminds me of my brother's advice to me when I was deciding between two colleges at the end of my high school senior year. I was deciding between UC Davis and the college where my parents both taught, 5 minutes from where I grew up. I had spent my childhood running around their campus, feeling safe and 100% at home. I knew every professor, almost every secretary and many of the students. I knew the routines and all of the expectations I would encounter. I was tempted to go there because I was nervous about the unknown. My brother asked me, "Yeah, but where are you going to grow? Where are you going to be challenged?" Right then, I knew I needed to go to the unknown so I could keep being challenged. I'm glad I did!

This quote and this story contain the same theme as our current choice in life. We could stay in Santa Cruz, continuing the teaching jobs which are comfortable and very satisfying. There would be nothing wrong with that. But maybe that's not what these two ships are made for. We believe we're ready to apply some of the convictions that have been growing in us for the last couple of years. We want to live lightly on the earth, using few resources. (Nomad runs on free wind and biodiesel, whenever they are available). We want to trust God (not as necessary when we have a routine with few challenges). We want to work for justice (absolutely possible to do in Santa Cruz. But there are organizations all over the world that we've sent money to over the years. We're ready to get our hands dirty and join them when possible.)