About a week or so ago, I got the notion in my head to write a bucket list.  So, I sat down and started writing it out.  The things on my bucket list are not meant to necessarily occur in order.  I just listed them as I thought about them.  The first seven things on the list were roller coasters at 7 different theme parks around the country.  They are Walt Disney World, Sea World, Universal Studios, and Busch Gardens in Florida, Cedar Point and Kings Island in Ohio, and Magic Mountain in California..  I love riding roller coasters, but unfortunately,  I haven’t been able to do that for a long time because my large stature doesn’t permit me to fit in the seats properly.  They day that I can, oh man, that is going to be so awesome!

I also put down that I want to run a marathon on my bucket list.  That is a longer term goal but I want to do it.  After that, the thought came into my mind that I should walk an insane distance.  Let the truth be told, I do not particularly like walking.  I never really have, but for some reason, that thought came into my mind.  I do know that physical obstacles produce spiritual growth for me.  The process of going through a physical challenge, that I do not feel I can accomplish, manifests itself spiritually because I have to call upon the Lord for help.  I pray for strength.  The Lord requires me to use faith during the process.  I overcome the challenge and then I grow spiritually.  It is a very sweet and tender experience for me.    I am being drawn to this walk.  I am not sure what I am supposed to accomplish yet, but I know I am supposed to do it.  Either I am going to learn something tremendous in this walk, or the Lord is going to use me to help someone else during this walk.  I am very inquisitive about the whole thing, and I am excited to find out where this road is going to lead me.

My first thought was to walk from Florida to Salt Lake.  I realized immediately that I only have two months, so I would not be able to accomplish that distance in two months.  That is way too long.  So, then I decided to say under 500 miles, so I chose Atlanta.  Well, I really do not want to walk to Atlanta.  There is nothing against Atlanta, it just didn’t feel like the right place.  I then decided  to walk up the coast of the East side of Florida from Melbourne Beach to the Georgia State border, but there is a major problem with that too.  There are stretches of road where there are no resources at all, and I do not have any family or friends in the area except my cousin in Jacksonville, so if I needed help, I would be in trouble.  After I started pondering about the Florida walk, and after discussion with my husband, I decided to walk in the very first place that I thought about:  Utah.  I have friends there, and they have friends, so I will have people to look out for me if I need help.

This decision feels right, and I am excited about it. New thoughts come into my mind regularly.  For instance, I do not know what path I will take.  I am not sure what the route is yet.  I am sure it will be revealed to me.  For example, while I was sitting in Sacrament Meeting yesterday at church, I was listening to a talk by a return missionary.  She was talking about her mission at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.  By the time her talk was over, I realized that the ending point of my walk needed to be Temple Square.  Now I have to figure out where I am going to start, and which route I will take.

Today is the day that I  really start training for this journey.  I have to get where I can walk at least 10 miles a day on consecutive days.  My feet are absolutely going to hate me, but during this process, it is going to force me to lose weight and by so doing, I will be lighter on my feet and on my hips.  The other obstacle is flying.  Right now, I don’t fly because it is an uncomfortable situation to put myself in.  When you are large and you get on an airplane, the passengers give you the meanest looks ever.  They don’t come out and say what they are thinking, but you can see the disgust on their faces.  It is an awful feeling.  I have to buy two seats when I fly and ask for a lapbelt extention.  It is not a fun experience at all, as a matter of fact, the whole experience is pretty frustrating.  I was talking to my husband about me driving over there, and he was totally against that.  He told me that I need to fly.  So I have to lose some weight so I can fly more comfortably.

I see a lot of positive things coming out of this.  It will be the hardest thing that I have ever done physically, but with the Lord’s help, I know I can accomplish it.

Kyeni