Tuesday, March 23, 2010

3 days left and a grateful heart

Wow! Is it true! Surely I must be dreaming. In fact I am not. I have less than 72 hours until I leave for Nepal and my attempt upon Mount Everest. So much time, preparation, committment, and money have gone in to making this dream a reality. I have so much to be thankful for and so many people to thank.
First and foremost I thank God. In today's society that almost seems cliche. Kind of like the thing to do when accepting some award or for being recognized for some great achievement. However, I genuinely am thankful for His loving hand of guidance upon my life. A close second is my wife and son. They have sacrificed so much while I have prepared, in earnest, for this expedition for some time now. A huge dept of gratitude is owed to my employer, Piper Electric Co., Inc.. I truly am blessed to have an employer so supportive of my endeavors and so willing to partner with me on this lofty attempt. I thank the MaGills (Mark, Matthew, and Daniel) for their generous gift of (1) carabiner and some new 6mm prussik cord. I thank everyone who I have shared a trail, a summit, or a rope with this past year. Your company is priceless. I must not forget my great pals at Combat Calisthenics (Nick's girls - (Donna, Sharon, Jolene), Beth, Ronno, Kurt, Nick, and Sean Lowe). You have pushed me physically beyond what I have imagined. I especially enjoy the insightful talks on ObamaCare. Although, I repsectfully disagree.
Who else? So many people are owed a thank you that I know I have forgot some. Please do not  underestimate my gratefulness.
I have most of my gear already set aside and ready to pack away into my travel duffels. Every single piece of gear is accounted for and ready for use. This is so cool! My flight leaves Denver International Airport at 4:00pm on Friday the 26th of March. I fly direct to Los Angeles and after a brief layover I fly direct to Hong Kong. This will be a long flight (14 hours +). After a long 15 hour layover in Hong Kong I fly to Kathmandu, Nepal with a brief stop in Dhaka, Bangledesh to pick up a few people. All said and done I arrive at 10:30pm on Sunday evening. I will send 1 more update before I leave and then I will report live from the beautiful foothills of the high Himalaya. Oh, if you are reading this - Thank you.


5 comments:

Josie said...

I will be watching your every move. I bet you are so EXCITED !

STAY STRONG ~ SMART ~ SAFE

The Doctor said...

Ben,
I'm really excited for you! I so wish I could go with you and just be a support team for you, not that you'll need any- you'll probably be helping the Sherpas who can't carry as much as you ;-)

Godspeed, Ben!

Dentalvitis

Peggy said...

Ben, Sam and I are excited for you and praying for you and your family. We will miss you in The Truth Project.

Kim said...

I hope to see you on your way out- I have a gulf stream with your name on it! I will be praying and cheering for you! Let Dianna know if she needs anything I would be happy to help.

Kim

Mom and Dad said...

We will be praying for you every step of the way. A favorite verse of mine is Isa. 26:3: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee." May God bless your journey with safety, good health, success and much spiritual growth. WE LOVE YOU!