Hello!
First of all, I want to thank you for taking the time to read this. Since this is “about” me I will just go ahead and explain a little bit about me, I don’t really have a lot of structure planned for this but I will give it my best. My name is Adelaide Weaver but I usually go by Addie.I was born and raised in Minnesota, and lived here most of my life (except for four months in Phoenix, Arizona and four months in Washington, DC). I attended the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities for my undergraduate and studied psychology and youth studies. I then attended Bethel University (a smaller Christian university in St. Paul) for my master’s degree in counseling psychology. I graduated last spring and have been working in the field for a while. I am currently working at a group home for adults with mental illness and chemical dependency. I run therapy groups, work with individuals one-on-one and I am the Independent Living Skills Specialist, which basically means that I get paid to go on recreational outings such as to the movies, bowling, and the gym. I will likely add more to this in the future but this is all I will share for now.
(i wrote the original “about me” section on 5/20 and today is 7/9 and i am realizing that my “about me” is lacking so i am going to add more)
my parents divorced when i was young so i grew up in a blended family. thankfully both of my parents were very much a part of my life growing up (and still are). i have an older brother, Sam, who is now living in Los Angeles; a step-brother, Jason, who lives in Boston; and a step-sister, Emily, living in Portland. My mom and step-dad recently moved to Atlanta. So my dad and i are the only ones in my immediate family still in Minnesota. thankfully i have other relatives here (my uncle and my step-grandmother). as i’m getting older i’m realizing the importance of family and valuing it so much more than when i was young. i am blessed with a loving family and my extended family is just as great. it feels like everyone i’m related to is pretty bright, pretty sarcastic, and very funny – so for the most part i feel i fit in. , i want everyone to know (especially all of you i have mentioned) how important my family is to me and i do not want you to think that i feel otherwise.
so this is how i ended up on the world race:
in fall 2009 i had a renewing of my faith. i spent about two months where the only things i would do was go to work and go to church. i ended up going to a friday evening service, saturday evening service, sunday morning service, and sunday evening service. other than that i would be at home reading the Word or various works by c.s. lewis. i noticed that i was still feeling pain but i was also starting to feel some comfort. i started to actually enter into the Lord’s presence and i think i began to learn what true joy feels like. through prayer and internet research i came across a wonderful small group for young, single adults that met in people’s houses and apartments on sunday evenings and started attending. i felt like i finally was able to seek Jesus with a group of individuals my age, that i was able to be authentic, and i felt like i belonged.
i met a friend and started attending church with him on sunday mornings as i was also attending my home church and the church for young adults. that was when i really started to feel a call to missions. i have been living on my own for the past year (first time ever totally on my own) and i was planning to go back to school in the fall. however, i guess phd programs are pretty difficult to get into, and it might just not be my time (and i’m starting to accept that it may not be my calling). well i didn’t get accepted into the schools i applied to so it looked like i was going to be staying in put for a little longer than i had expected. i started looking for missions trips and applying to anything that piqued my interest online – with no real success. finally, i decided that it wasn’t up to me and it wasn’t about me, so i prayed for a month and a half for wisdom and discernment on how to navigate certain relationships in my life and i surrendered those relationships, and my career, and my living situation, (and it felt like my sanity), over to the Lord. so, rewinding a little, about seven years i was planning on going on a missions trip to peru through adventures in missions, but God had other plans at the time. i have been on the emailing list for AIM for all the years following. one day i decided to check out the website, found the world race, filled out the application, had the interview, and bathed the whole experience in prayer allowing the Lord to guide me where He wanted me.
i feel like i am young, and like i sped up my life at various times (that’s a whole different story) and so i wanted to enjoy being young. i also have wanted to travel and be able to make an impact in the Kingdom. i recently received my master’s in counseling psychology so i want to be able to put those skills to use. however, i have been working in secular organizations and it is really challenging to not be able to speak of Christ especially when others are going through such raw pain.
so i would say that’s how i ended up on this world race in a nutshell. i guess if i were to make it more succinct i would just say it’s through God’s grace.
