As I was riding in the cab of the “Safari-mobile” past the sugar cane fields in the Dominican Republic, “Uncle” Marc was talking about his nieces who have taken a year off to travel the world. He was able to join them for a few countries because around-the-world plane tickets are so cheap. Then he went on to explain how the tickets work. I turned to Kelly sitting in the cab beside me and said “How COOL would it be to just take a year off and travel around the world? Better yet, what about an around-the-world mission trip?!” I came home and couldn’t get the thought out of my head. I told God that if he wanted me to go I needed someone to go with and the money to do it. Then I found the World Race website…
Now, I better back up and explain how I ended up riding in the cab of a safari-mobile in the Dominican Republic.
I was born in Miami, FL but we moved to West Palm Beach when I was two and I lived there until I went off to college. I was born into a strong Christian family and we went to church every Sunday. Through middle and high school, I was very involved in the church youth group, including a mission trip every summer.
When I went off to college I tried to find a local church, but gave up after the first one and I began to slowly backslide. If you had asked me if I was a Christian I would have said yes, but I wasn’t living the life. After my sophomore year I found a church I really liked but I only went once every couple months. I always had a reason like being too tired or having too much homework or studying to do. During my senior year, I was sensing the need to return to church and one of my strong Christian friends started coming with me. It was great to have someone who was counting on me to go because I went almost every week. Although I was attending church on a regular basis again, I was having a hard time getting out of the lifestyle I had built for myself. In addition, I was trying to figure out what I was going to do after graduation. I had always thought I would go straight into graduate school but all my plans fell through.
Then graduation came in May of 2006 and I still had no plans except to move home and start working for an accounting company (since I had just received my BS in Marine Biology, you can see how I was not entirely thrilled with this career path).
A month and a half into the summer my friend Jess from college emailed me and said there was a job opening to work on stone crab research with her in the Keys! The whole process of applying and being hired took less than 48 hours. I gave my job two weeks notice and moved to Marathon. I realized that this was my opportunity to rebuild my life and start it out the right way. I made a commitment to myself and to God that I would find a church and get involved. The second Sunday I was living here I found my home church. The following Sunday I went to a church picnic at the beach and from there I was invited to go to the youth’s Ultimate Frisbee Tournament that night. I had a great time and that Thursday started helping out with the youth group. I connected with the female leaders and through these amazing Christian women God placed in my life I found my way back to him and the life that he intended for me. Since I moved down here, my relationship with God is stronger than ever before and I’m excited for what he’s doing in my life.
In December 2006, I went as a leader on the high school mission trip to the Dominican Republic. This brings us full circle back to how I heard God’s calling for the next year of my life and discovered the World Race.
Things I like: Going to the beach, diving, watching the sun rise and set, reading, relaxing anywhere really, laying under the stars, movies, being spontaneous, hanging out with my friends, long hot showers, laughing uncontrollably, helping out with the youth group at church, singing at the top of my lungs when I’m driving alone, taking pictures of EVERYTHING, sleeping until I wake up on my own, and now I can add playing guitar!
