After being home for a month I wrote a blog about transitions. Coming back into America was one tough transition, but there was one that God made so smooth for me.
On January 10th I started my Master’s Degree at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. I’ll never forget that first day of class. I came with a notebook and pen. I decided I wanted to be a grown up and use a pen instead of my usual purple lead pencil. Then I got to class and everyone pulled out their laptops. I laughed so hard at myself and just made a mental note to bring my laptop the next day.
I immediately fell in love with my first graduate school professor, Jay Moon. He is worthy of teacher of the century. I’ve never had a teacher like him in my life. Our entire two week’s class had me thinking about transitions. This one was so smooth. My teacher had my attention from the first minute he passed that silly looking rock around the classroom. 
He asked, “If you saw this rock on the sidewalk, what would you do?” He later opened the rock to reveal a beautiful inside.
Like that rock, many of us bypass the beauty God wants to show us.
Ever since Jay Moon’s class I decided that I wouldn’t pass people up. I refused to go into a little shell of a shy girl at this school. I knew that God had me at Asbury for a reason and in order to live in community, I have to make myself apart of it. I would not hold back. I would be myself and not allow anyone to stifle who God made me to be.
The beginning of February we had NSO (New Student Orientation). It was a time to learn about Asbury seminary and get acquainted with the other students who would go through this transition with us.
I couldn’t help but see a man named Malcolm. One of my first phrases to him was, “I don’t think I’ve ever met a white man named Malcolm.” He laughed and from there we have been great friends.
I asked Malcolm to tell me something I don’t know but should know about him and within five minutes I knew his entire life story.
Malcolm’s endurance encourages me to be strong in the Lord. Malcolm was told as a young child that he should just quit school, “You’ll never make it.” Here he is in the first year of graduate school. He is making it with the strength of God.
For most students, graduate school would be tough but there are challenges in Malcolm’s life that make it even tougher: DYSLEXIA. Dyslexia is a learning disability that can hinder reading, writing, spelling, speaking and listening. Between 10 and 15 million Americans suffer with Dyslexia. Malcolm is one of the hardest workers I know. Though it may take him hours to read one section for class, he is persistent in reading it and isn’t afraid to seek help when needed.
In forming a friendship with Malcolm, I have learned to not give up when times get tough.
People in my church family know me well by now. They have met people from all over the world and each one is so unique. They even tease, “Do you have any American friends?” While I have lovely American friends, God has given me a heart for Internationals- people that look, talk and eat differently than I do. I’ve learned that when we relate with people who have different backgrounds than us, it shapes our character.
I truly believe that is one of the reasons I love mission work so much. Each time I step into the culture of another, my ways and thoughts are challenged. God always reminds me, “My ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.”
God has given me the opportunity to come across some new rocks June 21-28th in Costa Rica.
They probably won’t be the shiny gorgeous rocks on the outside. They may be extremely dirty, callused, bruised, chipped but if I don’t reach out, pick up that rock and get to know it, I’ll by pass the beauty that God has placed on the inside.
I‘d love for you to partner with me as I fulfill God’s call for missions on my life.
To the ENDS of the World
