Honest moment…when I was in college I had my life planned out. I thought I had things figured out from watching movies or reading books. I knew that I was going to work at a 9-5 job in some cubicle doing very important work on the computer. Of course I would have some studio apartment overlooking the big city that I was living in. I was going to be married by 21, kids by 23, and my life was going to be perfect. Oh what an idea I had about what “perfect” meant.
My plans quickly changed once I graduated from college with no job offers, no leads, and oh yes…I was single. Was it hard to trust in the Lord…uh yeah…was it worth it…YES! The Lord called me to move back home to live with my parents (the last thing I wanted), not that they aren’t the best parent’s I could have asked for (cause they are…trust me), but I had this idea of what being successful was and it wasn’t moving back home. Within a couple of weeks of moving home I was offered this incredible job working for the summer camp I had spent my summers at during college. I never thought that I would be living in Medina, TX working with kids, but the Lord placed such a passion on my heart for ministry that I couldn’t say no. I spent the next 2 and half years serving along such an incredible staff being mentored and poured into by one of the wisest men I have ever had the honor of knowing. There are so many lessons that I learned from the Lord and He continued to reveal to me who I was in Him and what He was calling me to do.
When He placed missions on my heart I was shocked. Literally my jaw dropped and I couldn’t believe what I had heard. Trust me I tried to ignore it for a few months, but this feeling inside my heart started to grow more and more with each day that passed. It has officially been a year since I applied to go on the World Race and it still blows my mind that I’m here, finishing up my 3rd month, living the life of a missionary. I didn’t grow up thinking that I could ever spend my life as a missionary. I never thought that I would look forward to being able to sleep under a mosquito net or showering from a bucket, but honestly I think now how I could ever go back to something more. We need so little in this life, and we take so much for granted.
This month we have been in Thailand and I have had the blessing of tutoring English. I have talked to so many students and gotten to build relationships with them. I tell them about what I am doing and they see me as a great adventurer. I am traveling around the world doing something that I am passionate about, something that God has called me to. I have the blessing of a family that supports me and prays that I will find something that makes me happy, not necessarily what is going to make me the most money or sound really impressive when they talk to their friends about me. They are proud of me for following the call that God has placed on my heart.
I am a missionary. That is still such a weird sentence for me to say. I remember taking those surveys in high school that helped you figure out your career and I keep thinking, there was never a “missionary” option. Most people will say, “Oh you will never make any money” or my favorite “do you ever plan on getting married and having a family”. Oh how I wish I could explain what I feel at the end of every day. There is a feeling I get after having a long conversation with a contact about their heart for what they are doing, or just seeing someone get that light in their eyes when it wasn’t there before. Have you ever seen a fire be lit inside of someone and God’s light immediately starts shining through? This is what my life has been for the past 3 months. My life is the life of a missionary…my “career” for the next 8 months. Yes, I am not confined to a cubicle. Every once in a while I find myself working from a computer. Instead of my studio apartment I have shared a small bedroom with four other women, slept in a tent on a balcony in Haiti, and lived above a café. I don’t know about you, but life is pretty sweet as a missionary.
