Oh hi. :0)
My name is dani izac – all lowercase letters, last name pronounced “Eee-zak”. [Now I sound sorta high-maintenance by the particularities of my name, huh? ;0) ]
Before I plunge into story-telling mode, here are a few facts about me:
*I have a religious studies bachelor’s degree [North Central College, 2007] and a college student personnel administration master’s degree [Illinois State University, 2010/11].
*I measure things on a scale of apples to O’Hare. I’m not into that classic fruit, but I sure do love Chicago’s International Airport. YAY ORD!
*I don’t like capital letters. Especially the uppercase “I”. Ugh. I don’t’ like it’s shape.
*I’m a photographer and dabble around in videography, mostly for my own entertainment. YouTube me- you’ll see.
*I can’t perform any recognizable, organized movements, but I love leading or participating in a dance party. Any time. Any where.
*I’ve traveled across 25+ countries and explored diverse nations by plane, train, car, bus, ship; for work, service, ministry, and funsies.
*I LOVE living in community. I was in ResLife for nearly 5 years, so it was my job, after all.
*I’m an only child and come from a family of divorce. So I’m awesome at Street Fighter II on Sega Genesis.
*I can hand-cut letters with some mad skillz. It’s a useless talent, but I still like to brag.
*Because I was born in 1984, my recent birthday caused me to be thirty-one. Woa.
*My home base is located just a bit west of Chicago in the suburbs, where I currently live with one roommate…who happened to give birth to me.
*I love JESUS and worship. I can’t sing, but I like to think HE looks past that.
~ ~ ~
I’ve worked in the student life area of higher education for the past 7 years. I was an Area Hall Director at my alma mater, North Central College in Naperville iL, for nearly four years [and obsessed with my residents and halls! :0) ] before I moved on to accept a position as a Resident Director with Semester at Sea. It was an exhilarating, exciting [and exhausting!] experience to sail across the globe with a university community set upon a ship- I’m so so so grateful for it. But when our voyage concluded in December 2014, so did my employment.
Since then, I’ve been offering up the biggest and boldest prayer to the LORD to direct my path to be most glorifying to HiM. Thirteen months of dead ends and redirected paths has certainly taught me a lot about trust and patience, the love and provision of GOD. It’s been really challenging and developmental for me in my walk with CHRiST.
I had some suggestions for the BiG GUY- some ideal timelines, some really attractive opportunities. Oh yes. I let HiM know of all the grand brainstorming I had conducted. But HE seems to have had a different strategy in mind…
A dear friend recently gave me a birthday card [remember that trauma about which I shared highlighting how I aged to 31?!] and shared this verse with me:
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails. [Proverbs 19:21]
And, I mean, I am pretty certain that Solomon must have known that single, unemployed dani izac, age 31, would have a whole list of potential life paths to recommend to the LORD and would need a little reminder that HiS direction would ultimately triumph.
I extended the biggest and boldest prayer to GOD asking for HiM to direct me to where I would be most honoring to HiM. I wanted to share HiS light and love wherever that might be and live fully for HiS glory! I certainly never had The World Race on my radar.
And yet, through an extremely unsuspecting and unlikely strand of events and interactions and conversations and situations and relationships, I find myself set to take on an adventure across the globe to serve and love on others throughout 11 different nations. Um WHAAAAT?!?!
When people ask about one’s favorite quality of GOD, most individuals stick with the traditional “HE is sovereign”, “HE is just”, “HE is loving” kind of stuff. I’ve always like to respond to that questions with “HE’s sneaky!” One never knows how GOD will accept a prayer and run with it for the most unexpected and remarkable responses!
So, here I am. Preparing to launch with The World Race’s Fusion Route in January. I’ll live simply and in community with a multicultural team of volunteers from across the world, traveling and serving through 11 different countries, one month at a time. My heart is open to learn from others, to support them, to share their story, and to uniquely experience GOD’s simple and powerful call to love our neighbors. The World Race, as it turns out, is an answer to my biggest and boldest prayer.
