Hey guys my name's Danny. But enough about me.
I know a guy named Jesus. And all I wanna do is just tell you a little more about Him and what He's done for me.
He's already brought me through so much and shown me so many things, and it seems like everyday I'm getting another glimpse of why He made me the way He did, and what He has in store for me.
The Lord brought me to Himself fairly recently. It's easily been the most defining part of my life and it was honestly something I never saw coming. It's only been about a year now, where I've really put my trust in the Lord and handed my life over to Him. Who'd a thought.
Up until then I really hadn't been doing so hot. I had been struggling a lot with depression, and had seen innocent little vices grow into all-consuming obsessions. And by the end of junior fall semester I had gotten to such a low point that had God not stepped in and turned my whole life upside down, I honestly might not be here today. I remember being at Christmas Conference in Indy – which in itself was the result of a long string of highly improbable events, and mostly thanks to my best friend Eric who had the guts to step in and tell me some hard-to-hear truths – and sitting down to pray and within five seconds feeling the Holy Spirit explode inside my head, a voice as loud as a siren screaming "Change your heart, Change your heart, Change your heart, Change your heart" over and over and over again. And I remember the last night of IndyCC, worshipping and worshipping and worshipping into the late hours of the night, and the overwhelming joy and sense of purpose that instantly brought everything into a new light, and I remember one of my friends saying to never, ever forget that feeling – that it was the most important night of my life. And I'll never forget that she said that, because I know she was right. I got a glimpse of heaven that night. And that laid the foundation for every amount of hope and motivation I've been able to hold on to since then.
And I remember coming home from that, on fire for the Lord and in complete awe at how far He had brought be and how much grace and love He has for us, and being able to share that with my family. Sharing what God had done for me with my sister, and being able to see her commitment to the Lord renewed, was overwhelmingly the most incredible thing that I've ever been apart of, and I thank God every day for the renewed trust in the Lord that now both my sister and I share.
Since then it's been one incredible step in faith after another. Coming back from Christmas break and discovering what it means to live a life fully devoted to the Lord, watching Him turn over and renew my relationships, seeing His sweet blessings of sanctification, and having Him just lay in to me the blessings and struggles of walking closer and closer with Him each day, has been the biggest gift of grace ever. It just blows my mind every time I realize how little I deserve to be standing here as God's adopted Son.
God's blessed me in taking me to a lot of places. I caught the travel bug shortly before Jesus and I became best buds, and God's had a lot to show me in the wide wide world. I've spent something like 10 out of the last 17 months abroad now, and have farted my way all over God's green earth. I've learned something everywhere I've gone, whether it's how to spend time with Him alone, the beauty to be found in poverty, how much needs to be done, or who to trust when you have no money or you're just tired of being alone. I've learned that the Earth is the Lord's and everything in it. But I've also learned how hollow travel can be, and how much it can wear on you to be constantly taking without giving of yourself. He's put on my heart every Muslim in the entire world, as well as the entirety of the LGBT community and anyone who's ever struggled with depression and suicide. I'm pretty sure at some point the Lord will be calling me to root somewhere in Central/Western Asia.
But for now, I think that's been one of the hardest things to reconcile, is that God is just overloading my heart. I often tell people that God's put the entire world on my heart. He's given me a spirit of adventure, a passion for wild rides and remote landscapes, for authentic experiences and genuine people, a heart for the most obscure nations and the most extreme conditions, and He's put very little in my life that will hold me back. And I say bring it on.
God's been so faithful. Just to see how He's transformed me and how much He's given me. There's just too much unbridled love I don't know what to do with it, and often nowadays it just gets vomited up in songs and dances and noises and really weird things that my body does that people who don't know might be taken slightly aback but everyone who does, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.
He's blessed me with alot of families – and I love them all – my family family and my Christian family and my Princeton family and my home family and my ISU family and my project family and my Indian family and my Denmark family. I love Jesus. I love music. I love pretending I'm brown. I love dinosaurs and space and stargazing and roller coasters and puzzles and really long books, and ohgoshIlove Survivor. I rarely take a normal picture and I love playing games-that-I-just-made-up. God's been good to me. So good.
I can't even begin to fathom the plans He has for me. But mostly I'm just happy to be here
Love,
Danny
