A big
Wooooooooo Pig Sooey, from the wonderful land of the Arkansas Razorbacks!
What do they call you, you ask? Well my given name is Toni Joella Lewis, however I have many nicknames, Joella, Jo, Jojo, Joey, and even Mojo jojo. My family, who consists of many people near and dear to me, has come up with many names for me. My parents have been married for 32 years, and I have three wonderful sisters who are my best friends.
We also had a brother (my twin) who died at the age of eight months. All three sisters are married and I have 7 nieces and nephews, with 2 more on the way!
(MOm and dad are in the back, front is Jeremy, ceara, johnathon, and james, Shawn, cayti, jaedon, and caeleb, and cristy, jason, ella and mia, minus three that havent been born yet)
Looking back the almost 20 years to that Sunday morning when I headed up the long aisle to the front of the church, I don’t think I really knew what it was all about: The life of a Christian woman. Yes,
I was almost eight,
and I was the first person baptized in the church my family helped build, but to know what a true woman of faith was would not come for almost twenty years. I grew up in church, going every Sunday and Wednesday, and
going on every mission’s trip that would come along. At the age of 17,
after a friend of mine died, I realized that didn’t know if my friend was a Christian, or if I would see her in heaven.
I knew that someday I wanted to travel the world spreading the word of God. After graduating from high school something changed; I stopped going to church, and started turning from God. It finally took one night of poor decisions, which I soon came to regret, to turn me back to the Lord for good.
In June of this year, I left all the friends and bad influences that I had made since high school and moved to a small town in the next state, near my sister Cristy. Cristy, who is my confidant, made me start going to church with her. The first time I went I walked out of that church bawling. I was totally convicted of the things I had been doing. It was as if God had said “this sermon is just for you.” Soon after that weekend I decided to truly start over in my walk with Jesus. I started reading books about people going to Africa on mission trips and combining that with hearing college student after college student give testimony about missions trips they had just gone on, a light bulb turned on. I started seeking for God in new places, seeking Him like I have never sought Him before, seeking to discover if this type of trip was what he wanted for me too. By the first week in August, I Googled “short-term missions trip to Africa” and found
Adventures in Missions.
I read about the world race, and thought this would be an amazing experience.
But, doubt crept in:
I cant, I have bills, and debt, and what about my nieces, I cant leave them for this long. But in the end God’s call silenced the doubt as his will became clear.
In this life there are two sure things. 1. There is a God and 2. I yearn to spread that fact around the world for the rest of my life.
I realize that God knows what his will for me and He truly knows what’s best for me, even if I don’t.
I know now that this next 10 months isn’t going to be easy, but God will make it happen and this will be the best experience we will ever have.
In this life there are two sure things. 1. There is a God and 2. I yearn to spread that fact around the world for the rest of my life.
I realize that God knows what his will for me and He truly knows what’s best for me, even if I don’t.
I know now that this next 10 months isn’t going to be easy, but God will make it happen and this will be the best experience we will ever have.
In June of this year, I left all the friends and bad influences that I had made since high school and moved to a small town in the next state, near my sister Cristy. Cristy, who is my confidant, made me start going to church with her. The first time I went I walked out of that church bawling. I was totally convicted of the things I had been doing. It was as if God had said “this sermon is just for you.” Soon after that weekend I decided to truly start over in my walk with Jesus. I started reading books about people going to Africa on mission trips and combining that with hearing college student after college student give testimony about missions trips they had just gone on, a light bulb turned on. I started seeking for God in new places, seeking Him like I have never sought Him before, seeking to discover if this type of trip was what he wanted for me too. By the first week in August, I Googled “short-term missions trip to Africa” and found
Adventures in Missions.
I read about the world race, and thought this would be an amazing experience.
But, doubt crept in:
I cant, I have bills, and debt, and what about my nieces, I cant leave them for this long. But in the end God’s call silenced the doubt as his will became clear.
In this life there are two sure things. 1. There is a God and 2. I yearn to spread that fact around the world for the rest of my life.
I realize that God knows what his will for me and He truly knows what’s best for me, even if I don’t.
I know now that this next 10 months isn’t going to be easy, but God will make it happen and this will be the best experience we will ever have.
In this life there are two sure things. 1. There is a God and 2. I yearn to spread that fact around the world for the rest of my life.
I realize that God knows what his will for me and He truly knows what’s best for me, even if I don’t.
I know now that this next 10 months isn’t going to be easy, but God will make it happen and this will be the best experience we will ever have.
Looking back the almost 20 years to that Sunday morning when I headed up the long aisle to the front of the church, I don’t think I really knew what it was all about: The life of a Christian woman. Yes,
I was almost eight,
and I was the first person baptized in the church my family helped build, but to know what a true woman of faith was would not come for almost twenty years. I grew up in church, going every Sunday and Wednesday, and
going on every mission’s trip that would come along. At the age of 17,
after a friend of mine died, I realized that didn’t know if my friend was a Christian, or if I would see her in heaven.
I knew that someday I wanted to travel the world spreading the word of God. After graduating from high school something changed; I stopped going to church, and started turning from God. It finally took one night of poor decisions, which I soon came to regret, to turn me back to the Lord for good.
In June of this year, I left all the friends and bad influences that I had made since high school and moved to a small town in the next state, near my sister Cristy. Cristy, who is my confidant, made me start going to church with her. The first time I went I walked out of that church bawling. I was totally convicted of the things I had been doing. It was as if God had said “this sermon is just for you.” Soon after that weekend I decided to truly start over in my walk with Jesus. I started reading books about people going to Africa on mission trips and combining that with hearing college student after college student give testimony about missions trips they had just gone on, a light bulb turned on. I started seeking for God in new places, seeking Him like I have never sought Him before, seeking to discover if this type of trip was what he wanted for me too. By the first week in August, I Googled “short-term missions trip to Africa” and found
Adventures in Missions.
I read about the world race, and thought this would be an amazing experience.
But, doubt crept in:
I cant, I have bills, and debt, and what about my nieces, I cant leave them for this long. But in the end God’s call silenced the doubt as his will became clear.
In this life there are two sure things. 1. There is a God and 2. I yearn to spread that fact around the world for the rest of my life.
I realize that God knows what his will for me and He truly knows what’s best for me, even if I don’t.
I know now that this next 10 months isn’t going to be easy, but God will make it happen and this will be the best experience we will ever have.
In this life there are two sure things. 1. There is a God and 2. I yearn to spread that fact around the world for the rest of my life.
I realize that God knows what his will for me and He truly knows what’s best for me, even if I don’t.
I know now that this next 10 months isn’t going to be easy, but God will make it happen and this will be the best experience we will ever have.
In June of this year, I left all the friends and bad influences that I had made since high school and moved to a small town in the next state, near my sister Cristy. Cristy, who is my confidant, made me start going to church with her. The first time I went I walked out of that church bawling. I was totally convicted of the things I had been doing. It was as if God had said “this sermon is just for you.” Soon after that weekend I decided to truly start over in my walk with Jesus. I started reading books about people going to Africa on mission trips and combining that with hearing college student after college student give testimony about missions trips they had just gone on, a light bulb turned on. I started seeking for God in new places, seeking Him like I have never sought Him before, seeking to discover if this type of trip was what he wanted for me too. By the first week in August, I Googled “short-term missions trip to Africa” and found
Adventures in Missions.
I read about the world race, and thought this would be an amazing experience.
But, doubt crept in:
I cant, I have bills, and debt, and what about my nieces, I cant leave them for this long. But in the end God’s call silenced the doubt as his will became clear.
In this life there are two sure things. 1. There is a God and 2. I yearn to spread that fact around the world for the rest of my life.
I realize that God knows what his will for me and He truly knows what’s best for me, even if I don’t.
I know now that this next 10 months isn’t going to be easy, but God will make it happen and this will be the best experience we will ever have.
In this life there are two sure things. 1. There is a God and 2. I yearn to spread that fact around the world for the rest of my life.
I realize that God knows what his will for me and He truly knows what’s best for me, even if I don’t.
I know now that this next 10 months isn’t going to be easy, but God will make it happen and this will be the best experience we will ever have.
