Hi!
I am so happy that you are reading my blog. My name is Jillian and I am 23 years old. I grew up in Bakersfield, California with my parents and little brother Anthony.
Oh and I can't forget these two members of the family!
I went to a small country school from kindergarten to 8th grade and then went to private Christian school for High School…which is where I met this beautiful girl. That I am so proud to call my best friend!
And my Captivating Crew! These girls are the place that feels like home. We just work! We are 100% ourselves when together.
After High School I headed off to College at Vanguard University of Southern California where I graduated in 2011 with a degree in Psychology. My college experience is something that I am very thankful for. Vanguard was a place that I loved at times and hated at times, but a place that grew and shaped me into the person I am now. I met these girls…. who are now my roommates and the people I call family.
I always tell people that the person who walked into freshman orientation and the person who walked across the stage to get her diploma probably would't recognize each other. When I left for college I left behind a very Pentacostal Church that I grew up in. A place that was very hell, fire and brimstone if you will, with a dose of legalism.
So you could imagine my shock when I started out as a religion major. I started to learn the difference between what a religion looks like and what a relationship with Jesus looks like. I learned that it is about so much more than doing the right things. I learned what it meant to love Jesus and to let him love me. These realizations did not come easy…I changed my major from religion, boycotted prayer for awhile, tried things my way and at times was very mad at God.
Slowly I began to leave the religion behind and instead embrace the relationship. Which by the way has been such a wonderful, freeing and at times beautifully confusing thing.
It wasn't until I was out of college that I realized how much I gained from the experience, because there were times when I begged my parents to let me drop out and they continually pushed me to finish, which I am so thankful for.
I became someone who could not only do her own laundry and make every decision for herself but also someone who knew how to talk about what she was feeling, someone who could process and debrief with other people, someone who learned how to compromise and how to love people when it literally takes everything in you. I am so grateful for the experience that I had in college and the lessons that were learned and the hard times that were pushed through.
After graduation I took off on an adventure of Epic Proportions with this beauty.
2 girls. 10 weeks. 5 countries. And lots and lots of stuff packed into 2 backpacks. We had no agenda and absolutely no idea of what our trip would look like. We took New Zealand, Australia, Bali, Thailand and Laos by storm.
This is the trip that started my love for travel and seeing the world. We had so much fun and it was the best way to have no agenda after having 4 years of packed out student planners.
I went strictly for vacation, but while I was there I kept wondering how I could not only travel but make a difference for Jesus ( I bet you know what this led to).
Once I returned from my summer of fun it was time to put my degree to work and get a job. My approach: apply everywhere for everything. This led me to my first full time job in social services as a house manager at a group home for teenage girls who were pregnant or already had babies. Hardest but most rewarding thing I have ever done.
To say my eyes were opened is a ridiculous understatement. Most of the girls were from the foster system so I was exposed to situations and stories that should never exist.
This made me ask the ever so popular question…God, how can you let this happen? This is not fair. No one should have these stories. How did I get so lucky? Wrestling with these questions really made me look at my own life.
I kept coming back to Luke 12:48 "…..When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required." I can't explain why I was born with the situation I had and why others are born into the situations that they are, but I can use what I have to make a difference.
This caused me to look at the things I had been given and entrusted with and what I was doing with them. Let me just tell you it was not fun to see what little I was doing with all that I have been blessed with. I wanted to change that.
I wanted to take the resources God has given me…my family situation, my finances, my education, my knowledge and understanding of Christ, my time…and use them to love God and love his people.
So with the combination of my summer that ignited a passion for travel, a job that exposed me to the hurt and need of God's people and this new found desire to start using what God had blessed me with in ways that did not all focus on myself I applied for the World Race. GOT ACCEPTED, and am now under 2 short months from launching into a life changing year.
I have had a knowledge and relationship with Jesus for along time and have loved him dearly. But as I approach this year, and from this point on, I no longer want Him to be part of my life, but rather I want Him to be my life. I want to live for Him and in everything I have and am I want to serve him and further the kingdom. Lets be real…he is way to good not to share!
Here is to the first step of the beautiful journey that is ahead!
