Here is to growing up!
With today being the day where everyone accounts for the things to which they give thanks I figured there has never been a better time for reflection than now. More specifically looking at how my life has changed in the last 6 years. So here is a list of 6 things God has used to change my life and 6 things I am thankful for today as I look back and gear up for the adventures ahead of me.
1) NCSSM
In middle school, I took a tour of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics with some family members. At the time, although I loved the school, I struggled to see how it would be possible for me to get accepted. I worried about the academics and the fact that moving out at 16 to attend a residential high school would present some responsibilities that I may not have been ready for. But God had it all under control, not only was I accepted but I was able to succeed in my classes and got to do research in RTP under a Celiac researcher which was a great learning experience and huge blessing! After graduating, I was able to receive a full tuition scholarship to NC State and an insight to what college would look like 2 years before my peers. Definitely a blessing (although sometimes in disguise…especially in Calculus, Physics and when writing my 20 page research paper) haha
2) Life Long Friends
As a kid I always moved around a bunch and had to constantly make new friends. After a while, my perception of friend making was wayyyy off. I was always looking for new friends and instead of nurturing relationships I would grow frustrated and lazy and would just forget about the old friends and make new ones. Thankfully, Ive had a couple insistent friends who never gave up on me no matter how busy, lazy or wishy washy I got (cough cough Erin Walsh and Corey Horton). These two beautiful ladies have been two of my best friends since our first year at NCSSM in 11th grade and they have taught me the importance of friendship, generosity and hard work. Now I am so thankful that I have many life long friends from NCSSM, NCSU, FUGE etc and equally thankful that I have learned how to be a better friend in return.
3)Maturity
This kind of goes along with the last one, but man am I thankful for maturity! I feel like a completely different person as a Senior at NC State than when I came in as a freshman. I have found that my deep seeded struggles with pride and finding my worth in grades truly kept me from loving the people around me and it’s been a HUGE blessing to see God love me through my faults and help me to learn how to be a better daughter, friend, sister, student, RA and overall listener (im still working on this stuff haha…no where near done). This next year with the World Race will be a great opportunity for God to reveal even more things for me to work on and I could not be more thankful to know that through him, I will be able to grow further in my maturity and develop a deeper love for my sisters and brothers all over the world.
4) My Major-Environmental Science
A little over a year ago, God revealed to me a small part of his plan for my future and it completely wrecked my world. I changed my major, I started living my life differently and developed a love for his new path. This new direction was simple and it all revolved around one basic need all share, water. I had never really thought about water…where I got it from, where it came from, who supplied it, who cleaned it…I was completely naive! Now, I have a dream to bring clean water to nations that struggle to find this resource that we (I) so often take for granted. God has called me to share the gift he has given me through getting an education in Environmental Science, with the love he has given me as his daughter. In doing so, I will in some way be able to accompany this clean water with the gospel…sharing everlasting living water when physical water falls short. My desire to learn more about our world, sustainability and how to conserve our resources has grown exponentially and I am thankful for the passion God has given me for this subject.
5) Family
As many of you know, I like to be independent. Unfortunately, sometimes this looks like me taking on the world and giving credit to no one. My family is one thing that I have only recently realized that I have taken for granted and I so wish I had realized this earlier, as it probably would have saved me from some of my selfishness and pride. My family has always been there for me and although we don’t see eye to eye sometimes, they love me unconditionally and I am thankful that God has put me in a position to be loved just as much as I love them. I ache for the children/orphans around the world that have never felt this love from family and hope that I am more able to identify with them as I serve on the world race and able to implement this love through adoption in the future.
6) Beauty in things around me
This may seem strange, but I am really thankful for beauty. Beauty in nature, beauty in people, beauty in the word of the Lord, beauty in general. I think growing up, I never gave the word “beauty” a chance. I thought it was “gross” in a way because as a teenage girl, I never felt beautiful compared to other girls around me, or models on tv or even what I thought was the “ideal” image of what a woman should look like. But BEAUTY is so much more! Beauty is when I woke up every morning this summer and looked out over the Gulf of Mexico to see the most beautiful sunrise imaginable. Beauty is when the holy spirit used me to lead a 15 year old girl to accept Christ after talking to her for a week about finding love and grace and forgiveness through the aftermath of her boyfriend committing suicide. Beauty is the way my brother hugs me after I come home from school, the way my heart sinks after seeing a friend struggle through something and the random conversations I have with Jesus on my way to class. Beauty is everywhere, and unfortunately there are so many people that overlook true Beauty because they are looking for an untrue, false form of beauty that we have made up. I know, because I used to look for this beauty too and honestly, I never found it. What I did find what a God who not only uses Beauty, but created Beauty and molded it into the shape of 7 billion human beings!
Hope this gives some insight into the things I have found I am most thankful for over the last 6 years. As I begin this new season of life, I am MOST thankful for you guys, my supporters! Im thankful for your prayer, your partnership and your love….without which, I would not be taking this leap of fatih.
Much Love,
Drea
