Here is my story..
My name is Lauren Rush and I was born and raised in Dallas Texas. I have a huge family, youngest is Baylee(18) then its me(23) Megan(27) and my older brother Dustin(29). I love them all so much, each have had so much influence on my life!!!
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MEG ME BAYLEE DUSTIN
I came from a divorced home and as a result I have two dads, two moms, and 8 grandparents! How loved am I ?? Thats not to mention all the great aunts/uncles and cousins! Holidays are always a bit hectic to say the least! Gotta see everyone!! My parents are wonderful and have always supported me! I know this isn’t going to be easy for them so there going to be in need of some prayers too!!! : )
SHEILA AND DAD MOM AND ALEX
I am also the proud momma of two little chihuahuas! I will miss these two little boogers so much while I am away!
ITTY REX
I went to college at Lamar University and played volleyball there as well. My greatest memory of my time on the volleyball court was winning the southland conference!! 
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS (2008)!!!
I came into the program knowing I had one goal in mind and three years later it happened. I met girls in the program I will be friends with for a life time and that brings a big smile to my face. I look back on my college years with nothing but great memories! Such a time of self discovery, excitement, newness and freedom.. all which led me to the greatest day of my life.
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ANDJ AND ATODD MOLLI AND ANDJ
ANDREA ADY LAUREN GEN
CAYLA AND CASSI ALL THE GIRLS
CAYLA WHITNEY AND ESTHER
WHITNEY AND LAURA KAT AND AMAY
The summer before my senior year, I had the scales removed from my eyes and there standing before me was my sin, and then there was LOVE, GRACE, MERCY, and HOPE! I remember saying as I was reading the book of Matthew that night, “I want to know who this JESUS is..” for the first time it hit me like a ton of bricks that I was separated from a HOLY GOD and how desperate I was for reconciliation and restoration. I will never forget the weight of my sin that night and realizing I’m not good I need a SAVIOR. It was a physical weight that no amount of crying could release. I remember saying i’m sorry.. i’m sorry.. i’m sorry.. over and over and over again and then in an instance PEACE settled my soul and overwhelmed me, and just like that my life changed. Minutes before I was going 100 miles an hour in one direction and then in my bedroom, all alone, on a hot night in July, I came face to face with Jesus and he flipped my world inside out and upside down. Immediately my desires and ideas about the world I had previously known vaporized, and there I stood a new creation.
PASSION CONFERENCE 2010
My senior year looked a lot different than what I had previously expected. The Lord blessed me so much. He put people into my life that were really seeking and living for him. Narrow was a college ministry I just happened to stumble upon (hmmmm..) and it was there I learned what worship was. It was there that I met a group of people my age that were desiring the same things I was. It was there that I asked a million and one questions and got to witness what it looked like for a twenty something to live for Christ. I also got plugged into a girls bible study where I experienced fellowship and accountability.
The next step was to find a church and I began to attend Church On The Rock Golden Triangle, and for the first time, I had a church family. I remember going to home groups at Cazzy and Treasures house and being completely floored when Pastor Ron and Brenda walked through the door. I think I grabbed my friend Cayla, and said “what are they doing here?” Her response was “ummm? they came to hang out with us… ” I was shocked when I found out they wanted to know us, encourage us, and help guide us. Then, I met the hazletons– a young married couple with two beautiful girls and a darling little boy! 
This is the first thing I said to shannon when we met, “hi my name is Lauren will you disciple me?” hahaha.. ohh goodness I can only imagine the thoughts running through her mind- but God was working and doing something very special. I instantly fell in love with them and stalked them weekly. Strangely enough they kept inviting me back lol! I have LEARNED so much from them.. they have allowed me to be a fly on their wall and for the last two years I have been watching, soaking up every minute. I am so thankful for the time they have invested in me, opening up their home and always making me feel like the oldest hazleton 🙂 I have a hard time verbalizing how I truly feel about them and the influence they have had on my growth as a young believer, a young women, and a wannabe missionary! I look at my time in Beaumont and feel as if God placed me into a little petri dish, perfect for developing and growing a Christ centered foundation. I have been immersed with knowledge and wisdom. Waking up each morning meant I was going to experience God in a new and different way. But lets be real, life wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t a continual slow motion skip through a field of roses, there were some thorns in that field. God Called me to do things way out of my comfort zone that year. I was completely stripped, humbled, broken… it was a year of change, a year of transition, and a year of being completely uncomfortable, yet utterly joyful because I knew JESUS and he was/is/and will always be enough. I got baptized May 15th, graduated May 16th, and left for my first mission trip to Nome, Alaska shortly after. It was a great way to end the year!A WOOHOOOO is the only word I can come up with to describe exactly how I felt!
ALASKA MISSION TEAM 2009
BUT I was in for a a wake up call.. I walked straight off the plane and into the doors of my first job. WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD. After a week of working a 8 to 5 I quickly changed my sleeping patterns. My 3 a.m. nights were over and done with, I quickly said hello to my new 10 o’clock bedtime! I have now been at harbor hospice for just over a year and it’s bitter/sweet when I think about leaving. I am so blessed, I work with great people and a great company, that offers a great service of love and compassion to our patients. BUT its been a tough year for me. Looking back now, I see clearly that I was being molded, shaped, and put through the wine press. To an outsider all my ducks were perfectly aligned in a row. I mean, I had done what I was supposed to do right? I graduated college in fours years, found a job, was independent, had the company benefits, company car, company cell phone, salary plus bonus’s and yet I found myself sitting on my floor crying saying this isn’t what Its supposed to feel like!!! I desired something different, something else, but was that acceptable? I always had the desire to be on the mission field, but that wasn’t a job was it? I mean show me my 401k and dental plan.. not exactly!!! My mind was constantly in a tug-a-war. I didnt understand why I felt the way I did, why why why the longing for something more? Why was I unsatisfied, dry, discontent and any other synonym you can come up with for feeling unfulfilled? It took me a while to learn that these great amazing things I had wouldn’t last long. They were nothing but momentary highs and a bad illusion of safety. Soon after, the Lord revealed to me in a big way that he was still in control, and that I had nothing to worry about.. that HE WAS WORKING and ORCHESTRATING every little detail out to sync up perfectly to the promise he had given me my senior year of college- after that, fear left me and I wasn’t scared to go against the grain anymore.THEN CAME THE WAITING GAME. At this time, I really began to pursue mission trips. I sat down with our associate pastor Caz and told him my heart. I then began to brainstorm with Pastor Ken about different opportunities our church had with project 237 and all the missionaries we support overseas. He started e-mailing around, but nothing seemed to click. Frustrated and warn out I began to doubt, I had to learn to be patient and then re-learn it again three weeks later.. over and over and over!! It Really opened up my eyes to how impatient I was, I mean I know I’m part of the NOW generation but goodness I needed serious help ! Then a couple months later, out of no-ware, as I was looking up a friends blog, I got routed to the world race website.
I cant explain why my heart literally skips a beat with the thought of being on the mission field. The only explanation I can give you is GOD. All I know is that from the moment Jesus changed my life, he changed my heart, and planted in me new desires! My heart breaks for people who stand alone in this world carrying its burdens and listening to its lies, absolutely clueless that there is a God that is faithful, loving, good and full of GRACE!
so I’m trading in my cute apartment, my wonderfully adorable wardrobe :), my big comfy bed, and chick-fil-a for a tent, a pair of chaco’s… .. ooohhhhh and the opportunity to go and be the Gospel to people who have never heard!!!! WORLD RACE JAN 2011 here I come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE PRAY FOR ME AND MY TEAM!!
