Here I am on the night before my 23rd birthday thinking about what I want this year of my life to look like! I start thinking back on what this past year has looked like.
This past year has been one of the craziest journeys of my life. It started off with a beautiful reunion with my best friend of 12 years, being absolutely insane and jumping out of a perfectly good airplane with me. Then after much debating with God I completed my application for this thing called the World Race. Then came a year full of lunches with my 2 very best friends (Schlotzskys & Mexican food mostly), babysitting 4 incredible families falling head over heals for their kids, and having long (semi freaking out) conversations with my mentor. A phone call came in, while I was in the middle of a meeting with my mentor, and completely changed everything. They told me I was accepted to go on this crazy world race thing that I thought could only be a dream. I literally ran around the whole building shaking and crying because I could not believe my life was real. The rest of the year looked a lot like planning, fundraising, and figuring out how I was going to make it on this trip around the world to 11 different countries spreading the gospel for 11 months! There came many happy moments, many tears, and so so many freak outs with God! Soon after I got to take my nephew up to visit my very grown coastie brother in Virgina and capture incredible pictures of my baby!
In the spring my mom resigned from her job to pursue her God given dream of opening a bar called thirstys. By this point I had become a decent long boarder (like skateboarding but a different type of board) and spent much of my free time exploring San Antonio on it with 3 of my greatest friends. I got to go to river parade for fiesta, took my nephew and his incredible mommy to the beach, and found out I was having a goddaughter coming into my life. We also bought a boat and went to the lake all the time.
Summer came and we hosted a family reunion for 150 people and had a blast! My mom went to bartending school while I had to figure out what my life and my job looked like without her office being across from mine. I got to move my best friend down from Boston and took our best road trip yet together. We went to a Canada, Detroit, & Chicago and ate Poutine, Beaver Tails, and Chicago Style pizza.
I got another tattoo with my best friend, outing icing in my hair to make a donut for crazy hair day, and spent many evenings with my friends longboarding then hanging with my mom at the bar. I went to training camp, tried crickets for the first time, and meet the people I would be doing life with this upcoming year. Did lots of “camping” shopping, cried lots of tears, and said goodbye to my family, friends, and America for a year.
Jumped on an airplane with 60 other crazy people, flew to India, and let God completely break my heart. Learned how to love God, myself, and Chi tea really well. Became surrounded by an incredible group of 7 woman who love and challenge me, but are the biggest weirdos I know. Flew to Nepal, did manual labor on a Yak Ranch, froze my toes off while eating cold grilled cheese and Dahlbot, and learned what it felt like to be Moses climbing up a mountain to talk with God. Spent Thanksgiving with some new family members who literally flew with 60lbs of turkey from America to Nepal for us. Then road on some very bumpy bus rides back to Kathmandu and accidentally ran into the person who actually told me God was calling me to do the World Race. Went with my sisters to the original cafe where I first meet World races a year and a half earlier now as a racer. Then we flew to Vietnam, feel absolutely in love with our host, students, and life on the beach! Saw dragon bridges breath fire, went flying down a mountain on the back of a moto that was out of gas, and jumped into the oceans with my sister in typhoon sized waves to commit to a new way of living with God. Celebrated Christmas with Santa waking us up in the morning, a delicious turkey lunch, and the perfect gift of a beautiful journal and paints. I brought in the New Year on a rooftop in Saigon, painting, star gazing, and talking with an incredible friend all night about astounding our Heavenly Father is. Here I am in Cambodia with one of my favorite ministry’s yet. We are working with young street kids and living with a host family with a pregnant wife and two young children.
Looking back at the year that I have had, I started asking what else do I really want from life? I know this past year has been absolutely incredible… and start to wonder if this is really as good as it can get. But I believe that is a lie from the enemy to try and get me to shrink back. I serve a BIG GOD who says He wants to give me a life bigger and better than I can ask, think, hope, or dream! I know the best is still yet to come. So here is to a year of dreaming big and making my life the life that I have always dreamed of.
Dreams of 2017:
– Dye my hair purple (check- HBD to me)
– Become fully funded by the end of my Birthday
– Learn how to surf and surf in South Africa
– Daily spend time with my incredible Heavenly Father both praying to him and worshiping him
– Finish reading the entire bible
– Pray for someone to be raise from the dead
– Live in the amazon rainforest for a month
– Learn to love my team well and operate in complete harmony
– Learn how to play the drums
– Learn how to really distinguish the voice of the Holy Spirit from the thought that just go through my head
– Get in shape
– Try any new food that a trusted local offers me
– Dream bigger dreams
– Read at least 2 books every month
– And ultimately start living a life that without Jesus showing up in it would leave me lying flat on my face
My goals may seem a little crazy to you… but as Lisa Bevere said in her book Without Rival “We are not ALL we were made to be IF everything in our lives and churches can be explained apart from the work and presence of the Spirit of God.”
