Hello everyone!
Welcome to my World Race blog! Thank you for stopping by and seeing what this World Race stuff is all about. First, let me tell you a little bit about myself.
I am Niki Ables, I am 21 years old, and I am from Soddy Daisy, Tennessee. I have spent the last few years at Tennessee Technological University getting my degree in Early Childhood Education. Yes, this means that I am all about developmentally appropriate practices for children under the age of 10 and love glitter. Some other things I love would be tea, sweet tea, that moment when I actually teach a child something that they didn’t know before, my fur baby Bella, my family, my friends, movies, books, the South, music, and JESUS!
You may be wondering how I got here. I mean an 11 month mission trip doesn’t just fall into someone’s lap usually. Well for me it kind of did…
Missions has always had a special place in my heart. I remember as a child hearing from a missionary from my church who was doing work in Africa somewhere. I remember thinking how amazing that sounded and how one day I wanted to do that. My dream finally came true when I was 16, and I went on a weeklong mission trip to Honduras. It was so amazing and life changing. Since then the Lord has put a desire in my heart to GO and share everywhere I am, whether that be around a college campus, New York City, or in a small town in Tennessee.
I have never felt like I was a “real” missionary. Missionaries are the people who drop everything they have and go live in a third world country and build churches out of clay…right? Well I thought this way until I recently heard a message at church. My pastor was teaching a new study over missions and the message on that particular week was all about how we are lying to ourselves if we feel like we are not missionaries or that we are not all called to missions because we are all commanded to share God’s word no matter where we are. I have been a missionary the while time I just didn’t know it.
My World Race journey has been a bit of a rollercoaster, but here we are. It started with accidentally stumbling upon a blog looking for a study abroad trip, which lead me to here. Now, I am going on the World Race in August 2017! It is hard to wrap my head around that. I am really going to be following God around the world doing exactly what I have always wanted to do. I am so excited to see what God has planned for me in this next adventure.
Thanks for stopping by and learning a little bit about me! I am so thankful that you are here for the ride.
With love,
Niki
