As a kid I was always a little different. For example, I wrote a letter to the president asking him to stop killing the rain forest because God created it and it was beautiful. Also because trees make oxygen, and I was certain that if the rain forest was gone it would kill us all! I was also consumed with the thought of money as a child. I even made a “deli” in my room and sold the things from my kitchen. Then as I got a little older that feeling of greed went away, and it was replaced with disgust. I could not believe how people based their life around money and how it ruled the world. Around the same time I would watch movies and see people jumping on trains, hitch hiking, and traveling the world with only a backpack. They lived life in constant adventure. I remember thinking, “Wow, these people have life figured out. They have no money, and they’re happy!” I always wanted to live out of a backpack, but I never thought it was possible because this is the “real world.” I have to grow up, go to college, get married, have a house, and die in Midland. That’s what people did, and that’s what I was going to do. There is no such thing as living a worry free life, so I just tucked my little hippie spirit away.
Now as an adult making good money and having a few week’s vacation I started looking up beautiful places to go. Woah, woah, woah, let’s not get too crazy. I was only looking at places in America. The furthest I looked to travel was Canada, because I could drive there. Alberta Canada was my dream! Only it wasn’t. It wasn’t my dream at all. My dream was to travel the world and to have adventures. I was dreaming small, dreaming safe. After some time and bad decisions I found myself far from God. Then, I remembered His dream for me. He told me years ago that I would be in ministry, so I went to Youth With A Mission. My world turned upside down for the better. A year later I found myself on a ferry in the Mediterranean Sea going from Greece to Turkey. Then I heard God say, “Look at where I’ve taken you.” It was almost like He was trying to surprise me. My eyes got really big, “OH MY GOSH! I’M GOING TO TURKEY RIGHT NOW! I LIVE ON A BOAT! I’VE BEEN TO CHINA! AND IT WAS ON DONATIONS!” I forgot about my dream, my real dream: to save the world as I traveled it, but God didn’t forget. God knew the desire of my heart, and He knew that I would follow Him. So God in all His goodness combined my dreams with His dreams. And now I get to go on Adventures in Missions.
