I was born and raised in the backwoods of Southeast Texas. I grew up on a small family farm with horses, goats, and chickens. From a young age, I knew I was called to go into the mission field. I had no idea when or how that would ever happen. When I was 13 years old, I heard of the World Race at church camp and was immediately drawn to it. I wanted to be a part of such a wonderful journey so badly. However, it didn’t fit into the box that I thought I was supposed to fill.
Adventures like that are great, but not meant for me.
I was supposed to go to college, then get a master’s degree, then start a career, and achieve success. Nowhere in that plan was there any room for leaving everything behind and following the Lord. So, I squished down that draw I felt in my heart and covered it with busywork.
I became an overachiever. I attended Sam Houston State University where I graduated Magna Cum Laude with my Bachelor’s in Animal Science. The following year I started working on my master’s degree at The University of Houston-Downtown. During graduate school I was experiencing a lot of inner turmoil. I was doing what I thought I was supposed to do. I had no idea how to make that change that I so desperately wanted and needed.
Sometimes tragedy forces us to look again at those deep needs. In late August of 2017, Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas coast. This was by far the most life changing, eye-opening event of my life. I lost everything, my home, all my possessions, clothes, my truck, literally everything was gone. I had my dog and the clothes I was wearing. While this was the most devastating moment of my life… it was also the most liberating. I could start over. Do anything and be anything that I wanted. If I ever wanted to go on this trip, now was the time to get ready.
The timing was almost perfect. My best friend lived in Kansas City. Her roommate was getting married and moving out at the same time I needed to move in. Without a care in the world, I moved to Kansas City. About a month later I was hired to work at Spring Venture Group as a Sales Agent. I am an introvert. I’ve worked with livestock my entire life, and don’t like to make people angry or hear myself talk. Now I sell things for a living. At the time I had no idea how this would play into my life. Now I know. Through sales I have learned so many things about people and how important communication is in our world. Losing everything, moving away from everything I knew, and learning to communicate have all been leading me up to this point. It’s been almost ten years since I first learned of the World Race. Now it’s time for me to answer the Lord’s call on my life.
It’s time to go do the thing.
