When I gave my life to Jesus I promised Him two things. One, that I would live the rest of my life 100 percent devoted to serving Him, and two, that I would put off all the things of the world and my flesh in order to live for Him.
All through high school, I always knew I wanted to be a musical worship leader, and I also wanted to study the Bible. This was evident as I developed more and more of a passion for Christ, His church, His word, and musical worship. As high school carried on and I found myself asking, “What am I gonna do with the rest of my life?” I came to the conclusion that most high-schoolers with decent grades and parents willing to help with debt would conclude, college. I decided that I would go to whatever school the Lord would lead me to and study biblical studies and worship studies. So in the beginning of my senior year I applied to all the schools that seemed appealing to me. I applied to many higher private Christian schools, and to my surprise, I got into all seven I applied to. I was ecstatic! While this seems swell and dandy from the outside, there was a deeper, fleshly temptation for the real reason I wanted to go to college. For as long as I could remember, I always loved anything and everything to do with the ‘Southern American’ culture. You know, country music, football players, cheerleaders, whole town in the same church, fishing and hunting, rodeos, trucks, and so on. I was in love with it. So naturally, I had a dream to live there, so all those schools I applied to, yeah… almost everyone of them was either in Texas or Oklahoma. I was almost certain that I was going to go there, but as usual, God had a different plan and a better plan. As I began to explore the idea of college with my spiritual leaders and my music pastors, they introduced me to maybe saying goodbye to each one of those fleshly desires and following what God had for me entirely. At first I said no, no, no! Are you kidding me? This was my dream! But I prayed about it. And prayed about it more. I dug into The Word and kept finding answers to my question… but they were the wrong answers, to me. Until one night, after reading the story of prodigal son, seeing how he had all the wealth, all the fleshly things possible, and it ruined him, I prayed and asked God to reveal to me any part of my life that is fleshly and help to me change.
After this, things kept lining up for me to not go to college. My music pastor told me that they would offer me a job being a music intern and working me up from there (My dream job!) He also told me that the church is willing to pay for an online worship course so I could learn the in’s and out’s of musical worship leading. On top of this, an older musician in the church asked me to join a band and write music with him. There was still one thing though. I knew I wanted to get world experience, but I also knew that college at this point was a no-go. My passion for missions grew everyday and I knew that serving in my local church body wouldn’t make that passion go away. I saw foster kids struggling, high school kids digging holes for themselves, and people who simply didn’t know Jesus. I knew I needed to go and mission. And so I was lead here. World race semesters. The minute I saw this I knew it would be perfect. As I presented the idea to my parents, music pastors, and leaders I got nothing but support and love for the idea. I decided to ultimately put away anything that my flesh desired and fulfill exactly what God called me to do. I am so thankful for this opportunity and the opportunities my church has offered me. God is so trustworthy and truly knows exactly what is right for you. I am in awe of His continuous persistence on our hearts to look more like His son. Thank you God for calling me into the Great commission on a global scale!
“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10
