BECAUSE LOVE MOVED FIRST- This phrase means everything to me.
Let me introduce myself, I’m Kodie. I’m a 22-year-old soon-to-be college graduate with a degree in Agriculture Communication. Translation- I love cows, and farms, and food. I lived in Willcox, Arizona for 18 years before moving to Tucson, Arizona for a year, then to San Angelo, Texas where I live now. I love to cook and bake, although I’m not great at either. I like to think that I like to workout….I’ll just leave that at that. I get really offended when people don’t like avocados (I don’t actually get offended, but I really don’t understand how someone would not like them!)
Anyway- I have grown up with a strong desire for adventure. I remember sitting in my second-grade social studies class learning about cultures from around the world and just being so fascinated by how differently people lived and wanting to experience that “someday”. Little did I know, that this was cultivation in my heart, preparing me for “someday”. As I got older this desire became stronger, but I believed it was selfish and pushed it away. Now, I know that this desire was getting stronger to pull me closer to the plan that was for me. From that first social studies class in second-grade, there was a pull on my heart from God. He really does give us the desire of our hearts.
The thought of the World Race is exhilarating to me; new places, new faces, new experiences, shifts in priorities. I’m a 7 on the Enneagram if that explains anything. The thought that God did all of this ON PURPOSE that I was wired this way ON PURPOSE makes me so, so grateful. So grateful that I get to do this. So grateful to know that it’s NOT selfish, it honors HIM and who HE made me.
I know I’m going to know Him better through all of this. To experience how BIG He is and how He works individually with His people getting on their level meeting their needs. What a cool dude God is.
Back to how I started all this -BECAUSE LOVE MOVED FIRST. God is love. He moved first. I believed for so long that I had to pursue and chase after Him, that if I didn’t seek Him, He would not find me. What a lie! God pursued me. He made the move. He made the effort. He revealed Himself. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I’m doing this. He moved, I will follow. He will continue to move, and I will continue to follow. Specifically, I will follow to South Africa, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ethiopia, Nepal, South Asia, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
I’m STOKED. Thank you all for being stoked with me, and for me. Thank you for your support. Thank you for believing and honoring that love moved first.
