Y’all, last weekend I g r a d u a t e d c o l l e g e.
I’m sorry, but how is that possible?
Although I had my fair share of ups and downs at TCU,
[many crying phone calls home my freshman year begging to transfer to BIOLA,]
I am obsessed with the horned frogs now. With Fort Worth. With my community. My mentor. My friends. My absolutely comfortable life loving Jesus and everything inbetween.
My college experience brought me to the Lord. I had these huge dreams of a typical “college experience” I saw in the movies, and the Lord gave me the exact opposite.
AND PRAISE HIM FOR THAT.
Instead, he gave me Him. Everything I could ever want and more.
He made me His beloved.
It was a rough realization. One semester in Ireland and another in South Africa taught me exactly what it was like to ONLY HAVE HIM, and having Him is enough.
My senior year was split in South Africa and Fort Worth, and for a while I thought I was called to stay in Fort Worth. South Africa was difficult spiritually and I found myself missing my community in the Fort and missing comfort, to be honest. I tried to convince myself I was being “called” to stay in Fort Worth after graduation, because that was the easy choice for me. I was feeling drained and scared for my future, so I listened to my own wants instead of Gods.
SURPRISE! God had other plans. And here I am, preparing for the World Race and preparing to be pushed out of my comfort zone more than I had ever imagined possible.
But see, I’ve been having some post grad blues.
Most of my friends are younger, and therefore still in college and will all be staying in Fort Worth. They will continue their lives without me, grow in their faith together, and I’m envious of it. I want to be a part of it. I want to watch them grow, I want to challenge them and love them and all of the above.
But that’s not my job. That’s all God. & God has told me to go somewhere else.
Well, He’s told me to go to 12 different places.
From California [for 6 months of living at home] to…
PERU
BOLIVIA
CHILE
INDIA
NEPAL
MALAYSIA
THAILAND
CAMBODIA
VIETNAM
MALAWI
ZAMBIA
& In each country, there are hundreds of thousands of people who don’t know Christ.
Today, God reminded me of these people and why I’m needed there.
At church, I saw a sign for a “Sharing the Gospel to Your Muslims Friends” luncheon. It happened to be today. I studied Islam a great deal in South Africa at the University of Cape Town, but my experience with actual humans is limited. My heart was automatically drawn to this sign, and I decided to show up on a whim.
And of course, God rocked my world.
A beautiful woman from Kuwait named Sophia shared her testimony of how God redeemed her.
She showed up in a full burkha, with only her eyes showing, and then mid way through her talk she shed her veil representing how we come to Christ with unveiled faces.
Let’s just say the tears were flowing.
I’ll spare the details of the three hour seminar, but what I do want to say is that God completely opened my heart to the Muslim world. I mean, I want to go hug every Muslim on earth right now and tell them how much Jesus loves them. (I mean I want to hug everyone on earth and tell them about Jesus no matter who they are, but God is really putting Muslim women on my heart right now. You know what I mean!)
These are broken people, searching desperately for the love of God, and trying so hard to earn their salvation.
But they don’t need to! They have an unconditional love offered to them by Jesus, and I am so so so FREAKIN STOKED to get to tell them about it. Praise God. Amen. Amen Amen AMEN!
My heart is so full right now for the Muslim people, and I cannot believe that this time next year I will be getting to live all these sentiments in the flesh. These conversations will be hard, but it only comes down to one thing – Jesus. It doesn’t have to be some big theological discussion, it just has to start with the heart of the matter. All Jesus, only Jesus.
Today was a big day of conviction for me. I was wholeheartedly reminded that I am on God’s righteous path, and I am going where He wants me to go. My post grad blues are the enemy telling me otherwise, but I have a hope stronger than that. My hope in the Lord is guiding me through “the great abyss” of post grad life, and He’s guiding me step by step and moment to moment. His plans for me are bigger than I can imagine. My conviction has gently told me to SHUT UP. Let go, and let God.
With that, I want to end with two quotes that really hit me today.
“Preach the gospel at all times. When necessary- use words.”
~ Francis of Assisi
I just love this. Our actions show the love of Christ, no matter where we are. Love is the universal language. Share Christ by loving like Christ loved. It’s that simple.
“God is looking for people through whom he can do the impossible – what a pity that we plan only the things that we can do by ourselves.”
~ A.W. Tozer
I want to be His vessel to do the impossible. Sign me up. Anything I can do on my own is not worth it. I can do everything in Christ who strengthens me. The impossible be damned! God is bigger than that, and want to [ I AM ] be willing to go where he wants me to go.
Please keep me in your prayers as I begin to fundraise with support letters and financial donations.
Also, I would love for you to be a part of my support team. Send me your address if you would like to receive a support letter! My prayer team is just as important, and I would love your e-mail address if you would like to be a part of my prayer warriors!
Praising God for each of you that take time to stay updated on my journey and what God has been doing in my life! xxo
