Hey! I’m Brittany and I am going on July 2014 route 2!!!! I am from Columbus, Ohio and I have lived here most of my life.
Growing up, I lived in a suburban house with my mom, dad, brother and sister. I went to a private Christian school in elementary school then changed to homeschooling in 7th grade and went to public school in high school.
My family and I went to church every Sunday and we were all pretty involved in our own ministries. I also did dance, girl scouts, bowling, and a few other misc. sports along the way. I was super busy as a kid (and still today to be honest).
I got baptized when I was 4, did confirmation classes in 7th grade, and held on to all the normal things that the kids my age did.
The older I got, the more I questioned EVERYTHING. I was always a curious person but I had never questioned my religion until high school. But that was also the first time I had friends who were not Christian so that may have played a small part in that.
I started to wonder why. Was I only a Christian because my parents told me to be one? Why Christianity and not any other religion? Why everything. This was when I started falling off of my path.
I made new friends at school and work and their idea of fun was different than I was used to. I started staying out late, going to parties with older people, etc.
Once I went to college, the party life was my life. Most of my friends pretty much would only call me to invite me to a party, or to rush the best sorority, or to meet a new guy to hook up with. This was my cycle. I partied so much that I ended up skipping so many classes and got kicked out of my first college for having bad grades.
This was the first time I really questioned myself. I was always known for being the smart girl and the one who got a full ride to college because of it. Just 3 semesters later, I was moving back in with my parents and not knowing where I was going.
I had gone to church camp every summer despite my questioning and my rebellion and was even a counselor during this time. The summer of 2009 was the first year I went and really felt guilty about it. Not only was I felling guilty about drinking too much, the random hook-ups, and the casual drug use, but I felt guilty because I was doing all of that with the other counselors in my age range (who I had known since I was 10).
How was I going to be a positive role model for these young kids when I was planning on going home and returning to the same life? How was I supposed to tell them to let their past go and become new when I had no plans of doing that myself?
That was the first time, campfire at camp that year, when I talked to God and actually listened to what HE had to say. I listened for advice, for direction, and for ideas on what to do going forward. I went home from camp that year with a bigger God high than I ever felt before. I moved to California that summer (right after camp actually) because that is where my family was. (they moved there inbetween my freshman and sophomore year of college).
I thought this would be a good first step to my new life. I had such a hard time feeling at home there. I had no friends, I had no social life, and I was lonely. The good thing is I became super close to my sister this year and we have been attached at the hip ever since.
I made it one year out there and decided to really spend my time focusing on God. I came back to Ohio that next summer (and so did my whole family).
I went to camp and the next weekend I went on a three day retreat weekend called Chrysalis. This changed my life. This is when I really got to know God and realized that he loved me despite my past.
Since then, I have been involved with the Chrysalis community and even was asked to serve on team a few times. This is also how I got involved in the prison ministry that I love so dearly.
I feel like God is telling me to go and share my love in new ways and that is how I stumbled upon the World Race so here I am. I am so excited and nervous and anxious to see what this next year has in store for me but I am ready to let it go and put it is His hands.
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
Matthew 28:19
