Hello! My name is Danielle and I am so incredibly excited to share my World Race experience with you all! Here I thought I would share a few random facts so that you can get to know me better 🙂
In the spirit of #11n11, here are 11 ramblings about myself!
- I am a week away from my 24th birthday at the time of writing this, and am so excited to celebrate my 25th birthday in Thailand next August!
- I am the oldest (and shortest) of five children to my WONDERFUL mother and father. Joshua (22), Rachel (20), Zachary (17), and Sarah (16) are my best friends and it is an absolute blessing to call them my siblings. God has such amazing plans for all of them. My entire family is incredibly close-knit. We are loud, obnoxious, and tone-deaf, and we have the BEST time together. I will miss our crazy family dinners more than they know. And I guess I will miss them too…
- I have the most amazing friends and extended family a girl could as for. Their encouragement, support, and love are more than I deserve. I feel so blessed to have each and every one of them in my life. THANK YOU. I love you and I will miss you all!
- I was born and raised in a city called Peabody, a hop-skip-and-jump from Salem, MA and 20 minutes north of Boston.
- I am a “Cradle Catholic”. My family has always been very involved with the church and my home has always been centered around Christ. However, I didn’t create my own personal relationship with God until I attended my first ACTS retreat when I was 16 years old. It was a life-changing weekend where I truly felt the Lord’s Presence and took full ownership of my Faith. I thank God for the opportunity to experience this retreat because it truly did help mold me into the person I am today. To my ACTS family: I love you all so much, thank you for being such a blessing. I am going to miss you next year!
- I am a full-time nanny to a crazy, funny, loving, intelligent two-year old little girl. I have spent almost every day with her for the past 2 years, watching her go from a tiny 3-month old peanut to the amazing girl she is today. It truly has been such a blessing to witness her grow. Words cannot describe how much I will miss her while I am away. She will be almost FOUR when I get home!!
- I am also a full-time night student at Salem State University, getting my degree in Early Childhood Education! I have a very…unique college education story but I will not bore you with the details. I only have five classes left before I (FINALLY) graduate, and that day cannot come soon enough!
- I feel and see God in all of the beautiful landscapes of our world. I love to be outside and do anything that involves enjoying nature. My favorite, though, is hiking. I have been blessed to live in New England, where you can climb to the summit of a 3,500 foot mountain and put your feet in the Atlantic Ocean on the same day. Those are the times I feel closest to Christ, besides in Adoration. I am so excited to witness all of God’s beauty and feel His presence while exploring the eleven countries I will be traveling to!
- I LOVE music, especially country, contemporary Christian, Broadway, and DISNEY. I almost always have music on in the background as I do things (including right now –Matt Maher Pandora!) and when I can’t listen to it I always have a song stuck in my head. I have a habit of singing out loud, which wouldn’t be too bad if I could actually sing for the life of me. Let this be a fair warning to my future teammates!
- I am a self-professed Netflix ADDICT. I cannot tell you how many TV shows I have watched from start to finish. However, Friends, How I Met Your Mother, and One Tree Hill will always be at the top of my list (I have seen every single episode of each show at LEAST three times). I have a feeling when I am homesick I will be spending a lot of time with the characters of the Central Perk, McLaren’s Pub, and Tree Hill High.
- I am a wannabe adrenaline junkie. Before I die I want to bungee jump into a waterfall, swim with sharks, get up close and personal with a lion, and hang-glide over a mountain range. Who knows, maybe I will get the opportunity to do so in the next eleven months!
And finally, one for good luck. The most important fact about me:
I believe in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit with all of my heart and I have dedicated my life to serving Him in whichever capacity He calls me to. I believe I was put on this Earth to share His Love, which He has abundantly give me, and it is my mission to glorify Him through all of my words and actions. I give thanks to Him for every single blessing and trial in my life and I trust Him with every ounce of my being.
Again, those are just a few tidbits to know as you join me on this amazing journey with the World Race. Thank you so much for reading!
I will leave you with a few of my favorite scripture verses:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,? on your own intelligence do not rely;
In all your ways be mindful of him,? and he will make straight your paths.
–Proverbs 3:5-6
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us.
–Romans 5:1-5
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. 7 Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
–Philippians 4:6-7
And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
–Colossians 3:17
