What is this life?
The people and places that God has brought me over the past 10 years is incredible,
and it is all because of the faithful obedience of a few serving in the ministry of Young Life in the small town of Leadville, Colorado.
Castaway Club, Leadville YL (2005)
In high school, I began attending YL — and it began to transform my life.
The faithful YL leaders, and specifically, Amy,
began loving me.
They began pouring the life of Jesus into my life.
Amy, shared her life with my life.
She invited me along side her as she pursued Jesus with all that she had.
She showed me what it meant to live life,
and it was life abundant.
It was through Young Life that I began to understand what a relationship with Christ meant.
I discovered I was intimately loved by the Creator of the Universe.
And that my life, actually, had significance and a purpose.
YL Senior Girl Retreat (Emily, Randi, Amy [YL leader], and me)
I saw Christ through Young Life.
I experience Him, through the loving embrace of YL's faithful leaders.
Whether it was through the battle of the bands,
or a late night eating cooking dough, yoga and playing catch phrase.
Jesus was made manifest through this ministry,
their faithful obedience,
changed my life for eternity.
And not only did it change my life,
but God has been taking me on a roller coaster of adventures since then.
It was in college that I discovered I wanted to give back to what, specifically, Amy gave to me.
She gave me the gift of Christ,
and that is what I wanted to give to others.
God, somehow began to entrust me with my own youth.
Through Young Life and through a ministry called The Rock Youth Center.
My first group of girls I took to Castaway, Bozeman YL (2009)
Second Group, Washington Family Ranch, Bozeman YL (2010)
Bozeman HIgh School "ladies retreat", (Spring 2011)
God used Amy to transform my life for His Kingdom,
so that I could know His incredible love for me.
So that I could know my identity as a beloved daughter of the King.
But also, so that I could pass that love on to others.
And, because of the seed that was planted 10 years ago through Lake County Young Life —
I am now on an adventure as a missionary traveling to 11 different countries in 11 months.
This is my life now :
Guatemala (September 2012)
Honduras (October 2012)
Nicaragua (November 2012)
The Philippines (December 2012)
God's love for me is so huge,
that He would send me to :
Guatemala,
Honduras,
Nicaragua,
The Philippines,
Thailand,
Malaysia,
Cambodia,
Australia,
Kenya,
Uganda
and Rwanda
so that others might be able to experience the love that He has first given me.
I feel so inadequate to share His love,
yet, He has called me.
Just as He first called Amy to share His love with
me.
And because of her faithful obedience to her first love,
I am traveling the world serving the least of these in the name of Jesus Christ.
It doesn't matter that I have no money in my bank account,
that I don't have a comfy bed,
or that the bathroom is infested with rats and giant spiders.
It doesn't matter because someone showed me that Christ was worth it when I was in high school.
It doesn't matter because He matters.
And these people matter to Him.
They deserve to experience just a glimpse of the love that I have experienced.
If it wasn't for Young Life, and the faithful servants of Jesus Christ,
I would still be living for the things of this world.
I am thankful for Young Life.
But most of all, I am thankful for the salvation that I have through my Lord and Saviour,
Jesus Christ.
"From everyone who has been given much, much will be required. And the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."
Luke 12:48
