Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

| by archiveworldraceblogs

 
Well, my name is Heather…I’m 23 years old, currently living with my parents in Brentwood, TN, finishing my master’s degree, and working as a manager at an awesome restaurant…

 (Visiting family in Nebraska…I mean who wouldn’t want to climb on a tank??)

 I lived in southern Indiana for 8 years and then my family moved to Brentwood, TN where I’ve lived the majority of my life.  

This is my family at my sister’s wedding in August of 2008.  As crazy as my family is, I love spending time with them. 

I moved to Chattanooga, TN for college in the fall of 2005 and graduated from the University of TN at Chattanooga with my Bachelors of Social Work in May of ’09.  I had looked into going back to Uganda or going on The World Race last summer, but instead I applied for graduate school.  I knew that if I didn’t go on and get my master’s degree I probably wouldn’t go back…mainly because I’m sick of school!  So despite wanting to go overseas, I started graduate school last June.  It was a hard transition to move back to the town I grew up in and more specifically to move back in with my parents.  So, over the past year I have been interning with an agency called Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee (which has definitely been an adventure in and of itself), taking classes, and working…all keeping me very busy! 

I was especially happy to find a new home church last fall.  See, long story short…I wasn’t a Christian in high school and didn’t have a church when I first moved back.  I grew up going to church and was really involved in many aspects of my church up until high school.  I had a relationship with God and I loved Him, but about a year into high school everything went downhill.  As much as I did enjoy my high school experience, I also had a lot going on that I didn’t talk about.  I wasn’t happy and had many struggles in my personal life.  I still went to church for a short while in high school, but I saw so much hypocrisy that I didn’t want to be a part of it any more.  I was so wrapped up in my life that I failed to see how God was helping me through it all, even though I had turned my back on Him. 

(Spending time with some of my favorite children in Uganda!)
 
Fast forward a few hard years and I went to college seeking God.  I knew that He existed and I wanted to find out who He really is.  Thankfully, I got involved at the Baptist Collegiate Ministry on campus my first semester at college and that decision changed my life.  Through the women’s bible study and weekly worship I finally learned who God is and that even through all of my mistakes He still loves me…since then my faith has just continued to grow and my relationship with God has become stronger that I ever imagined.  If someone had told me back in high school that I would change so much in 5 years, well I would have laughed and gone on my way. God has changed the desires of my heart and has instilled a passion in me to minister internationally.  Specifically, I love children, orphans, and all things adoption! (You all will hear much more about this, I’m sure!)  Through a 10-day trip to Thailand, God changed my mindset…through a summer in Uganda, God changed my heart and how I love…I would be lying if I said I wasn’t just a little afraid and yet incredibly excited to see how God wants to change me over the course of the year on this trip!