aaah – the much anticipated bio. i’ve been pondering what in the world would strike me as important for sharing a l’il bit about me with, well, the world, ever since i first started reading everyone
else’s bios months ago. needless to say, i haven’t come up with anything impressive, but hey…we’ve got a year to perfect it 😉
for starters…i am relatively tall. i adore my menace of a pug, blackjack. i love
love
love kids. i like all kinds of music…however my default radio station is country, and 9 times out of 10 you’ll find a mix cd in my stereo (with anything from ryan adams to harry connick, jr and everything in between). i’m a die-hard twins fan. my “impossible-turned-possible” for the world is showing children they are loved. my favorite color is blue. i love to cook. if i could wear flip-flops every day of my life, i would. i love doing artsy stuff. i am utterly in awe of nature…fittingly spring is my favorite season. i am a minnesotan (oh yeah, you betcha) thru and thru with a heart for the world.
although my family stretches from coast to coast, i grew up in the twin cities surrounded by the most loving, supportive family…mom, sister, grandma, uncles, aunts, cousins…a special extended family, and friends. i couldn’t have been luckier. they all even supported me (and one particularly cool friend joined me) when i – a quiet, family-centered midwest girl with an inexplicable desire to stretch myself – got the crazy idea to go to college on the east coast. it was one of the most challenging experiences i had ever taken on and, as such experiences typically do, it absolutely shaped me. moving out east not only developed my character…it also introduced me to the rest of my family – acquaintances and roommates who grew to be friends and then family.
it was during this time of growing, falling and getting back up again that i encountered two life lessons that would ultimately prove to be life-changing. through the trials of “finding myself,” my faith was tested. where would i lean when i felt like there was no one around? who would i turn to? what was at my core? it was at about this time that a friend came along that introduced me to his friend, Jesus. not the one that people numbly prayed at or sat under in their “sunday best” or wore around their neck all shiny and new. no, his Friend was much different; He was a
friend. Jesus was someone to walk with and share life with. in His eyes, it was just as awesome to celebrate with and praise Him as it was to make mistakes, be vulnerable, be weak in front of Him.
for a few years i struggled with how to get to know “that” Jesus…i felt like i didn’t know where to start. uh…duh, heather! haha anyway, long story short, i finally got my act together, and the rest is history…along with a move back home to minnesota two years ago. it was a super tough decision – i had a fun, exciting job and a wonderful crew of family-friends – but in the end, God was leading me home. later i would realize that the move was the first of many lessons in letting go.
over the past few years, God has continued to show me that although my plans may sound cool, His are waaaaay cooler. i just have to let go which is a task that, for me, is easier said than done. He is patient with me, though, and each time i let go, he unveils a stepping stone in His plan for me that i could have never imagined. where does the world race fit into His plan, you ask? i’m not sure, but the answer is a secret i’m willing to hold out for. i always had it in the back of my head that i’d like to live overseas at some point (visions of living in europe for a few years or even raising a family there), but the hows, whens, whys, and wheres didn’t seem to match up, so i never pursued the idea. more recently, i have felt strongly that i need to re-focus on my heart for medicine so that i may be able to pursue international mission work in the future.
will i end up doing any of these things? i don’t know. what i do know is that i am overwhelmingly excited about what this next year has in store for us. for new growth…for new family…for a new heart for the world. when i learned about the world race, i felt an immediate “this is it!” in my heart…followed by a flood of irrational questions. however this time when the hows, whens, whys and wheres persisted…any response fell infinitely short compared to the experience of serving and loving the way Jesus did…one aching soul at a time.
