I am 26 years old, currently living and working in Chattanooga,
Tennessee.
I was born here, raised all over the place and am now back… ready to
head out again!
Every since I left the U.S.
for the first time 2001 for a mission trip to London
I have taken (and made) every opportunity to leave this country to explore and
experience the world. In my opinion, the
wilder, more extreme, and remote the better!
I discovered one of my most favorite places on earth last July – deep in
the jungle of southeastern Ecuador.
younger sisters, who miraculously now all live in Chattanooga
for the first time in about eight years.
My sister Melissa had a friend who had recently returned from a World
Race and that is how I originally heard about and got involved with this
program. She spent 2008 doing missions
in Peru and is
currently pursuing a long term mission opportunity. My youngest sister Lauren is married to her
wild and very talented husband Ryan who leads worship at our church. She is a nurse at a hospital in town and is
working towards starting a higher medical degree. My parents are both in real-estate and my
father is the campus minister for one of the campuses of our church. They both stay very busy and have added one
more task: helping me in many ways to get ready for this wild journey!
A couple of quick random things about me:
– I currently work in the insurance business.
– I have a passion for food – good food and lots of it!
– To say that I enjoy coffee and tea is a massive
understatement!
– Currently I
am working on selling my house… the biggest giant that still stands in the way
of this journey. Please pray for me,
that this happens!
– I enjoy anything outdoors: hiking, camping, running,
cycling, etc…
– I am very
excited about going to Asia which is the only continent
I have not stepped foot in (minus Antarctica).
– Reading
is also a passion of mine. Currently I
am reading: “Walking with God” by John Eldredge, “A Short History of the World”
by John Morris Roberts, and currently doing a read through the Bible in one
year program.
– Lastly –
deconstructing my life, selling my biggest assets, giving most of my
possessions away, losing my steady paycheck, trading in my house for a tent, my
closet for a backpack, my cush life for hardship, leaving the top 10%
wealthiest population and lifestyle to live with the bottom 10% population of
the world, and living completely on faith that I will live or eat, or do
anything has never been so exciting!!
Truthfully I didn’t know I’d ever really be going on
a long term mission trip. I knew that I
had a great desire to leave behind the normal and pursue a great adventure of
some kind. After years of trying to
figure out how, I finally let go of my dream and turned it over to God to tell
me why I had this desire, and what He had planned for me. Less than two weeks later He provided this
opportunity, but there was just one issue; I felt you needed to have a clear
calling and know without a doubt that you were called to missions. Although this is true, there was one thing I
was missing: I had to be the one to take the first step and ask! I did so and the clarity of calling was given
to me.
