Hello readers!!
To get this shindig started I’ll start with the simplest thing, my name. My name is Jessie Dotson,(and yes my dad does love Rick Springfield), and I am 21 years young! I am from this weird little touristy town that looks a bit like Germany, called Helen, Georgia. My parents are both teachers as well as high school coaches, and my older brother is currently studying to work in the police force. At this moment in time I am finishing my senior year at Charleston Southern University in marvelous Charleston, South Carolina. My major is communications with a minor in English. I am also a member of the cross-country and track team at the university.
As I blog more I will reveal more about who I am, and what God is doing in my life, but for now I will start with the basics. God has blessed me with a loving, supportive, Christian family who have made me who I am today. My mother and grandmothers have taught me how to love selflessly, and to follow my dreams but to always make sure God is in that dream. My father and grandfathers have shaped my bold and fearless heart. I am also blessed with friends who love me for who I am, and support me through life. My family and friends are incredibly important to me, and I thank God for all he has taught me through them.
God has also blessed me with a wide range of interests. Though I enjoy running competitively, in college I have found other things I love more such as theatre and art. I love being creative and thinking outside of the box, normal things tend to bore me. When it comes to movies, and books I always prefer the classics. My favorite movie is Gone With The Wind, and my favorite book is Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. One thing I absolutely cannot go a day without is music. I love a lot of artists but my favorites include, Frank Sinatra, John Legend, Ascend the Hill, All Sons & Daughters, Rend Collective Experiment, Wale, Childish Gambino, and Michael Jackson. I am also an avid baker.
Another thing about me is my Myers/Briggs which is, ENFP(if you know me you know how perfect that is). My top two spiritual gifts are mercy, exhortation. I have been told I care too much, I am a dreamer, and that my percentage of crying is way above the average human being. While all these things could be taken negatively I find them as compliments. God has given me a heart to want to change the world, or at least make an impact on one person’s life. If I wasn’t those things I wouldn’t want to do the World Race. God has given me a heart for his people and a desire to reach as many of them. I would love to teach English overseas or be a full time missionary.
Though I grew up in a Christian home, I did not get saved until my sophomore year of college. I joined a club called Campus Outreach where I met true Christians for the first time. The most special one was my friend Hannah. She pushed me, taught me, and loved me through some hard times. God only put her in my life for a short time, but I accepted Christ on November 5th, 2013 because of the love God put in her heart. Unfortunately, I had a set back that same year and I lost myself for about a year. I went back to the ways of my past and tried to convince myself I wasn’t worthy of God’s love. He never let me go. After months of heartache, in February of 2015 I finally came back to God. I ran from God because I didn’t trust Him and I didn’t believe in His love for me. Now I know those things. God is constantly teaching me how to trust, how to love, and to see my worth. He is teaching me all of this through his scripture, and with the love from parents, school pastor, my mentor, many friends(you know who you are). The biggest thing through my whole story has been hope. When I first cried out for help, multiple people told me my story was one full of hope like Peter, and one day I would tell my story to bring hope to others. Since then, I have found a necklace in my room with the word hope on it, people have sent me verses that all consisted of hope, I made a great friend whose name is the same as the apostle of hope, and I even became a volunteer at a horse farm called Hope Acres. God has blessed me with a never ending hope despite my past.
Because of this hope, I decided to do the World Race. When I was running from God I had no hope. My one and only dream in life has been to travel the world, and I saw no hope of that becoming true. But coming back to God, and because he loves me so much he is now making my dream come true. God gives us exactly what we desire, if we believe he can. However, now my dream is not only to travel but to tell the gospel. My hope through this race is I get the answer if God wants me to be an overseas missionary, and if so where he wants me to go. I ask for all of you to pray for me to grow a incredible faith in God, peace that He will provide the funds for me to go, and strength to finish the race God has put before me.
You stay classy readers,
J.Dot
