It’s a perfectly legitimate question. What makes me live the way I do? Why have I decided to live life so different than other people my age? It’s a question I’ve been asked many times. It’s a question I’ve even asked myself. I think the simple answer is that it’s what brings me joy, it’s what I’m passionate, and it’s what I was created to do.
It’s not what I always thought I’d be doing. At one point I had wanted to go to culinary school and become a chef. Go down the road a little bit and I found myself wanting to join the Marines. I had even talked to a recruiter at one point to figure out the best route for me. Well long story short, He made it clear that it wasn’t the path he was leading me down.
Since then, He has been taking me on a journey I never could have imagined on my own. It’s been one that has challenged and stretched me, but has left me stronger on the other side. I have discovered my strengths and weaknesses; I have found my identity, and my worth. I have discovered passions and desires I never knew I had before.
So why do I do what I do? Because I can no longer sit back and do nothing, while the unacceptable realities of the world continue. I can’t sit back and watch while women sell themselves to put food on the table for their children. I can’t sit back while people die of preventable disease, dehydration, and starvation all because no one is willing to do anything about it. I can’t stand on the sidelines while families are ripped apart, and the children taken to become child soldiers. I can no longer sit back and do nothing, it’s not okay.
That’s why I do what I do. It’s because God has put that passion inside of me, that I do what I do. I won’t always be living in comfortable conditions. There will be days when I want nothing more than to go home, and that’s okay. But this is where I find my joy, being in the place and season where God has called me, even if it’s not the easiest place for me to be. This is what I was created to do, and I'm loving every minute of it!
