“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” –Mary Oliver
My parents always made it a point to show my brother and me that there was more to life than our little ol’ town. That God was right in our backyard but He was also on the 3 week camping trip they once took us on around the country. Fast forward to college when my friend began a mission’s organization and asked me to join on the first trip. A month traveling through four countries in Central America. I had never been on a mission trip and had only been out of the country on a cruise. I agreed to go. I remember flying into Honduras and being so excited yet so nervous because I had no idea what to expect. Here I was, a 22 year old traveling to a foreign country without my parents and I didn’t know an ounce of Spanish despite the classes I had sat through for countless hours. Fast forward a few weeks to Costa Rica where the Lord began to tell me that He was taking me to the nations. I wasn’t sure what that meant or what that would even look like but I was excited for it (thanks Bucky for allowing me to join in on the trip! Hosannamissions.com). I came back to America, finished school and got that Social Work degree that I had worked so hard for. While wondering what this nations’ calling was going to look like I got hired at St. Clair County DHR. While this job has been crucial to my life and what the Lord wanted to teach me it has not been easy and I was much happier about life before doing it. I begged the Lord for countless hours a week to take me to the nations. To take me out of the four walls of that office. It seemed that I belted the song “Oceans” every day for months. Not because I liked the sound of my own voice but because it was my heart cry. That the Lord would take me where my trust is without borders. Don’t get me wrong, my time at DHR was not all bad but it was just not where I felt the Lord was calling me to for a long amount of time. When you feel out of the calling of God life becomes uncomfortable and almost miserable. So, fast forward a little more time to my friend, Kristin, from Auburn. She was doing this awesome thing where she was hanging out with elephants and hanging out in the coolest places on planet earth. So I started to get really nosey about her Instagram posts. I realized that she wasn’t only doing really cool stuff but she was spreading this Gospel that I so love to the nations. After doing some praying and praying and praying and more praying I talked with Kristin. She gave me some pointers, information and encouragement and let me know that she would be praying for me (Thanks Kristin for being obedient to the Lord!).
So here we are present day and a lot of praying and hesitations later I am beyond excited to say that I have accepted my acceptance on the World Race! Starting in July 2015 I will be traveling for 11 months to 11 countries to tell the nations about this Jesus that has so radically pursued me and changed my life. “What will you be doing?” you ask. Well, I am not exactly sure yet. All I know is there will probably be some orphans, widows and prostitutes among other things involved and I am beyond humbled to be part of this. I am looking forward to July with an expectancy that cries out to God with everything in me for the salvations of many along this journey. This trip is more than a trip. It’s more than the awesome adventure along the way. This trip is about showing everybody I come in contact with this love that has captured my heart. I don’t know many details of the trip yet; all I know is that I will be updating this blog as soon as I find out. I will also be updating it throughout the year with all that the Lord is doing.
Now for the fun part. As most missionaries do I have to raise my own support and funds to go on this trip. The amount looks huge and impossible but thankfully I serve the God that makes all things possible. To be fully funded when leaving in July I will have to raise a little over $16,000. While that number looks somewhat daunting I believe with my whole heart that where the Lord calls He provides. So if you have made it this far in my blog then I want to ask that you would prayerfully consider supporting me. First of all, I want to ask for your prayers more than anything. Without God in this it will fail. Without God in this the trip means absolutely nothing. Please lift my teammates and I up as we prepare over the next few months to leave everything that is comfortable behind for a year. While we are excited to go on this journey we also have some natural hesitations. Pray that the transition period will be a smooth one. Secondly, I would like to ask that you pray about supporting me financially. I do not believe that the Lord was making a suggestion in Matthew 28 when he said to “make disciples of all nations” but I do believe that there are different ways to make this happen. I think that He has called some of us to literally go and I think He has called some of us to mobilize, encourage and push others to go. Without your support this gospel will not make it to the ends of the earth. So with that being said there is a link on the side of this blog where you can make an online donation. I will also be doing loads of fundraisers and will update my blog, Facebook and Instagram with these as they happen. Thank you to everyone that has already prayed me through the first part of this journey, there are not enough words to thank you!! Don’t forget to click the “Subscribe” button so that you can be alerted when I update!!
