Hello All!!
I always thought that missionaries were radical, and that I could never be one. I thought that people who traveled all around the world with no place to call home were crazy. I would say to myself, "I'm glad someone is doing it, but I'm not strong enough for that"… I had no idea what I was saying.
It's funny how God takes our fears and weaknesses and turns them into desires and passions. He does this so that we HAVE to give Him all the glory when we accomplish something huge. Ya see, I am a homebody and don't handle change very well: That is my nature. I am a picky eater, get extremely homesick, struggle with being out of my comfort zone, HATE trying to learn other languages, miss my family, and I am a worry wart. My human nature says that all the odds are against me and I am destined to stay in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and settle down.
However, God has other plans. While my human nature is more than lacking the tools I need to be successful as a missionary, my spiritual nature wins the battle. I have a heart for the lost, I am empathetic of other people's feelings (almost to a fault), I want to see people happy and complete, I long for people to know my Best Friend Jesus, and I want to please God. God has given me this heart, and in the areas that I am weak and lacking, Jesus makes up for. He tells me to cast my burdens and fears on Him and He will make my ministry successful if I go in His name.
It all started in the summer of 2009, when I went to Turkey and served for 6 and a half weeks. I include the half of a week for a reason. That's because it felt like a lifetime…. I hated it. I was homesick, hated the food, was spiritually attacked, couldn't sleep, and wondered what in the world I was doing there. It took me almost eight months to recover from that trip, and I told God I couldn't do that ever again if that was what it was going to be like. God graciously told me to not think about the future, but to focus on healing my heart. So, that's what I did.
At the end of the eight months, I woke up one morning and the Holy Spirit layed it on my heart to look up summer missions trips. I thought to myself, "What am I doing?", but kept searching anyways. I found out that my team from Turkey was going back again and I wonderend if that was the trip I should go on…. My stomach dropped. I told God I didn't want to go, but would, if he wanted me to. I then asked for a sign. It was this: If I am supposed to go back, prompt my leader from the trip last year to contact me via phone and ask me to go again and student lead. A week goes by, and no phone call. I start to get happy. Then, on day seven, my uncle calls me and asks me to go to China. I immediatly accepted because God had answered my prayer and had given me a sign. He called me back to the nations, and honored my request.. He did not send me back to the Middle East.
China was amazing and it was there that I heard Him say that I was not supposed to accept a job following graduation, but to go out again. Which leads me to where I am now… 11 months, 11 countries, 1 mission.
God doesn't always call us to go on extreme missions overnight like He did Jonah. Some of us, like myself, who are weak in nature, need time to let the mission sink in. God is great like that… He never calls us to do something we cannot handle. He coaches, loves, heals, and prepares us for the big journeys in life… Let the journey begin. As I embark, I would like you to journey with me around the world, prayerfully and financially. Let's change the world together!
