I feel like the best way to get the most out of this blog is by being 100 percent open and transparent so you can not only learn more about me but see straight up with what I have struggled with and what I have walked through and how the Lord has consistently never failed to show me He has never left me.
One thing about me is I have grown up in church, I dedicated my life to Christ when I was real little at a church revival when we lived in Hawaii. I was baptized at the North Shore in Heleiwa. I still can remember the day like it was yesterday, I wore a white bathing suit and a white skirt and then after the baptism we played and climbed on trees and swam in the ocean for the longest time then all the adults wrangled the kids and we went to lunch and had the best mahi mahi EVER. But boy have I changed since that moment. I was young and innocent and homeschooled and I had no idea what was going to happen in the next years of my life. I would never wish to go back and change anything but I wish I could go back and teach myself what I know now so I could be stronger through the struggles.
When it was time to be restationed elsewhere we came to Virginia (I will never not be slightly sad I left the most beautiful place in America for here) BUT I have grown so much stronger in my relationship with Jesus because of this place. While I was a sophomore in high school my whole life and my family’s life got flipped completely and totally upside down. I still went to church but after everything that happened with my family I was just going to support my mom, I didn’t care what the preacher had to say, I didn’t care what anyone else was doing it was all about being there for my mom and then getting out of there as quickly as possible. I struggled with that for years and only recently have I been listening to God and watching and hearing Him call for me and pull me back. I went on a mission trip one year during my time of “going through the motions” and I remember sitting in my seat and thinking “gosh I wish I could give my life over to God again and restart” I tried to talk to someone about it but the words he said to the youth group before I tried to speak rang in my head for the rest of the year he said “I hate when kids try to rededicate their lives while on a mission trip, it sucks because they are on fire this week and will probably be on fire for MAYBE two weeks after the trip and then it will be like it never happened.” Well that turned me off completely, God was trying to speak through to me and I shut it out because I knew the person who had said those words wouldn’t believe my seriousness on the subject, I let the guy win and I went back to the real world and back to my old ways. It wasn’t bothering me, like he said he knew it wouldn’t stick so I just thought whatever I just get to keep doing me. This went on for years. It wasn’t until December of last year I really realized my life had been falling apart even though on the outside looking in I’m sure everything seemed fine. I had good grades, I was in a nice college, I got to party all the time, I had some friends who seemed like real friends but inside I was longing for something more. I knew I had to change.
I logged onto twitter and saw that this girl had decorated a bible and colored in it and dissected the words into the way she was understanding them and thought “wow, I could do that, I love drawing and it would help me be in my bible much more.” So I came home on Christmas break and bought a journaling bible so I could create and let the Lord speak to me through His word. I’m still currently in love with bible journaling and do it as much as possible, it is one of my favorite actives, honestly my mom was so into the idea she got a journal bible too and we send ideas back and forth to each other all the time to try to recreate. I love it so much. God really changed my heart through bible journaling and only further helped me to see where He was calling me when I was blessed with the opportunity to go to passion and God called me into mission work there in the Georgia Dome. I didn’t know it just yet but He would call me into mission work sooner than even I imagined. Here I am now, writing my blog post to tell you guys, I am not going to be attending school next year but I am going to be serving and doing mission work in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Botswana, South Africa, and the Philippines. I am so excited about this opportunity and can’t wait to keep updating you guys about the way God is changing my heart to prepare me for this trip.
This trip is super expensive and there is no way I will be able to do this alone. I am faithful when God calls He will provide but I will definitely need your help. If you are feeling led to give you can click the donate button on my profile and give any amount, all donations will help get me one step closer to going where the Lord is calling. If you cannot donate that is perfectly okay, if you would just consider praying for me for the next year that would mean the world to me too!! I appreciate all the financial support as well as the prayers and encouragement!
Love always, Kelsey 🙂
