There are many things that have brought me to this point in my life, and to this trip.
My Junior year of High school I had a chance to go on a 10 day journey to study the Civil Rights movement with some of my classmates. I was interested in the subject, but the big pull for me to go was getting a chance to travel and learn on the road and meet new people from other cities. I had a fabulous time, I met tons of people, I hugged famous and well known individuals that had major roles in the movement, and I learned a lot about fundraising and stress. It was an amazing experience, but all I got out of it were Facebook friends, Instagram followers, three college credits, the new knowledge of my passion for learning on the road, and a few pounds of weight gain (southern food is way too fried and delicious to pass up!)
I knew I needed more than this. There had to be something more to traveling and meeting new people. There needed to be a reason as to why I was laying my life aside and going on a trip.
Flash forward two years, and I was in College floating through classes with no goal, no major, nothing to excite me or to capture my focus. I had made it through one semester easily- academically anyway. Socially, on the other hand was a different story. I had friends at school, but that wasn’t the place to be intentional and invest in each other. I had straight A’s, but basically nothing else. I decided I liked Anthropology and Genetics, but it still didn’t grab me as what I wanted to pursue.
I had a melt down one night at home, and I told my mom that I decided not to go to school the next year. Travel, Nanny in a different country, and explore the world were a few alternatives I had in mind. I didn’t care as long as it wasn’t school. My mother on the other hand, was not too thrilled to hear that I had no plan as to what I would be doing, and decided I needed to give her my “plan” before I quit school.
So that night I researched. I went to Google and typed in “How to make money while traveling the world”, because you know, you need money to go places. A couple promising options were soon on my computer screen: I could be an Au’Paire in Belguim! I could go to Scotland and live in a Hostel and work there to earn my room and board! I could drive a van through Europe and go to random towns and sing on the sidewalks for tourist change! (Although that was my mom’s least favorite)
I realized then that what was totally missing in my “plan” was Jesus. In order for any of this to be worthwhile, I needed to be seeking after Jesus. For the last year or so I had been falling more and more in love with my beautiful Savior, but I kept forgetting that He wanted to be in this just as much as I did!
So I went back to the faithful Google, and I typed in “Adventures, Missions, Mission trips”. And whaddya know?? The first thing that popped up was Adventures In Missions! It’s like I had already known what to search for! I applied, and a month and a half later after many interviews and lots of waiting, I was accepted into the World Race Gap Year September 2014 trip!
I cannot tell you enough how many times I’ve been overwhelmed with the knowledge of the fact that I will be in Africa this time next year. It absolutely amazes me!!
Now I am on a new journey, fundraising and gathering all of my supplies needed for this exciting new trip! Every day is consumed by trust and faith in Jesus, and a beautiful peace and confidence in His provision! It has been a true journey of trust and faith, and I have already grown SO much. I am excited to see what else God does in my life, and I want to share it with you too!
I ask that you please keep me in your prayers so that I can get all of the money raised! Please also prayerfully consider supporting me on this trip! I have a $6,000 deadline on May 2nd, and I am nowhere near that amount. Would you consider partnering with me? Please feel free to email or contact me through the “contact me” page on the left side of this blog. Also feel free to subscribe to my blog to stay updated on what God is doing in my life, and the pogress on my trip!
