You called and You shouted
Broke through my deafness
Now I'm breathing in and breathing out
I'm alive again
You shattered my darkness
washed away my blindness
Now I'm breathing in and breathing out
I'm alive again
– Alive Again by Matt Maher
So, how exactly did I wind up here?
I find myself asking the same question often. I grew up in a Christian home and attended Episcopal church. My summers were spent at Christian summer camps and I was a leader in youth group. During these years a solid foundation of truth was laid in my life; however, I was talking the talk but something was missing in my heart. I was trying to impress God with my good works, but it never felt like I could be good enough.
After a few years of Sara-centered living and failing miserably at trying to make myself happy, God called me to be a camp counselor at Camp Crestridge for Girls in Black Mountain, NC. During the summer of 2007, God broke me and healed me and called me back into His arms in the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains surrounded by women who fiercely love the Lord.
Upon returning to UF that fall, God placed me in the sisterhood of Sigma Phi Lambda – Sisters for the Lord – where He emcompassed me with women who were passionately pursuing the heart of the Father. I saw something in these women – their hunger and desire to know more of God and make His name famous on our campus and in our world inspires me to this day. I also began staffing for the Fellowship of Christian Cheerleaders where I met people who had the same heartbeat as my Phi Lamb sisters. God used these dear ones to open my eyes to His greatness and glory in the world, and for that I am forever grateful. 
In March 2009 I took my first international mission trip to Los Mochis, Mexico. After an incredibly hard junior fall, Jesus taught me to put my hope in HIS plans and HIS providence. In Mexico my eyes were opened to the power of the Holy Spirit and God's presence in the international church. I LOVED worshipping in another language and watching people of another culture chase after God fervently. I have always loved travel and adventure, and during this trip I began to realize that God had instilled these passions in me for His glory.
SO. That brings us up through senior year of college and to Sept 2010. I set off to spend three months in Worcester, South Africa working with a YWAM missionary and teaching in a school. I was always one of those people who abided by the "Don't ever get too close with God or He'll send you to Africa!" theology, but PRAISE GOD that He DID draw me close and I DID get to fall in love with His people there!! I was stretched, pruned, and grown more than I have ever been in my life during those three months, but I also saw real, raw, uninhibited worship and faith that DID move mountains. God is REAL, He is ALIVE, and He IS moving in the nations! Hallelujah!
My best friend and roomie Rebecca heard the Lord's voice during senior year too. She signed up for this crazy 11 month trip called the World Race and departed in Oct 2010 just a few months after our dear friend Emily left with the July 2010 squad. Walking through the process with Rebecca was the first stirring in my heart that maybe this was something God would call me to in the future. And now, almost a year later…. September 2011 here we go!!
