I often feel homeless. My parent’s have been missionaries to Europe for over thirty years and I’ve grown up moving somewhere new ever three or four years. Growing up and living in a variety of places has made calling any one place home very difficult. Yet, the constant moving and relocating has made me realize that even though I don’t have a hometown, I can feel comfortable and at ease anywhere I am.
Growing up a missionary kid has had two major effects on me, the first and most notable being God. I accepted Christ at a young age and my journey began from there. It hasn’t always been easy and I’m the first one to say that I have made my fair share of mistakes, but through the ups and downs God has stood by me, patiently waiting for me to learn my lessons the hard way and then accepting me with open arms as I came crawling back to Him. My faith has matured greatly since I was a little girl and my relationship is much deeper now, but the basics are still the same. I love Jesus and I want to follow Him wherever He may lead me.
The second major effect is my love of travel. Some call it restlessness, but I like to think that I merely enjoy the thrill of being in a new place for the very first time. I love the not knowing where things are or what and who awaits you, not knowing the language or the culture but wanting to soak up everything so that you can experience something new and vibrant that you’ve never felt before, feeling foreign, and yet at the same time like you were meant to be there.
The travel bug led me to Montreal where I spent the past few years studying painting and drawing. After four years of hard work and developing my skills, I graduated from Concordia University with a BFA but with no real desire to become a professional artist. Not knowing where I was supposed to go next or what God had in store for me I decided to just start planning and hope that God would open and close doors as He saw fit. I knew I wanted to travel so I began toing with the idea of teaching English as a second language, being a nanny, working on a cruise ship, or anything else that would allow me to change my location. Yet nothing overseas panned out and I decided maybe it was better to move to Phoenix and teach preschool for a year to try and save up some money. Yet my desire to keep moving never lessened. Then with the help of one of my closest friends (thanks Levi 🙂 I realized that traveling for the sake of travel was not what I needed. I needed to travel with a purpose, not for purely selfish reasons. It was with that fresh in my mind that I heard about the World Race. I couldn’t help but think This was made for me! What better way to see the world and travel than by sharing God’s love with the people of the world.
I’ve often thought it would be really nice if God placed notes on my pillow at night giving me little tidbits of advice and instructions on how to best follow Him. Finding out about The World Race was as close to a little note as I’ve ever come. So here I am, six months away from an amazing journey and getting more excited everyday!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And just for fun here’s a random selection of little facts that make me, me…
- I love to ask questions. I think my most used phrase is “Can I ask you a question?”.
- I love to know things, not just on the surface, but to really understand them.
- I’m easily amused and the littlest things can occupy me for hours.
- I love to laugh, and I find it a shame if a week goes by and I haven’t laughed so hard I cried.
- I love music, if it was up to me I’d play it 24/7. I can listen to almost anything spanning from techno to swing, classical to pop, jazz to rock.
- I love earrings, especially long dangly ones that tickle my shoulders.
- I’ve had dreads for a year and a half and I can’t really remember what it’s like to have real hair.
- I actually don’t mind doing dishes and prefer that to most other household chores.
- I have an irrational fear of spiders and I have no idea how it came about.
- I’m easy going and flexible.
- I love motorcycles and plan to one day own one myself, preferable a sports bike (I inherited this love from my father).
- Hardly anyone pronounces my name on the first try, but it’s okay, I’ve gotten used to it and I’ll answer to anything that sounds remotely similar.
- I love taking pictures; my camera is one of my favorite possessions.
- I love drinking tea, whether it’s green, white, black, or something altogether different, I’m always willing to give it a try.
- I find beauty in most things and my glass is always half full.
- I love to watch movies, sometimes over and over and over, especially foreign films.
- I love Europe; it’s bumpy cobblestone streets, it’s wonderful public transportation system, the honesty of the people, the slower pace of life, the overall enjoyment of life.
- I have an amazing family that supports me 100% and friends that mean the world to me.
