Send Me

Today is the day my whole world flipped right side up. I recieved the comforting news that I had been accepted into the World Race Gap Year program and I could not contain my joy. Upon ending the call, I found myself jumping with joy and a huge smile plastered on my face. I immeaditaly texted and called everyone that has been apart of this journey with me with the happy news of acceptance. Nothing could ever compare to the joy and peace I felt in my heart after hearing the words "congratulations, you've been accepted into the World Race Gap Year program." It's only the start but I can't stop thinking of what's to come and the future God has so graciously placed before me. In a matter of months I will hopefully be on a plane headed to the ends of the earth to spread joy and God's love to all that I encounter. I know that taking this gap year may be one of the hardest things I'll ever do. Leaving all my friends and family for nine months, going to places I've never been before with people  I've never met, and placing all my trust in God isn't going to be easy but I know it will all be worth it in the end when the whole is better for at least one person because I was able to give them the help and love they so desperately needed. I know that if I just open my heart to what God wants from me and the ways he wants to use me that he is going to preform amazing miracles. I feel in the depths of my heart that this is what I am supposed to do and where God is calling me to go. I constantly dream of helping people in some of the poorest places and giving people hope that things will get better and that God has such great plans for each and every one of us. I've been so blessed with the most amazing friends and family encouraging me through the whole process and praying for me and being apart of this beautiful journey with me. I can't wait to see the ways God will use me to further his kingdom and help his people. My heart is overflowing with the joy of such an amazing opportunity to serve and love God's people. I don't know where life is gonna take me next year, but I know it's going to be one crazy adventure full of tears and laughs and lots and lots of love. 

Here I am. Send me. 

Making the Days Count

These past couple months my life has consisted of going nonstop and constantly having things to do. It's felt like I haven't had any time to just sit and enjoy life and all its many blessings. After finally catching my breath after months of constant business, I started thinking. Just thinking about everything and how hectic my life has become. Thinking of my future and the path God is trying to reveal to me. Thinking of my family and my friends. Thinking about senior year and how just a few short months my life will be totally flipped upside down. Then the thought came to me, Why is it that we hate being still? 

It seems that we can't go a minute without doing something. We are constantly filling our time and squeezing in everything we can into the 24 hours we are given each day. We are all guilty of this habit of making ourselves so busy that we can't appreciate the little special moments of life. We can never seem to just take a minute and realize just how beautiful this life really is. Upon realizing this, I've challenged myself to just take a moment out of everyday, just a small moment, to look up. Look up at the beautiful sky we walk under everyday but never truly take a good look at. Look at how God has blessed us each day and what he taught us today. Look at our families and realize how thankful we are for them and their unconditional love. It really is the little things that mean the most. But sometimes we let those little moments slip away until they are apart of a huge memory that all becomes a blur as life goes on. We allow only the big moments to stick in our memory rather than remembering the small precious moments that happen in the day to day. 

"Cause life is not the mountain tops. Its the walking in between."

-Ben Rector 

I don't want to live my life just going through the motions every day. I want to make every day count and mean something. Too many times I have let myself fall unconscious to the blessings each new day brings and have let life pass me by. I don't want to get to the point where you look back and realize how much time has passed of you falling numb to the world around you and what God has been doing in your life. Carpe diem. We must seize the day. Each and every day we are on this earth we need to be joyful and thankful and truly live. Every day holds the potential for something beautiful to happen if we let God work in our lives. Enjoy the people around you and be grateful that God has given you another day here on earth to spread his kingdom.