The Journey

 The other night I was talking to Lacey (a friend from my previous trip to Africa) and we came upon the subject of Testimonies. And it really got those wheels turning in my head...   I recall having to share my testimony quite a few times (for the first time) while I was on my mission trip in South Africa. I had no understanding of what a testimony was supposed to consist of and so I pretty much told my life story just about every time. But lately, I have been thinking about what giving your testimony really means, what it really is. Thursday night, I figured that out.  I was at an Eddie James revival service at my church and honestly, it was amazing! The worship was powerful, Eddie's sermon was amazing, and his students were completely on fire! There was just this amazing atmosphere of worship and the Holy Spirit was so present... Everything you would expect from a revival service right? Well, it was so much more than just another revival service. That spiri...

    This past weekend I got the amazing opportunity to go to Acquire the Fire (a Teen Mania Event). And while that was super incredible and I got a lot out of it and had a blast, I want to talk about something else- One of the speakers talked about an organization called Compassion International . He said that it was an opportunity to support a child living in poverty. Then, a man came up on the stage and shared how this opportunity changed his life.          When he was a child (living in El Salvador I think?) his family did not have the money to acquire basic needs. They were living in poverty and did not have the food that they needed or the money to send him to school. One day, an American girl became his sponsor and wrote him letters. Because of what she did, he gained faith in Christ and got out of living in poverty and his family benefited from it as well!      So naturally, whe...

 Yesterday morning I woke up with one of the worst migraines I've ever had so I went back to sleep and  I had a dream about Zambia. When I woke up, I was once again in my dark room with my head still throbbing... But I couldn't help but have my heart leap with excitement! I seriously felt like dancing and laughing and I caught myself asking - "God, what are you going to do next? How could it possibly get better than this? You are turning my dream into a reality but it still doesn't feel real!"  A few hours later, my mom came home as I was sitting on the couch watching the Travel Channel of course. She ran over with a huge smile on her face and told me that $950 had been added to my account!!    I seriously couldn't say anything or make any kind of expression other than my jaw dropping... I was lost for words! God is so good! And that is literally all I can think of to say! He definitely answered my question from that morning and He most definitely pr...

        So officially I only have 77 days to go before I head out on my 2 month journey to Afrika! I cannot even begin to describe the excitement building up in me! I've been dreaming about this trip for the past 7 months and it is now so close! But what blows my mind even more than how close this trip is coming up is how faithful God has been throughout this process!  Lets overview... When I had started making plans for fundraising and writing letters... I felt like God was telling me "Woah, hold on. I DON'T want you to fundraise AT ALL until I tell you to." Now first of all, I'm cool with following direction from God.... but this seemed crazy!I was like  "What?! God, is that really you? This is insane! But, I'm just going to trust you no matter how crazy this seems."  So, I think me and God had a pretty good understanding after I finally said "Im just going to trust you." You see, when you tell God, "I'm going to trust you...

  Sometimes I look back at my journey to South Africa last summer and wonder what happened to all of the people we met in the squatter camps.   And then, I start to picture their faces and remember their stories. Each of them had a different story to tell. They all came from different places and different walks of life. But the one thing I will always remember is the smiles on their faces despite the poverty and harsh life around them.   There are days when all I can do is smile when I remember the little kids who I danced with and the parents I laughed with and shared Christ with. But other days, I can't help but end up on my knees or face down on the floor crying for them...   I don't know what happened to those families or the children I met. And it scares me... not knowing. The worst part is... I don't know if some of them even survived up to this point. I know that sounds so harsh and depressing but that is the reality of the squatte...

"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell." -- C.T. Studd When I saw this quote... I couldn't help but think of how so many Christians choose to live their everyday lives. Too often many Christians are just content with going to church and playing it "safe". They don't take risks... they don't step out. Some, are even too afraid of what fellow believers will think about them if they do or don't raise their hands during worship. And then I thought to myself - "How can anyone even be a true christian without taking risks for what they believe... For WHO they believe in?" Come on, think about this for a second... Every great man or women of God we hear about in the Bible or other books or hear stories about... Took a risk! Jesus himself gave up everything, an entire kingdom, just so he could do his father's will! He knowingly risked being criticized and looked dow...