From the title you might be thinking I am now settled in wonderful Stellenbosch, South Africa...well, not quite. I am now living in Plano, Texas with my dear ole mama!
So, now it is just me and my mom in our beautiful home. Anyways, I moved back home in November and in the beginning of January started working for my sponsoring church, Greenville Oaks Church of Christ. Let me just take a moment (perhaps more than just a moment) to say how much I love this church.
After moving around most of my life Greenville Oaks was the first church family I really ever had. Yes, I grew up traveling the world (which I loved and I am very grateful for) but Greenville Oaks is where I began my love for missions. I started attending this church in 2004 when I was a sophomore in high school. This was where I had my first true and real friend since I moved back to the United States!
Shout out to miss Katelyn for always being there! Id say we grew up well! :)
Anywho, so I began going on my first mission trip to Grenada and LOVED it! I then proceeded to go every summer for the next five summers. I was actually the only youth member that went every year, what can I say, I fell in love with the place and the people. I mean it is beautiful! Just look at it!
Through these trips I began to realize my love for being in new cultures and I remember that a ten day trip was getting to the point where that was just tooooooo short! So, in college I took another missions trip but this time it was for the whole summer, 2.5 months. I went to Chiang Mai, Thailand!
(If you haven't noticed I really love pictures)
And who was it that supported me on this endeavor??? That's right! Greenville Oaks! :) Then, as you all know, that trip was not long enough for me either. So, Greenville Oaks supported me yet again for an even longer trip! 9 months to beautiful South Africa!
(See those houses? That's where my house was!)
So, ALL of this being said, Greenville Oaks has always been there for me and has helped me grow on so many levels! Now, they are doing it yet again. Not only are they supporting me financially but they are also giving me incredible spiritual and emotional support. The whole congregation is pouring out their blessings and love on me in ways I didn't expect. I could not have asked God for a greater place to stand behind me as I move to South Africa. So, Greenville Oaks, Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you do!
I do have to say that God is doing some crazy stuff in my life. I think he really enjoys blowing my mind or something.
Moving overseas means lots and lots of raising money! Yes, the church is giving me so much but I still don't have all of my support which is something I am praying for and working on. But, even along those lines every time I get a donation I become overwhelmed by the grace and love of God! It always blows my mind how he provides for his children even when I feel so disobedient at times.
Not only is he providing financially but he is also helping me with things I didn't even know I needed help with. Now, moving overseas to be a missionary seems like a HUGE task in my mind; a task I really don't feel qualified for yet for some reason I am being called to do this. But, along with this task comes some insecurities. While discipleship is my passion and gets my heart beating fast, I have never really felt qualified or prepared for this. Amazingly and something I love about God is that he knows everything that is on our heart and every worry that comes into our minds. So, he says, "well, let me provide away for you to learn how to do this!" So, now I have my own personal discipleship Yoda. I am being taught by an amazing member of Greenville Oaks how to spread the gospel and love others through discipleship. This is something I didn't ask God for because I just couldn't see how I was ever really going to be prepared for such a task. But here comes God, yet again, to my rescue!
Goodness, I am so grateful for all of the things going on in my life currently! I challenge you, whomever you are that is reading this, to live each day with a grateful heart! Look for the little and big blessings in your life. I promise you will begin to see the love and grace of God in each moment of every day! :)
Blessings!
